Chris Morton On Little Known Strategies To Welcome Success With Strategic Partnership (#248)

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Chris Morton is an operating partner at Orchid Black. Chris launches and accelerates the profitable growth of companies by creatively mapping technology to successful business models and market penetration strategies, leveraging industry partnerships, and securing institutional and strategic investment. 

Highlights for Chris include [00:02:00] being the co-founder of SkyCross which sold over 750 million antennas and was later acquired by Airgain.

Chris is also the co-founder of Mesh Networks which was acquired by Motorola and has also raised over $85 million in capital. Chris was awarded the GE Doctoral Fellowship and the Cade Prize for Company Innovation and Leadership. 

Community involvement for Chris includes being the former Chairman and now Advisory Board for a Grove Florida and a member of the Executive Committee of Orlando Tech Council. 

When it comes to business advice, Chris says, know your strengths and limitations. Be open to feedback and new ideas and hire accordingly. Chris's bucket list includes traveling to Egypt, learning about the structure and uses of DNA from experts, and learning to play the electric guitar when he isn't playing the drums. Chris earned his Ph.D [00:03:00] from the University of Pennsylvania in Communication Systems. 

Welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast, and we have one of our friends back who's been on a number of times. He is smart, successful, insightful, and full of wisdom need I say more. So chris, welcome back to the Deep Wealth Podcast. Such a pleasure to have you with us and Chris for the benefit of our community because since the last time that you're on, we are so fortunate we continue to grow by leaps and bounds.

Why don't you give us the story behind the story. Chris, what's your story? What got you to where you are?

Chris Morton: Sure Jeffrey, great to be back with you by the way, and good morning your afternoon everyone. I am. Currently, and I'll go in the opposite direction here. I'm currently a partner at Orchid Black and we take positions in companies that are doing well, but could even be doing better. So we take financial positions and help them in terms of leadership, et cetera, and try to maximize Wealth , not unlike some of the [00:04:00] discussions that Jeffrey and all of you have had over. But prior to that I was a Siri entrepreneur and was the co-founder of an antenna company that sold about 650 million antennas into the smartphone market. A mesh networking company that ultimately got sold as well to Motorola that allowed signals and broadband communication to take alternate routes when failures occur.

And nowadays, in addition to my role at Orchid Black, I sit on two. Of companies that I also have a stake in personally one in the 5G space and one in the remote digital behavioral health world, which is fascinating and a story for a different time, but it keeps me on my toes. Again, great to be here.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Oh, Chris, great to have you. And you know what? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Hafa. Joking. I don't think you're busy enough, Chris. I think you need to be doing some more things. My goodness here. You're doing a lot, which is great to hear. Now I know this [00:05:00] episode. Really the origins from this came right after we were wrapping up the last episode, and it was offline.

We were talking and strategic partnerships and the strategy and everything else, and why most companies get it wrong and what they can do to get it right, and we said, Hey, why don't we. Put that into another episode, and here we are. What I love about you, Chris and I just really respect the insights that you bring.

You've been in the corporate world with big corporate. You've also run your own companies, and as you just said, now you're on board. So really you cover all the different gamuts out there in. And I know, speaking for myself as a business owner, if there's one area that has x's instead of check marks, that's the area of strategic partnerships.

I never really hit that outta the park. Could always have done better and I'm, I suspect I'm not alone with that. What are you seeing out there, Chris? Because I know you speak to a lot of business owners, different businesses, different industries, but when it comes to strategic partnerships, are there some common [00:06:00] themes, good or bad, that you're.

Chris Morton: Oh, there are and before we get into it, I think it's important to talk about. What we mean by strategic partnerships because everywhere in the literature, everywhere online, such as we are today, there's endless talk about partnerships. There's endless talk about strategies, but for me, strategic partnerships have a very specific and important that can help companies grow, as you say, have done.

and the term that I'm using here comes from the fact that there are companies of various sizes that find either that they are in similar or dissimilar markets that one of them want to get into have similar and overlapping, and therefore can combine forces of technology or products or highly dissimilar ones where one can compliment.

And the other tee up here, I think for the discussion will be [00:07:00] an orientation to company size. So, Jeffrey mentioned that I've started from scratch and taken out the trash as it were getting started and been on the other side of it in large companies. And there's something that both entities can often get out of strategic partner.

and huge companies partner or have strategic partnerships with other huge companies. So the last filter I'll put on today's discussion will be ones where, one in which a smallish company that is to say, a young company getting started, or a mid-size company hoping to grow and maximize their value and Wealth in transferring.

Is partnering with a far larger company that can benefit him in the ways that we're about to discuss.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Terrific. I can't wait to hear that. And I'm sure the listeners are as well, because you know Chris all too often. , you see the press release and that's the most exciting part after the press release is all downhill. So [00:08:00] let's talk about what to do and also what not to do, which

Chris Morton: Yes.

