McKinsey partners: you need to protect successful new ventures from the core business

Please see attached for an image of the three authors. From left, to right: Daniel Aminetzah, Paul Jenkins, Jorge Grieve. (Credit: courtesy of McKinsey)

The search for growth often comes down to three choices: buy, build, or partner. Acquisitions traditionally offered CEOs a faster path to scale, while partnerships offered the ability to unlock opportunities that were difficult to pursue alone. Now, AI is shifting the build playing field: lowering experimentation costs, quickening build cycles, and letting AI-native businesses be designed from the outset.

That shift has expanded the range of new ventures that can be built. And, accelerated how quickly they can scale. Successful ventures now reach $10 million in revenue within 31 months on average, compared to a previous average of 38 months and they break even with 40% less capital than before.