What startups want from their corporate partners

If you are a corporate seeking commercial impact through your collaborations with startups, you will need to work with startups that are sufficiently mature and ready to be able to deliver value and grow with you at scale.

Unfortunately, that counts out early stage startups - those with limited products, experience working with corporate partners and runway.

You need to work with growth stage startups - Series A and B+ startups. But given that these companies are successful, growing and impactful, they are also more selective. As a corporate, if the startup is trying to sell to you, you are talking to the wrong startups. You want to be in a position where you are selling to the startup - then you know you have found the type that can deliver real commercial impact for your business.

Here is what mature startups are looking for in their corporate partners:

What they want:

• Traction & Results
• Referral Customers
• Opportunity to Grow Their Addressable Market

What they don't want:

• Money
• Inertia
• Multiple Events & Showcases