Strategic alliances

Distinct from marketing partnerships. Those borrow an audience; these change what the business can do or where it can sell.

Partner, build, or buy

Partner when the capability is genuinely outside your core, the partner is materially better at it, and the arrangement can be unwound. Build when it is core, or when depending on someone else creates unacceptable exposure. Buy when you need control and speed and the thesis holds.

The question that decides it: what happens if this partner becomes a competitor, is acquired by one, or simply loses interest? If the answer is existential, do not partner — that is a build or buy decision wearing a cheaper price tag.

Structure by what each side actually wants