Instead of a large upfront equity investment, strategic partners can use warrants. This gives the corporation the option to earn equity later if the startup achieves specific milestones, often through their joint partnership. This approach de-risks the initial investment and directly rewards successful collaboration.

To overcome the cold start problem in a network effects business, especially in a conservative industry like finance, a powerful strategy is to create a coalition or consortium model. By giving early adopters ownership and governance rights, you align incentives, build trust, and transform would-be competitors into enthusiastic evangelists for the new network.

Instead of building a consumer brand from scratch, a technologically innovative but unknown company can license its core tech to an established player. This go-to-market strategy leverages the partner's brand equity and distribution to reach customers faster and validate the technology without massive marketing spend.

To encourage adoption of tech benefiting multiple business units, Oshkosh's CVC arm uses a central budget to fund initial proofs of concept. This removes the "who pays?" friction, as no single department has to bear the initial cost for a company-wide benefit, with the successful unit paying later.

Oshkosh's CVC team is a hybrid, not siloed in one department. It includes members from corporate development, a venture lead in a tech hub (Bay Area), and a counterpart in an engineering business unit. This structure ensures that strategic goals, technological feasibility, and market deal flow are constantly aligned.

Oshkosh avoids demanding a Right of First Refusal, which can scare off potential acquirers. Instead, they secure information rights and board observer seats. This ensures they are notified of any acquisition talks, allowing them to enter a competitive process without limiting the startup's exit opportunities.

Beyond the equity stake and Azure revenue, Satya Nadella highlights a core strategic benefit: royalty-free access to OpenAI's IP. For Microsoft, this is equivalent to having a "frontier model for free" to deeply integrate across its entire product suite, providing a massive competitive advantage without incremental licensing costs.

Granting a full co-founder 50% equity is a massive, often regrettable, early decision. A better model is to bring on a 'partner' with a smaller, vested equity stake (e.g., 10%). This provides accountability and complementary skills without sacrificing majority ownership and control.

Oshkosh evolved its corporate venture capital from focusing on financial returns to prioritizing strategic innovation. This "CVC 2.0" approach emphasizes direct partnerships and technology integration to supplement in-house R&D, making innovation the primary goal, though financial returns are still a factor.