---
id: "quote-boundary-role"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Frontstage Work: Managing Tensions in the Spotlight"]
tags: ["practitioner-insight", "alignment"]
related: ["concept-frontstage-work"]
speaker: "Anonymous CVC head at a global industrial company"
speakers: []
quote: "We see ourselves as the boundary between our corporate partners and the startup. In every deal review, our job is to make sure the investment goals line up with the strategic interests of all sides."
sources: ["ecosystem"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-ecosystem"
originDay: 11
articleStem: "hbr-cl-81-corporate-vc-funds"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/03/what-successful-corporate-venture-capital-funds-do-differently"
sourceTitle: "What Successful Corporate Venture Capital Funds Do Differently"
---
# The Boundary Role of CVC

> "We see ourselves as the boundary between our corporate partners and the startup. In every deal review, our job is to make sure the investment goals line up with the strategic interests of all sides."
> — Anonymous CVC head at a global industrial company

## Why it matters

A practitioner articulation of [[concept-frontstage-work]]: the CVC's daily job in deal reviews is *alignment across all sides*, not advocacy for one. Note: the speaker is anonymous in the source, so no named speaker entity is attributed.