Partnerships · strategy stress test

Build, partner, or wait

You need a capability the incumbent platform already has. You can build your own, partner with them, or wait a year. The incumbent gets a say either way.

If you build, they can copy you or leave you alone. If you partner, they can deal fairly or squeeze you once you depend on them. Your leverage is how long a copy would take them and how credibly you could walk away.

You (mid-size company) versus The incumbent platform. Payoffs are modeled, not measured.

Your opening moves

• Build it yourself. Eighteen months of engineering to own the capability outright.
• Partner with the incumbent. Integrate on their terms and go to market together.
• Wait a year. See what the incumbent does before committing anything.

The assumption you control

Months before the incumbent could replicate what you build. The rehearsal shows the value at which the best opening move changes. Twist: The incumbent commits publicly to open partner terms.

Concepts at work: Bargaining Game, Subgame-Perfect Equilibrium. See the glossary and all rehearsals.