Keep your friends close and your potential buyers closer
It pays to start early in forming relationships with companies who might be near term partners and eventual buyers. Even though competitors are often at the top of this list, many founders shy away from making those connections early. You might not want to attract their attention, or you might fear that you’ll reveal secrets from your roadmap.
Usually it’s a mistake to think this way. Here’s why:
They probably already know about you. If you’re doing your job on marketing, anyway. That doesn’t mean they care, yet. Your job change that over the course of time, starting with first contact.
You don’t always need an third-party introduction. Those are great when you can get them, but LinkedIn connection requests, with a very brief note, will often do the trick. If they accept, pile on to suggest a call; even if that doesn’t happen you start, at least they will be seeing your updates on their feed.
There’s always something to talk about. No matter how direct the competition is, if you think creatively, there’s always a sliver of space where you could do something that doesn’t overlap. All you need is that sliver to start the conversation.
You don’t have to reveal any secrets, so long as you ask your share of questions in the ball. Many times I’ve walked away from such calls learning much more than they do.
It’s good if they try to brainscan you. Dream scenario: You get a meeting with their corporate development guy, and all of the sudden you and your cofounder find yourselves on a call with six or seven people, including product managers. This means that they think you have something interesting to learn from you. Prove them right.