Yesterday at Social Media Week New York I had the chance to hear a “fireside chat” with Bonin Bough, Vice President of Global Media and Consumer Engagement at Mondelez International. If that corporate name doesn’t ring a bell, think Sour Patch Kids, Teddy Grahams and Oreos. He and a couple of his team members were talking about igniting “intrapreneurship” at their gigantic consumer package goods company (CPG). If you don’t know Bough, read this Fast Company article that details his legend in social media circles.
In 2012, Mondelez launched Mobile Futures, a program that “encourages intrapreneurship by driving a culture of innovation and embracing the start-up spirit internally”. In simple terms, brand managers get the chance to embed themselves in a tech start-up company of their choosing for a week. They blend their CPG marketing expertise with the big-picture, fast-moving mindset of their entrepreneur partners to fully develop a new idea inside of 90 days. For context, Mondelez usually takes about two years to bring a new product to market. Then the team pitches the idea to venture capitalists.
Why is a cookie and candy maker getting into the business of start-ups? Bough believes it’s the secret to talent recruitment.
“The top 10 percent of MBAs go to tech companies and start-ups. How do CPGs attract talent?” asked Bough. “Over the next five years, there will be an attack on talent that we’ve never seen before. We’re building skill sets to take our organization into the next generation. We have to make our workplace as exciting as a start-up.”
So what can we learn from this? Bough shared three steps to successfully selling your next entrepreneurial idea.
1) Figure out the level at which you can make your idea happen. Sometimes that might mean starting smaller to build your credibility. Understand, but try not to be limited by, the realities of your organization.
2) Build a coalition of the willing. When it comes to big change, don’t try to go it alone. Identify the right supporters and make sure they’re on board before you make your pitch.
3) Share your success. Promote your milestones to anyone in the organization who will listen. Bough said he would print out presentations about his ideas and leave them all over the office. Even on the chair in the janitor’s closet.
Have you thought about how to bring entrepreneurial thinking into your organization?