# Corporate venture referral approvals: two paths | SourceX

Canonical: https://refer.sourcex.si/guides/a-corporate-venture-referral-needs-two-approval-paths
Last updated: 2026-11-05

Two sets of approvals have to clear, and neither can stand in for the other. Inside the corporate, the relationship owner, compliance and an authorized signer decide whether the corporate, or one of its people, may raise the idea at all. Inside the operating company, only the CEO decides whether to discuss licensing its records with SourceX. Keep each path on its own record, submit an introduction only when both are complete, and remember that if the corporate path closes, the CEO can still apply directly.

The usual failure is substitution. An investment committee, an enthusiastic business-unit sponsor or a friendly CTO at the operating company can each say yes in good faith, and not one of those answers is the approval the other path is waiting for.

## Three roles inside one strategic relationship

Before listing approvals, name the role each person plays. A platform manager usually reaches an operating company through one of three doors, and each door has a different keeper.

| Role | Who fills it | What it can give | What it cannot give |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate | The venture unit, the business unit that holds the relationship, legal and compliance, communications | Permission for the corporate or one employee to raise the idea, and a decision on who registers as partner | Any say over the operating company's records |
| Vendor relationship | Procurement, or the business unit that buys from or sells to the company | A written view on whether a tender, renewal, price talk or dispute is open | Permission to ask; a purchasing tie is a reason for care, never a route |
| Operating company | The CEO decides; the CFO, general counsel and system owners prepare | The decision to discuss licensing, and the facts about its own records | Answers to the corporate's internal policy questions |

A strategic stake does not move authority across these lines. SourceX's screening page says that opening a licensing discussion and signing for the company fall to the CEO, and that a board seat lets an investor speak in the boardroom without letting it start that discussion. The same holds for a supply contract or a hosting arrangement: each gives the corporate a way to reach the CEO, and none lets it decide.

## The corporate-and-company approval map

Seven sign-offs: four on the corporate path, three on the company path. Each row names who gives it, the evidence to keep and the question it leaves open, so nobody mistakes one row for another.

| # | Path | Sign-off | Who gives it | Evidence to keep | What it does not settle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Corporate | The idea may be raised with this company | The business-unit or venture partner who holds the CEO relationship | A dated note of the conversation | Whether the corporate may take part in the program at all |
| C2 | Corporate | The outside-payment question is answered | Compliance or legal | A written answer naming the entity, one individual or nobody as partner | Whether the CEO is interested |
| C3 | Corporate | The partner agreement is signed by someone who can bind the partner | The signatory the corporate designates, or the individual partner | The signed SourceX Channel Partner Agreement | Anything about the company's records |
| C4 | Corporate | The facts you may mention are screened | Legal, for anything learned through supply, diligence or a board seat | A short list of public facts and things the CEO has said | Whether those facts make the company a fit |
| P1 | Company | The CEO wants the conversation and knows who could be paid | The operating company's CEO | The CEO's own words, dated | The corporate's policy questions |
| P2 | Company | The company has had no earlier contact with SourceX | The CEO, asked directly; SourceX checks its own records | The CEO's answer and the date of the question | Rights to the records |
| P3 | Company | The company describes its records itself | The CEO, or a colleague the CEO names | The company's own application | Demand, rights and price, all left to SourceX's review |

**C2 is where most corporate routes end.** Employers often treat opportunities that turn up at work as the employer's. Google's Code of Conduct, for one, has a section on business opportunities found through work which, in our paraphrase, says they go to Google first unless Google agrees otherwise. Your employer's code may say something similar, something stricter or nothing at all, and its answer decides whether the corporate entity, a named employee or nobody registers. The sample agreement leaves room for either: its partner line reads "an individual, or entity type and jurisdiction".

**C3 is a signature question, not a formality.** Section 7.1 of the sample agreement says "Each signatory represents that it has authority to bind its identified Party." If the entity registers, find out who holds that authority before the platform manager signs on the corporate's behalf.

