The Unicorn Within - by Linda K Yates (Paperback)

About the Book

"It's become accepted wisdom that established companies can't build and scale new ventures the way startups can-after all, startups are lean and agile, while incumbents are too big, slow, and inflexible. But that's nonsense, and it's time to challenge that idea. In The Unicorn Within, Linda Yates, the founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Mach49, the world's leading growth incubator for the Global 1000, argues that to thrive, companies can and must harness their power-their ideas, talent, data, cash, resources, channels, and customers-to build a portfolio of game-changing ventures and beat the startups at their own game. In this all-in-one guide, Yates lays out a comprehensive twelve-week program, proven in scores of the world's largest companies, for doing all of the above: building a team and finding customer pain points; creating new products or services; developing a rigorous business and execution plan; and launching, accelerating, and scaling each venture. And then doing it again and again. She also shares a blueprint for building your own incubator and accelerator-your own growth engine-along with providing a robust, repeatable, and scalable process that also addresses the complexities and often paralyzing constraints of corporate bureaucracy. Best of all, Yates offers a guide relevant to everyone, from the growth-minded C-suite senior executive to the ambitious, creative intrapreneur, as she covers everything from selecting your new-venture team to creating a new-venture board-the senior executives who become the venture's internal VCs, helping to remove institutional friction and ensuring that every venture can reach escape velocity and thrive. Focused 100% on execution, the book is filled with methods, assessments, tools, scripts, agendas, and striking visuals illustrating every step. The Unicorn Within provides everything even the most established company needs to create high-growth new ventures that deliver compelling new products and services-and stay perpetually competitive in the face of relentless change"--

Book Synopsis

Imagine if the multinational hotel groups had founded Airbnb, or the big auto companies had launched Uber and Tesla, or Blockbuster had created Netflix. Large companies can start new ventures. You have ideas, talent, brand, capital--you have customers--you can strike back.

In The Unicorn Within, Mach49 founder and CEO Linda Yates empowers large companies to beat startups at their own game--to build a pipeline and portfolio of new ventures to drive meaningful growth. How? With a teachable, repeatable, scalable method focused 100 percent on execution across the spectrum of venture creation from Ideate to Incubate, Accelerate, and Scale. She also offers keys to managing the Mothership and seizing the Mothership advantage to ensure your ventures reach escape velocity and thrive.

And don't stop at just one venture. Yates also lays out her blueprint for building a Venture Factory capable of becoming your company's growth engine for years to come.

The next Unicorns don't have to come from Silicon Valley. Regardless of your company's industry, geography, or history, they can come from you. Whether you're the CEO, a member of the C-suite, or an internal entrepreneur, you can help your company grow. With this book's proven method, you can unleash the Unicorn within.

Review Quotes

Named one of the 10 Best Business Books of 2022 by Forbes

"Newly released, The Unicorn Within: How Companies Can Create Game-Changing Ventures at Startup Speed is a practical guide to a repeatable and scalable methodology. Yates and her Mach49 team use it to steer Global 1,000 corporations towards sustained internal venture generation." -- CEO World magazine

Advance Praise for The Unicorn Within:

"I've known Linda Yates for over thirty-five years. She is one of the top growth and innovation experts in the world. Her new book, The Unicorn Within, is a playbook for executives of large companies who are tasked with making the monumental shift from being the disrupted to becoming the disruptor. Her book is a highly practical guide to help you drive growth for your company, your shareholders, your customers, your people, your community, and, given her strong ethos that you can do well by doing good, the world." -- Reed Hastings, cofounder, Chairman, and CEO, Netflix

"We can prove to the world that there is no better time for the long-established legacy companies to launch our own startups and, yes, even our own Unicorns. We have ideas, brands, talent, capital, and customers we can leverage. The Unicorn Within teaches us all how to stay 100 percent focused on execution and unleash those assets in a repeatable, scalable way for the long term. I predict this book will become a how-to resource for companies across the globe." -- Richard J. Kramer, Chairman, CEO, and President, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

"A must-read for innovation-minded corporate business leaders. I've seen firsthand how effective Linda's strategies are when applied to the real world of venture creation and disruptive growth. I am confident that The Unicorn Within will be a coveted read and an important book." -- Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and Managing Partner, DBL Partners; early investor, Tesla, SpaceX, and several other successful startups

About the Author

Linda Yates is the founder and CEO of Mach49, the growth incubator for global businesses with clients including Goodyear, Gundersen Health, Hitachi, Intel, Pernod Ricard, Schneider Electric, Shell, and many more. She is a seasoned CEO and board member with over thirty years of experience bridging Silicon Valley and the Global 1000, creating global strategy, building companies, and driving innovation for large multinationals worldwide.

You can find the author at: mach49.com.