Jeffrey Feldberg: is as important, maybe even more important than knowing what to do.

So we'd love to hear that. So where would you like to start?

Chris Morton: I'd like to start with the elements of a strategic partnership. Look at it from both sides and in each element talk about ways to do it wrong and right, and in fact, it'll echo back to one of our prior podcasts as well. So from the point of view of perhaps many of us listening today that have created or let our own companies to a certain size and are looking.

Maximize our return in the coming reasonable amount of time, whatever that is to you. There are four really interesting areas where a strategic partnership can be helpful.

One is on the product side.

It's often true that, that those of us that have to focus extremely narrowly in order to efficiently grow our. products [00:09:00] have niche markets today that are complimentary to what the larger company that we may consider partnering with have.

To us is credibility. The benefit to us is perhaps a channel for those products that the big partner may have. The benefit to us is, Perhaps trialing our product in larger labs with the big partnership and ensuring perhaps in a first office application with the products of a larger company that all is gonna be fine and work well.

The good thing about all that I think is self-evident that the hidden issue there is recognizing when you're dealing with a larger company.

Where in the march to general availability and repeatable performance, reliability acceptability in whatever sense you want to talk about it. Large [00:10:00] Companies can get attracted and enamored with smaller one.

Sometimes, and we'll talk more about culture in large companies and , how they see it in a moment. But often when that happens there is a disconnect when perhaps it's oversold. Perhaps it's misinterpreted by your larger target partner and they think that all is perfect when all is not perfect. And that doesn't mean there won't be interested if they can bring you along and be helpful in your.

but it Actually isn't worth your time or ultimately their time. If they think it's a prince. And right now it's a frog, even though it may be on its way to being a prince.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Sure.

Chris Morton: And so that's one important issue with respect to the product itself.

From the larger company's point of view, looking at that same engagement, and this has been true now for a number of years. Perhaps you even talked about it here with your friends Jeffrey. They look at products or technology or even [00:11:00] customers from smaller companies as complimentary when it will take them too much time and money to develop it themselves.

When they fear that if they don't work with you, one of their competitors will,

And when they realize that technology can expand their bottom line in an impressive way in far shorter time than they could if they went it alone, and in fact, that hearkens back to one of our prior podcast. On IP

Another reason for them to come your way is in partner. And I'm not talking about legally buying IP or your company that's a different discussion for now, but come your way because if they tried it on their own, they would run into you anyway. So let's join forces. So product synchron.

And understanding on both parties is really key. And as you point out, can be done [00:12:00] well, can be done not so well.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Chris, let me ask you something before you continue with your insights and experience and your wisdom. because I know speaking to a lot of business owners who are thinking about the prospects of working with a much larger company,

You have concerns, or dare I say, fears that come up. How do I know they're not going to steal my ip?

How do I know they're not going to raid my talent? And once they get to know me, do all those things or you know, I work with them, give them the wherewithal, and now I am really creating a future competi. To those concerns, fact fiction, thoughts and experiences on that. Would

Chris Morton: no, they're real. And I wish I could tell you that there was a magic wand to wave that would eliminate that possibility, Jeffrey. So the question then become, how do I choose a partner? What can I do to ensure that doesn't happen? Or as a judge for cases where I still fear it might happen, and then I don't pursue that particular partnership past a certain point.

You [00:13:00] mentioned ip. I'll get into that and harken back to something that we've said in the past. that is that the world of ip. Is really useful if two things happen. One is yes, patents for sure. The fear there to be perfectly candid with everyone if you haven't heard the prior podcast, is that they have a whole lot more lawyers and money than you.

So if they wish to contest the fact and you think they've taken something from you, it's gonna be difficult. But it's still necessary to file patents in the right countries, but not sufficient. The other is how reverse en engineerable is it.

And there are all kinds of companies, and I'm sure entrepreneurs and business owners that listen here.

And so if you are a first mover, perhaps in, social networking software that the technology of the software of which isn't necessarily unique but the application.

And you've built a customer [00:14:00] base. That's impressive. And we all know the success stories at the mega level, but there are many others, I'm sure for those that'll listen to us here,

You better think hard and long before getting a considerable loyal customer base before you do that.

If, however, it's particular technology and products as we've alluded to so far, then it's important to. As un reverse engineering, a near engineer, a bull as possible,

And then decide for yourself whether that's sufficient. I've given an example in the past where we were making antennas that people could find and look and make if they were.

Bad actors, but sticking an antenna that's designed for one smartphone and yet another one won't work. It turns out, and I won't belabor why

Or in materials high tech nano materials, if you don't know the synthesis technique, just looking at the makeup of the material won't allow you to reconstruct it and have it perform well.

