Introduction

Serial builders win big. Companies that keep launching new ventures - and use AI to do it - see faster growth and better returns.

What's the problem it solves?

Many companies struggle to grow beyond their core business or fail to make new ventures profitable fast enough. This article shows how experienced venture builders use AI, data, and smart risk-taking to launch more successful and faster-growing ventures, even in tough economic times.

Quick Summary

McKinsey’s sixth annual survey on corporate venture building reveals that companies with experience in creating new ventures are seeing stronger results than ever. Those that have built multiple ventures in the past five years now treat it as a repeatable growth engine. These companies are not just innovating once - they’re serial builders who rely on AI and data-driven methods to speed up time to profit and reduce risk.

AI is playing a major role. Businesses are using it for everything from product ideas and go-to-market planning to scaling operations with minimal teams. The best performers use AI not only to improve efficiency but also as the core of their new business models. Ventures built with advanced AI use cases report twice the revenue of those using it for simple tasks.

The study also shows a cultural shift. Companies that encourage risk-taking, train employees to experiment, and invest in modern tech infrastructure see faster growth and break even in as little as two years. Most new ventures now reach $10 million in annual revenue within 31 months, down from 38 months just a few years ago. Looking ahead, most leaders plan to build data- and AI-focused ventures, expecting them to make up nearly one-fifth of company revenue within five years.

Key Takeaways

• Repeat venture builders achieve the highest ROI and fastest growth.
• Average break-even costs have dropped from $125 million to $77 million.
• 84% of companies plan to integrate AI into their new-venture process.
• Ventures led by AI and data generate up to 2x more revenue.
• Cultures that support experimentation and learning outperform rigid ones.
• Digital and software-based ventures grow faster and scale cheaper than physical-product ones.

What to do

• Treat venture building as a repeatable growth system, not a one-off experiment.
• Use AI for ideation, product validation, and go-to-market scaling.
• Reinvest early profits into building multiple ventures to multiply returns.
• Foster a company culture that rewards experimentation and learning.
• Upskill teams in venture-building and AI tools.
• Focus future ventures on data, analytics, and AI-driven opportunities.

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