I led Stripe’s partnerships with Apple, Facebook, and Google. Here’s what startups can learn.

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In speaking to founders and early startup employees about building their very first partnerships, I have a few pieces of advice to share.

These mostly come from lessons learned leading early partnerships at Stripe with companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Xero and leading partnerships at Pulse (acquired by LinkedIn) with Amazon, Bloomberg, HTC, Verizon, and the Wall Street Journal.

Don’t do them, if possible

As a startup, partnerships are resource intensive and difficult to do with large organizations. It could be trajectory-changing for you, but unlikely to be so for the larger company. As a result, your partner may be far less motivated than you are.

Ideally, you have a product which doesn’t require a partnership with another company to get to market (you’re in control of your timeline to launch) and you have organic customer growth (you don’t need a partner to dramatically accelerate your expansion).

That said, partnerships do have the right time and place at an organization, including startups. Keep in mind that you’ll be in a better position to source and negotiate partnerships on the best terms if your success doesn’t rely on them.

Choose your partners wisely

Work with smaller companies

If you do need to work with a partner, try working with a smaller company to build a prototype. Smaller companies tend to be easier to work with on everything—from getting an NDA signed, contracting, product integration, to marketing.

This may mean your first partner may not be your long-term partner, but they can get you off the ground faster and help you bridge the gap until your long-term partner is in place.

If you’re not working with your long-term partner, make sure you avoid burdensome deal terms that may lock you into working with them longer than you’d like.

Don’t pitch your top partner first

If you’re planning to partner multiple companies, don’t pitch your most important partner first. You’ll need some time to refine your pitch, determine how to handle objections, and find out where your ideal stakeholder sits in a partner’s organization.

Start pitching your third or fourth most viable partner to work out the kinks in your approach. They’re often far easier to work with, and makes you better prepared for pitching the more important ones.

Ladder up

Play to your advantages

Know your audience’s incentives