So there are ways to. The [00:15:00] idea of personnel is a harder one, and , I don't want to sugarcoat that, but I will say this. If you have an exciting company and you have a core team that's well incented and I'm including stock and a real sense of participation, it's always true that those things are A barrier against people coming and cherry picking.

And believe me, no one has to come up that close to you to be a potential strategic partner to understand who your best people are. That's gonna happen anyway. I'm sure many of you listening know that. So that gets to a much broader issue of incenting and crew, creating interest and respect and loyalty through participation.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So what I'm hearing you say, Chris, is the myths or maybe they're not so much myths. The tales that we hear, there's truth to them and it's really strategic. Partner beware [00:16:00] and go in eyes wide open. Don't take anything for

Chris Morton: Yes. Yes. And remember, the larger strategic partner,

Does not have to be a multi-billion dollar company. It certainly doesn't have to exist in those, or rather be present in those. Of the world where it may be more common practice to steal.

There are a whole range of partners that come together quite successfully.

And, PE firms and and investment banking firms that I know that deal primarily with mid-size mid-market companies, have a string of successes that are legitimate and long last.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Chris I suppose if a smaller company's looking at partnering in a strategic way with a much larger company diligence, speaking to current partners, former partners, just to get a sense of, Hey, what's going on? Why are things working out? Why didn't it work out? Would be the way to go.

Chris Morton: Right. And I realize again that each [00:17:00] industry is different, but I think one common thing that I'll bet among the listeners, certainly true in my experience is that in certain markets, in certain technological worlds, it's a fairly small world. That is to say that you've known people from conferences that may not be part of this deal, but you can call up and get some background information.

Rest assured that the larger potential partner will do it on you, and they should. And so,

Jeffrey Feldberg: Got it. So it sounds like the good old six degrees of separation, everyone knows somebody and. Email, call

Chris Morton: Yes. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: We can pick up some things for

Chris Morton: And if it's a trusted person that has no stake in the deal, but wisdom in the markets or the companies involved, that's the perfect person to reach out to.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Terrific. Okay. So now that we cleared away some of the misconceptions or the realities of what's there, you've laid the foundation for that. Let's dig [00:18:00] into some of the. Maybe lesser hurt things out there or strategies that get you the success because you've been on both sides of the equations here.

Chris Morton: sure. Let's talk for a minute and we talked about it briefly, but the ways a strategic partner can work with the evolving younger company of course we talked about product and we chatted for a moment about how it looks from both sides.

But there are others. One is that they may be an interesting strategic investor in a young company,

Jeffrey Feldberg: Interesting. Okay.

Chris Morton: and this can be very interesting and good, and it can a staggering mistake. So let me talk about both sides of an investment rather. The good thing is that when investment typically occurs you can tell by their interest that they have seen a value of what you have. That's important. You are likely to have been already [00:19:00] working with them for a while because the typical path between larger and mid-size company, larger and mid-size company is one of which let's start at the product level, get comfortable with each other, and then consider the possibility of doing more.

And so those things. Extremely valuable. Another valuable element from the point of view is of a strategic investor is their investment objective is different to a degree than institutional investor.

And I imagine you've covered this in the past, but by institutional ones, I mean traditional bcs who.

While they may have subject matter experts, et cetera, are investing to maximize their profit, of course and participate from a strongly financially driven point of view. This strategic investor in a large company is different in a couple of ways and it's really important.

One of them is that while they are do [00:20:00] to a degree held to account for the goodness of their investments, their objective is to get really, embedded strategic partners, intimate or intimately connected strategic partners of value to the larger corporation.

If I'm a large corporation and I have, nine pieces of the puzzle in a particular market worth billions, but I'm missing the tent.

It could well be very attractive not only to partner with a young company, but to move them along at a higher pace by investing in them. And so their, objective is typically different. 

What happens most of the time in the larger company, and again this is from looking at it from both sides, is that.

The strategic investment arm of this larger company is populated with people that may not be lifelong venture people, but they're business development and even very specific technologists who [00:21:00] have a tour through the venture arm to add expertise and look for things that matter to them.

So one of the things that's important to do is to, early on.

find and work with a point of contact within the strategic investor, which can go back and find the right business unit within this perhaps midsize to mammoth company that would be interested because the strategic. Won't actually do a deal with you in almost all cases if there's not strong support within the business units.

And so there's an initial process here by which you've gotta find a receptive partner within the venture firm. And that partner has to have a warm and fuzzy feeling by socializing what you do. divisions that she or he will know or you can discuss with him. All of that will be [00:22:00] generally good if the answers to those things are yes.

The danger on the other side of this is not necessarily bad actors. We've covered that, but the danger is that this strategic partner in my. Should not be one of a set of a relatively small competitors in a market that you want to sell to. That is to say they have to have complimentary products. Yes.

