Assemble your team
Every person on your team won’t be involved in orchestrating your partnership. There is such a thing as too many cooks. But at the same time, you need to loop in the right folks from the beginning. You ig data might have to make adjustments as your plans progress, but evaluating who needs to be involved at the start will ensure a smoother transition.
If you’re pursuing an integration or a product-based acquisition, your product team needs to be involved from day one. When we evaluated Repustate, our internal product team was invaluable in helping us determine how much upside the deal presented. They know the product inside and out. They know where you’re planning to go on your roadmap. Lean on that internal knowledge.
If you’ve decided to partner with another organization, you already know their product and audience are a good fit. But what about your goals and values?
Early on in your partnership, it’s imperative to sit down and find out what you have in common. How do your cultures align? Where do your roadmaps sync? What values do you both hold? The answers to these questions will be your north star throughout the process.
Be transparent
On day one, you and your partner have to be honest with each other about what you want to gain. Maybe you’re hoping to increase your customer base. Maybe you want to offer new functionality for your customers. Maybe this project is a trial run to see if you should form a longer-term relationship down the road. Whatever the case may be, you have to lay your cards on the table at the beginning.