The most common hurdle when working with startups is that stakeholders don’t necessarily believe in it. They may have their own agenda for how things should be done and may oppose your ideas.
Are you leading startup discovery? Here are a few practical tips for getting stakeholders on board more effectively.
Capture needs
There are still many misconceptions about what startup collaboration entails.
It’s an ambiguous term with all sorts of implementations, from one-off promotional events to equity investments to complement R&D strategically.
However, driving impact from startup collaboration requires an internal champion with goals tied to a revenue line, business outcome, or strategic issue.
It means asking them about:
- Their needs: What do they want to accomplish?
- Their budget: What’s the most they can spend without needing to go through management layers and procurement hurdles?
- Their timelines: By when do they need to show the stated outcome?
- Their preferred engagement mechanism: Buy from a startup? Co-sell? Co-create? Invest?
Sense the love
Companies are people. And people often behave emotionally, especially when confronted with startups.
Sometimes they are uncertain and clearly explain why they don’t like startups. At other times, they are too busy to talk. Or, they avoid conflict and are just not comfortable sharing their thoughts.
What’s more, they might actively try to undermine your ideas and plans.
So, when this happens, how do you respond? How do you navigate the resistance?
The power of a single question
It’s tempting to approach the situation with logic. And defend your ideas by restating the case for collaboration.
It mostly leads to “Yes, but” conversations. And you get drawn into company politics as soon as other stakeholders become aware of the rejection.
The better approach is to understand and, if possible, take away the reasons why people say no.
There is one simple question that often sparks an open conversation about someone’s motives, whether business-like or personal:
“If you were to do it, what would have to change?”
Maybe, based on their answer, you could immediately react in their favor. Or you might face three typical situations:
- Apathy. In short, the person doesn’t care. They don’t have a current pain or future desire compelling enough for startup collaboration. There is little you can do to motivate them.
- Ego killer. For this person, bringing in startups creates an ego challenge. They have a vision for themselves and see it thwarted by ‘sourcing it out’ to startups. The best approach is to offer them something that sways them in your favor. For example, you might consider giving them a final vote in accepting a particular startup, yes or no.
- Fear. Unlike the previous example, this person might be interested because startups could bring something they care about, provided you can mitigate potential uncertainties and worries. The tactic here is to find out what they really think and to show them that the potential benefits outweigh the perceived (personal) risks.
Stakeholder management makes or breaks startup collaboration. Many companies make the mistake of scouting for startups and bringing them into the organization without sufficient support.
So, always reach out internally before you reach out externally and build allies.
Need a hand with it?
Use Scoutely SRM. And yes, I’m biased but it streamlines startup discovery and helps you to:
- Involve and communicate with stakeholders early on without disturbing their day-to-day.
- Connect strategic goals and stakeholders’ needs to startup opportunity areas.
- Measure stakeholder sentiment about potentially fitting startups while giving them a sense of control.
Questions? Suggestions? Let us know what you think.
More appetite for content? Read about the State of Startup Collaboration 2022 here.
Sander van der Blonk
