Negotiating and Working with Large Technology OEM Partners

Technology industry distribution is one of the areas that I've worked on quite often in my career. Both back when I was an employee or running a software or hardware business, as well as frequently since I started my consulting practice.

I've found that almost any form of distribution tends to be misunderstood and misused to a surprising, almost alarming, degree by tech company management teams.

Some of the more frequently screwed-up are partnerships with large hardware and software companies (OEMs). I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I have my suspicions. I believe it's because having your hardware or software sold by a brand-name industry giant appears so attractive, that it's intoxicating to the management teams looking to build their business. It's an almost universally desired type of deal, much like the elusive funding round by a name-brand venture capital firm. Not everyone should do it, but everyone wants it!

So what's wrong with doing a deal with a large tech OEM? Maybe nothing. But you need to be aware of what can GO WRONG.

So if this is a topic of interest to you, take a look at the full article. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback or have you forward the article to a colleague.

#OEM #Tech