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Partnership Process - Profile drafting

The Partnering Opportunities’ Database

- POD -

• IT tool of MERLIN to insert profiles• One single database• 5 types of profiles possible

5 types of profiles

Technology Offer (TO) Technology Request (TR) Business Offer (BO) Business Request (BR) Research Development Request (RDR)

The Partnering Opportunities’ Database

- POD -

REQUEST or OFFER

A good ‘rule of thumb’ is to ask the question:

Which way is the money going to flow?

•If your client has to pay to get what he is looking for, it is probably a Request (Business Request).

•If your client is going to receive money or financial gain from the partner he looks for, it is probably an Offer (Business Offer).

REQUEST or OFFER

Example:

• Business Request: Your client is looking for a like minded company within the EEN that supplies a particular product or service in order to complete their product range and/or distribute the product/service in its own country.

• Business Offer: Your client would like to extend their services into another country of the EEN. They have a service or product that they would like to offer in order to gain a foothold within the new region.

Business or Technology profile

• Status of development

• Type and role of partner sought

• Decide upon type of partnership

Guide for Technology/Business Offer and Request will help to identify

• You should write a Technology Offer if your client develops a technology or an innovation and wishes to make it available to end-users abroad in order to carry out a technology transfer.

• Likewise, write a Technology Request if, to solve a problem they have encountered, your client needs to find one or several partner(s) who will transfer the technology or know-how needed.

(refer to the TO / TR Guidelines to know whether you should write a TO or a TR)

• If your client needs partners to expand his business abroad for mainstream technologies or existing products, wants to establish franchises in other countries of the Network or find trade intermediaries or suppliers abroad, or in general make partnerships which do not involve technology transfers, write a Business Offer or a Business Request

(refer to the BO / BR Guidelines to know whether you should write a BO or a BR)

Profile Templates

Profile Templates

• Word documents that have to be adapted to your needs (not all is relevant for your client)

• Template is similar to IT-tool front-end

• Following slides show the main mandatory fields and most critical once

Title (1)

• Enter the title of the profile. Remember that this is the very first section to be read.

• The title should be clear and meaningful for non-experts in the technology or application field. It should enable clients to see if the profile interests them, and allow Network Partners to see which companies or researchers in their region might be appropriate partners.

Title (2)It should be:• Clear AND Concise (It is not an advert, and there is room

in the abstract and description for further details)

• Attractive (Avoid “marketing speak”: remain as matter-of-fact as possible).

• Important: Stand-alone acronyms, product names or trademarks are not allowed in the title and that there is a character maximum of 256 characters (including spaces).

Summary / Abstract (1)

The summary is usually the first – and sometimes only – thing potential partners or your client will see.

•Many Network Partners only distribute in a first step the titles and summaries of profiles to their clients, to save them time and avoid an overflow of non-relevant information. •Only if the clients are interested in the information title and summary will they ask for the full profile.

Summary / Abstract (2)Add a summary of the offer/request. It should be a short overview (max. 500 characters incl. spaces) and aim to answer the following questions:

•Where (geographically) is the offer/request from?•What sort of organisation is doing the offering/requesting?•What is being offered/requested (put the emphasis on the “what”, not the “how”)?•What are the main advantages for the user?•Who are the targeted partners?•What sort of partnership is sought?

Description (1)

• This is the most important field of the profile. In this field, describe the relevant results or characteristics of the offer (max. 4,000 characters). Please note that a space and punctuation marks each count for one character.

• Whenever possible, provide background information or a short introductory text to the technology described (this can usually be found with an internet search).

Description (2)

• Describe the technology or product; try to indicate clearly the innovation you propose (provide quantitative data if possible and put the emphasis on explaining the “what” and not on the “how”).

• Elaborate on points covered in your summary. If possible back up descriptions with data to support any claims.

• Provide information about the expertise or know-how of the proposer.

• Indicate type of partnership (copy from other section)

Description (3)

• Do not include a sales promotion of your technology or product.

• Do not include the advantages of the technology / product, it will come below.

• Do not write your description with a specific market in mind: concentrate on the business/technological aspects of the technology/product you are requesting/offering.