Broadly speaking, in a market. Why would I say that? I would say that because if I take an investment from company X, There's four other key companies that Company X competes with,

Jeffrey Feldberg: right?

Chris Morton: and that company invests in me and goes on my board, and they will certainly ask for that at the very least, as an observer.

Many times as an actual voting board member, the other competitors of big Company X are going to believe there's [00:23:00] a fox in the hen. and no matter what you say about firewalls and other things, it will create doubt. Now that you might think at high level, well then how would this ever work? Let me share a couple of examples just from my

own past. So I mentioned that we created a company that got quite big actually, that made antennas for the wireless.

It would've been a bad idea to take investment from one of the big smartphone manufacturers

For the reason that I just said, and we didn't do that. It was a great idea to take investment from a couple of carriers that have all of the competitors,

Because I've gone around the competitive. but they in turn can put pressure on all phone or laptop providers to put our antennas in there. So there's a distinct difference.

Along Those same lines if a strategic investor gets writer of refusal [00:24:00] upon the possibility of a success event of your company, that is to sell, you're gonna say you're gonna sell to someone that also can effectively kill the deal.

Why? Because, You've probably sold your company for the amount of investment that company has already put in, because others know that if they get close to you and offer a bid and you have a first right of refusal in your agreement, they'll be used for a stock horse That is to say it'll set a price for the strategic or either they won't come close and near cause they don't wanna reveal themselves, or it will reduce the price because they'll only be a stocking horse and why go through the effort?

So there's really valuable things about strategic investment if it's part of a broader product market strategy. In other words, the thing that drives a strategic partnership. But there's a couple of pitfalls of the kind that I mentioned that are really. almost company ending in a way. [00:25:00] So, plenty of ways to do it right, two ways to do it, way not right.

Jeffrey Feldberg: A, and so Chris, taking a step back here, because you've put a lot there that we could unpack, but one of the things I'm hearing loud and clear is really, hey, play the long game as tempting and perhaps even as easy as it would be to partner with someone who could also be. A client or a customer of yours, don't do it.

It'll, long term wise, create more damage than good. You're also limiting yourself and opening yourself up for other issues along the way. Did I get that right?

Chris Morton: Yeah. There's no strategic Partnerships are not an end in themselves. Let me answer you this way, Jeffrey. They are a method to grow and hopefully create interest in your company.

And maximize your value and therefore your Wealth, they are not the objectives. They are a tool to do so when it makes sense and so it's, yes, there's a longer term element to it perhaps.

There's, [00:26:00] certainly do your due diligence and there's certainly an element of it, of negotiate the deal in the right way. It's not to be feared, but you have to clearly understand what you're trying to achieve. If, for example, . I have an interesting company and I have no access today to a particular market with my product.

Why? Because it's just hard to enter the, it's full of incumbents, but I have something unique. A strategic partner can be extremely valuable there because if I, and this is the nirvana of a strategic partnership, have the 10th piece. The missing piece that the big company doesn't have, I will get access to that big market that I can't in complement

The products of the big company.

The big company doesn't have to wait to enter that market because they have a missing piece. And that's a situation in which we're, it would work perfectly well, in fact. Great. And we've talked about some [00:27:00] cases where it would not.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And let me ask you this, Chris, as we're going through this, I mean the big company that's gonna be partnering with a smaller company, maybe even a startup, from the smaller company perspective. We could just rhyme off all the reasons why this can help and why it makes sense.

But I'm wondering more times than not, we get the good old imposter syndrome coming up as a smaller company

and having been on both sides of the table here, Chris, from a larger company perspective, maybe you can reveal what they don't want the smaller company to.

Of why that smaller company makes a lot of sense. And outside of the obvious one, because a big company maybe becomes slow and lethargic and the smaller company can really speed things up and make things interesting. When you get beyond that though, what would be some little known things that the bigger companies don't necessarily want you to know, but they know very well and that's why they're talking to you.

Chris Morton: Yeah. And this is not to say anyone is a bad guy or nefarious either, right? Both sides are trying to maximize their value. [00:28:00] It's expected. There's no the first thing to realize here is whether in fact it's a strategic partner or even an institutional investor or even an acquirer at any particular point in time.

There is but especially with institutional VCs and strategic. To our discussion here today, it is to their advantage because they see a Wealth of people coming to their door to say, yeah, it looks interesting. Send me more. I'm not raising that because, , they're trying to take what I send.

We've already gone down that thread. I'm raising it because you have to watch them appearing more interested than they may really be because from the point of view of a big company I want to be the one to say no.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Sure.

Chris Morton: And that means of course, that I want to. positive. If it's [00:29:00] r really a horribly run company with bad technology.

