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June 11, 2025
Demystifying Corporate Venture: Unveiling The CVC Playbook by Counterpart Ventures
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A blueprint on how to launch, grow or adapt a CVC fund. Combining 2+ decades of knowledge from Counterpart Ventures with wisdom and experience from the best corporate investors around the world.
Corporate venture capital has long been an insider’s game—shrouded in complexity, paywalls, and a lack of open dialogue. We’ve seen firsthand how this opacity held back corporations since 2018 when we first launched the Counter Club.
We created the Counter Club to give back our own lessons learned accumulated over 2+ decades leading CVC funds. Slowly, we realized that corporate VCs lacked a sense of belonging that traditional VCs thrived off. The Counter Club filled a gap in the market - a community exclusively for CVCs, with no ulterior motives.
Corporate VCs were considered second-class citizens by traditional VCs and consequentially by founders too. CVCs now participate in 1/3 of every venture-backed deal and these firms represent a critical cog in the machinery of the VC industry. [source: Counterpart x SVB State of CVC Report].
When we started Counterpart Ventures in 2018, we made several investments in enterprise software companies. Our goal was to open doors for our founders to potential customers, partners and strategic capital via the CVC arm. As we continued investing in Fund II, we began growing our Counter Club community and opening more doors for our founders. Seven years have since passed and now over 600 corporations, represented by 1,500+ individual investors, are part of the global Counter Club community.
The CVC Playbook, by Counterpart Ventures
We have accumulated knowledge and wisdom from some of the best corporate investors to launch The CVC Playbook. Over the last 7 years we have hosted over 70 events (online and in-person), bringing together CVCs to unpack various challenges investors all face at one time or another. Given our deep knowledge and networks in CVC, we set out to create a playbook by which CVCs can follow. Over the course of this year we will introduce new topics, but for now we are launching our first three chapters:
- How to Launch a CVC Fund: Start learning the basics from the experts on how they got started. Conversations and interviews with: Hubspot Ventures, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Kyocera Ventures, Aduro Advisors and others.
- How to Build Your Brand and Position Your Fund (Internally & Externally): Dig into strategies for internal education, winning allies, and creating a distinctive brand. Conversations and interviews HearstLab, M12, BMW i Ventures, AllState Strategic Ventures and more.
- How to do Early-Stage Investing: Break down why early-stage investing (Seed) demands a fundamentally different approach. Conversations and interviews SE Ventures, Greenlight Re Innovations, Cleveland Health Clinic and more.
To access The CVC Playbook and the chapters above, please visit https://counterclub.vc and head to the CVC Playbook tab.
Why Us?
We are the best in the world at bridging traditional and corporate VC—a claim rooted in our founders’ backgrounds at Qualcomm Ventures and Recruit Strategic Partners, and proven by the evolution of our Counter Club community.
The Playbook is more than just a guide—it is a blueprint powered by our community. We’re unlocking seven years of Counter Club content captured at events and through conversations with our 1,500+ member community.
While we acknowledge there is no one sits fits all, "right", model for how to do CVC, The CVC Playbook provides readers with a wide variety of views from investors and experts.
This is not theory or recycled wisdom. Insights are from practitioners who have built, scaled, and even stumbled through the journey of corporate venture.
Our unique positioning:
- Real Talk, Not Party Lines: Our platform is about honest, unvarnished conversation—sharing both the wins and the landmines, not just highlight reels.
- Curated, Not Commercialized: Membership and access to the Playbook are free for active CVCs and those looking to launch a fund. There are no consulting fees, no “pay-to-play” panels—just authentic, peer-driven learning.
- Lived Experience: We’re led by prior CVC leaders, not consultants. Our guidance is grounded in what we’ve actually done, not what we’ve read.
What’s Inside the CVC Playbook?
The Playbook is a modular, immersive learning series, available to existing and prospective Counter Club members. Each chapter is packed with tactical guidance, contributor quotes, and actionable frameworks. At the end of each chapter, participants will find a summary, quiz and forum post to respond to. If you are looking to view The CVC Playbook please sign up to the Counter Club here: https://counterclub.vc/signup. Here’s a sneak peek:
Chapter 1: How to Launch a CVC Fund
The basics of everything corporates should be thinking about from the beginning of a journey launching a CVC fund: Recruiting, mandate formation, executive sponsorship, building a network and early days of accessing new deals.
Featured Bites and Sections from the Chapter:
“One of the most important things is to really have clarity on your purpose, mission and how you're going to add value back to the company. Then distill the investment focus areas and categories you will invest in."
"You will never be able to get financial returns if it takes you 6 months to make a decision. You've got to be able to make decisions in the same time frame a traditional VC does."
Chapter 2: How to Build Your Reputation and Position Your Fund (Internally & Externally)
We examine strategies for a fund’s internal positioning that influences access across the mothership. And how a CVC shows up externally, from thought leadership to brand architecture, shapes their ability to attract top founders in the broader venture ecosystem.
Featured Bites and Sections from the Chapter:
"Always remember to try and put yourself in someone else's shoes... there's not enough time to think about innovation. Being inclusive, transparent, and respectful of people's time goes a long way."
- Beth Devin,
"Your brand as a CVC isn’t just a logo — it’s your ticket to the best deals."
Chapter 3: How to do Early-Stage Investing Right at a CVC
Traditional CVC structures often struggle in this arena due to their slower pace, rigid processes, and preference for investing in later-stage companies. However, early-stage investing requires a fundamentally different approach: we recommend an independent structure grounded in speed and conviction.
Featured Bites and Sections from the Chapter:
"If we keep the investment sizes small, we can minimize large mistakes."
“There is a lot of pre-work that we do around market and team that enables that fast decision making. I'm very proud to say that we've been around six years, we've never lost a deal because of speed.”
Step up to the Counter
Along with the CVC Playbook, our online platform counterclub.vc hosts a wealth of other resources including events and networking opportunities with others in the ecosystem.
This September, we will welcome 600+ investors to SF for our annual event, Counter VI, which has morphed into a multi-day event and the premier gathering of CVCs in the world.
To access it all, corporate investors can request an account (https://counterclub.vc/signup) and the Counterpart Team will approve you and you will receive an activation email.
Final Word
By increasing access to CVC knowledge, we aim to raise the bar for the entire industry. The CVC Playbook and larger Counter Club community is not just a resource—it’s a platform for community, candor, and collective progress. If you’re building or scaling a CVC fund, or simply want to learn from the best, we look forward to connecting.
Enjoy reading!
Counterpart Ventures