How a startup get the support of a large company is our way to friendship with Mail.Ru Group

It happens that you bring a startup to the market, which is not yet available. People do not yet know about the problem that you solve or do not consider it serious. Advertise a product in such an environment - wasting time. It is unlikely that everyone suddenly realizes the importance of the problem with which your startup copes, for sure, is the best and runs to you to buy a solution.

The process will be gradual. Over time, a clear market will form, major players will appear, prices will be settled. But you can not wait until everything goes by itself. After all, even if you have the best decision to sit still for today, the miracle will not happen and you will remain at the verge of a new market.
')
It is time to take a strategic position in the future market. The task that you have to solve for this is extremely difficult, but very clear. You need to convey to people the awareness of the seriousness of the problem your startup is working with. There are only two ways to do this: either spend millions to work with the media, or try to find the support of your ideas in the face of a well-known and reputable company. Let's face it. It is unlikely that you will be able to attract hundreds of millions of investments in your startup for a global PR campaign and create a new market. All that remains is hope for a partner who can bring the seriousness and significance of the problem you are solving to people.

I will tell you what you yourself can do now, in order to take a favorable strategic position in the future market. And I’ll show it on the example of how we, still a young startup, managed to create a service for checking websites for viruses with Mail.Ru Group, which now works with more than 1 million sites. So, it's time to act.

1. Who are you dreaming about?

First of all, you need to believe that big companies are not as inaccessible as you might imagine them to be. Start by narrowing down the search. Choose from them those that can help solve the problem of communicating the significance of the problem to your potential users. After that, leave only those that you would like to work with yourself.

I advise you to choose a company not only because of its size or “coolness”, but also because of your personal sympathies. Pay attention to their attitude to the quality of new projects, their latest trends. On the feelings that you have, representing this company.

At one time, we answered this question almost instantly. Then just appeared service myMail, which Mail.Ru Group launched in the US market. The whole team of our project used it and could not believe that a Russian company could create a product with such high UX. At that time, we even borrowed some approaches from myMail when creating a new interface of our own service.

The solution was unanimous - Mail.Ru Group was an organization with which we wanted to work.

2. Where to write to get noticed

Large companies have partner departments, and especially large ones have start-up support projects. It was in the service responsible for reviewing applications from startups in the Mail.Ru Group we wrote. Usually, each company describes in detail what content and in what form it wants to receive an application from you. Problems with this issue you will not have. So, we sent a letter.

We had no illusions and did not count on a reaction - we just continued to do our project in the usual way. However, the answer we still waited.

Receiving a letter from the guys from Mail.Ru was an exciting moment. It turned out that their team was faced with a task, in the solution of which our startup could be useful. Within a few hours of correspondence via e-mail, we discussed the option of possible cooperation and agreed to meet.

3. How to respond to failures

Your task is to simply and clearly state your thoughts in a letter. You need to be clear enough for those who read your message. People working on the reception of applications have to look through a lot of letters. Make sure that they can understand your project in seconds and come up with an application for you. People in such companies have little free time, so specify the description of your project, otherwise you risk being ignored.

If you do not receive an answer - do not worry. This is probably not your option. Just look for another.

Of course, not in all cases you will receive a response from the company you have dreamed of working with. Sometimes, you can get an answer, but already reading the letter you will feel that this cooperation is not for you. Give up. It is unlikely that success and joy such a union will bring you.

4. What to expect from the first meeting

A few days after receiving the letter, we were already at the Mail.Ru Group office. Of course, in such cases, invite not to just meet. The day of key employees of large companies is scheduled by the minute and a meeting at the office is not a tribute, but a way to save time.

Sitting in one office, literally within half an hour you will be able to discuss issues and come to a convenient option for everyone. If such a discussion was conducted by e-mail or video conferencing, it would take weeks to agree. This does not want anyone. Such a meeting will allow both parties to know the subject matter well enough. You outline a task that you could jointly solve. Understand whether the proposal is convenient in its original form or not.

In our case, it happened. For several tens of minutes, we developed an action plan and received admission criteria for the quality of our startup from the children.

5. How to go a long way from the first meeting to the beginning of work

You did not think that everything can be so simple? Of course not. I do not advise you to expect that you will immediately sign a contract. First you will need to prove your worth. A big company hardly wants to risk its reputation when it comes to collaboration. We, for example, needed to test our service and get approval from specialists. Accuracy and quality of work had to meet their requirements.

We spent several months improving the service. As a result, the test was passed and it was possible to start discussing the final form of cooperation.

Of course, you will need to document your agreements. Legal aspects may take several more months before you can formally begin working together. You need to understand that in a large organization all processes are calibrated and take a fair amount of time. This is still not a startup that can make turns on the run.

Now you will have a specific task. It will just act.

6. How to learn to wait

No matter how much you want to start work faster, this is hardly possible. Your big partner has its own schedule of work and loading staff. He will include work with you in this plan. Nothing happens instantly - learn to wait.

When you are “seriously engaged” on the other side, you will have a hard-to-hide smile on your face. You will really feel that a huge company, which previously seemed inaccessible, is working with you to solve one problem. Again, do not expect that everything will work very quickly. The process of testing and debugging solutions in large companies is regulated and you will again have to have some patience.

For ourselves, we can note that the process of working on the code itself was more like teamwork, rather than the work of two different organizations. This allowed us to make continuous improvements to the future service from both sides.

7. It's worth it

Well, finally, you and your big partner are ready to launch a joint service or conduct some kind of action. It will take some time after launch, before a big company tells people about it. Will convey to them the importance of the problem being solved. When this happens - you will feel not only a surge of strength, but also additional attention to yourself from the market.

We checked this statement on ourselves and we can say that it is worth it. Well, at least in our development, the Mail.Ru Group has played a significant role.

If you feel that this way is right for you - just act. Find the company you need, write a letter and you will be answered. You will definitely find your big friend!

PS

We have gone this way, like many other startups. Now you! I hope this article will deprive you of fear and give determination. Do not be afraid to send a letter. Fight for your project - nobody needs it any more than you! What will you be if you do not try to use this opportunity?