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How to Identify and Structure A Successful Partnership
Mark Cameron White of White & Lee LLP
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Multimedia Partnering - Putting the Pieces Together
Susan Bunnell, Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich
Ken Hertz, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller and Hoberman
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Successful Partnering - How to Make It Happen
Cynthia Typaldos, RealCommunities/GolfWeb
John Williamson, MediaLive
Dave McClure, Servinet
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Crises Management - What to Do When Things Go Wrong
Dan Morales, Intersol
Bill Deihl, WT Deihl and Associates
John Tingleff, Tingleff & Associates
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— Mark White of White & Lee LLP.
Mark gave an overview of how start ups can identify, attract and structure corporate strategic relationships - and his own observations on how companies can work through periods of financial crisis. Specifically, he addressed (a) current trends in the Valley, and how strategic relationships are perceived by investors, other future partners, and the effect of strategic partnering on the development of future markets, (b) the key features, issues and differences between technology, creative and marketing partnerships, (c) understanding what partnerships to pursue, when, and how to identify prospective partners, (d) how to position the Company with prospective partners, how to define the relationship with partners, what materials to prepare and what to say and not say, (e) getting in the front door, and how many partners to approach, (f) how to stage the development of relationships, not give away too much too soon, and how to protect the Company if you do, (g) how to structure partnerships to achieve objectives sought - business and revenue models, and issues of contribution and relative value, (h) a brief discussion about strategic investments, and (i) how to exit a partnership without burning bridges.
Speaker One: "Protecting the Technology Company and Putting the Deal Together" - Susan Bunnell of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich
Susan focused her remarks on the front-end issues of identifying and protecting the Companyâs technology, and from a practical view, how multimedia partnering relationships are put together. Topics Susan covered: (a) identifying what intellectual property the Company owns, and how to protect this prior to approaching partners (without appearing to be paranoid), (b) issues in the ownership and rights of use of new creative and technology ideas, methodologies and products created within multimedia development partnerships, (c) how to identify and procure the right to use third-party intellectual property - and how to minimize up-front and down-stream costs, (d) working with Hollywood from the perspective of the technology company - what are the rules of working together, differences in expectations, and how to locate creative talent in Hollywood, (e) working with unions, how to avoid this if possible, and whose problem is it anyway·, (f) dealing with the Hollywood mindset on the ownership of and attribution for the creation of content, (g) issues on the allocation of electronic, music, film, broadcast and book publishing rights between content providers and the technology company, (h) typical structures used in multimedia partnerships, and fundamental differences between Hollywood/Silicon Valley business models, (i) how to quantify the relative contribution of technology and content partners, and allocate revenues/profits, and (j) trends that she sees in the collaboration between LA/Hollywood content providers.
Speaker Two: "Protecting the Creative Artist" - Ken Hertz of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller and Hoberman
Ken generally addressed multimedia partnering from the creative side. Ken covered (a) what creative talent is available in the LA area, and where to find it, (b) how to work with agencies that represent creative talent, who they are, what they each specialize in, and how they earn their fees (ie. the cost to the technology company), (c) those pesky unions - and is it possible to avoid working with them, (d) is there a flip-side to creative agencies and unions - and do they actually help?, (e) what is the mindset of the content provider, what to they want to own, what do they want to get paid, what is the extent of involvement they want in projects - and how important to them really is "creative control"?, (f) what about "attribution" on multimedia products - and use of the artistsâ name to promote products?, (g) are there any multimedia trade organizations, groups or forums in LA where technology and creative talent address common issues, meet etc.?, (g) what role do law firms play in representing their clients, is it possible to work directly with artists without getting the lawyers or other third parties (such as creative talent agencies) involved?, (h) what are typical revenue models used by the creative community in multimedia deals, and do artists ever take stock in technology companies for services?, and (i) what trends does Ken see in multimedia dealing making between the Silicon Valley and Hollywood.
Speaker One: Cynthia Typaldos of RealCommunities (formerly GolfWeb).
