Announcing partnerships is easy. Building ones that change a project's trajectory is much harder. In Web3 especially, the pressure to show momentum can turn partnerships into a numbers game: more logos, more announcements, more activity.
In our experience, the partnerships that matter most look very different.
Start from the problem, not the logo
A useful partnership solves a specific problem for both sides. Before any introduction, it helps to answer three questions:
- What does each side need right now? Distribution, technology, liquidity, credibility, users, expertise.
- What can each side realistically offer? Not in theory, but in the next three to six months.
- What would success look like for both? If only one side can answer this clearly, the partnership is unlikely to last.
When those answers line up, the conversation moves quickly. When they don't, no amount of enthusiasm makes up for it.
Fewer, deeper relationships
Projects often underestimate how much time a real partnership takes: integration work, joint planning, shared communication, ongoing coordination. Ten shallow partnerships can consume more energy than two deep ones - and deliver less.
A better approach is to identify a small number of partners where the overlap is strong, and invest properly in making those relationships work.
Timing matters as much as fit
The same partner can be the wrong choice today and the right one in six months. An infrastructure provider may be a perfect fit once you have users to bring; an ecosystem program may be most valuable before launch. Matching partners to the stage a project is actually at avoids a lot of wasted effort.
What this means for how we work
At Lumen, we spend time understanding a project before suggesting any connection. We would rather make one introduction that both sides are glad to receive than ten that go nowhere. That is slower at the start, and much faster where it counts.
If you are looking for partners and want to talk it through, get in touch.
