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New to Big: How Companies Can Create Like Entrepreneurs, Invest Like VCs, and Install a Permanent Operating System for Growth
In New to Big, serial entrepreneurs David Kidder and Christina Wallace reveal the Bionic blueprint for igniting growth revolutions inside established companies--funding portfolios of startups and fostering their growth from new ideas into big businesses.
When David Kidder was invited to speak at GE's annual leadership conference in 2012, he posed a rather unexpected question from the stage down to then-chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt, "How many $50 million companies did you launch last year?" His next provocation was, "I bet the answer is zero." But Immelt, rather than being offended by the radical candor, admitted to the 700 leaders in attendance, "That was the most important question in the thirty-seven years of this conference."
The fact is, as Kidder and Wallace show in New to Big, efficiency thinking and outdated bureaucracy is at war with new ideas. Established companies are skilled at growing big businesses into even bigger ones. Entrepreneurs and early-stage investors, on the other hand, are skilled at discovering new opportunities and turning them into big businesses. New to Big combines these two critical skills, introducing established companies to the methodology, tools, and systems of entrepreneurship and venture capital as a new form of management. It creates a way of working that they call the Growth Operating System.
New to Big is designed to unpack Bionic's Growth OS, which veteran venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs use to discover and build opportunities in a future that is unknowable. Because even most bets placed by VC's fail, more than 80 percent of the time. Which is why New to Big challenges business leaders to focus on what customers do, rather than what they say; to celebrate productive failure; and to embrace a portfolio approach, learning from the outside-in. The Growth OS ultimately creates a permanent capability for growth, empowering established companies to build the future and take on the grand challenges of our time.
When David Kidder was invited to speak at GE's annual leadership conference in 2012, he posed a rather unexpected question from the stage down to then-chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt, "How many $50 million companies did you launch last year?" His next provocation was, "I bet the answer is zero." But Immelt, rather than being offended by the radical candor, admitted to the 700 leaders in attendance, "That was the most important question in the thirty-seven years of this conference."
The fact is, as Kidder and Wallace show in New to Big, efficiency thinking and outdated bureaucracy is at war with new ideas. Established companies are skilled at growing big businesses into even bigger ones. Entrepreneurs and early-stage investors, on the other hand, are skilled at discovering new opportunities and turning them into big businesses. New to Big combines these two critical skills, introducing established companies to the methodology, tools, and systems of entrepreneurship and venture capital as a new form of management. It creates a way of working that they call the Growth Operating System.
New to Big is designed to unpack Bionic's Growth OS, which veteran venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs use to discover and build opportunities in a future that is unknowable. Because even most bets placed by VC's fail, more than 80 percent of the time. Which is why New to Big challenges business leaders to focus on what customers do, rather than what they say; to celebrate productive failure; and to embrace a portfolio approach, learning from the outside-in. The Growth OS ultimately creates a permanent capability for growth, empowering established companies to build the future and take on the grand challenges of our time.
223 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2019
84 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
About the author
David S. Kidder
20 books51 followersBorn in Upstate New York, David S. Kidder is a serial entrepreneur with a wide range of operational, technology, and marketing expertise focused on online product development and Internet advertising and marketing. He is currently co-Founder and serves as CEO of Clickable, an online advertising web service. Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising delivery pioneer acquired by LifeMinders. Prior to SmartRay, he founded Net-X which was acquired by TargetVision. Kidder and his companies have appeared in publications and periodicals such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, and TechCrunch, among others.
Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 16, 2019
"Unlike established businesses obsessed with shareholder returns, start-ups look to provide new solutions to customer problems. They seek to identify a “pain point” or “friction point” for consumers."
May 4, 2025
I agree with the premise of the book and appreciate that it sets out a nice, practical approach to innovation and growth within big companies. I do this work for a living so skimmed most of the rest of the book after agreeing with the intro. I also appreciate more scholarly works so as a book it wasn’t quite my style.
April 21, 2019
Kidder and Wallace provide a highly readable playbook for companies that deal with the many sticky issues of developing in-house farm teams.
The authors argue that New to Big must sit alongside Big to Bigger in the corporate mindset. “In the same way an MBA program teaches a form of management for administering and growing existing businesses, entrepreneurship and venture capital are, together, a form of management for discovering and building new businesses. Enterprises need both,” note the authors.
They offer just a few examples of companies that have deployed these methods (Uber, Amazon, Nike, TD Ameritrade). Perhaps this area is still too new. But this is quite a thoughtful read.
The authors argue that New to Big must sit alongside Big to Bigger in the corporate mindset. “In the same way an MBA program teaches a form of management for administering and growing existing businesses, entrepreneurship and venture capital are, together, a form of management for discovering and building new businesses. Enterprises need both,” note the authors.
They offer just a few examples of companies that have deployed these methods (Uber, Amazon, Nike, TD Ameritrade). Perhaps this area is still too new. But this is quite a thoughtful read.
December 29, 2020
Build a Growth Mindset inside your company, and act like a startup.
Modern startups have developed a more dynamic way of doing business and innovation than traditional companies.
By keep continuing to seek solutions for endless customer problems, companies with a startup mindset can grow.
