Well established companies are at risk. We live in a global society of continuous disruption and innovation. Accepting the status quo in this kind of competitive landscape is more than lazy it can be lethal to the entire company. Of the largest companies in the world by market value, six were founded within the last 40 years and left their competition in bankruptcy court.

A 2016 KPMG study illustrated that 74% of CEOs are concerned about new entrants to the market, 53% of CEO’s believed they are not disrupting their own industry, 80% believed their business models were at risk, and only 6% of executes were happy with their company’s innovation.

So What Does a Chief Entrepreneur Do?
While the CEO is focused on the company’s current initiatives and growth models the Chief Entrepreneur (CE) is to invent the future of the company. The CE would work with, not for, the CEO and manage his own team of executives and entrepreneurs focused on the organizations future. The CE and his/her team will experiment with new business models and create a portfolio of new initiatives. Once that future is realized the CEO is there to manage the execution of those initiatives and success on health of the business overall.

Who Would the CE Report To
The CE, just like the CEO, would report directly to the company’s Executive Chairman and be responsible for creating accounting practices that measure the success or failure of their initiatives. If the CE reported to the CEO the CEO would have the ability to veto the CE’s initiatives to preserve company resources for current objectives.

What Team Would the CE Lead
The CE would lead an executive team consisting of innovators as clearly defined by Alexander Osterwalder of Strategyzer:

Chief Portfolio Manager: The Chief Portfolio Manager has the interesting role of making sure the company is looking at a range of opportunities and business models that will create future growth. The Chief Portfolio Manager must then adapt the portfolio to that environment so the company is well positioned for the future.

Chief Venture Capitalist: The Chief Venture Capitalist allocates the budget and manages financing rounds, and will have the most direct connection with entrepreneurs conducting experiments. The Chief VC mirrors the role of the CFO.

Chief Risk Officer: Some of the experiments a team will conduct may be detrimental to the brand and could carry legal liabilities. Legal can be a big constraint to experimentation in a company. The Chief Risk Officer is there to enable teams. The CRO is a role that will help entrepreneurs understand how to run experiments without putting the company at risk.

Chief Internal Ambassador: The Chief Internal Ambassador knows everything that’s going on in both sides of the company. The CIA knows all of the resources, activities, and patents that exist on the execution arm of the organization, and also has the trust of the powerful people that manage them. This role is the link between the existing company and its innovative partner.

Entrepreneurs: The Entrepreneurs build the businesses, with each one responsible for a particular business experiment as its leader. This role becomes a lot stronger than your regular product manager: they are real entrepreneurs, with clear incentives, and have a stake in the company.

For more information on this interesting concept head over to Strategyzer.