This video (by Jason M. Lemkin) gives practical advice on forming and maintaining business partnerships. Key points in this chunk: evaluate when to partner versus compete based on market position and strategy; when partnering, set crystal-clear, equitable, measurable goals and metrics for both sides and hold teams accountable to prevent breakdowns in the relationship.
So three pieces of advice coming out of this is one, understand when to partner and understand when to compete. Understand the math, understand your strategy, understand your position in the market. But sometimes a partnership is the best thing to drive your business going forward. Second, if you're going to establish a partnership like this, be crystal clear on your goals for both sides. You have to have clear metrics and goals on each side of the partnership that are equitable and that you can measure and hold both teams accountable, too. Because the second one of those partners doesn't feel like they're that they're getting the short end of that stick, that partnership will end very, very quickly.