Companies should shift from a Total Addressable Market model to a Total Addressable Problem model.
Discovering new market and new solutions to grow.
Anticipating what customers want (look at what customers actually do, instead of what they say they’ll do in market research questionnaires)
Build a good team to achieve a new-to-big philosophy. Seek out the iconoclasts, free thinkers and contrarians. They should be adaptable. They should be able to detect patterns between disparate and unrelated sources and trends and build innovative business ideas from them. They should be humble and know how to work collaboratively. It’s a team effort.
Invest in new projects with more intelligent risk and dynamism. Install a Growth Board (small team at the top of the company) who will judge the merits and allocates funding and monitors development of each scheme. Investing small amounts at the beginning of each project.
Modern startups have developed a more dynamic way of doing business and innovation than traditional companies.
By keep continuing to seek solutions for endless customer problems, companies with a startup mindset can grow.
Companies should shift from a Total Addressable Market model to a Total Addressable Problem model.
Discovering new market and new solutions to grow.
Anticipating what customers want (look at what customers actually do, instead of what they say they’ll do in market research questionnaires)
Build a good team to achieve a new-to-big philosophy. Seek out the iconoclasts, free thinkers and contrarians. They should be adaptable. They should be able to detect patterns between disparate and unrelated sources and trends and build innovative business ideas from them. They should be humble and know how to work collaboratively. It’s a team effort.
Invest in new projects with more intelligent risk and dynamism. Install a Growth Board (small team at the top of the company) who will judge the merits and allocates funding and monitors development of each scheme. Investing small amounts at the beginning of each project.
November 4, 2020
I would read this book only if you are planning on implementing a startup investment fund inside of an organization or if this is already installed and you want to improve it.
The book has some great advice for implementing a successful internal fund with the tools to how to create teams, choose founders, track progress and measure success. I mention the first paragraph because if you are not going through this process, the book might be to specific to learn something relevant outside this space. That being said, if you are buying the book for this particular reason, you will for sure enjoy the content, the writing and the overall thoughtful experience that went into the publication. Personally I really enjoyed it.
The book has some great advice for implementing a successful internal fund with the tools to how to create teams, choose founders, track progress and measure success. I mention the first paragraph because if you are not going through this process, the book might be to specific to learn something relevant outside this space. That being said, if you are buying the book for this particular reason, you will for sure enjoy the content, the writing and the overall thoughtful experience that went into the publication. Personally I really enjoyed it.
April 5, 2019
Kidder and Wallace have produced an exceptional playbook for business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in the inner workings of successful companies. It is a delightful read, free of heavy indistry jargon, with real-world insights and clever tips for success. It is a fresh, open-minded approach to leadership that leaves readers invigorated and equipped to tackle challenges.
September 14, 2019
I didn’t expect to even like this book but I ended up LOVING it! David explains so well how to use one of the most important tools companies have - talented and committed people. Decision-makers of every “traditional” company should read this book. In fact I’d say it is required reading. Today you either think big - and GO big - or you die. There are only a few ways to “go big” and “new to big” is one of them!
July 14, 2019
Big companies seeking growth must act with the dynamism and flexibility of new start-ups. Otherwise, they face stagnation and obsolescence. The key to growth is to provide new solutions to customer pain points, which can be ascertained by an attentive approach to market research. To introduce this growth model into a big organization, a special team of maverick innovators must be employed.
November 30, 2018
I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy of this book.
David and Christina did a wonderful job explaining a framework for large corporations to streamline thinking and innovate.
This is should be required reading for big companies to compete in the modern era of capitalism.
David and Christina did a wonderful job explaining a framework for large corporations to streamline thinking and innovate.
This is should be required reading for big companies to compete in the modern era of capitalism.
October 9, 2021
how big businesses can become innovators
March 11, 2023
Maybe a slightly inflated review since this was an acquisition. This isn’t particularly different from other books out there on corporate innovation, but it is structured well and provides some examples that help bring the points to life.
July 22, 2021
A good playbook for enterprise to innovate from new to big, from big to bigger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER2h8... (done)
https://shows.acast.com/mastering-inn... (done)
Table of Contents
1 New to Big 1
2 How We Got Here 10
3 From TAM to TAP 23
4 The Growth Leader Challenge 40
5 Discover a Big, Unmet Customer Need 70
6 Validate Like an Entrepreneur 91
7 Invest Like a VC 120
8 It All Comes Down to People 146
9 Install a Permanent Growth Capability 167
10 Go on Offense 196
Acknowledgments 203
Glossary 207
Notes 209
Resources 217
Index 223
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER2h8... (done)
https://shows.acast.com/mastering-inn... (done)
Table of Contents
1 New to Big 1
2 How We Got Here 10
3 From TAM to TAP 23
4 The Growth Leader Challenge 40
5 Discover a Big, Unmet Customer Need 70
6 Validate Like an Entrepreneur 91
7 Invest Like a VC 120
8 It All Comes Down to People 146
9 Install a Permanent Growth Capability 167
10 Go on Offense 196
Acknowledgments 203
Glossary 207
Notes 209
Resources 217
Index 223
January 13, 2019
To be reviewed in the May-June issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews