#8 - The Corporate Venturer: Diplomat, Therapist, Magician w/ Patricia Kroondijk (Canon Marketing Japan)

🎙️ Welcome to a new episode of The Corporate Venturing Podcast!

What does it take to lead Corporate Venturing in a global organisation, when the rules are shifting, and the real challenge is not building ventures… but making them stick?

In this episode, I sit down with Patricia Kroondijk, Head of Corporate Venture Capital and Venture Building at Canon, to explore what it means to drive innovation inside a company known for excellence and legacy, but hungry for transformation.

Patricia shares her personal framework of the three roles every corporate venturer must master:

🎩 The Diplomat — navigating power structures and getting buy-in

🧠 The Therapist — helping the organisation unlearn old habits

🪄 The Magician — creating value where no one thought it was possible

+ Of course, The Entrepreneur (quite obvious)

We also discuss:

🧭 Why venturing is ultimately a cultural transformation tool

⚖️ The power dynamics between core business and new ventures

🚫 Why pushing too fast can trigger antibodies — and how to pace the journey

🌐 How her team thinks globally but executes in alignment with local units

🧱 The invisible work behind aligning stakeholders before a venture even launches

Whether you’re building a venture unit, managing a CVC fund, or trying to bring real innovation into a complex organisation, this episode is a masterclass in the nuance, realism, and persistence it takes to make it work.

Resources:

• ⁠Open Road Ventures⁠

• ⁠Bundl Venture Club⁠

🎧 Follow the podcast for more grounded stories from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.