{"id":5708,"date":"2013-11-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=3428"},"modified":"2020-04-03T18:01:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T22:01:27","slug":"lean-biz-dev-partner-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/lean-biz-dev-partner-development","title":{"rendered":"Lean biz dev: partner development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past few years, the teachings of the Lean Startup methodology have become common practice when developing a new product: talk to customers and validate your ideas before you invest too much time in them. \u00a0Customer Development<\/a>, as it\u2019s called, is now standard operating procedure.
\nAnd yet when we think about pursuing partnerships, it\u2019s easy for even the most ardent followers of Lean to lose sight of those guiding principles and rationalize an investment of time and energy without any data to back it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting out of the building\u201d to talk to prospective partners certainly isn\u2019t as easy as going to your local coffee shop to talk with prospective customers, but the need to test your\u00a0Value Hypothesis\u00a0<\/a>and determine for whom the value you can offer resonates is no less important in Partner Development as it is for Customer Development.<\/p>\n

For starters, doing the due diligence to determine where there\u2019s an alignment between what value you have to offer and what value another company is seeking can start on your laptop.<\/p>\n

Press coverage<\/strong>\u00a0of companies that indicate big new initiatives or a focus on an area \u2013 such as an interest in capturing a particular demographic that\u2019s resident within your customer base, or overlaps in products they build with the capabilities you offer \u2013 can give a signal to which companies may see value in what you have to offer.<\/p>\n

Company filings<\/strong>\u00a0can give hints to where a company is placing their bets. \u00a0Annual reports filed with the SEC can provide a breakdown of key business units and initiatives, and the bigger the revenue from a given department, the more likely that group is to have the clout, interest, and options to pursue opportunities that further their interests. \u00a0Does the value you have to offer overlap with their potential needs?<\/p>\n

And of course, your\u00a0existing relationships<\/strong>\u00a0provide an opportunity to explore the opportunities within the gates of another company. Current or former employees, other partners\/vendors\/service providers of companies, and other folks in your network within the industry of prospective partners can give you a sense of whether the priorities of a given company or division aligns with the opportunities you can present to them.<\/p>\n

How do you validate your ideas for partnership before you set down the\u00a0long road to business development?<\/a><\/p>\n

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past few years, the teachings of the Lean Startup methodology have become common practice when developing a new product: talk to customers and validate your ideas before you invest too much time in them. \u00a0Customer Development, as it\u2019s called, is now standard operating procedure. And yet when we think about pursuing partnerships, it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":925,"featured_media":33929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLean biz dev: Partner development<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the past few years, the teachings of the Lean Startup methodology have become common practice when developing a new product: talk to customers and va\u2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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