How to Become a Successful Intrapreneur

If you’re on this page, you must be well aware that there is no typo in the word “intrapreneur,” and it shouldn’t be “entrepreneur.” Here and there, you see entrepreneurship already worn out as the subject in numerous articles and discussions. Today, however, we’ll dwell on intrapreneurship.

What does it imply? Do you need an ingrained talent or a specific chromosome, or can you train yourself to be an intrapreneur?

The beans are about to be spilled: You can, and we know how to. This article contains everything you need. Come along for a five-minute read.

 

Who Are Intrapreneurs?

An intrapreneur is a short form of “internal entrepreneur.” This person is a worker at a company who embodies all the entrepreneurial skills and converts ideas into new plans and projects on the job site.

Unlike entrepreneurs who launch new brands, intrapreneurs steer existing businesses (the companies they work for) to positive changes. It’s as if they lead a smaller business inside a larger organization.

Jim Pendergast, Senior Vice President at altLINE Sobanco says “the rising stars in the future of work, capable of reshaping it for many years ahead.” And remarkably, he says, “Both parties (employers and employees) gather manifold advantages from intrapreneurship at the workplace.”

Let’s explore which exactly.

 

Benefits of Becoming an Intrapreneur

💡 Championing Your Company’s Progress

Once you tap into intrapreneurship, you have a splendid opportunity to generate innovative ideas and stimulate your company’s growth.

Just imagine you’ve been given carte blanche to dispose of the company’s resources (funding, infrastructure, workforce, customers) to orchestrate digital transformation, being an enthusiastic idea-pusher.

“It’s what employers often seek in employees—a contagious energy to inspire internal improvements (speeding up workflow efficiency, satisfying ever-evolving customer needs, opening new revenue streams, etc.). And this unique zeal hides in intrapreneurs,” notes Logan Mallory.

Why not release this inner force in the workplace and collect dividends instantly?

 

💡 Expanding Your Career Opportunities

Taking up an “in-house entrepreneur” role within your company can propel your professional development to the highest imaginable level.

Let’s assume you’re a graphic designer. By demonstrating your intrapreneurial skills (say, you suggest a killer design concept in the Metaverse), you may get promoted to the design team leader role, curate an entirely new project from scratch, and, eventually, soar to the next stage.

Here’s how your career advancement may look:

• Junior Graphic Designer
• Middle or Senior Graphic Designer
• Studio Manager
• Art Director
• Senior Art Director
• Chief Creative Officer (CCO)

No wonder intrapreneurs often land C-suite executive jobs: CEO, CTO, CCO, etc.

 

💡 Mitigating And Sharing The Risk Of Collapses (Financial or Other)

Compared to a startup, intrapreneurship typically has a lower risk of failure, whether in managing finances or business operations overall.

Jeffrey Zhou, CEO and Founder of Fig Loans explains, “As a corporate intrapreneur, you operate within an already established and stable organization. It is unlikely to be exposed to as many threats as a newly launched business (one of the greatest risks is financial instability that leaves many startups in bankruptcy). Then, there’s a risk-sharing advantage. Your employer shares all the risks and responsibilities for potential flops and fiascos.”

 

💡 Gaining Experience And Smoothing The Transition To Entrepreneurship

What if you dream about your own business and aim to grow into a successful entrepreneur or solopreneur in the long run?

When you innovate from within the company, you acquire a solid background and expertise in:

• Leadership
• Project management
• Budgeting
• Negotiation
• Conflict resolution, etc.

These are critical if you see entrepreneurship as your prospective career in your mind’s eye.

Let’s look at the example of a career path taken by Viktoria Elman, one of the top voices of FemTech, aka female technology, in Sweden. She first gained 12 years of experience in intrapreneurship. Over this timeframe, Elman was honing her intrapreneurial skills by leading sales teams and projects at Red Bull, TheFork, and TripAdvisor. Once skilled and confident enough to sail solo, she founded her business, VoiceHER.

 

How an Employee Can Become an Intrapreneur

See what it takes employees to turn into intrapreneurs and how you can do that, too.

💡 Develop An Intrapreneurial Mindset And Ideate

Have you heard the following saying: “If you want to be a true entrepreneur, think like one”?

The same may be said about intrapreneurship.

Michael Melen, Co-Founder at SmartSites, believes an employee must be an innovation protagonist with an intrapreneurial mentality to become a corporate intrapreneur. This mindset is similar to an entrepreneurial mindset, yet it presupposes an internally focused way of thinking. Michael Melen mentions, “It’s when you concentrate your entrepreneurial ambitions on improving your company’s products or services rather than seeking to realize those outside.

This mental makeup gives you a knack for localizing gaps or inefficiencies, pushing innovative ideas forward, and acting as a perpetual process optimizer in the company.”

Indeed, everything starts with an idea to optimize something spurred by employees’ intrapreneurial mindsets.

Let’s review several cases:

• Adobe → Adobe Kickbox is a program that stemmed from a suggestion by Adobe’s employee, Mark Randall.
• LinkedIn → LinkedIn’s “InMaps” feature is likewise an employee-driven innovation.
• Elewit → Elewit owes its most renowned initiatives, SafeDelimit and eComerland, to intrapreneurs Manuel Martínez and Gustavo López, respectively.

