COLLABORATION MODEL
SCORING AND RECOMMENDATIONS

	Scoring	Weight	How to ensure Success and Mitigate Risk
Strategic	Shared objectives		Establish a mutually beneficial arrangement consisting of a well-articulated future business relationship, with corporate integrating the solution of the startup into a broader product and service offering and the startup increasing market reach for its products and services
	Clearly defined collaboration scope		Define functionalities and specifications of the products to be licensed or services to be provided, and the integration rights and limitations of the corporate into a broader product and service offering
	Freedom to operate		Set a clear freedom to operate policy to avoid issues like corporate obtaining ownership of licensed product and limit usage rights to product as part of the integrated solution Avoid stand-alone reseller rights not to compromise the ability of the startup to increase its own market reach
	Risk sharing		Include in commercial licensing arrangements strict commitments from the corporate to cover for development risk and expense associated with integration effort demanded by corporate
	Worst Case planning		Anticipate potential collaboration issues, including continuity and transition arrangements to deal with potential financial instability of the startup compromising the ability of the corporate to (continue to) offer the integrated product and service offering
	Senior Executive Support		Ensure that senior management endorses strong relationship management: i.e. oversees the relationship, reviews progress and ongoing performance and strives for continuous improvement
Business	Business Value proposition		Align licensing arrangement to the long-term strategy of the startup, without compromising its financial stability and freedom to operate
	Due diligence		Diligence the business reputation of the corporate by checking with other startups having provided products or services to the corporate
	Optimal legal/ business structure		Structure value added licensing arrangements to ensure the corporate is not converted into a competitor, with clearly defined licensing rights and SLAs, and end user restrictions to be imposed by the corporate on its clients
	Partnering metrics		Define clearly the collaboration scope including functionalities and specifications of the products to be licensed and determine the relevant partnering metrics
	Rewards/ penalties		Design functionalities and resulting contractual commitments to ensure that penalty or reward arrangements are considered fair by both parties Consider the complication that the startup will have no control over the performance of the integrated product and services of the corporate
Operational	Decision-making processes		Establish a single Point of Contact relationship management, covering business, legal, risk and other procurement aspects, to ensure success of a value-added licensing arrangement
	Communication		Plan for continuous communication on performance and potential issues in view of supporting the integration of startup products in broader product and service offering of the corporate
	Quality checkpoints and review		Determine carefully functionalities, specifications and performance of the products of the startup in view of integration in broader solution and establish regular quality checkpoints and review moments
	Change management		Apply change management procedures to deal with potential integration issues and performance of the products of the startup as part of the integrated solution
	Issue Escalation Mechanisms		Adapt issue escalation mechanisms to deal with unresolved operational matters, in addition to strong change management procedures
Cultural	Collaborative mindset		Approach business collaboration as a mutually beneficial arrangement, with a collaborative mindset underpinned by proper contractual and governance mechanisms
	Dedicated alliance managers		Establish Single Point of Contact relationship management, covering business, legal, risk and other procurement aspects Focus in particular on the delivery and performance phases of the collaboration
	Joint decision-making processes		Think through decision-making processes including change management and issue escalation mechanisms as essential part of value-added licensing programs
	Appropriate incentives		Agree on audit rights – or at a minimum a self-certification obligation –, to control usage of the product of the startup in a user or volume-based pricing model