---
id: "quote-enduring-cvcs"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ What Successful CVCs Do Differently"]
tags: ["thesis-statement", "resilience"]
related: ["claim-design-cannot-eliminate-tension", "contrarian-embrace-tension"]
speaker: "Authors"
speakers: ["Ezra Carlson", "Mehdi Safavi", "Nicolas Sauvage"]
quote: "One pattern stood out: The CVC units that endured did not try to eliminate tensions. Instead, they developed repeatable ways of working with them over time. They treated tension as normal and invested in routines that made it productive."
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"
---
# Enduring CVCs Manage Tension

> "One pattern stood out: The CVC units that endured did not try to eliminate tensions. Instead, they developed repeatable ways of working with them over time. They treated tension as normal and invested in routines that made it productive."
> — The Authors ([[entity-ezra-carlson]], [[entity-mehdi-safavi]], [[entity-nicolas-sauvage]])

## Why it matters

The empirical heart of the thesis and the seed of the contrarian move [[contrarian-embrace-tension]]: endurance came from *routines that made tension productive*, not from eliminating tension. Directly supports [[claim-design-cannot-eliminate-tension]] and motivates the [[framework-cvc-boundary-management]].