Ask HN: Ideas for structuring a SaaS-related joint venture?
Background: I'm a solo designer/developer and have created an early prototype of a B2B SaaS application intended for a niche market. A former colleague at a relatively large company is familiar with my work and prototype and has expressed interest in turning the application into a joint venture between my one-person company and his company.
In the case of a joint venture I could continue leading the design and development of the product, while the partnering company would provide content, marketing, and sales.
I'm debating whether to pursue the joint venture or continue as the sole developer and am trying to think through joint venture options before coming to a final decision.
My questions:
- What are suggested arrangements for such a joint venture?
- What are the possible incentive options (e.g., payment for development, royalty and/or licensing fees, on-going maintenance fees, etc.)
- What pitfalls should I look out for as the "smaller" partner in the joint venture?
- Can you share any suggestions or lessons learned from a similar experience?
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3 comments
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You can certainly white label it to other customers too. Or work out an exclusive license to them. But for them to keep exclusivity they need to maintain certain levels of metrics (fees to you, active users, etc)
Maybe the fee structure is one off. Maybe a % of their rebranded revenues. Maybe a combination thereof.
In the past I've done an $X upfront as the cost to create the white labeled product and then some % of the revenue based on the value that you bring and the time/cost it takes you to do so.
Best suggestion is to think of the numbers that would make you insanely happy, double that, and then use that as your starting point for negotiation.