**Publicity belongs on the corporate path too.** Section 4.5 says "Neither Party may publicly identify the other as a partner or disclose non-public deal details without written authorization, except as legally required." A portfolio newsletter or press line that calls SourceX the corporate's partner needs SourceX's written authorization first, and it must never suggest that the corporate's portfolio or suppliers are accepted.

**P2 protects everyone's time.** Section 3 of the terms sets a wide test for earlier contact: "A relationship includes any earlier lead, account or email correspondence between SourceX and the company, however it began." A company SourceX already knew is reviewed as a duplicate and credited to no later partner, so ask the CEO before anything is written up.

**Order the paths deliberately.** Clear C1 and C2 first: if compliance says no, the company never needs to hear from the corporate. Then ask the CEO for P1. Finish C3 and C4 before anything is recorded with SourceX, because Schedule A of the agreement runs a clock from that record: "The first valid introduction of a new company receives credit when the company submits a verified application within 90 days of the recorded introduction." An introduction logged while a corporate signature is still pending spends that window for nothing.

## Six answers that belong to the other path

Each of these is a real approval, given to the wrong path.

1. **The investment committee approved a stake.** That is the corporate deciding about its own money, not the company deciding about its records.
2. **A business-unit sponsor is keen.** At most that is C1. It answers nothing on outside payments.
3. **The operating company's CTO or head of innovation agrees.** Helpful, and still not the CEO's decision.
4. **The CEO says yes.** That clears P1 and leaves C2 untouched; the corporate's policy may still bar a reward or require the entity to register.
5. **Procurement confirms nothing is open.** That settles timing. It grants no permission.
6. **A board observer knows the company's systems.** What came through the board stays with the board relationship under C4 and never travels to SourceX.

## When only one path clears

| Corporate path | Company path | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Complete | The CEO wants the conversation | Record one introduction and let the company apply itself |
| Complete | The CEO declines or does not reply | Stop, log the date and send no second ask through another corporate channel |
| Closed: policy bars participation | The CEO wants the conversation | The corporate steps aside; the CEO may apply to SourceX directly, with no partner |
| Open on the reward alone | The CEO wants the conversation | Ask SourceX before anyone submits; the published terms say nothing about a partner who will not accept a reward |
| Closed | Never asked | Nothing happens, and the company never hears from the corporate |

The third row matters most. A closed corporate path costs the company nothing; it only removes the corporate from the story. Telling the CEO plainly that a direct application is open keeps the corporate's policy from becoming the company's obstacle.

## Acquisitions and overlapping introducers

Ownership changes move the company path. While the corporate is negotiating to buy a company, the target's CEO still decides, and what the deal team learned stays inside the deal. Once the purchase closes, SourceX's screening page puts the decision with the acquirer's CEO, and for the reward the parent and every subsidiary count as one company: the USD 50,000 floor applies once across the group, later qualifying transactions pay the 15% repeat rate, and there is no cap. The company path then runs through the corporate's own leadership, and the terms do not speak to an employee introducing their own group, so put that case to compliance and SourceX before anyone acts. The [corporate development referral page](/for/corporate-development-data-licensing-referral) covers acquired businesses from the deal team's seat, and [several companies from one corporate group](/questions/can-i-introduce-several-companies-from-the-same-corporate-group) covers group introductions.

Overlap is the other trap. A venture unit, a business unit and an outside fund may all know one CEO. The program credits a single introduction per company, and when claims collide SourceX works through them in its duplicate review using dated records. Agree inside the corporate who will speak to the CEO, so the company receives one message rather than three.

## Three companies run through the map (Illustrative)

Illustrative: the three companies are made up, and each cell shows how the map reads, not what SourceX would decide.

| Sign-off | A: 260-person industrial distributor, minority stake | B: 180-person IT services firm that sells to the corporate | C: 90-person freight company, a portfolio founder's customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 relationship owner | Venture partner agrees | Business unit agrees, but a contract renewal is open | Portfolio founder agrees to ask |
| C2 outside payment | Entity may register | Entity may register | Policy bars any reward, for the entity and for staff |
| C3 signer | Treasury officer signs for the entity | Not reached | Not reached |
| C4 facts screened | Two public facts and the CEO's own description | Not reached | Not reached |
| P1 CEO | Wants the conversation | Not asked during the renewal | Wants the conversation |
| P2 earlier contact | None, per the CEO | Not asked | None, per the CEO |
| P3 application | Company applies | Not reached | Company applies directly, with no partner |
| Outcome | One introduction recorded | Wait until the renewal is signed | Corporate steps aside |

