The Perfect Pairing: Corporates and Startups – Touch Innovation Program
Startups are popping around with some of the most innovative ideas disrupting multiple sectors. They usually are skilled in one field and may be experts in that area. However, startups tend to lack in structure and need expertise in marketing, accounting, legal, human resources, among others. To truly be able to scale and grow, they need to start to think and act like a business.
By startups and corporations partnering, they can share resources providing startups with structured knowledge. Below are a number of ways a corporate partnership could benefit startups:
Numerous startups are popping around, many of which tend to fail. A corporate partnership gives the startup a huge boost to their credibility in the market.
Access to New Customers
Corporates have built up their loyal customer base over several years and could provide that to startups, who would otherwise have a difficult time doing so, allowing them to get to market faster.
Pitch Perfect
Startup founders are often trained to pitch to investors during their lifecycle. Pitching to corporates however is a whole other ball game. When startups pitch to corporates, they usually pitch to stakeholders who really know their stuff and will be asking the tough questions that would truly test their ideas.
Lessons Learnt
During their lifetime, corporates have learnt through their many mistakes in the past and have constantly rigorously improved their processes. The reason corporates have reached their size is through their vast experience. Startups can learn how to deal with things from corporates, such as how to handle a customer complaint, or internal processes that comes with scaling.
At touch, we are strong believers in the impact corporate partnerships have and have been proving it through the Touch Innovation Program. The startups who have participated in our program have found the experience extremely beneficial having benefited from the mentorship, network, and access we have been providing.