“Shameen Prashantham, through his research over the years, has gained expertise on the topic of corporate-startup partnering. He has developed a global research program covering not only the United States, Europe, and Israel, but also Asia – particularly China and India – and, more recently, Africa. His insights in this book, based on knowledge-sharing with executives at CEIBS and public speeches, provide guidelines for corporations interested in partnering with startups. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in having a deeper understanding of corporate innovation and entrepreneurship.”
—Dipak Jain, President, CEIBS, and former Dean, Kellogg School of Management
“Be it matured corporate players or newbies in the innovation ecosystem, looking to benchmark or understand its intricacies, the book provides the perfect prescription for everyone. Backed by years of research, including the most recent developments, this is a must-have reference guide for any innovation practitioner.”
—Sruthi Kannan, Head, Cisco LaunchPad
“There are so many things that lead to cultural and institutional change in large multinational organizations. Only a thorough longitudinal study can shed light on the effort required. This book does just that.”
—Dan'l Lewin, CEO, Computer History Museum, and former Corporate VP, Microsoft
“While most large organizations know that collaborating with startups should be a critical part of their innovation strategy, many will also admit that doing so effectively and on a global basis is a very different story. Shameen Prashantham's book helps bridge this ‘knowing-doing’ gap by providing fresh insights on how and where today's gorillas can dance with faster and more agile partners. A must-read for corporate innovators and entrepreneurs alike.”
—Felipe Monteiro, Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, INSEAD
“Shameen Prashantham has scoured the world, seeking the experiences of an impressive network of thought leaders across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. There is no set formula for how successful startup-corporate collaboration works; all we can do is keep learning from each other. This book provides both corporate innovators and game-changing startups the platform to do this.”
—Sheelpa Patel, founder and Managing Director, Mavens & Mavericks
“The major global challenges are simply too big for any company alone to address. It is imperative for the larger organizations to partner effectively with the more nimble startups to help create a better world for all. This book has some great insights on the how.”
—Paul Polman, former CEO, Unilever, and cofounder and Chair, IMAGINE
“A general pattern of organizational life seems to involve being nimble but inefficient in their youth, and lumbering but efficient as they age. How to keep the best attributes of both life stages has become a sort of holy grail for academics and consultants. Prashantham does a terrific job laying out what he has observed of partnerships between established and entrepreneurial firms as a mechanism that aims to hit this bliss-spot. Combining smooth prose with insightful observations, this book will be a great read for those who design and manage organizations as well as those who study them.”
—Phanish Puranam, Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organisation Design, INSEAD
“Having spent most of my career trying to dance with gorillas, and now as a gorilla learning to dance, I can safely say that Gorillas Can Dance is an important addition to the strategic partnership canon and should be required reading for entrepreneurs on both sides of the table.”
—Martin Suter, Global VP Digital Commerce, Anheuser-Busch InBev
“With ecosystem approaches to innovation gaining traction, ‘gorillas’ and startups now recognize that they need to work with, rather than against, each other. It's not always going to be easy, but through a decade of keen observation, Professor Prashantham has uncovered the most important insights for both budding entrepreneurs and seasoned corporate executives.”
—Wern-Yuen Tan, CEO, Pepsico APAC
“Corporate innovation as we know it is dead. Current corporate innovation is delivered through skunkworks and through learning new dance moves with startups. In his book, Professor Shameen Prashantham has captured the fine details of dancing with gorillas and how to redesign modern large corporations to survive and thrive in this new world.”
—Tzahi (Zack) Weisfeld, Vice President and GM Ignite: Intel for Startups
“Based on over 15 years of international research, Shameen Prashantham's insightful work on partnering between established corporations and startups breaks new ground in identifying the why and how of effective alliance building. Rich in examples and practical advice, this work will be recommended reading for any corporate manager or startup executive looking to build scale and deliver innovation through partnerships.”
—Jonathan R. Woetzel, Director, McKinsey Global Institute
“Shameen Prashantham is one of those rare academics who can combine theoretical rigor with in-depth company examples to yield highly practical insights and frameworks. Gorillas Can Dance is a great example of this combination and is essential reading for both large companies and their startup partners.”
—George S. Yip, Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Imperial College Business School, and member of the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame
SHAMEEN PRASHANTHAM
GORILLAS CAN DANCE
LESSONS FROM MICROSOFT AND OTHER CORPORATIONS ON PARTNERING WITH STARTUPS
Copyright © 2022 by Shameen Prashantham. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at
