How (Not) to Work with Big Companies When You're a Startup

I have worked in startups and in big companies at various stages of my career thus far. I see a lot of startups approach big companies to sell their wares, ask for partnerships, bid for contracts, look for investments, and seek to be acquired. The successful ones shared a few things in common in language, tactics, and goals. This talk strings to gather a series of analogies, involving a game of Jenga, a messy IT closet, motorized Legos, two planets, a space probe, and a locked gold vault to shed some light on nature of the often uneasy, and sometimes mutually beneficial, relationships between newcomers and incumbents.

Chris will show how the language of “disruption” may be creating an antagonism that is limiting the number and quality of fruitful collaborations between smaller startups and larger enterprises. The idea that Disruptive Innovation as the infalliable theory of the startup world is about to be disrupted.

This talk was originally presented at the TechStreet meetup hosted at Joynture on June 18, 2014.
http://www.meetup.com/Tech-Street/

A recording from the live presentation will be coming soon.

Transcript

1. H O W ( N O T ) T O W O R K W I T H B I G C O M PA N I E S C H R I S T O P H E R T S E W H E N Y O U A R E A S TA RT U P @christse Flickr: Instagram: joynture
2. M Y F I R S T S TA RT U P I N C U B AT O R Flickr: C O L U M B I A E N G I N E E R I N G
3. M Y F I R S T S TA RT U P I N C U B AT O R Flickr: M Y F I R S T B I G C L I E N T Flickr: wallyg C O L U M B I A E N G I N E E R I N G J O H N H A N C O C K B U I L D I N G
4. M O V E D T O WA L L S T R E E T 1 4 WA L L S T R E E T
5. M O V E D T O WA L L S T R E E T B Y E B Y E WA L L S T R E E T D O T C O M C R A S H 1 4 WA L L S T R E E T
6. C H A N G E E D U C AT I O N F R O M A L O F T Flickr: mickipedia N O C H I L D L E F T B E H I N D
7. C H A N G E E D U C AT I O N F R O M A L O F T Flickr: mickipedia H E L L O , M c G R AW - H I L L Flickr: jhaydn21 N O C H I L D L E F T B E H I N D W E W I L L C H A N G E I T F R O M I N S I D E
8. H E L L O , M c G R AW - H I L L Flickr: jhaydn21 W E W I L L C H A N G E I T F R O M I N S I D E
9. S U P, M c G R AW - H I L L H E L L O , M c G R AW - H I L L Flickr: jhaydn21 W E W I L L C H A N G E I T F R O M I N S I D E … O R M AY B E F R O M O U T S I D E
10. I N C U M B E N T C H A L L E N G E R
11. B U Y E R S E L L E R
12. D I S R U P T
13. D I S R U P T ?
14. Flickr: dikkebiggie
15. Flickr: dikkebiggie D I S R U P T
16. Flickr: dikkebiggie D I S R U P T M A K E ‘ E M FA L L
17. Flickr: dikkebiggie D I S R U P T Flickr: clonedmilkmen M A K E ‘ E M FA L L
18. Flickr: dikkebiggie D I S R U P T Flickr: clonedmilkmen D I S A S S E M B L E M A K E ‘ E M FA L L
19. Flickr: dikkebiggie D I S R U P T Flickr: clonedmilkmen D I S A S S E M B L E M A K E ‘ E M FA L L M A K E ‘ E M W O R K B E T T E R
20. Y O U ’ L L N E E D PA RTS
21. Y O U ’ L L N E E D PA RT S N E R
22. S TA R T- U P S A R E F R O M M A R S
23. S TA R T- U P S A R E F R O M M A R S B I G C O M PA N I E S A R E F R O M S AT U R N
24. Flickr:
25. W H E N A P P R O A C H I N G L A R G E O B J E C T S , Y O U C A N : Flickr:
26. A . C R A S H W H E N A P P R O A C H I N G L A R G E O B J E C T S , Y O U C A N : Flickr:
27. A . C R A S H W H E N A P P R O A C H I N G L A R G E O B J E C T S , Y O U C A N : B . L A N D Flickr:
28. A . C R A S H W H E N A P P R O A C H I N G L A R G E O B J E C T S , Y O U C A N : B . L A N D C . S W I N G A R O U N D Flickr:
29. M A I N TA I N S P E E D
30. M A I N TA I N S P E E D ( O K T O O R B I T A F E W T I M E S )
31. Escher vs Flickr: dikkebiggie
