At a startup’s earliest stages, it focuses on understanding the ecosystem and on building initial relationships. Sometimes those relationships are opportunistic as much as strategic—a startup might work with a partner because of a connection in the network or perhaps because they are simply willing to work with them. Mid-stage, biz dev tries to be more intentional about selecting partners and works on accelerating the pace of deal making. Initial deals will often have particular terms that require custom development work. Eventually, though, more deals will follow a standard template. At a
...more
