Startup Partnerships
Measuring partnership success and staying exciting to work with: staged funnels, OKRs and cultural checkpoints.
How do you measure whether a startup partnership is working, and stay a partner startups want?
Members discussed how to measure startup partnership success, align corporate and startup goals, and keep momentum on small projects inside large organisations, from scouting funnels through to IP frameworks and flexible engagement models.
Five key insights
- 01Implement staged collaboration processes
A funnel approach carries startups from initial scouting to full partnerships or ventures.
- 02Set clear objectives and incentives
OKRs and aligned incentives keep engagement alive after the initial excitement fades.
- 03Facilitate cultural integration
Training sessions and workshops bridge the working-style gap between corporates and startups.
- 04Establish IP frameworks early
Clear ownership and usage rights for innovations developed together prevent friction later.
- 05Use A/B testing against existing processes
Comparing the startup's technology with the current way of working demonstrates value and disarms internal resistance.
Where to start on Monday
Become an early customer: issue a small purchase order for the startup's product rather than waiting for a grand partnership.
A/B test one startup technology against your existing process and share the result internally.
Add a cultural checkpoint to your next partnership review, measured with a simple NPS.
Be in the room for the next one.
400+ senior innovation and growth leaders, a roundtable every month, and a recap like this one after each.
Invite-only and complimentary for senior leaders in corporate innovation and growth.