6. Partners

The Partners box on the canvas will be a bit of a moving target as you roll out your innovation, but start by thinking about the things that are essential to your innovation that you don’t want to do yourself. Who can complement or augment your efforts? Who will the key members of your “ecosystem” be? Are they people or organizations you need to supply you with key resources? Are there strategic alliances that would increase your odds of success? Some of your partners may even get paid for their help. The word “partner” doesn’t always imply complete alignment. Catalog Choice, for example, engaged with the Direct Marketing Association as part of its strategy—even though the DMA wasn’t initially aligned with CC’s goal of reducing throughput.

Table 4.6 Sample Partners