As a small company, you have a number of things going for you because of your size: You're agile. You can react quickly to market changes. You can still innovate on a whim.
Big businesses know this all too well, which helps explain what's driving an increase in the number of corporate venture capital arms cropping up in the past few years. If the old chestnut is correct, a rising tide floats all boats. So as the economy recovers and some sectors like technology seem like they're heading toward irrational exuberance, corporate VC firms are eager to get in on the action.