brenda spoonemore - a biz dev playbook for startups: why, when and how to do deals to help your...
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A BIZ DEV PLAYBOOKFOR STARTUPS
WHY, WHEN AND HOW TO DO DEALS TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS WIN
WHAT IS BIZ DEV?
Business development means establishing relationships and doing deals to help your company.
Sales
• Revenue• Establish
model
Licensing
• Revenue• Client base
Distribution
• Audience• Intelligence/
data• Shared
revenue
Branding
• Brand alignment
• Partner dependencies
BIZ DEV FOR EARLY STAGE STARTUPS
Your unfair advantages:• Cutting edge tech• Nimble dev iteration• Optimization and focus
Your key challenges:• Getting to scale• Little or no cash• Limited time and resources
HOW BIZ DEV PLAYS ARE DESIGNED
Three case studies:
• Yardbarker and FoxSports.com
• BigDoor and NFL.com
• Fantasy Moguls and CBSSports.com
YARDBARKER
The challenge: Substantial amount of unique user generated content and a core community.
Need more traffic to destination site to increase ad revenue and market position.
YARDBARKER AND FOXSPORTS.COM
YardBarker:
• Access to large base of sports fans• Provide new fresh content• Distribution needed to drive revenue
FoxSports.com:
• Get fresh content at low or no cost• Access to a user gen sports content community• Generate incremental revenue
YARDBARKER AND FOXSPORTS.COM
YARDBARKER AND FOXSPORTS.COM
Quid pro quo:
Distribution
Revenue
Branding
Unique, low cost content
Revenue
Community
BIGDOOR MEDIA
The challenge: Unique customer loyalty/gamification tech but success dependent on reaching a passionate, engaged audience—the larger the better since only a % will convert.
Monetization accelerated by leveraging existing sponsors and products.
BIGDOORAND NFL.COM
BigDoor:
• Access to users and usage data to prove product model• Provide unique technology and expertise• Must support NFL to ensure successful deployment• Generate revenue via partner
NFL.com:
• Get unique functionality to drive core site metrics• Increase store of personal user data• Drive usage of other NFL goods and services
BIGDOORAND NFL.COM
BIGDOORAND NFL.COM
Quid pro quo:
Prove model
Distribution
Revenue
Unique tech
Revenue
Data
FANTASY MOGULS
The challenge: Fantasy Moguls runs social games with well established virtual goods revenue stream but untapped secondary sponsorship revenue stream.
Engagement in games high but growth constrained by size of Moguls’ ad spend and audience.
FANTASY MOGULSAND CBSSPORTS.COM
Fantasy Moguls:
• Access to a sales force and sales revenue• Brand alignment• Marketing to targeted customer base
CBSSports.com:
• New and creative sponsorship inventory for clients• Ability to tap into virtual goods revenue stream and learn
social games business• Test theories about untapped value of existing and new
customers
FANTASY MOGULSAND CBSSPORTS.COM
FANTASY MOGULSAND CBSSPORTS.COM
Quid pro quo:
Distribution
Branding
Ad revenue
Virtual goods revenue
Ad revenue
Access to new model
THE SECRET OF A WINNING PLAY
If both parties don’t win, you’ve lost.
YOUR PLAYBOOK
STEP ONE: DRAW UP YOUR PLAY• Define your needs
• Know what you want, assign a metric• Create spreadsheet of target partners
• Who is best positioned to deliver? • What do you have to offer in return (value)?
• Find the right contact
• Network and research• Cold calls are a last resort
STEP TWO: RUN THE PLAY• The pitch
• Email or call to generate interest• Do pitch live or in person• Adjust on the fly
• The proposal
• Follow up with answers and proposal• Have term sheet in mind• Write out structure, model before sending
STEP THREE: FINISH• The negotiation
• Don’t try to win every point• The negotiation sets the tone for the relationship
• The term sheet
• One page• The agreement
• Legal, contracts vs letter agreements• The relationship
• The only thing that really matters