Don't waste your time, says the big company strategic investor, but within bounds, reasonable bounds of a competent company. You want to learn more so that you can be the one to judge. And one of the things that happens there is, you're strung along. Or you ultimately realize you were strung along because they will love to get more charts.

They would love to see more about your financials. They would love a sample to test or two, if it's an existing product they would want to put it through. And those, these hoops are giving them the opportunity, if it's a, if it's a home run to say yes and lots of opportunity for them to say, Hey Chris, thanks.

You're a little early or it just doesn't fit our worldview 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mm-hmm. . 

Chris Morton: Thanks so much. Good luck with that. So there is that the other thing that's interesting is that from the point of view of a big company, especially the bigger [00:30:00] of the big companies, we know, we talked about larger strategic partners being.

Far bigger perhaps than the other potential partner, but not necessarily mega companies. However, in mega companies that are worldwide with multiple divisions of 10 or 15,000 people per division, even a well, well-intended point of contact with an a venture, strategic venture arm of a company may or may. actually be able to easily, or even correctly, find the right place for this.

And it may mean there is no right place, but it may also mean that they haven't found it yet. And it doesn't mean they're bozos nor does it mean they're even acting disingenuously. It's not a trivial process.

So one of the things for. You entrepreneurs on the smaller side to think about is how best to arm this point of [00:31:00] contact

And get them looking in the areas of this large company which will have a higher probability of bearing fruit and therefore just sort of here's what we do and wait for a call back is not a good. We talked about getting G2 and what the other companies may do. Partly you may know that because you've approached this bigger company or they, you but work hard the whole time understanding it because the point of contact of this big company may be perfectly well intended, as we said, but really not able to get at the right group and that right group, depending upon the stage of maturity.

Of our smaller company may be their advanced development group. It may be pre-production, and various companies have various terms for this. Or it may be, we love your product, we just, you know, we wanna fold [00:32:00] it in, which case there's a decision to make to do that as. . It's a result of them judging the company and their product.

what do I mean by judging? We talked about it when we first started on the product interaction side. is this thing a breadboard in a laboratory, or is this a refined product with considerable testing, perhaps even a first office application who.

But it's also their assessment of the smaller company.

Are these individuals ready if we take this private label it or tuck it under our arm in some intimate way and begin offering it to our customer base as that missing piece we've been talking about, will they, the younger company be able to address problems? or are they gonna get a call back from the c e o?

Well, you know, Larry, the engineer is on vacation. I can't help you

Cause there's only one of them. And I'm overstating this for effect, but that's a huge issue. When our antenna company first [00:33:00] sold to Samsung, I'll tell you a little story. A VP called me up and said we love your technology.

I want a thousand of these by Tuesday and hung up Charming. And we worked basically nonstop. We took the thousand pieces in and he was in the laboratory and he threw them in the trash can.

And I said, what did you do that for? He said, I wanted to see if you.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow. 

Chris Morton: You're our kind of people. In other words, manically committed to serving them. Now I'm not here to comment on their particular culture or whether one should do this all the time, but I am using this tale to convey the fact that their judgment of the degree of maturity, not just what you're offering specifically to them, of the.

From the big company's point of view is a big deal and it will tell them even if they like it. Do I couple these people? I'm Mr. Bigger Company with the Advanced research, advanced Engineering, [00:34:00] which is slightly more applied all the way to Yeah, it's a product we can sell it if we choose or if we agree to do so.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Chris, let me ask you, because you referenced this a little bit earlier and it also came up in your story right now. I love that story by the way, although I can't imagine what you and the team went through to jump through that hoop

Chris Morton: Yes it was horrible but they ultimately bought a couple of hundred million antennas from us.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So, big picture wise, it was worth a sleepless many sleepless nights in that short period of time.

Chris Morton: exactly,

Jeffrey Feldberg: So a smaller company, they've identified a much larger company that could really help out on the distribution side or whatever area that could be, or expanding the market. But they're not fortunate to get that phone call from the company and they're now looking to call in cold to the company.

So I imagine, Chris, if you didn't get that phone call and you identified Samsung or one of the other huge Goliath out there 

Chris Morton: or people here. Sure.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Or people here, wherever it may be, [00:35:00] but you identified a huge company, no one's calling you. Where do you even begin to start finding the right person that can move the dial? 

Chris Morton: Great question. I'm glad you raised that. Hadn't planned to discuss it and we there's typically two avenues. If the company is more or less in this hemis, or maybe Europe the most effective thing you can do is to and, you know, I'm not here to sell LinkedIn, but there's a variety of ways of determining organization structures.

But you're not looking for their investment arm you're looking for their business development.

How would I find that? Again, if I don't Know anyone who knows them, which is the first thing I would try, I would certainly enter through the business development side. And there some of the larger companies even have designations of roles, which are maybe not strategic partnerships.

