I’ve been around some of the best venture builders. Here’s what makes them great

It’s no secret that Southeast Asia has seen a boom in venture building recently. Rather than looking at why this is happening in a bear market, I’m more interested in what it takes to create a good venture builder.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

In my understanding, there are several different types of startup builders:

Corporate-owned

This type is owned by large corporations and focused on a specific industry to eventually add large revenue streams for the core business. This venture studio serves as an alternative to future mergers and acquisitions.

Examples include Betagro Ventures (an arm of Betagro Group in Thailand) and Firemark Collective (the Singaporean venture arm of IAG Insurance).

VC arm

This is when a VC, which normally just invests in companies, sets up a greenfield venture, hires the team, and manages the venture. An example is Menyala, founded by Temasek.

I have also seen cases where VCs have an unofficial startup studio because one of their partners or senior folks decides to start a model themselves and it’s funded by the VC.

Fully independent

These guys decide on the idea, finance it, and guide it through the early stages themselves.

This type is the most well-known globally, with one example being Rocket Internet, which I consider the granddaddy of venture builders. The firm has created roughly 5 to 10 unicorns and uses a unique style to do so.

Corporate enablers

Rainmaking, which generally partners with big corporations to create ventures, is one good example.

How I learned about venture builders

Keys to venture building success

Golden rules