How to do business development as a startup? Why do relationships matter? How to network your way through and get what you need? I also run a startup called https://www.amazingfables.com, which publishes personalised story books for children in 12 different languages including Mandarin, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Korean.

1. Business Development
based on relationships 101
Warren Leow
Oct 2016

2. Hello. My name is Warren
and I wore many hats.
Business development is just another name for hustling,
but with a more strategic mindset

3. Framing: Framing is the first step
towards engineering outcomes
Objective Positioning Offering Ask Closure
Reinforcing/
Nurturing

4. Why are alliances useful?
Personality Product Values
Reputation Visibility
Shared
aspirations
• Support network
• Cross marketing & PR
• Mentoring
• Route to Market
• Sales
• ….

5. What are you hunting?

6. Context: Target the right levels and
adjust your tone accordingly
I- CEO
II- C-Level
III- Senior Managers
IV- Normal Managers
V- Frontline operational

7. Don’t miss the forest for the trees
Tactical Strategic
Low
Pay-Off
High
Pay-Off
Deal won’t be sustainable;
Focus on other areas instead
You should target these
moon-shots yourself
Get your biz dev people to
chalk up numbers as part of
‘sales’
De-prioritise as these will be
distractions

8. Objective: Alliances can be classified
into ‘build’, ‘defend’, ‘attack’, ‘spread’
Attack: attack
with partners
Build: pollinate
ideas
Defend: create
barriers of entry
Spread: develop
ecosystem

9. Context: Define your positioning and
projection from the beginning
Hard-ball
Individualistic
Fair
Soft
Federal
Opportunistic
vs
Emotional Rational
vs
vs
vs
Risky Conservativevs
Funny Seriousvs
Giver Takervs

10. Social capital takes time and effort to
build and nurture
Help out
with publicity
Share advice
& insights
Provide
introductions
Intermediate
How would you reach and
nurture the 10-50-100 people
who can help?
How should you start when
there is nothing at all?
New starter Leadership
How do you build a following
based on credibility?
Practise your own script to have
clarity in articulation
Be humble & don’t feel entitled
Add people on Facebook/Linkedin
Use any slight advantage that you
have
Try to sound smart and passionate
Stand your ground/ Don’t get
intimidated
Study the evolution of
propaganda and brand-building
Respect boundaries
How are heroes formed
or built?
Be genuine
& truthful
Make time
for F2F
How does a role model carry
himself or herself?

11. Trade favours/insights to strengthen
ties with multiple touch points
TakeGive
Tools to increase
frequency of touch
points:
Face to face
Facebook
Linkedin
Whatsapp
Email
Forums
Introductions
A nice person will send at least a one liner reply, and that is
enough as an opening to follow through.

12. Informational capital needs you to focus
on being the center of flow
How to form an information
‘focus-point’ or ‘choke-point’?
How to diffuse and spread
information?
Do I know some useful market
intelligence?
Am I an expert in something?
Is my knowledge valuable?
Will people pay or barter for it?

13. Ask: How should I approach a person?
• When trying to score a
meeting:
– Start with deference
– Understand motivations,
reservations
– Be crystal clear
– Offer something in return
– Follow-up to nurture
– Email, social media,
introductions
• Keep trying, keep hustling

14. Closure: Negotiations
• What am I optimising for?
– ROI? Sales? Prestige? Optionality?
• Should perception reflect reality?
• Which are the levers for compromise?
• Are we playing a single or multi-stage game?
• Which other stakeholders would I need to involve?
• What is the card in my back pocket?
MOVE THE NEEDLE

15. You can fake it till you make it but try to
be 100% truthful

16. Stay away from these people and
don’t be like them
Those who can’t
keep simple
promises
Those who think
they are too
important or fake
Those who have no
constructive input to
add
Avoid wannabes

17. Objective Positioning Offering Ask Closure
Framing: Framing is the first step

18. Example: Respect is everything-
especially given generational shifts

19. Example: Communication clarity will
help save a lot of grief

20. Example: Relationship building is
based on shared values and goals
Objective: Gather all the
relevant technology-
space leaders to
network and give back
Positioning: Come meet
other peers to grow the
ecosystem together
Offering: A chance to
give back; Everyone is
in- are you in?
Closure: Each one of
them became mentors
or partners for programs

21. Example: Comparable benchmarks
help to illustrate a point
Source: http://quotes.wsj.com/CN/XSHE/000681/financials

22. Example: Unicroach 250m group
becomes a 24/7 accelerator of its own