The Intrapreneurship Gap

Yetvart Artinyan
Jul 22
3 min read

Intrapreneurship sounds easy to celebrate: “Act like an owner,” “Think like a founder,” “Drive change from within.” These phrases inspire, yet inside most companies, they remain little more than empty slogans. Employees try to live by them—and hit walls. They spot real user problems—and get told to stay in their lane. They pitch promising ideas—and get buried in months-long approval loops. The result? The company says “Innovate.” The system says “Not that way.”

Where intrapreneurship actually begins

Real intrapreneurship rarely sparks in a strategy session. It starts when someone close to the work spots something broken: a recurring workaround, a user friction point long normalized, or a small hack that could unlock a big opportunity. That moment is the spark: “This is worth fixing.” From there, the journey mirrors a startup: assume the opportunity is real, run small experiments, gather signals, and recruit help as momentum grows. But unlike a startup, the intrapreneur lacks full autonomy. They’re stuck inside a system built for efficiency, not discovery. That’s where most ideas go silent or end up in complex corporate innovation programs.

“Innovation doesn’t die from a lack of ideas. It dies from a lack of entrepreneurism.”

Two types of innovation—Only one gets funded

Most organizations run two parallel innovation streams: top-down initiatives and bottom-up signals. Top-down initiatives are strategic, budgeted, and aligned with leadership priorities. These get project codes and executive sponsors. Bottom-up signals are spotted by those closest to the customer. Raw, early, and often closer to real needs. Guess which become meaningful products? And which get ignored? Not because bottom-up ideas are wrong—because they don’t fit the plan.

Why intrapreneurship dies without systemic support

Telling employees to “think like founders” while confining them to rigid organizational logic isn’t empowerment—it’s demoralization. If you want intrapreneurship to work, you need more than slogans. You need systemic shifts. Without slack time—space beyond daily tasks—nothing new gets built. Without air cover, leaders must protect and finance early ideas before they “make sense.” Blocking user access to testing guarantees guessing. Old processes kill new ideas, so fast-tracks and exceptions are critical. And internal bets need legitimacy; treat them as real work, not side hustles.

Quick self-test: Are you really supporting intrapreneurs?

Can employees run real experiments without first asking for budget?
Do early ideas have clear pathways—or just portals?
Is pivoting seen as learning—or failure?
Have any bottom-up ideas recently become products or features?
Do people know who to talk to when they spot non-obvious opportunities?

If you hesitated on more than one, you’re not alone. But that hesitation is your signal.

Want to understand if your organization is intrapreneur ready? Get my Intrapreneur Trigger Cards now

From criticism to capability: Changing the architecture

This isn’t about blame—it’s about architecture. Most organizations weren’t designed to support intrapreneurs. They were built for scale, repeatability, and compliance. But the market doesn’t care about your org chart. It cares how fast you respond to new needs and signals. And the people spotting those signals? They’re probably already on your payroll.

What real progress looks like

You don’t need a shiny innovation lab. You need to remove friction for the ideas already trying to surface. Start by giving people structured time to chase validated hunches. Track bottom-up ideas like KPIs in executive meetings. Make user testing permissionless. Celebrate internal bets, even when they fail. Fund one wildcard project per quarter—no pitch deck required. These are signals you mean business.

Why bottom-up innovation is overlooked

A common mistake is dismissing bottom-up ideas as unstructured or premature. Yet many breakthrough innovations originate with the people closest to real customer pain points. When these individuals lack autonomy, resources, or recognition, their willingness to take initiative quickly erodes. Innovation doesn’t stall because people stop caring—it stalls because the system quietly signals that their efforts aren’t welcome. Leaders must do more than demand innovation; they must create the conditions that make it possible.

How Organizations Can Systematically Foster Innovation

Make innovation a measurable KPI
If leadership doesn’t track innovation, it remains lip service. Regular reporting on bottom-up initiatives makes it real.
Create flexible resource pools
Rigid budgets slow innovation. Flexible funds deployed quickly empower new ideas.
Establish cross-functional “innovation cells”
Small, autonomous teams with a mandate and protection move faster and learn more.
Normalize experiments as learning
Cultures that punish experiments kill innovation. Celebrate learning lessons instead.

Final Thoughts

Intrapreneurship isn’t a buzzword—it’s a system challenge. To innovate, companies must move beyond slogans and build structures that let ideas breathe. Otherwise, intrapreneurship remains wishful thinking, and real opportunities slip away.