Lesson 11: Partnerships

Partnerships = Investor $’s: How Partners Drive Revenue and Funding Results

High-profile partnerships can make a difference. Big names can create desire and new momentum, opening doors that would otherwise stay closed. By letting people know about high-profile partnerships, you can spark new interest in your venture–and much more. Be strategic about pursuing a high-profile partnership. When you know what motivates, you can create your own opportunities in a business sense.

Consider the following story as an example to make the bigger point. 

A father goes to his son and says, “Son, I want you to marry a girl whom I choose for you.”  

Shocked, the son responds, “No way.”  

Then his father says, “The girl is Bill Gates’ daughter.” In the blink of an eye, his son replies, “Then ok.”  

The father goes to Bill Gates and says, “I want your daughter to marry my son.” Gates says, “No.”  

Then the father informs Gates, “My son is the CEO of the World Bank. “Gates changes his mind and says, “Then ok.”

Subsequently, the father goes to the president of the World Bank and says, “Appoint my son to be the CEO of your bank.”  The president says, “No, are you kidding me?” He had never heard of such a thing.

Then the father says, “He is the son-in-law of Bill Gates.” The president of the World Bank says, “Then ok.”

This is BUSINESS.

It’s the way business is done–high-profile partners get together and get involved to make things happen due to the nature of their fame, fortune, influence, position, leverage, or relationship. It’s a win-win situation, driven by a person telling a story to create a desire for a certain outcome.

The same is true for a start-up forming a “partnership” with a high-profile investor.

Partnerships with investors who are famous, such as the “sharks” on Shark Tank (i.e., Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, Lori Greiner, etc) can lead to other high-profile investors coming on board to invest in your company. You need not go on Shark Tank (see our “Shark Tank” article), but the point is to attract an investor with name recognition and a track record of success in your market.

Don’t seek random celebrities to invest in your business. (An actor or actress from your favourite Netflix series may not be the best investor in your company.) It is best to partner with heavyweights in your industry or in adjacent markets. An investor who can provide industry insights is so much better. Once you lock in a high-profile investor, it is important that you publicize it, leveraging it to raise money from other investors.