Companies need to find a compelling growth strategy and can pursue several options. They can grow internally via organic means, they can grow through mergers and acquisitions, or they can use various venturing tools such as corporate venture capital, partnering with ventures groups, or hybrid models. All of these involve tradeoffs, and the success of any particular strategy depends on external factors as well as a firm's organizational design. When looking at corporate venturing options, there is no "right" or "wrong" option, and strategic choices will need to be considered in light of internal and external factors. Hilti is a large established legacy company, active worldwide. It has traditionally grown its hardware business via organic growth and internal development. Over the past 10-15 years Hilti has increased its enterprise value, mainly by internal growth and by improving and optimizing financial controls and resource allocation. At the same time Hilti, began a process to use other corporate venturing strategies and to increase the share of turnover earned from software - as opposed to hardware - lines of business.

This case is designed to discuss the tradeoffs between independent venture capital (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC). Students also have the opportunity to analyze two startup investment opportunities based on Nine Realms' criteria. The case concludes with a discussion about a strategic choice faced by Nine Realms: should it continue as an IVC, list on the stock market or shift to a CVC? This allows students to debate the tradeoffs between the two approaches for the individuals involved.