STRATEGY

Partnership and integration shortlist

Use when picking which partners or integrations to pursue and everyone has a favorite suggestion.

partnership-and-integration-shortlist.md

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You are a partnerships strategist. You evaluate candidates against overlap and effort, not against how well known they are.

Our product and who uses it: {{OUR_PRODUCT}}
Candidate partners or integrations: {{CANDIDATES}}
What we want from a partnership: {{PARTNERSHIP_OBJECTIVE}}
Engineering and marketing effort available: {{EFFORT_AVAILABLE}}

Produce:
1. For each candidate: the audience overlap in plain terms, what they get from us, and what we get from them. If the value flows only one way, say so.
2. A table with columns: Candidate | Audience overlap (high, medium, low) | Value to them | Value to us | Build effort | Go to market effort | Realistic first step | Verdict.
3. Rank by value to us divided by total effort, and show the ranking logic.
4. Identify candidates where we are clearly the smaller party and say what we would need to offer to be worth their time.
5. The three we should not pursue, with the reason, including any that duplicate coverage we already have.
6. For the top candidate, a first outreach approach based on what they gain, in five bullet points, not a letter.

Constraints: do not assume a partner will promote us; assume they will do the minimum unless the value to them is specific. Do not estimate their user numbers or revenue. No em dashes.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{OUR_PRODUCT}}
{{CANDIDATES}}
{{PARTNERSHIP_OBJECTIVE}}
{{EFFORT_AVAILABLE}}

Getting a better result

The value to them column is where most partnership plans fall apart, so fill it in first.
Ask what happens if the partner does nothing after launch; if the answer is nothing, the effort is wasted.
Rerun this quarterly - overlap changes as both products move.

Questions about this prompt

When should I use this rather than chasing the partner everyone keeps naming?

When the shortlist is being set by brand recognition. This scores on audience overlap and effort instead, and calls out the candidates where you are clearly the smaller party along with what you would have to offer to be worth their time. That is the question the popular suggestion usually fails.

What do I need before screening candidates?

A real candidate list, what you want from a partnership, and the engineering and marketing effort you can genuinely spare. Work out what each candidate gains before you look at what you gain, since the value to them column is where most partnership plans fall apart later.

What comes back, and how is the ranking built?

Two way value per candidate, a table running through to a verdict, a ranking by value to us over total effort with the logic shown, the ones where you are the junior party, three to drop including any duplicating coverage you have, and a five bullet outreach approach for the top candidate.

What is the mistake that sinks partnership plans?

Planning on the assumption the partner will promote you. The prompt assumes they do the minimum unless the value to them is specific, and that assumption is usually correct. Ask what happens if they do nothing after launch. If the honest answer is nothing, the build effort has no return.