Prehype

Prehype
Industry Venture Innovation
Founded New York City (September 1, 2010 (2010-09-01))
Founder Henrik Werdelin
Products Business incubation
Website prehype.com

Prehype is a venture development firm that focuses on building products and companies through collaboration with corporations and venture capitalists. The firm allows large companies to benefit from the energy and creativity of entrepreneurship without losing the organizational domain expertise and control. Prehype has offices in New York City, London, Copenhagen, and Rio de Janeiro, and was founded by Henrik Werdelin in September 2010. In addition to venture management services, the firm provides angel investments and access to a network of talent including entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and developers.[1][2][3][4]

Incubation services

The firm's primary line of services involves incubating new startup companies from within large corporations.[1][2][4][5] With an infrastructure of entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and developers, Prehype facilitates the incubation process by allowing executives, referred to as intrapreneurs, to build new products and ventures with a handpicked external team.[1][4] Prehype pulls these intrapreneurs out of the company for a period of 1–4 weeks and coaches them in bringing a business idea to life.[1] Following this period a new venture is created with a timeline of three months for most projects. Prehype follows up by helping companies receive customer feedback within 100 days of the new product's launch.[1] Prehype charges a fixed management fee but makes its profits via a shared upside if the project is successful.[2][6]

The incubation process serves several purposes, the first of which is to retain talent within an organization while allowing employees to function like entrepreneurs, potentially leading to a successful new business.[1][2] The second goal is to foster a mutually beneficial environment in which the cultures of big companies and startups can learn from one another.[1][4][7]

After launch

Upon the completion of a Prehype project, the company that has contracted the firm's services is given the choice to internalize or spin out the new product as a stand-alone startup.[2]

Advantages of intrapreneurship

Compared to reaching outside of an organization to expand into a new area of business, Prehype's method of leveraging an organization's existing human resources presents some distinct advantages. When a company actively supports employees with the intellectual engagement and appreciation associated with incubating a startup, those employees might in turn support the company with strong collaboration, loyalty, and camaraderie.[1] Additionally, the Prehype methodology is a potential means of simultaneously testing ideas and increasing career satisfaction among corporate workers.[1]

Noteworthy projects

BarkBox

Prehype partnered with Matt Meeker and Carly Strife in September 2011 to develop a new business called BarkBox.[5][8] The Prehype incubated business is a subscription service that delivers monthly boxes of dog products to pet owners.[5] With a model similar to Birchbox, BarkBox collaborates with local vendors to provide products like treats, accessories, and gadgets.[5][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Christa Avampato (August 16, 2012), Prehype Uses Collaboration to Bring Startup Culture to Big Companies, PBS.org, retrieved November 19, 2013
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Courtney Boyd Myers (May 21, 2011), Prehype: an incubator that helps corporations innovate like startups, The Next Web, retrieved November 19, 2013
  3. ↑ Ron Finberg (August 15, 2012), World’s First Forex Hackathon, Forex Magnates, retrieved November 19, 2013
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ben Popper (April 22, 2011), Prehype Spins Start-ups Out of Big Companies, Then Sells it Back to Them, BetaBeat, retrieved November 19, 2013
  5. 1 2 3 4 BarkBox launches a monthly subscription service for dog lovers, The Next Web, December 2, 2011, retrieved November 19, 2013
  6. ↑ Courtney Boyd Myers (May 29, 2011), Why New York City’s tech scene is thriving, The Next Web, retrieved November 19, 2013
  7. ↑ Courtney Boyd Myers (November 5, 2011), Lessons from 12 New York entrepreneurs after a year in the business, The Next Web, retrieved November 19, 2013
  8. ↑ Saya Weissman (August 13, 2012), Building the Brand: BarkBox, DigiDay, retrieved November 19, 2013
  9. ↑ Stacy Jones (November 11, 2013), ARE YOU A DOG OWNER OR A DOG PARENT? THIS CEO WANTS TO KNOW, Fast Company, retrieved November 19, 2013
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