Posts by: Scott Pollack

Full Stack Business Development

In the language of technology, a “Full Stack Developer” is someone who understands how to code every level of a computer: from the fundamentals of server processes to backend programming to database architecture and front-end design. They’re among the most valued members of an organization, able to translate between the layers of a system. A Full Stack Developer can be your best resource whether you’re planning for top-notch performance, diagnosing a tricky situation that’s eluded your best specialists, or are just quickly hacking your way to an MVP.

Allow me to introduce the idea of a similar unicorn: the “Full Stack Business Development” person. A Full Stack BD understands the complexities and interactions between every layer of long-term value:

  • The Customer Layer: a Full Stack BD knows that customer development is just as important as partnership development. They understand what motivates, what upsets, what delights your current and prospective customers.
  • The Product Layer: a Full Stack BD knows how to identify and solve the needs unearthed in the Customer Layer. They inform the products and services that create value for customers and help advance their own organization’s pursuit of long-term value.
  • The Strategy Layer: a Full Stack BD knows how look before they leap, to evaluate the best paths to long-term value. They are comfortable directing attention back towards internal resources like product development or marketing, but can also lead the charge in selling the idea of partnership when the best path leads outside the company walls.
  • The Human Layer: a Full Stack BD knows how to reach and connect with people, to communicate the value of an idea to an individual and to an organization. They know how to establish a bond based and build relationships that provide back in equal proportion to everyone involved.
  • The Relationship Layer: a Full Stack BD knows how to keep the balance between what’s given and what’s received, when to tow the company line and when to advocate on behalf of another. They know how keep value flowing, so that it’s sustainable and worth the effort.

    • The path to becoming good at Business Development can be start from a background sales, or marketing, or finance, or partnerships, or accounting, or liberal arts, or law. But becoming great at it requires the full stack.

    Why Deals Die

    Marriage is hard. Half of marriages end in divorce, so say the oft-quoted statistics, and keeping committed to a relationship over a lifetime of bumps in the road is no simple task.

    Just like a marriage, the road to a successful partnership is a long, hard, and winding one that requires attention, energy, and effort to maintain. The voyage can be treacherous, so avoiding the potholes in the partnership road requires a good map, a keen awareness of the obstacles on the path, and a steadfast focus on reaching your destination.

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    Choose Your Own Biz Dev Adventure

    When I was a kid, I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books.  Do you hike up the mountain or take the shortcut through the cave? Every page had a decision to make, and every decision had a consequence that impacted how the story played out.

    In Business Development as with those books, every decision you make about how to pursue an opportunity to create long-term value will determine the fate of your journey. Do you train your sales force to sell a new product, or do you find a distribution partner to take it to market? Every decision has a consequence.

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    The Value Hypothesis

    Every time you propose a partnership with another company, you are making a guess as to why they’d want to work with you.  According to the Grand Unified Theory of Business Development, business development is fundamentally focused on creating long term value.  But whose value are you taking into consideration?

    When two companies are evaluating an opportunity to work together, each is weighing the relative value of the same deal from their own unique perspective.  While you approach a company with an understanding of the value that they can bring to you and your organization, they are making the same judgement what you can bring to them - and will decide accordingly on how to proceed.

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    Forbes Acquires The Start of the Deal*

    *Well, that’s not exactly true. But I am working on writing sensationalist attention-grabbing  headlines as I have been selected by Forbes.com to be a Contributing Writer on the subject of business development!

    I’ll be writing a weekly blog for Forbes, which will also be entitled The Start of the Deal. Not coincidentally, that is also the headline for my first post.

    I plan to write for both Forbes and this site, so stay tuned to both as I pump out new thoughts to continue the conversation that can move business development forward, and change the way companies large and small create value that persists for the long-term.

    Why Should They Care?

    I met for coffee with someone recently to sound board some of their business development ideas.

    “I have a great idea for a partnership with Dr. Pepper,” he said.

    Having seen Dr. Pepper’s uncanny ability to combine 23 delightful flavors into a satisfying diet drink that tastes just like the original, I could certainly understand the desire to collaborate with the company.

    “Great, what’s in it for them?” I responded.

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    Why I’m No “Hustler”

    It’s a well-known fact that the startup community (of which I’m a card-carrying member) loves it’s buzzwords and catch phrases. When I was getting my start as a Java developer back at my first Web 1.0 startup in 1999, everyone (including us) was building a “portal.”  Then out of the shadows came the “ninjas,” assassinating your customer service problems and slinking back into the night.  Of course, the talent market has been flooded with companies seeking  ”Rockstar” developers, Python “wizards” or “gamification” “gurus.”

    When it comes to business development, people want a “Hustler.”  But to me, the term does a disservice to the role of Biz Dev.

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