John McArthur’s New Venture Blog

From time to time as a favor to friends, I will contribute as guest blogger.  So let me direct your attention to this Guest Blog on Countdown.2.Storage Expo.  Rose Ross, who also attended the BDEvent, asked me to provide a write up on the one session that she missed, which was the one that I co-chaired with Mike Miracle.  For reference and completeness, here’s Rose’s very-excellent post on the rest of the event.

Rose has been a friend for many years, so, of course, I said, yes.  For those of you who don’t know her, Rose is an accomplished PR professional, who carries many titles, including:

• Chief Marketing Officer at Launchpad Europe
• Managing Director / Founder at Omarketing

It seems I’m not the only one who is a Rose fan.  I see on her bio that she is the 2005 winner of the Toigo Award for Best Storage PR Professional.  For those that are looking for PR support in Europe, take a look at Omarketing, and for those looking to expand a European channel, take a look at Launchpad Europe.

And under the  FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which focus on “Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, and Celebrity Endorsements,” let me assure you that I am not paid by, nor do I receive commissions or referral fees from Launchpad Europe or Omarketing.

Oh, yes, the next BDEvent will be held at the Sheraton in Palo Alto, CA, on January 25 – 27, 2011.

After we got past our initial reactions to the “Man up and buy them,” comment from George Crump, at theBDevent last week, we  got down to some practical discussions about how to make OEM agreements work for both parties.  One of the big items that comes up in negotiations is the Source Code Escrow Agreement.  The party that wants to make use of some element of software, the OEM-In, wants to ensure access to the source code from the supplier, the OEM-Out, under a variety of scenarios, including defaults by the OEM-Out.

Of course, since the source code represents the crown jewels of the OEM-Out, they will typically do whatever possible to limit the conditions under which the OEM-In gets access to the source code.  The OEM-In, on the other hand, wants the broadest possible range of triggers for access to the source code.   (more…)

The most provocative statement I heard at  The BD Event in Boston last week came from George Crump, when he said, “OEM agreements don’t work.  If a company wants the technology, they should man up and buy it.”  Mike Miracle and I chaired the Business Development Roundtable discussion where George made his comment, and I have to say, it sparked a lively debate.

Although I make my living largely by helping companies establish strategic partnerships, including OEM agreements, I thought it would be helpful to list some reasons why potential partners would say “No” to an OEM agreement. (more…)