32. Escher vs Flickr: dikkebiggie R E S I S T T H E T E M P TA T I O N T O :
33. Escher vs Flickr: dikkebiggie C L I M B I N S I D E R E S I S T T H E T E M P TA T I O N T O :
34. Escher vs Flickr: dikkebiggie C L I M B I N S I D E Flickr: clonedmilkmen R E S I S T T H E T E M P TA T I O N T O :
35. Escher vs Flickr: dikkebiggie C L I M B I N S I D E Flickr: clonedmilkmen R E S I S T T H E T E M P TA T I O N T O : Y O U N E E D T O G E T T H E R E F I R S T.
36. Escher vs Flickr: dikkebiggie C L I M B I N S I D E Flickr: clonedmilkmen C L I M B O U T S I D E R E S I S T T H E T E M P TA T I O N T O : Y O U N E E D T O G E T T H E R E F I R S T.
37. C O N G R A T S , Y O U M A D E A N A W E S O M E W I D G E T !
39. I T ’ S A W E S O M E ! I T ’ S P O W E R F U L ! ! I T ’ S A L I V E ! ! !
40. S O , A R E Y O U G O I N G T O B U Y M Y W I D G E T ?
41. D O N ’ T O F F E R J U S T A PA RT
42. D O N ’ T O F F E R J U S T A PA RT
43. D O N ’ T O F F E R J U S T A PA RT B E T H E M A S T E R B U I L D E R
44. M A K E A W H O L E T H AT I S G R E AT E R T H A N T H E PA RT S
45. Source: T O U N L O C K T H E G O L D
46. Source: U N L O C K I N G T H E G O L D T H E D A R K A RT S
50. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
51. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
52. F E V E R E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
53. F E V E R F E A R E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
54. F E V E R F E A R F U E L E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
55. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
56. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
57. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
58. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
59. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
60. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
61. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
62. E X C I T E M E N T U R G E N C Y R E S O U R C E S
63. F E V E R F E A R F U E L A LIG N
68. P R E S T I G E
69. F U N W O R K P R E S T I G E
70. F U N W O R K F R E E L U N C H P R E S T I G E
71. F U N W O R K F R E E L U N C H P R E S T I G E A C C E S S T O A U D I E N C E
73. F E V E R F E A R F U E L
74. F E V E R F E A R F U E L
75. F E V E R F E A R F U E L
76. F E V E R F E A R F U E L
77. F E A R F U E L + + R E A L I G N F E V E R
78. G A I N S P E E D & K E E P G O I N G
79. Flickr:
80. W H E R E D O Y O U WA N T T O G O ? Flickr:
81. W H E R E D O Y O U WA N T T O G O ? Flickr: A . D O N ’ T C R A S H
82. W H E R E D O Y O U WA N T T O G O ? B . L A N D Flickr: A . D O N ’ T C R A S H
83. W H E R E D O Y O U WA N T T O G O ? B . L A N D Flickr: a k a A C Q U I S I T I O N A . D O N ’ T C R A S H
84. W H E R E D O Y O U WA N T T O G O ? B . L A N D C . S W I N G A R O U N D Flickr: a k a A C Q U I S I T I O N A . D O N ’ T C R A S H
85. S O M E B E C O M E B I G C O M PA N I E S T W I T T E R H E A D Q U A RT E R S
86. S O M E B E C O M E B I G C O M PA N I E S H O W D O W E W O R K W I T H S TA RT U P S ? Instagram: joynture J O Y N T U R E , 4 8 WA L L S T R E E T T W I T T E R H E A D Q U A RT E R S
87. ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY Startups Challengers
88. Startups Challengers ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY
89. Startups Challengers HARD-EARNED EXPERTISE Enterprises Incumbents ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY
90. HARD-EARNED EXPERTISE ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION Startups Challengers Enterprises Incumbents
91. HARD-EARNED EXPERTISE ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION Startups Challengers Enterprises Incumbents
92. @christse Flickr: Instagram: joynture