Cynthia addressed successful partnering based on her experiences with RealCommunities, Inc./GolfWeb. Similar to presentations she has given in the past, Cynthia addressed (a) how Golfweb identified the key relationships it needed to generate traffic on the web, and how it got introduced to these partners, (b) maintaining brand presence when working with larger, more prominent partners, (c) the economics of internet partnering - and how to get something for nothing, (d) when to pull out of a partnership - and how to do it without tanking the Company, (e) strategic investments for critical services, and does this ever make sense, (f) trends in internet partnering, and (g) how the playing field has changed from Golfweb to RealCommunities.
Speaker Two: John Williamson of MediaLive.
With more players and competition on the internet offering consumer portals and e-commerce, John addressed how a young and largely untried consumer internet service like SurfMonkey is now establishing key partnerships with the dominant players. Specifically, John covered (a) how SurfMonkey got press coverage in the major US consumer and trade publications - and on television, whether this attention came too early, and how it has affected traffic and the Company's credibility with partners, (b) working with Microsoft and Intel - and how to navigate through layers of management to get the deal done, (c) taking on investment with key strategic partners - and how this plays in the VC community, (d) developing partnerships on a budget (or without a budget), and (e) what kind of partnerships to pursue to drive up internet traffic - how to pitch the Company, and what you should expect to give up.
Speaker Three: Dave McClure of Servinet.
With Aslan Consulting, Dave has successfully grown a consulting company, piloted the Company through a troubled financial period, and sold the Company under favorable terms. Based on this experience, Dave addressed (a) how to grow and differentiate a consulting services business through partnerships, (b) how the Servinet relationship was established, and how Aslanâs business was integrated into Servinet, (c) what alternatives Dave considered in keeping Aslan afloat during the period that it was financially distressed - and why an exit strategy made sense, and (d) in today's web design and application development environment, what partnerships make sense.
This panel will discuss the flip side of operating a successful business - and that is managing companies through periods of little or no cash flow, pressing creditor obligations, and short term distress to allow time for longer term prospects.
Speaker One: Dan Morales of Intersol.
Dan is batting clean up, and he will take this occasion to tell his war stories about working with distressed companies. Without identifying by name any companies, Dan told his stories as he wished, while trying to highlight the following points: (a) how to avoid problems in the front-end of a relationship by knowing your partners, and picking up the stones to find out what's underneath, (b) dealing with dishonest partners while maintaining your own integrity, and (c) managing employee expectations, gadflies, and chaos.
Speaker Two: Bill Deihl of WT Deihl and Associates.
Bill reviewed the basic techniques and approaches managers can use to sustain financially distressed companies, covering such topics as (a) how to restructure creditor obligations outside of bankruptcy, the leverage to use with creditors, and what types of credit payback plans generally make sense to all sides, (b) how to retain and motivate staff - or select which staff to terminate without demoralizing the remaining team, (c) techniques for setting up alternative businesses, avoiding successor liability, and using the goodwill, clients and relationships of a predecessor company, (d) how to deal with lawyers and auditors during this period, (e) the bankruptcy alternative, when this makes sense - and managing a company while under the protection of Chapter 11, (f) working with banks during periods of financial crisis, what banks want to hear and how to maintain lines of credit, and the advisability of maintaining multiple bank accounts to avoid arbitrary and sudden bank action to freeze accounts, and (g) proper management controls for startups and emerging growth companies to spot early problems, and take early actions to avoid crisis.
Speaker Three: John Tingleff of Tingleff & Associates.
John reviewed the basics when dealing with a distressed company and ending its life as easily as possible. In general terms, John shared the following points: (a) working through the bankruptcy process, court hearings, generating accurate financial reports and the like, (b) knowing who to trust, (c) building a new business model to address problems, and implementation issues, (d) how to generate investment and/or acquisition interest without selling out the Company, (e) how to evaluate bids/proposals and know whats "real", (f) dealing with the press in a high-profile restructuring.