 

💡 Carve Out More Freedom And Autonomy For Projects

High workplace autonomy is at the root of effective intrapreneurship, which doesn’t tolerate micromanagement.

Reyansh Mestry, Head of Marketing at TopSource Worldwide, claims, “Micromanaged workers never become internal entrepreneurs. Plus, there’s a fiercer drawback—they get used to this dependence and expect instructions from managers every other second. On the contrary, becoming an intrapreneur means resisting micromanagers tendencies in the workplace, if any, and striving for a more autonomous work environment.”

Knowing that job autonomy is a double-edged sword, some companies take the reins in their hands and develop specific initiatives to promote creative freedom but still control it to some extent.

For example:

The intrapreneurs at Tote + Pears “own” their schedules one day/week. On that particular day, they are free to think creatively and brainstorm revolutionary ideas, holding business objectives on their radars.

Similarly, if it hadn’t been for Google’s “20% time” policy, Gmail might have never been invented. The policy? Employees could dedicate 20% of their work hours to their preferred projects, even those unrelated to their job responsibilities. And that’s when Paul Buchheit, Google’s engineer, came up with the Gmail idea.

 

💡 Enroll In Relevant Courses Or Workshops

How about an intrapreneurial workout?

Grant Aldrich, Founder of Preppy, argues that it’s not about scanning yourself for a specific gene; it’s instead about getting trained and growing your entrepreneurial “muscles.” He states, “Intrapreneur’s qualities are trainable. And yes, you can become more intrapreneurial with adequate training via courses, workshops, or classes, online or offline.”

Grant Aldrich names a couple of courses at hand:

• Corporate Innovation and Intrapreneurship Course at Georgia Tech
• Intrapreneurship at Adams Academy
• Workplace Success / Intrapreneurship at AOLCC
• Intrapreneurship Certificate Program at Cornell University
• Training for Aspiring Intrapreneurs at IntrapreneurNation

Alternatively, practice these skills during workshops or specialized classes.

For example:

Siemens employees enrolled in the “Market of Makers” – an intrapreneurship workshop organized by ESCP Business School. Four hundred finance department members at Siemens participated in a four-month program to become innovation drivers.

 

💡 Prepare To Lead

As we’ve already mentioned before, intrapreneurs traditionally occupy the driver’s seat. They lead teams of different sizes and, sometimes, in many different countries simultaneously.

So, you must learn how to drive your company to success as a team leader.

For example:

Before turning into an entrepreneur, Cache Merrill, Founder/CTO/CEO at Zibtek, managed several teams, from a team of software developers located in one country (as the Development Manager at ACS Technologies) to a worldwide development team (as the CTO at Zinch). Drawn from his experiences, he enumerates seven obligatory skills (leader’s pillars) intrapreneurs should possess to manage teams:

• Strategic thinking
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Delegation
• Team-building
• Mentorship
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

Cache Merrill highlights the importance of DEI in particular. He firmly insists, “Intrapreneurs who lead teams should cultivate a positive and inclusive team culture.” Among other things, it’s crucial to learn how to lead peers respectfully, disregarding their seniority level, experience, age, religion, gender, etc.

 

💡 Go Beyond The Office Walls

Aside from internal networking and building relationships with decision-makers inside your organization (other employees, stakeholders, or business partners), Leigh McKenzie, Community Advocate at Traffic Think Tank, recommends creating an external network.

Why do you need external networking to become a successful intrapreneur, anyway?

In McKenzie’s words: “When transcending the office walls and already explored spaces and discovering new contacts, you can connect with other intrapreneurs to exchange knowledge and experience and stay up-to-date with industry trends.”

Several possible pathways to do that are:

• Dedicated social media groups (e.g., The League of Intrapreneurs or The Intrapreneur Club on Facebook or similar LinkedIn Groups)
• Conferences
• Podcasts
• Webinars
• Interviews

For example:

Izabella Naessa, the Intrapreneur and Head of Commercial Strategy at GetBEE made her voice heard in the community through an interview with Gal Talks Tech.

 

💡 Position Yourself As An Intrapreneur On LinkedIn

It’s not enough to become an intrapreneur and leave this status pointlessly lying on the shelf.

You should show it off so that more people will recognize you as a part of their “tribe.” Again, it’s about networking. But not only. It’s also essential to capture the attention and shine in front of potential employers. You can do that effectively via LinkedIn.

John Baek, Founder of JSB Digital Works, suggests starting with LinkedIn profile optimization. He says, “Your headline should represent your intrapreneurial role. It may go like this: Innovative Leader | Intrapreneur | Driving Innovation and Growth at [Company Name]. Besides, you might need to update your summary with targeted keywords, such as entrepreneurial skills, digital transformation, product development, and so on.”

 

Your Path to Intrapreneurship May Start Here

In case this article has not fully addressed your concerns and questions about becoming a successful intrapreneur, we’ve prepared a backup plan for you.

Ivy Exec is your reliable source for executive career support and coaching. Meet with your career advisor to discuss how to amplify your intrapreneurial potential.

It may be just the right stepping stone to your intrapreneurial future.