The Art of Distribution - Business Development from Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki posted How to Change the World: The Art of Distribution. It’s an interesting Biz Dev lesson for startups.
The underlying and important assumption in modern day distribution is the asymmetry of the arrangement. For most entrepreneurs distribution involves piggybacking on another organization with much greater momentum.
One of the tips he gives is to “Look for adjacency.” He uses eBay/PayPal, Linkedin/Simply Hired, and FeedBurner/TypePad as examples. Note that these are formal relationships, not where one party is simply sucking off of the other party using open APIs. Most important, he reminds startups to “focus on revenue.” This is the what’s in it for them advice that I always start with. “If your partner will make money, then the deal will probably happen.” He also points out:
Look out for the other guy. The right perspective for distribution partners is: Let’s both make money. For sure, it’s not: How can I ensure that we make a ton of money and stick it to our partner? I have never seen a case where only partner makes money. Either everyone makes money or no one does.
Well put Guy. Get that formalized deal that works for both parties. Again, partnerships really haven’t changed much in the Web 2.0 world.
