The Power of Partnership

Inside Guy has started a business and is considering bringing in a partner, Outside Guy, to help him take it to the next level. Before entering the partnership they decide to go on a bear hunting trip in the mountains to see how they get along. On the trip up to the cabin Outside Guy tells Inside Guy, “When I go hunting I kill 10-20 bears. I’ve never seen a bear big enough or mean enough to scare me.” The Inside Guy simply says “We’ll see.”

When they arrive at the cabin Inside Guy arranges all their gear in the cabin and the Outside Guy takes their canteens to the stream to fill them. As he is filling one of the canteens he looks up and sees, charging at him, one of the biggest, meanest bears he has ever seen. He drops the canteen and starts running toward the cabin. The bear is nipping at his heels and right in front of the cabin door he drops to the ground. The bear has too much momentum and barrels into the cabin. Outside Guy stands up and yells to Inside Guy, “You skin this one, I’ll go get another!”

The ability to form effective partnerships in life and in business can take you to heights you have never imagined. The creative tension between an inside and outside perspective of the business is the critical magic. Every successful investment I have made was the result of a partnership. Longstanding partnerships are rare. Mutual respect is the essential glue that keeps partnerships together. “Bear killer” inside guys are rare and should be treasured but so are the “Bear deliverer” outside guys.

I look for businesses where Inside Guy has created something really special but needs the help of Outside Guy to turn it into a business. The Biotech industry is a target rich/hunter poor environment for inside guys with huge ideas looking for capital. Biotech inside guys are almost always academic inventors. The Inside Guy’s biggest liability is his lack of appreciation of the value of branding, marketing, business development and capital formation. They consider these “soft issues” that are trivial and it dooms many to failure because they believe their technology will stand on its own. They think, “My problem is money. Just give me some money and I will make millions for everyone lucky enough to invest.” The problem is almost never money as much as it is lack of an effective partnership.