Business Core · Partners · Module
The agreement
What each side commits to, in writing, including what happens when it stops working. The last part is the one most often left out.
The idea
How it works
An agreement is read carefully twice: when it is signed and when the relationship is failing. It should be written for the second reading.
Exit terms are the clearest signal of how a partnership is understood. Negotiating them while everyone is optimistic is far easier than negotiating them later, and the willingness to discuss them is itself informative.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Write obligations as observable commitments
What is delivered, by when, to what standard. “Best efforts” is not a commitment.
- 02
Settle IP and data before signing
Who owns what is created jointly, and what happens to shared data at the end.
- 03
Negotiate exit while optimistic
Notice, transition assistance, and what each side keeps. Do it now or do it in a dispute.
- 04
Match liability to consequence
A cap far below the damage a failure would cause means the risk sits with you regardless of the words.
One level in
The components of the agreement
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
Write the agreement for the second reading — the one that happens when the relationship is failing.
The other modules in partners
Partner selection
Deciding who to work with, and on what basis. Most partnership failures are selection failures that management could not fix afterwards.
LearnGovernance
How the partnership is run day to day: who talks to whom, how decisions are made, and how problems escalate before they become disputes.
LearnValue review
A periodic honest assessment of whether the partnership is still worth what it costs — including the cost of managing it.
Learn