Coupling in some manner, getting to market. They have very well realized that, [00:36:00] by the way, all the big ones know very well that there are interesting companies that are coming along on a regular basis that can be helpful. That's part of our culture now. And so, I would try the business development side.

The other thing that I've done, which is not an endpoint, but a starting point, is if there is a local account rep or salesperson not a bad person to start with If you either have a rapport or can develop a rapport. I sit on the board and I'm an investor in one company right now that has a product that day.

I, as well as I believe could be very valuable to the wireless carrier in order to bring 5G to, every building and every home.

Jeffrey Feldberg: . Wow.

Chris Morton: There is a local function here in central Florida that for other reasons I had come to know and I was able to have a conversation. Look, here's what these guys do.

I think it would [00:37:00] be valuable. Which leaf do we look under in a large carrier's corporate structure? How do we get approved to operate on their network? Where if there is a strategic partnership possibility, should we look And believe it or not, some of these folks are rightfully so much focused on selling.

They may not know, but if you developed a good rapport, they'll find out for you or they found out from past experience.

but don't it's funding is a result of what looks like a good partnership. Go to business development.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Some great tips there. Start with business development, or if you can't get a way in the door there, perhaps a sales rep or someone in the sales

Chris Morton: yeah. Especially sales. Yeah, the reps possibly, but they're even further from the core of the company. But yes, that's. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: distinction. 

Chris Morton: That's right. And then, look, it's about relationships and building them just to complete the thought, Jeffrey engaging with the business development guy and just coming out in a very straightforward [00:38:00] manner and saying, look we think we have something special here.

Who do I need to talk to? And by the way, happy to show it to you as well, but, help me here.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, I like that. And so let me ask you this and I suspect the answer is gonna be, good old fashioned doing your homework and diligence and the right kind of presentation, but you get your foot in the door. , you now have that opportunity and I can just imagine, and Chris, perhaps you've been there yourself in the larger company,

you probably get pitches all the time that it becomes deafening.

And seeing the real deal from the ones that are just a waste of time and effort can become difficult. Any insights or tips of, you know, you get the right contact, you have your one shot, how you're gonna make accounts to make that favorable.

Chris Morton: I think two things. Sure. Homework and diligence. But there's other things to be said here from the small C company's point of view. You may or may not when you start be all the way to the right people. So realize that and this is often the [00:39:00] case, right? There's, , six levels of the onion appeal.

And it takes time and obviously energy, but realize that there are certain important things that the person is going to react positively to in your talk. And I'm not here to do, charts, manship, et cetera. Let me bounce to the other side. So you and I are now not the ultimate decider, the BizDev guy at headquarters in wherever.

These team of people are set of founders come and speak to you or remotely or otherwise. So, you have to realize, They'll be impressed by three or four important things.

How that translates to a particular business in charge is certainly not for our discussion today. Number one, that they really understand the markets that they're trying to get at.

Number two, that they have something that [00:40:00] they believe is differential and others do.

It could be just trials, it could be whatever points of convincing or others have tried it. And like it, you can give to the big company, the more impressed they will be.

Another is tone. The first guy in business development doesn't need 38 charts.

It needs somebody to come in and tell me, look, this is what we. , this is where we believe it's going to add considerable value. This is the fact that others have seen this and they're either already using it or already trialing it. And by the way, parenthetically, you better get on the train before it leaves

Yeah. So crisp to the point of. Markets. Sure they can disagree with the tails, but it's the management team that knows who they are, knows where they're going, knows what they've got, and conveys that succinctly is the key, [00:41:00] not only in the first line of defense, but as you make your way in, because the first entry point is simply to create cred.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mm-hmm. 

Chris Morton: Entry point is not to give them the 29th chart on. And by the way, here's the grim details of our five year business plan. It is not, and I have, you can tell by my voice, I have a strong bias there, but I've listened to them and I've given them, and it is one of the most common mistakes and it spans every market that are.

You want the person to leave on the big company side and say, look, this team has it going on. They're sharp people. They know what they've got. They know where they're headed. They think they have at least some interesting idea about where they might connect with us. I don't mean in detail, but how we might couple together.

Let me go find the right person if I haven't already, and put some energy.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. Wow. So some terrific insights. They're really not [00:42:00] too different from both business and personal. I mean, to take it to the extreme, Chris, and I'm gonna take it way out there on the personal side, you know, on the romantic side, if you meet someone who's of interest, the very first time you meet that person, you're not asking that person to marry you or to put all your baggage on the table.

You're trying to make your best first impression to have an interest of, Hey, let's continue the convers.

