Business problems are not solved in hackathons. Serving pizza and coke for developers is just entertainment for corporations. Nothing else.

Dear corporate leader,

It’s great that you want to play with startups, but please, don’t treat us as fast food.

Being a startup entrepreneur is hard.

We might look laid back but we take our work very seriously. We work long hours chasing our dreams and we must be world class.

So don’t ask us to come to entertain you in your hackathons or join your accelerator programs just to make you look trendy. And definitely do not organize competitions where the prize is a vague promise of a business deal in the future.

Startups are not subcontractors

Lately big companies have shown a growing interest in startups, which is great, but still too many corporations treat startups as fast food.

We at Hoodie Dude have been finding startups for our corporate clients since 2013. Some of our projects have led to acquisitions or real partnerships but too often the result has been “nice to know” and nothing else.

Why is that? The reasons are usually cultural differences.

Big companies are used to treating small companies as subcontractors, who do almost anything to please them. But startups do not work for you.

We are small but we aim high and we need to stay super focused on our business. Not just yours.

Don’t let the simplicity fool you

Startup products can seem amazingly easy to use. The things we do look simple, but there has been a lot of sweat and tears in the development. So don’t be fooled; we just make it look easy.

Most startups develop their services and products with the lean method. Lean development means fast releases and endless failures. It is rare to hit the jackpot without multiple failures and profound changes in concepts and business logic.

To reach a winning concept, we have to go through hell.

Respect with resources

If you wanna succeed with us, be relentless. Respect us as your friends and most of all: put resources into your startup operations.

After working with multiple corporations, we’ve seen that the ones that succeed with startups are companies whose top management is genuinely excited about small companies. But being interested is not enough. You need to invest money, people and time in us.

And If you want to acquire startups, it will be a long road.

“If you decide to go shopping, you have to do it big,” stated Timo Hiltunen from Finnish business data giant Fonecta in Different, a study we made for Finnish industries.

You will not succeed just by waiting for your first investment to hit the jackpot.

“You cannot buy some startup of three engineers and force on the sidelines of a large corporation. That won’t change the company’s DNA. But if, through purchasing startups, you acquire dozens of people with skills in high technology, the goal can be attained,” said Hiltunen.

Don’t steal time

Whatever you do, do not steal our time. If you treat us indifferently, you might kill us.

When a small company puts all its efforts into a partnership with a corporation, the only things that matter are the results. If you see that our thing will not work for you, say it out loud immediately. Terminate the contract so we can move on.

Wasted time can never be regained.

Beware

So, dear corporate leader, please remember this: You need us more than we need you. That’s right. We have the whole world to conquer, but you have your business to protect.

Take us seriously. Or we’ll move on and you’ll miss the opportunity.

By Sami Kuusela