Fishbowl: Should projects in a large organization be run as startups?

Large organizations have a need to deliver products in order to grow profits and increase market share. The singular goal of a startup is to deliver an innovative product that will grab market share and lead to profitability. Therefore it would seem that projects in a large organization are startups in disguise. But they differ in a very fundamental way. The life of a startup depends completely on how successful it is in identifying a need in the market place and providing a product to meet that need. The life of a project depends on the size of the investment that has been made into the project, the sunk cost fallacy, and fallout that would ensue if the project has failed. Whereas a startup is motivated to succeeding, a project attempts not to fail. So is it possible that a large organization can change they way it invests in its projects? How would an organization be affected by running its projects like startups?

Nikolai Avteniev has spent over 10 years developing software. He is currently a Principle Engineer at Intent Media where he spends his time turning the next big idea into a profitable product. Nikolai has worked in one of the biggest financial institutions, and was a founding member and Head of Software Development in a boutique financial software company. He has had extensive first hand experience with how products are built in large organizations and in startups. He graduated with a Masters degree in Computer Science from NYU and enjoys playing football, European style, in Prospect Park parade grounds.