Here is an organization with history of accomplishment. They have a large contingency base of students, staff, alumni, volunteers and supporters and a complimentary vision of supporting and growing creative minds.
Within 30 days, I was on a plane to meet with Bill Strickland and team. In advance, I emailed him a brief on what Oddpodz was, our plans, and some general ideas on how we could help each other reach our respective goals. This is a key ingredient to getting a new strategic partner meeting set up, and ultimately securing a partnership.
Before we met, I thought through what Oddpodz needed and what I believed MBC needed. These needs became the outline for my presentation.
At the end of the day, we reached an agreement -- a true strategic partnership. We both vowed to help each other. Oddpodz made a revenue share and on going financial commitment. MBC committed to open new doors and help introduce our social network to their communities. We both agreed to cross-promote our messages and programs.
Angels do more than invest in startups. Just ask Chris Miller, the executive director of The Creative Coast Initiative, a destination branding initiative that aims to build a stronger business, lifestyle and creative economy in Savannah, Georgia.
It all started with an article I wrote for FastCompany.com two years ago. Which lead to a client, who became a great friend and also an investor in Oddpodz. Through a relative, she had heard about an ambitious creative project in Savannah and knowing Oddpodz's goal to build a nation of creatives, she arranged a meeting. A pivotal conference it was. Sixty days later Oddpodz moved from Tampa, FL to establish our national headquarters in the Creative Coast, and we now have a super strategic partner.
Like our affinity partner MBC this too was about strategic fit and the ability to deliver on promises from both partners. With The Creative Coast Initiative, we are in the center of a very hip, historically rich, eclectic and transforming environment. They offered incentives like office space, on a historic site built in the 1700's that will be revitalized and designed by a team of SCAD (Savannah Collage of Art and Design) students. We will be surrounded by other creative people and emerging companies. We will designate a section of the Muzeum (Oddpodz online destination that hosts our social network) to creative places and spaces. Savannah will be prominently featured here and also have naming rights for this room. We will also co-brand on and off-line events and cross-promote our programs.
In conclusion, I've asked Michael Sanchez, CEO of Cafemom for his advice on strategic partnerships. Cafemom is also a new social network dedicated to moms. They are not a pure start-up -- Cafemom was started by CMI Marketing, which also runs ClubMom (CMI), another leading website and loyalty company for moms. CMI was founded in 1999 by Meredith Vieira, Andrew Shue (actor and social activist,) and Michael Sanchez. The irony is there is no big difference in Sanchez's approach versus our smaller start-up company's approach. His company just has bigger cash budgets to put in the deal as well as a wider network of existing relationships.
Michael's response: "Any time we strike a strategic partnership, we are making a commitment of time, energy, and added complexity to the company. This means that we should be very selective about partnerships and believe that they will help us materially advance the ball on one or more of our key objectives:
He continued: "A partnership means delivering value to our moms or any network of members. In return you always want to make sure expectations are set clearly and all parties can live up to their end of the bargain. The final point is that it is important to trust the partners and enjoy working with them. Even the best partnerships will have their ups and downs, so trust helps both sides be committed even when plans change."
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