Open-Source Mothership Startup Engagements Tracker

Corporate venture capital has reached an inflection point.

On a recent Global Corporate Venturing webinar on CVC success factors, one theme stood out clearly: corporate venturing is maturing from experimentation into a professional discipline. With that maturation comes responsibility—not just to deliver financial outcomes, but to create durable value for entrepreneurs, corporations, and society.

At TDK Ventures, that belief has shaped how we build, invest, and operate. It is also what motivated us to open-source one of our most practical internal tools: the TDK Ventures Engagement Checkerboard.

From Conviction to Visibility

One of the most common questions CVC leaders ask is deceptively simple: How do we show progress?

Early in our journey, we tracked engagements through detailed reports—introductions, evaluations, pilots, design-ins, and revenue. But the real breakthrough came when our CFO challenged us with a sharper request: “Give me one slide that shows everything.”

That challenge led to the Engagement Checkerboard.

The checkerboard provides a clear, visual snapshot of how portfolio companies engage with the broader corporate ecosystem over time. Colors evolve as relationships deepen, making progress visible at a glance. It is both a storytelling device and a management tool—used to align teams, track momentum, and anchor discussions in evidence rather than anecdotes.

Why Open-Source It?

We chose to share the checkerboard openly because raising the bar for CVC cannot happen in isolation.

Just as we previously open-sourced our Investment Scorecard, the checkerboard reflects a belief that shared learning strengthens the entire ecosystem. Many corporates are still early in their venturing journeys. Others are scaling rapidly and looking for better ways to demonstrate impact internally. Practical tools—tested in real operating environments—can accelerate that progress.

The checkerboard is shared under a Creative Commons license so that teams can adapt it to their own structures, strategies, and cultures. There is no single “right” model for CVC—but there are better ways to make progress tangible.

A Broader Philosophy

The checkerboard also reflects a deeper conviction: pre-financial value leads to financial outcomes.

Strategic learning, early ecosystem access, and real engagement with entrepreneurs are not soft benefits—they are leading indicators of long-term success. When CVCs professionalize their approach, align incentives, and make progress visible, financial and strategic outcomes reinforce one another rather than compete.

Corporate venturing is ultimately a people business. Tools like the checkerboard help capture learning, build trust, and institutionalize insight—especially as teams grow and markets evolve.

Raising the Bar—Together

Tens of thousands of corporates still operate without any form of structured venturing. At the same time, the pace of disruption across energy, deeptech, industrial systems, and AI infrastructure continues to accelerate.

If CVC is to meet this moment, it must move beyond experimentation toward disciplined execution, transparency, and shared standards of excellence.

Open-sourcing the Engagement Checkerboard is a small but deliberate step in that direction. It is an invitation—for dialogue, adaptation, and collective progress.

Because the success of corporate venture capital should not be measured only in returns, but in how effectively it helps entrepreneurs build a better future.