Company B shows the vendor role at work: the renewal is not a reason to ask sooner, it is a reason to wait. Company C shows the fallback: the CEO's interest survives the corporate's policy, and only the corporate's part disappears. The [comparison of asking through a sponsor or going straight to the CEO](/compare/introduce-through-sponsor-or-directly-to-ceo) helps when C1 names a sponsor who is not the CEO.

## A first trial: three companies, both paths timed

Choose three companies with no open commercial event. For each, log the date every sign-off starts and the date it clears, the number of people consulted on each path, and anything the CEO says about how the request felt. After 45 days compare the two paths: which one took longer, where each stalled, and whether any CEO mentioned the corporate relationship as a reason for saying yes. A CEO who agreed in order to please a customer or investor is a warning, not a win; stop the trial if one says so.

SourceX has not published how long approvals take or how often CEOs agree to a conversation. The trial produces your own figures; none are published here.

## How the two-path map can fail

- **Employer policy.** Many corporations restrict outside compensation, and the answer can close the corporate path entirely. The [board member conflict-of-interest question](/questions/board-member-conflict-of-interest-referral-fee) covers a related case.
- **Pressure the map cannot see.** A CEO whose largest customer or investor asks may agree without wanting to. The record shows a yes, not why it was given.
- **Rights.** Records shaped by the corporate's own orders may sit under its confidentiality terms, and client-owned material is usually not a fit. Rights are settled in SourceX's review, not on this map.
- **Demand.** SourceX screens against its current programs; a company that misses one may fit another later, and a strong row can still be declined for now.
- **Speed.** Corporate approvals can take weeks. That is why nothing is recorded with SourceX until both paths are complete.

**Method note.** The map applies SourceX's program terms (version 2026-10-22.2, since replaced by version 2026-11-04), the sample Channel Partner Agreement (version 2026-10-19) and the screening page, all read on 2026-10-27, to the roles a corporate venture unit usually works with. It records approvals and the evidence for them. It does not assess demand, record quality or payout, which only SourceX's review can judge, and its order of steps is a working sequence rather than a requirement in the terms. The Illustrative companies are invented. The founder-versus-company distinction is treated at more length in [founder permission versus corporate authority](/guides/the-difference-between-a-founder-yes-and-corporate-authorization).

**If a reward follows.** Whichever party the corporate path named as partner receives it. Illustrative: if SourceX's actual payout to company A came to $250,000 on its first qualifying transaction, the reward would be $62,500: USD 50,000 plus 5% of the payout, which exceeds 15% of it. A further qualifying transaction agreed within 12 months would pay 15% of its payout. SourceX pays it from its own funds, and none of it is taken out of company A's agreed compensation. It becomes payable only when the conditions in the terms are met; the clock runs 60 calendar days from the later of two events, the Acquisition Partner accepting the complete, validated dataset in writing as final and the dataset's handoff being completed.

## Next step

> **Refer a company. No cap on rewards.** Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.

Once all four corporate sign-offs and the CEO's own yes are on file, [register the partner your compliance team named](/register), compare the company with the published screening facts on [who qualifies](/who-qualifies) and keep a dated copy of the [program terms](/terms) with your approval record.

Approving a referral and assessing SourceX as an investment are separate decisions; a reader weighing the second can request investor materials through the [SourceX investor overview](https://sourcex.si/investors).

This article is for information only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Any offering by SourceX is made only to verified accredited investors through its offering documents.

## Sources

- https://refer.sourcex.si/terms
- https://refer.sourcex.si/who-qualifies
- https://sourcex.si/documents/partner/SourceX_Channel_Partner_Agreement_Sample.pdf
- https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of-conduct/
- https://sourcex.si/investors