Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2016: Wendy Lung

“There is no greater universal challenge for corporations now than innovation and there could not be a more exciting time to be in corporate venturing,” according to Wendy Lung, director of corporate strategy at IBM Venture Capital Group.

As an IBM-lifer, having joined the US-listed technology company as a sales representative in 1989, Lung is aware that challenges remain, even for a forward-thinking organisation.

Lung said her main challenge was having “the patience required in advocating for horizon three in a horizon one world” – a reference to looking after core businesses while finding ideas for profitable growth down the road.

Her task has been helped by one of her greatest successes, the creation of IBM’s first global programme for startups in 2010.

She said: “It was exciting to rally resources from across the company to engage and provide value to early-stage startups.”

The programme, IBM Global Entrepreneur, has grown to 40 international cities, 5,000 startup participants, 600 mentors in the network and $180m of venture investment into the companies since its inception in 2010.

The programme was set up two years after she joined IBM Venture Capital Group, which, since the group’s inception in 2000, has been focused on three main objectives Lung specified as: “proactively identifying disruptions to our business and our clients’ businesses, growing the partner ecosystem and acquisition pipeline for IBM’s strategic initiatives and collaborating with our clients on their innovation initiatives”.

Having previously been a director of marketing at IBM, she said she was excited at joining the team led by Claudia Fan Munce because she is an “intrapreneur”.

She added: “I have always been drawn to growing new and emerging business opportunities within the company. I helped build IBM’s first ‘net generation’ business focused on internet startups years ago. Since then, I have been involved in emerging business opportunities including wireless, digital media and network convergence. It was a perfect fit for me to join the venture capital group and further my passion in working with leading-edge innovators.”

This experience has allowed her to think through what could further the industry: “Standardised metrics, to the extent it is possible, to help corporations build the business case to create or expand the corporate venture function for their business.

“Also, promotion of success cases to a broader set of business executives to create greater awareness of the value of the function.”

And while she has countered the Silicon Valley trend of company-hopping to build a career, she remains aware of the challenges faced by others. “For the past five years, I have been part of a volunteer organisation that assists people who have come across life challenges to re-enter the workforce.”

By giving to others, however, she has typified another Valley mantra of trying to help the world become a better place.