A new business begun inside, or separated from, an established parent that hands it operating assets on day one: facilities, supplier and lender relationships, systems, data or staff that a standalone start-up would have to build or buy. In this taxonomy, use the tag for a dated transfer or shared use of specific parent assets, and the choice they made possible, not for corporate ownership or a founder's family connection alone.
The inherited assets let the new business offer at launch what a standalone rival reaches only after years of spending: a working supply chain, financing capacity or scale in one input. The advantage is a head start, not a barrier; it lasts only if the new business turns the borrowed assets into ones it owns before rivals catch up. Separation also frees the new business from the parent's existing customers and incentives, which Christensen argues is why disruptive units need an independent organization.
From the win chains in Strategy Canon case studies: what the winner did, and what its rival did at the same step.
Incubated on DriveTime's plants, lenders and credit models
| Author | What they call it / where it appears |
|---|---|
| Christensen | Spin-out: an independent organization to pursue an opportunity the parent's processes and priorities would starve |
| Strategy Canon + | Corporate spin-off; incubated inside an incumbent; inherited operating assets |