With 5G and immersive technologies continuing to create endless possibilities for the telecommunication industry and ecosystem, unlocking new use cases and business models, it’s time for telcos to explore  need to explore fresh and dynamic ways to sell connectivity through unforgettable experiences.

And what better way to foster innovation than through scaleup-corporate collaborations (Corp-Up)?

How can corporates leverage the scaleup-powered innovation to unlock the potential of the latest technologies to innovate and enhance customer experience? And how can scaleups best steer these collaborations to achieve maximum impact?

Match-Maker Ventures recently hosted a webinar on the key success factors of startup-corporate collaborations in the telecom industry: Mastering Corp-Up with Telcos – Episode 2.

With the help of first-hand accounts and real-world examples coming from a carefully curated panel of regional experts from KPN, Ooredoo Qatar and PicUP, Match-Maker Ventures explored increasingly important topics such as the recent trends surrounding the telecom industry, the new use cases and business models created by 5G and immersive technologies, the key success factors to maximize the impact of startup-corporate collaborations, and much more!

Missed the event? Click below to access the webinar on demand!

Our speakers

To discuss the best way companies can create long-term shareholder and stakeholder value in the telecommunication industry, we brought together representatives of leading corporates and scaleups to share their perspectives on the topic, including the Executive Vice-President at KPN Jacob Groote, the Director of Digital Innovation at Ooredoo Qatar Clay Susini, the Vice President of Sales at PicUP Liad Iluz, and the Senior Representative at Match-Maker Ventures Ilan Solel.

What did we talk about?

The main focus of the webinar was to explore the latest trends of the telecom sector and the dynamics of the startup-corporate collaboration ecosystem, together with the main trends and challenges, providing insights on how to unlock the full potential of the latest cutting-edge innovations and technologies.

What did we learn?

1. 5G and immersive technologies are creating new use cases and business models for telcos
2. Immersive technology can be leveraged to enhance customer experience and enable new touch points along the customer journey
3. New business models leveraging eSIMs and decentralized networks are becoming increasingly popular
4. The journey of bringing telco infrastructures into a cloud environment is longer than expected
5. Satellite networks are kicking in
6. Telcos are opening up their networks with different kinds of APIs, making more functionalities available in a very secure way – and this is building up new business models
7. The best way to make customers use 5G technologies is to create AR/VR experiences and promote cloud gaming services
8. Cyber technologies are getting a lot of traction nowadays
9. To monetize 5G investments it is important to build your own ecosystem (including both corporates and startups/scaleups) which addresses the right customer problems and refers to specific use cases
10. Customer validation is one of the most important aspects of business – when a collaboration creates value for your customers and this value is recognized, the collaboration can be considered successful
11. A key success factor of Corp-Up collaborations is a quick and easy integration of the solution within corporate ecosystem – the sooner a solution can be integrated and tested on the actual customer, the better
12. To speed up the collaboration process it is important to simplify the legal and procurement processes which usually involve lengthy internal alignments and discussions
13. Start with the problem, not with the solution – Corporates should focus more on the type of problems they are trying to solve for customers
14. When engaging in scaleup-corporate collaborations it’s important to set certain targets/KPIs companies (efficiency, cost reduction, revenue streams etc.) would like to achieve and measure the success of a partnership based on those
15. When engaging in Corp-Up, goals should be set at the beginning to make sure they are aligned between the two parties involved – expectations should be clear in order to define a collaboration timeline
16. Resources and capacities should be clearly defined and estimated on both sides of the collaboration
17. Open communication is key to any successful collaboration

Let’s wrap up!

In conclusion, to thrive in a highly volatile telecommunications industry, telcos need to adopt new business models and unveil novel digital services at a rapid rate. One way to achieve sustainable growth and create long-term shareholder and stakeholder value is to engage in Corp-Up (startup-corporate collaborations).