Chris Morton: And people, the people that have a sense of themselves or a sense of their team and where they fit and what they want out of life or out of is what people most fundamentally react to.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Chris being on the other side. Now, when companies have approached you to work with them and you've been really the titan of business or the Goliath out there I suppose it's much like when I speak to buyers who are looking at buying a company and they say, Jeffrey, if. We get any, even the smallest indication of fear or the business owner being desperate, that's like sharks in the [00:43:00] water.

Blood in the water. We're gonna go in and really take that to the fullest advantage that we can. And I suppose in this context, when you're approaching the larger company, there needs to be confidence and brevity and the big picture, not desperation, and all the negative attributes that go along.

Chris Morton: And it partly harkens back to the conversation we just had, Jeffrey but remember too that each interaction in a particular company has a purpose. So we've talked about hello, here we are. And that interaction, there's a number of ways as you get deeper, if there's.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mm-hmm. 

Chris Morton: The part of the big company to convey your interest and willingness to be flexible, but also the fact that you know your worth.

And it's hard to generalize those in a podcast such as this, but there are ways, and they'll start probably, if not with the first meeting, with those that begin to follow,

That you know what you're talking about. And you know what you.

and [00:44:00] if you don't you may not get an offer at all to partner.

And if you do, it'll be yes. Sign here. And by the way, I get right first refusal. Lucky you. I'm going to pay you some money.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Chris, you know, I suppose when speaking to, if we're on the smaller side, speaking to the larger company, really it's no different than why we started our companies in the first place. I mean, with your antenna company, Chris, I don't wanna put words in your mouth. I'm gonna make a big assumption. You can tell me if I'm on-base or off-base.

You found a very specific problem, a painful problem in the marketplace, and you found a world class way to solve it. And so taking that forward, when we're looking at partnering in a strategic partnership way with larger. take the time, do the research, do whatever you need to do. Hey, what's their problem?

A painful problem for them, that you are the world's best resource to solve for them. I suspect that will get anyone's interest 

when done right? 

Chris Morton: It will, the other thing that it does and I didn't say it quite that way in the prior, but that kind of knowledge going [00:45:00] in even if it's not exactly right, if well done, there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. We all know that.

But knowing where, at least to some degree of accuracy, the pain points are that you can help solve, provides a sense of confidence to the leadership team and engaging.

It's not, oh, please help me find where in this bohemoth I might fit, please. Or, you know, it's, I call it, begging at the back.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. Yeah 

Chris Morton: you don't ever want to be caught begging at the back door.

Jeffrey Feldberg: yeah.

Chris Morton: But knowledge of the industry, obviously knowledge of what you have to offer and knowledge of what that particular target partner may have provides confidence if you've seen this, I know, and I'll bet you listening to.

Later will recognize this uh, public speaking at a conference.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Sure.

Chris Morton: the most confident people are people that know, they know what they want to convey. [00:46:00] Now, sure, there are people that are more or less comfortable, on a stage with 500 people in front of them, but the knowledge of the fact that you have something good to share is such a huge.

differentiator and the people that are, sweating bullets and, sweating through their business shirt 10 minutes before going on may be competent people, don't get me wrong, but you have to convince yourself and remind yourself, I guess, that, you know.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Exactly. And Chris, I've been on both sides, including the sweating shirt, 10 minutes before the presentation. And so I speak from experience and the difference is really, and this is one of our foundational beliefs and values. A Deep, Wealth, it is just preparation. When you've put the time in, you've prepared, you've practiced again, and you've practiced some more.

That's when you can do it in your sleep. It becomes second nature, and that's where the confidence just exudes from you and it attracts others. 

Chris Morton: One other thing to share on this subject of not only [00:47:00] confidence but effective communication and presentation is realize that for most of your audience, whether it's a conference or even a particular set of people sitting around the table as you're making your pitch, when that used to happen, right, Jeffrey, as opposed to zoom, they are assumed that they are intelligent people. because they likely are, but they don't know what you know,

So, and they don't need to know everything that, that reinforces the idea of logical progression of the talk. Here's the pain, here's the product. Here's how large an opportunity, here's others that have seen it and.

That sort of logic, smart people that don't know, particularly what you're talking about, will react positively to that every time. I do. I can tell you, it's the key and keep it moving along. They want to, most people that I have [00:48:00] spoken with in that context are smart and they're somewhat visual, they wanna see the progression of the structure of what you're talking about.

Almost all the time

I'll share that as well.

Jeffrey Feldberg: I know all this stuff, but when it's happening to me, I just get caught up with it. And it's only afterwards, oh, you know, look, it's the human condition, and as smart as we think we are and as polished and experiences, we think we are in the right environment with the right kind of techniques and preparation and strategy game on, and anything is possible.

