Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions

Match Point: Identifying Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions

“Young technology companies often jump at the opportunity to partner with major players like IBM or Microsoft, even if those companies aren’t the best fit for them. OpenView can help by providing the information they need to take a more holistic view of the marketplace and widen their scope of prospective targets. The result is a list of candidates that better aligns with their objectives.”

— Tien Anh Nguyen, Senior Associate, OpenView Labs

For expansion-stage technology companies, the process of exploring potential strategic partnerships, acquisitions, or mergers can be like choosing the right spouse. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly and there are numerous factors that influence whether a strategic partnership makes sense for both parties. It is essential to be well informed and, at a minimum, to establish clears goals, identify the best potential partners, and prioritize them appropriately.

Although this vetting process can be risky and expensive, failing to perform meaningful due diligence can mean significantly decreasing the chances that your company will find the right partner.

Since 2006, OpenView Venture Partners has been guiding its portfolio companies through the process of identifying and engaging potential strategic partnerships and acquisitions. Most recently, OpenView Labs, the firm’s strategic consulting arm, helped three of its portfolio companies to find and vet an array of potential strategic partnerships using a four-step process.

By identifying quality prospects through comprehensive research and then prioritizing them based on detailed analysis, OpenView was able to share valuable insights with its portfolio companies. It ultimately provided a package of materials to each company that included prospect engagement recommendations, relevant data findings and data, and contact information for key decision makers at each of the prospective partner organizations.

To find out more about how to identify and evaluate strategic partnerships and acquisitions, download the full case study.