• If you use abbreviations, please make sure that full names are given, as well as further explanation (if necessary).

Advantages and Innovations

In this field describe clearly the innovative aspects, economic advantages/benefits of the profile.

•Consider elements such as performance, ease of use, need of specific know-how, or expertise to adopt your technology.

•Whenever possible, quantify the innovative aspects or advantages of your technology/product, putting the emphasis on explaining the “what” and not the “how”.

Advantages and Innovations• It maybe useful to add a bullet list of other main advantages related to

the product i.e. Potential innovative product aspects, novelty, performance, ease of use, economic benefits, comparison to competitive products already on the market. etc.

• Please note for Business Offers and Business Requests this is a compulsory field. When completing this field while writing these types of profile always consider the main advantages the company could offer potential partners. i.e. well-known brand (although do not mention brand names), wide range of products, innovative products, company established for a very long time etc.

IPR StatusSelect the status of the clients Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). You can select one (or more) of the following statuses: •Copyright, •Design Rights, •Exclusive Rights, •Granted patent or patent application essential, •Other (registered design, plant variety, etc.), •Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted, •Patents granted, •Secret Know-how •Trademarks.

Filter

• Market application keywords• Technology keywords• NACE code

Filter - Market application keywords• see Profile User Guide – Appendix AThe detailed Market keywords are structured in 9 main sectors (Level 1), 68 sub

sectors (Level 2) and 271 specific branches (Level 3)

………etc

Filter - Technology keywords

• see Profile User Guide – appendix B• The detailed Technology keywords are divided into 11 main

sectors (Level 1), 61 sub-sectors (Level 2) and 328 specific branches (Level 3)

• This field is not mandatory for business cooperation profiles. If relevant, choose a maximum of five technology keywords applicable to the client.…

Filter - NACE code• see Profile User Guide – appendix C

Type and Role of Partner Sought

This is one of the most important fields when creating a profile. Insert information regarding the type and role of Partner sought.

As a rule the following information should be addressed as a minimum:

•The type of Partner Sought (industry, academic, research organisation, business etc.) active in area xy

•The tasks to be performed by the partner sought (you should state clearly what you expect from your partner.

Everything should be conform with the Summary and Description.

Type of partnership considered

Indicate the type of partnership agreement that your client is interested in. Select from one (or more) of the following list.

Note: The following list of partnership types differs dependent on the type of profile you are creating.

• Acquisition agreement• Commercial agency agreement• Commercial agency agreement with technical assistance• Distribution services agreement• Financial agreement• Franchise agency agreement• Joint venture agreement• License agreement• Manufacturing agreement• Outsourcing agreement• Reciprocal production• Research cooperation agreement• Services agreement• Subcontracting• Technical cooperation agreement

Conclusions

Remember

• Clients cannot write good POD profiles• POD profiles are

…less about technology …than about communication

• POD profiles are …not for your clients but for Network partners and their clients

Tips for good profiles (1)

• A colleague should check your profile before you submit it to the EASME (former EACI)

• Read and follow the guidelines• Only write the information necessary to find

the right partner• Check the coherence of the various fields of

the profile

Tips for good profiles (2)

• Take enough time• Write for the reader, not for your client• Use everyday English, no jargon• Explain acronyms• Make short sentences• Find clear and simple titles• Write the summary last

Main mistakes• Distraction mistakes: incomplete summary,

insufficient description, wrong partnership types…

• Other languages than English used, typos• Use spell check• Names of companies, products mentioned• Profiles from other geographical areas

Most Common Mistakes for Business profiles

• Insufficiently detailed full description• Types of cooperation not clearly specified• Expected input often too vague• “We / Our” forms • Types of collaboration not allowed: direct sales

of goods or services

Most Common Mistakes for Technology profiles

• Main advantages of TO or cooperation type not clearly indicated

• Partnership type/Comments box quite often not completed according to guidelines

• Too few indications on patent status• Innovative aspects not indicated or detailed

enough

Guidelines available

POD profile guidelines – for each of the 5 types, include the different sections of a profile as well as the evaluation criteria (scoring) specific guides

Merlin “Partner User Guide” - includes the IT tool for managing: profiles/events/ partnership agreements … overall guide

available as download or online version