1. The world is a global marketplace, period.
2. The velocity of change is accelerating.
3. Customer’s expectations have become increasingly precise.
4. We don’t know it all, and more importantly there’s not time to learn it all.
5. Success only comes when others embrace your efforts and pull with you.

Why this, why now.
The one staple that has demonstrated superior power throughout my career - and yes this most certainly includes my finance, strategy and tech lives - has been strategic collaborations. The power of partnering allows organizations to grow faster and do more profitably than if they go it alone.

A great example of this was when Showtime Networks was looking to exit the C-band satellite -you remember those big dishes many suburban and rural homes had in their yards – programming package subscription business. Initially viewed as a dying venture - SNI’s perspective - despite the fact that a cohort of subscribers loved the service. In fact they were buying large packages, ones much larger than cable households and the then nascent DBS subscribers. For them it was all about a great video experience. Not only did they spend thousands on the programming they invested many thousands of dollars on televisions, stereo equipment, and a dedicated entertainment room. From this perspective it is easy to see that the content package sale was only one slice in a much larger pie.

Now do you think that these individuals and their ‘home theater’ expert had a close relationship? Absolutely, and more importantly for SNI the experts valued:

• the ability to provide a comprehensive package
• the opportunity to promote their brand on a monthly basis in an unobtrusive manner through programming guides and updates

The natural strategic partner was a national video equipment retailer. And, that’s exactly whom we approached and ultimately structured a deal with. A deal that secured $19 million of quantifiable value. Not bad for a business initially considered to be a financial drain.

I get that, so what is this.
This is an informational blog, one that focuses on helping you building your vision through strategic partnerships. Hopefully it equips several of you to think about your own efforts differently or to do new things. The business shape of this blog is to make connections, build community, and translate some level of personal connections into career value for me.

Before we continue our journey I want to welcome you. It might seem that I’m new to this but as my grandmother would of put it, I’ve been watching and listening to this conversation for a month of Sundays.