Taiho Ventures: A corporate venture franchise built through consistency and trust

When Sakae Asanuma marked his tenth anniversary as president and chief executive of Taiho Ventures in April, he joined an exceptionally small group of corporate venture leaders. According to Global Corporate Venturing's research, fewer than 1% of CVC executives remain at the helm of the same programme for a decade.

For Asanuma, longevity has not been the result of one defining investment or a single market cycle. Instead, it has come from a disciplined approach built on consistency, credibility and trust.

Lesson One: Stability at the top matters

Asanuma arrived at Taiho Ventures in 2015 with considerable experience. He had already spent more than a decade as a biotech investor and had led Astellas Ventures, giving him a clear vision for how to structure a strategic venture fund.

But he quickly discovered that the most important ingredient for long-term success was organisational stability.

At Astellas, he reported to three different executives in five years. At Taiho, he has reported to the same senior sponsor throughout the venture unit's existence: Masayuki Kobayashi, head of Taiho Pharmaceutical and son of founder Yukio Kobayashi. Asanuma made this reporting structure a priority when he set up the unit, based on what he had learned at Astellas, and says it made the position of the CVC much easier.

"I report to the head of pharma. It means my corporate position is improved, and I can recruit great people from Taiho's R&D group," he says.

The continuity of leadership has allowed Taiho Ventures to maintain a consistent strategy and avoid the periodic resets that have undermined many corporate venture programmes.

For CVC leaders, the lesson is clear: long-term sponsorship matters. Building a venture programme is difficult when reporting lines and strategic priorities constantly shift.