Harvard in Tech Spotlight: Mark Blake, Global Head of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Venture Investing at S&P Global
I spoke with Mark Blake, Global Head of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Venture Investing at S&P Global.
Mark studied government at Harvard, initially intending to be a lawyer. However, in his first job he enjoyed what he was learning in accounting and finance and chose to attend business school to gain a more formal business training. After business school, he had a brief stint in investment banking, left to join a startup, and later transitioned to turnaround consulting. In looking for a high impact but lower travel role, he landed in corporate M&A at Avaya and Medco Health before becoming head of strategy and corporate development at Cardinal Health in Ohio. In a move back to NYC, he joined Nielsen as EVP of Corporate Development and afterwards S&P Global, where he currently leads Strategy, Corporate Development and Venture Investing.
Mark shared his advice for establishing strong partnerships, reading situations, collaborating effectively, and learning.
Establish strategic clarity from the start. In partnerships and acquisitions, structure and business terms flow from strategy. Having a clear view on objectives facilitates negotiations and enables clear decision-making for all of the parties involved.
Pay attention to small details. In the due diligence process, it is helpful to listen, follow-up and triangulate with other information.
Answers to seemingly small questions can be instructive, and intuitions may (and often do!) lead to deeper insight.
Listen to your team. In evaluating an opportunity, each person will have their own perspective on what they have observed and learned. Getting input from everyone, regardless of seniority, drives the best result as the diversity of perspectives are key to developing a comprehensive understanding of the situation.
Stay close to innovation. Mark shaped S&P’s venture investing arm to be a strategic tool to stay close to the people, business models and technologies that shape the company’s ecosystem. Through their venture investing partnerships, S&P is able to obtain learnings and create strategic opportunities in emerging growth areas that are of high interest.
S&P invests with a clear strategic thesis to ensure they are creating impact for both the startups and their own customers. They often act as a board observer to maintain two-way connectivity and support the portfolio as a partner.
Communicate early and often. When working in large teams, surface key questions and ideas early to give people an opportunity for feedback and to create buy-in. For example, Mark’s team socializes the fact that they are speaking to startups early on so that relevant team members can share perspectives well in advance of a decision.
Have clear decision makers. While it is important to get input from many people, it is crucial to balance this with nimble decision-making. S&P’s venture capital team, for example, has a 2-person equity committee to ensure timely decisions and responsiveness to the environment.
Retain your curiousity. Looking back on his time at Harvard, Mark was incredibly glad he pursued his interest in political science. While he was able to get more practical training on the job and in business school, his liberal arts background provided strong grounding in strategic analysis and creative thinking. When hiring, Mark believes that intellectual curiosity is a key trait that enables long-term success in business.
Incorporate flexibility. While at Harvard, Mark balanced academics with campus jobs and extracurricular pursuits in athletics. That said, some of the most important learning opportunities on campus came from optional lectures and elective activities. In his life now, he strives to incorporate unscheduled time for reading, strategic thinking and opportunistic discussions on a broad range of topics.
