Module 09 · The partnership deck~25s dwell · weight 8
Risk preempt
Name the objections the partner's security, legal, and support teams will raise, and answer them before they are asked.
HBR's collaborative advantage piece finds partnerships die in legal and security review more often than in the pitch meeting; naming risks upfront moves that review faster.
Include
- Security posture: certifications, data handling, SOC 2 status
- Exclusivity terms, stated plainly: none, limited, or category-specific
- Support burden estimate and who owns first-line support
Cut
- Legal boilerplate language copied from a term sheet
- Claims of zero risk
Red flags a reader notices
- No mention of data handling or security certifications
- Exclusivity terms are left ambiguous
Pitfalls behind them
- Waiting for the partner's legal team to raise the issue instead of naming it first
- Promising support capacity that has not been staffed
60-second self-test
- · Would this slide survive a question from the partner's security reviewer?
- · Have you stated who owns support tickets in month one?
Template
Security: [certification/status]. Exclusivity: [terms]. Support: [team] owns first-line tickets, with an [SLA].
Weak
"Don't worry, we'll figure out the details as we go, it'll be seamless."
Strong
"SOC 2 Type II since January; no exclusivity requested, listing is non-exclusive; Nimbus support owns first-line tickets with a 4-hour SLA during the pilot."
Answers security, exclusivity, and support in three short clauses instead of deferring them.
Quick quiz
Pick an answer. Nothing is graded, and correct answers stay hidden until you choose.
1. Where do partnerships most often stall?
2. What belongs on a risk preempt slide?