Chris Morton: Exactly. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: And So Chris, Let me ask you this, because truthfully, I could go down a zillion rabbit holes with you and would love to. That said, though, we're starting to bump up again some time, and you've been very gracious in the past because we have a tradition here at Deep. Wealth, as you know. every guest we ask the same question and would love to continue that tradition. So that said, let me remind you of the question, and you've had a few kicks at the can, but let's see [00:49:00] where you come out on this one. Maybe it's the same, maybe it's different or about to find out. That's what makes it all fun.

So as you recall, you have that magical DeLorean car in the movie Back to the Future, and the car takes you to any point in. So Chris, here's the fun part, is tomorrow morning you look outside your window. Not only is a DeLorean car sitting there, but the door is open waiting for you to hop on in. So you hop in and you can now go to any point in your younger days when you are perhaps a young child, a teenager, whatever point in time that's going to be, what are you telling your younger self of, Hey Chris, here's some life wisdom or lessons or do this, but don't do that.

What would it sound.

Chris Morton: Yeah. I'm gonna give you two answers because I'm going to remind you and perhaps those that may have heard one of our podcasts together before I've answered as you know, I would. As a young researcher, probably realized my love was in creating companies and matching technology to market.

But that's [00:50:00] not the answer I'm gonna give today. The answer I'm gonna give today would be even a younger self. yeah. One of the things that I've had to learn over time is to lead with empathy.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow.

Chris Morton: I wasn't leading anybody when I was even younger than starting out my professional career. But I had this idea that if I was smart enough and dynamic enough, it would all be fine.

What I've learned, and therefore I'd love to go back and teach myself, is that one of the chief ways to get people with you and behind is to realize, hey we're working hard. We're all people. We all make mistakes. Of course you can ,you can't continue to employ people that are really failing at it.

But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the act of encouraging, the act of saying, Hey, I've, believe me, I've been through that too. How can I help you? All of that sort of thing. Which [00:51:00] I've found over time. I'm really good. , but I didn't think it mattered when I was young and starting.

I think that's the lesson that I'll share today.

Jeffrey Feldberg: You know what I love about that is really you're taking what was already within you, but perhaps not as valued at that 

Chris Morton: Yeah, you're 

Jeffrey Feldberg: And again, this is on the, I'll call it the art side of business that we tend to overlook, or even the art side of life quite openly. Something that doesn't take any more time, it doesn't cost any additional money or resources, but the impact that it makes is huge.

And what a wonderful reminder for us.

Chris Morton: Yeah, 

Jeffrey Feldberg: wrap this up to, to put that out there and I really thank you for that.

So, you know, 

That said, it's official. This is a wrap and as we like to say here at Deep Wealth, Chris, please continue to thrive and prosper and stay healthy and safe. Really appreciate your insights and wisdom today.

Thank you so much.

Chris Morton: Always a pleasure, Jeffrey. To those of you that will listen [00:52:00] down the road good luck to each and every one of you. 

Sharon S.: The Deep Wealth Experience was definitely a game-changer for me. 

Lyn M.: This course is one of the best investments you will ever make because you will get an ROI of a hundred times that. Anybody who doesn't go through it will lose millions. 

Kam H.: If you don't have time for this program, you'll never have time for a successful liquidity 

Sharon S.: It was the best value of any business course I've ever taken. The money was very well spent.

Lyn M.: Compared to when we first began, today I feel better prepared, but in some respects, may be less prepared, not because of the course, but because the course brought to light so many things that I thought we were on top of that we need to fix. 

Kam H.: I 100% believe there's never a great time for a business owner to allocate extra hours into his or her week or day. So it's an investment that will yield results today. I thought I will reap the benefit of this program in three to five years down the road. But [00:53:00] as soon as I stepped forward into the program, my mind changed immediately. 

Sharon S.: There was so much value in the experience that the time I invested paid back so much for the energy that was expended. 

Lyn M.: The Deep Wealth Experience compared to other programs is the top. What we learned is very practical. Sometimes you learn stuff that it's great to learn, but you never use it. The stuff we learned from Deep Wealth Experience, I believe it's going to benefit us a boatload.

Kam H.: I've done an executive MBA. I've worked for billion-dollar companies before. I've worked for smaller companies before I started my business. I've been running my business successfully now for getting close to a decade. We're on a growth trajectory. Reflecting back on the Deep Wealth, I knew less than 10% what I know now, maybe close to 1% even. 

Sharon S.: Hands down the best program in which I've ever participated. And we've done a lot of different things over the years. We've been in other mastermind groups, gone to many seminars, workshops, conferences, [00:54:00] retreats, read books. This was so different. I haven't had an experience that's anything close to this in all the years that we've been at this.

It's five-star, A-plus.

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Deep Wealth is an accurate name for it. This program leads to deeper wealth and happier wealth, not just deeper wealth. I don't think there's a dollar value that could be associated with such an experience and knowledge that could be applied today and forever. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Are you leaving millions on the table? 

Please visit www.deepwealth.com/success to learn more.

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