Guest post by Rahul Kapur, Icon Investment Partners
Companies build partnerships essentially to find growth opportunities or for significant costsavings. For growth, the partnerships would add know-how, technology, products, geographies and / or customers. There are numerous types of partnerships and companies need to learn how to successfully leverage these. These make companies more agile. Partnerships can be of different types: from leveraging great suppliers, to a variety of licensing agreements to university programs, and consulting arrangements, etc. Companies need to be flexible, in their approach. The key is to find the capabilities and know-how that is needed.
Of course protecting yourself with NDAs and other arrangements is essential to ensure that IP is protected.
Technology partnerships come in many forms. Arrangements span project and resource management, co-development, licensing, joint development, and acquisitions.
Specifically technology partnerships can help
- Expand existing capabilities
- Develop current core competences to strengthen the company
- Add new to the company capabilities necessary for growth into new business areas.
- Bring new ideas and new thinking into the company.
- Provide speed to market in highly competitive situations.
- Allow for resource flexing of resources or cost savings