At Forward Fooding we advise and consult with corporates and investors on how corporate-startup collaboration can lead to creating a more sustainable future of food. 

We’re on a mission to make these mutually beneficial partnerships come to life between our corporates and startups clients.

Collaboration is at the heart of what we do. And as we facilitate collaborations, we like to think we actually walk the talk on a daily basis. 

So I always find it interesting when a company or individual says something along the lines of “Oh we tried collaborating, and it didn’t work.”

One could assume that it’s just not for them, or that they weren’t set up in the right way to make it happen. Maybe the business organisation couldn’t facilitate it. Or maybe the ingrained way of working was just too entrenched to include anything that “new and different.”

However, on reflection, all of these are simply pretty good excuses.

Because the biggest factor making corporate-startup collaboration possible is not at all how the business is set up. In fact, we believe it is rather in the organisation’s mindset. 

So I’m going to share a few thoughts on how to maximise your collaboration efforts. This can mainly be done by changing your mindset from “what’s in it for me,” to “what can we create together that is better for everyone.”

If you have the vision, you can make corporate-startup collaboration happen

It’s 2020 and we have the internet.

Without a doubt, there will be someone who has done it already, or something very similar. In fact, it doesn’t matter if nobody has ever done it before.  If you have the vision, then you don’t need to become an expert in the technical skills as well. Collaboration is about bringing in experts to help and support you, while being there to help and support them in return.

Take our FoodTech Data Navigator platform for example. Our vision was to create a Food Tech data intelligence platform with the technical capabilities to deep dive into investment, revenue, business model and social media insights. So we set out to find the right technology partner to help us bring our vision to life.

Our collaboration with DataScouts has enabled us to find the right technical partnership to build our vision from the inside out. They provided a fully customisable platform at the cutting edge of data intelligence. And we integrated it with our proprietary databases of AgriFoodTech organisations, other data and experience. This is how the world’s first Data Intelligence platform for the AgriFoodTech industry was born.

You can learn more about how the FoodTech Data Navigator works, and why we built it.

Everything you do is a learning experience

Yes, collaborating as part of a business agreement can be costly if it doesn’t work out the way you wanted it to. But if you go into it with a set of expectations that aren’t based around first and foremost learning, then you will certainly be disappointed.

No one can predict the future, unless you have a cracking AI tool that is 😉 But what we can predict is that you will learn. Learn from the experience, learn from the outcome, learn what works and what doesn’t work for you, your business, and your team. And most importantly, learn something about yourself.

Be open and you will discover hidden value

 

 

Let’s take networking as an example here. When you go to a networking event, do you fall into the trap of introducing yourself and then glazing over when the other person talks because you’re trying to work out who they are, what they can offer you, and whether you can quickly convert them to a customer?

With a fixed mindset of “what’s in it for me” you are shutting off the possibilities of what could be. By discounting an encounter for not being “right” for you, you close down the possibilities available to you. Now, not everyone will be right for you. But they may know someone who is. Their brother, mother or lover may be right for you. But you won’t know that until you get curious.

Ask questions, be genuinely interested in learning and understanding. Your authenticity and interest will build a connection that goes way further than just “what can you do for me.” 

Some of the contacts I’ve met at Food Tech meet-ups have been peers in passing for many years before the time was right to jump on a call and discuss an opportunity to collaborate. But without a relationship in the first place, we wouldn’t have such a wide network globally. Nor would we have such good relationships with Startups, Food Tech leaders or our clients across the board.

Collaboration isn’t straight forwards

It takes courage and honesty to approach a situation and know where you want to get to.

Bring in the right people, understand the nuances of collaboration and respect the people and the process. This way, the outcome could not only create the “greater good”, but could be better than you ever imagined.

Get in touch!

At Forward Fooding, we’re powering the Food Revolution through the power of data. We’re offering you consultancy services and access to our global startup network.

If you want to know more about our FoodTech data & insight, consulting and corporate startup collaboration, visit our website or contact us at info@forwardfooding.com.