Pilot Programme — Starting August 2025

Corporate Venture Mastermind

A 3-month peer cohort for CVC professionals who operate at the intersection of two worlds — and are fully understood by neither.

Pre-Apply Now

3 Months Bi-weekly 90-min sessions

8 Members Maximum Curated for trust & chemistry

London In-Person 1-day gathering in September

Starts August 2025 Pre-apply now

In collaboration with

The Problem

CVC investors are fully understood by neither world.

Independent VCs don't face what they face. Their colleagues inside the corporate don't understand it either. The result: a specific, recurring set of challenges that CVC professionals carry largely alone.

Mandate ambiguity — is the fund here for strategic value, financial return, or both? The answer shifts with every leadership change.

Managing upward — the parent corporation acts as LP, but unlike a passive LP, it can veto deals, redirect strategy, or shut the unit down.

Internal politics — a portfolio company that threatens a business unit is a political problem, not just an investment one.

Ecosystem isolation — independent VCs see CVCs as slow and conflicted. The CVC community itself is fragmented and rarely candid in public.

Career uncertainty — what comes next if the unit is restructured? How do you build a career in a structure that can disappear overnight?

A peer group that genuinely understands this context — with no corporate agendas, no competitive overlap, and no performance — does not yet exist. We've designed this programme to be that.

Who It's For

A Tightly Curated Cohort

For us, curation is not a nice-to-have — it's the product. Every member must be able to speak freely, which means the room has to be right.

Managing an Active Portfolio

CVC principals, directors, and VPs with hands-on portfolio responsibilities and real investment decisions to make.

Navigating Mandate & Alignment

Investors navigating mandate definition or managing internal stakeholder alignment with the parent corporation.

Seeking Peer Thinking

CVCs looking for peer perspective outside their corporate bubble — with no competitive overlap by sector or parent company.

What You Get

Everything You Need to Navigate the CVC Role

Bi-Weekly Group Sessions

The format alternates between two session types — each designed around what the cohort actually needs.

Hotseat sessions — one member brings their most pressing challenge; the group engages without hierarchy or judgment
Expert sessions — guest facilitators from LP, corporate innovation, and ecosystem networks; topics chosen by the cohort

"One member brings their challenge. The group engages. No advice-giving for the sake of it — real thinking, real listening."

Hotseat Coaching

Dedicated time on your specific challenge — a confidential board without hierarchy or politics. The facilitator holds the space. No generic frameworks, no theory. Real thinking on what's actually keeping you up at night.

Expert Sessions

Guest facilitators from LP, corporate innovation, and ecosystem networks. Topics chosen around what the cohort actually needs — not a generic VC curriculum. Select guests from the EU.vc network.

1:1 On-Call Coaching

Available between sessions for high-stakes moments and decisions. Because timing matters when you're navigating something that can't wait until the next group call.

London In-Person Day

One full day for the cohort in September — deeper work, relationship building, and a guest session. This is the emotional core of the programme, where the peer relationships that last beyond the cohort are built.

3-Month Programme Structure

Month 1 · August

Kick-off session · 2× bi-weekly group calls (1 hotseat · 1 expert session)

Month 2 · September ★ In-person

2× bi-weekly calls · expert session · 1-day in-person event, London — the emotional core of the programme

Month 3 · October

2× bi-weekly calls · hotseat coaching · closing session

Why It Works

What CVC Professionals Have Told Us They Need Most

A confidential board with no corporate agenda The single biggest pull. CVCs cannot speak freely with internal colleagues. They cannot be candid with independent VC co-investors who have different incentives. They rarely find peers they can be fully honest with. This programme creates that room — and protects it.
The internal politics dimension, finally named No independent VC programme covers this. How do you manage upward to a CFO who doesn't understand J-curves? How do you protect a portfolio company from a business unit that sees it as a threat? How do you keep your unit alive through a restructuring? These are the questions that actually keep CVC investors up at night.
Expert perspectives from both sides of the table CVCs need to understand how LPs evaluate them through the lens of the parent corporation, how independent VCs perceive them as co-investors, and how portfolio founders experience them. Expert sessions are curated around these specific lenses — not a generic VC curriculum.
Peer relationships that outlast the programme The in-person day in London is not a bonus — it is where the cohort becomes a real peer network. For CVC investors who are often isolated inside their corporate bubble, this is disproportionately valuable.

Selection Process

Why Not Everyone Gets In

This only works if people can speak freely. That requires strict confidentiality and zero competitive overlap.

Confidentiality is non-negotiable
No direct competitive overlap — by sector or parent company
A shared commitment to candor, transparency and contribution
Willingness to be challenged
Maximum 8 members per cohort — curation is the product

Proof Point

Built on a running model.

The CVC Mastermind is adapted from the Emerging Manager Mastermind — a peer cohort for first and second-time fund managers, currently in Cohort 1 with six participants. The format, facilitation approach, and hotseat methodology are proven.

The CVC programme applies the same model to a distinct audience with its own specific challenges. Same structure. Different room. Built for CVC — not repurposed from it.

Your Facilitators

Led by Practitioners, Not Theorists

Anieke Lamers

The VC Coach

15+ years in venture. Founder of The VC Coach. Currently facilitating Cohort 1 of the Emerging Manager Mastermind — the programme the CVC cohort is built on. Anieke brings deep VC expertise and a human-centered coaching approach, creating a space where investors can tackle strategic, operational, and personal challenges openly.

Liliana Negrila

Coach & Facilitator

Coach and facilitator working with fund managers and investors on the human dynamics of the role. Advisory work with VC funds on fundraising strategy and LP engagement. Liliana brings a deep understanding of the interpersonal and organisational challenges that define the CVC experience.

David Cruz e Silva

Guest Expert · Co-founder & Host, EU.VC

Co-founder of EU.VC, Europe's go-to platform for venture capital insights. Through hundreds of conversations with GPs, LPs and CVC practitioners, David has built one of the most comprehensive vantage points on how corporate venture teams operate, raise mandates, and navigate the European ecosystem. He brings that network and pattern recognition directly into the CVC cohort.

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Your Investment

Everything Included

A complete 3-month programme designed for meaningful transformation — no hidden fees, no upsells.

Bi-weekly facilitated group sessions
Hotseat coaching (dedicated challenge board)
Expert sessions with guest facilitators
1:1 coaching on-demand between sessions
1-day in-person gathering, London (September)

3-Month Programme

€3,390

ex VAT · one-time investment

Includes the London in-person day. No hidden fees, no upsells.