The Realities of Small Business/Large Business Interactions
Strategic partnerships between small and large businesses can be complicated to establish, but once one is place, the benefits for both sides can be tremendous. Deb Santy, director of strategic partnerships at Connecticut Innovations, sat down with representatives from businesses that have been successful in forming a relationship to find out how they made it happen.
You’ll learn:
- Stories about specific partnerships that have been successful
- How the partnerships came about
- How a small business can identify an advocate within a large organization
- How to clearly state your value proposition at the first meeting
- How to identify the value the relationship brings to both parties
- How to prepare for a meeting with a large organization
- How long the process takes
- and more
The Realities of Small Business/Large Business
About the Participants
Jason Bittner
Jason Bittner is the founder and CEO of Triple Helix Corporation, a software and information management company. Before launching the company in 2004, Jason worked for nine years in the aerospace, defense and manufacturing industries, helping to integrate IT technologies with best business practices. He gained a fundamental understanding of the many challenges organizations face in managing, organizing and understanding large volumes of data and provided innovative solutions for analyzing data. Jason has also worked for over 20 years in website design and web applications. You can contact Jason at jason.bittner@3xcorp.com.
Kevin Bouley
Kevin Bouley is president and CEO of Nerac Inc., a global technology and IP advisory research firm, and a co-founder of and advisor to Smpl Bio. In addition to being an information technology thought leader for the Tolland technology corridor, Kevin is an active angel investor, having invested in numerous startups – many co-located with Nerac. Working with UConn’s School of Business, School of Engineering and alumni, as well as the local business community, Kevin aims to bring more business development programs to fruition and connect entrepreneurs with potential investors. You can contact Kevin at kbouley@nerac.com.
Jonathan Hartman
Jonathan Hartman is the global technology partnerships lead for Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. In this role, Jonathan champions the identification and maturation of game-changing technologies through collaborations with customers and Sikorsky Innovations’ global network of partners. Since joining Sikorsky in 2009, Jonathan’s portfolio has included maturation of future vehicle concepts, next generation energy storage and use, and autonomy-enabled product offerings. You can contact Jonathan at jonathan.hartman@sikorsky.com.
James Lindsay
James Lindsay is co-founder and chief architect at Smpl Bio, a bioinformatics company in Storrs, Connecticut. He is passionate about bioinformatics and entrepreneurship and strives to find the simplest solutions to complex problems in business and bioinformatics. At Smpl Bio he has helped solidify partnerships with large business using voice of the customer campaigns coupled with transparent product development. At the University of Connecticut, he has developed algorithms and tools used in genome assembly, biomarker selection and single-cell genomics. You can contact James at james@smplbio.com.
Deb Santy
Deb Santy is director of strategic partnerships at Connecticut Innovations. In this role, Deb helps innovative Connecticut businesses build stronger and broader relationships with large and small companies as well as Connecticut colleges and universities. These new collaborations enable stakeholders to develop customer and supplier relationships, find sources of talent, and connect with new products, materials and R&D. You can contact Deb at deb.santy@ctinnovations.com.