The chances of an entrepreneurial start-up succeeding today are slight. Passion, energy, and limited dollars usually bump into the reality of competition, lack of differentiation, and underestimating the financial requirements needed to be successful. Yet enough start-up's are successful to keep the flame alive for those with the entrepreneurial desire to go for broke.
The opportunity for established companies is to think and act more like a start-up, or at least bring new start-up thinking to that which they already excel. When was the last time you got into a room with several of your key leaders and brainstormed opportunities for your division or your company? Focus on what you are best at and then ask the start-up questions. The "what if" questions.
What established companies can provide to start-up thinking is deep experience, expertise and appropriate funding.
Start-up thinking will bring new ideas and new energy and will re-ignite passions for your leadership/management team. It will remind them of why they got into this business to begin with. Start-up thinking for an existing company provides the juice to jolt your company forward.
You will end up gaining much more than you risk by doing the same thing over and over again. You will connect people, passion, energy and ideas. And that mixture will lead to innovative leaps for your company.