Startup CXO

Chapter 82CEO‐to‐CEO Advice About the Business/Corporate Development Role

Matt Blumberg

What comes before a full‐fledged CBDO? In most startups, not much of anything. Usually strategic partnerships and M&A are handled by the founder/CEO, or potentially by someone in sales. If a business is partner/channel heavy, that may be the focus of the sales team in general. Or for M&A, external advisors/bankers may be used.

Signs It's Time to Hire Your First CBDO

You know it's time to hire a CBDO when:

• You wake up in the middle of the night wondering about M&A buy or sell sides.
• You are spending too much of your own time discussing things with people outside your company.
• Your Board asks you for your M&A roadmap, and you don't have a great answer and aren't sure how to get to one.

When a Fractional CBDO Might Be Enough

A fractional CBDO may be the way to go if:

• You need help defining your partnership or M&A strategy, or creating a market map, and you don't want to rely on an external advisor or banker for it.
• You need help executing a couple of M&A transactions that are too small for a banker.
• You need help defining a major new strategic building block like “creating an indirect sales channel” or “international expansion,” and you and your whole leadership team together have no experience in that area.

What Does Great Look Like in a CBDO?

Ideal startup CBDOs do three things particularly well:

1. They have a good balance of all three core components of the role that Ken outlined ...