entrprnr
 
Picture
CC: globalhighered.wordpress.com
(This is the second part of our comparison of two SeedStart BD speakers. See Part One here.)

What is business development? 

That depends on who you talk to. 

Meet Ben Luban, Director of BD at AOL and Florent Peyre, VP of Strategy and BD at GiltCity. They have similar titles, but Ben works at a big company, Florent at a fast growing startup. They definitely have similarities and differences in attitude. As an entrepreneur, you should know both perspectives of the deal.


WHO DO YOU TALK TO? 

Big Company says: Go to the BD guy.
Startup says: Go to the top. 

BEN: Start with the big company’s BD person instead of the CEO (the decision-making process will trickle down to BD person anyway). A lot of BD people have MBA/JD/Finance backgrounds, so they can do a lot of the negotiation and paperwork with you.

FLORENT: Think really big! Never feel like you should only talk to the BD guy – go straight to the top, because if you have a mandate from the top, it’s best. Once you finally get to the BD guy, he might not be that happy because it’s a forced relationship, so make him feel smart and loved; be super flexible. Remember, if you pitch the CEO, make sure you are pitching something substantial (don't pitch becoming a link on their site).
Add Comment
 
 
Picture
CC: dovetailsolutions.com
What is business development? 

That depends on who you talk to. 

Meet Ben Luban, Director of BD at AOL and Florent Peyre, VP of Strategy and BD at GiltCity. They have similar titles, but Ben works at a big company, Florent at a fast growing startup. They definitely have similarities and differences in attitude. As an entrepreneur, you should know both perspectives of the deal. 


WHY DO DEALS?

Startup says: To grow fast (maybe, get bought).
Big Company says: To grow via calculated choices on whether to build, buy, or partner with a company.

FLORENT: As the BD guy in a startup, it’s easy to get into a mode of running from meeting to meeting. But movement is not necessarily progress. Don’t do deals just for deal’s sake, since every deal will take a lot of time (imagine all the effort it takes to get from pitch to first meeting to second meeting, etc. and multiply those tasks by X potential partners), so make sure the deal is right for you. Do deals:
Add Comment
 
 
View more presentations from entrprnr
Charlie O'Donnell is a Principal at First Round Capital, working on very early stage investments in the New York City area. He founded nextNY and was Voted 100 Most Influential People in New York Tech. He was also co-founder & CEO of Path 101 which raised $500K and was a Business Insider Startup 2009 Finalist. Follow him on his blog or @ceonyc
Add Comment