As part of a consulting team supporting NASA Ames Research Center, Market Potential created partnerships for NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program at Moffett Field, California, to further the agency's ability to develop state-of-the-art technology for space applications.  Many technologies developed at NASA have applications in commercial sectors as well.   Market Potential focused on developing commercial partners for NASA Ames in the clean technology, biofuels, synthetic biology, and nanotechnology arena over a four year period.  Working with NASA's technologists, commercial applications were uncovered with a clear value proposition, and a technology roadmap was developed.   Market Potential then sought out specific commercial partners that see value in NASA Ames' technology.   Deals were put together in collaborative manner, seeking a win-win arrangement for both NASA and its partners.   Market Potential also helped NASA Ames with process improvement, helping the Technology Partnerships Division become more effective at partnership development.  

Manufacturing Partner

For a firm that developed a unique paint booth process, a strategic business plan was developed to commercialize this technology.  The process provides significant energy savings to its users.  Unfortunately, the firm had no effective means of distributing the process to potential customers in the painting industry and was not a manufacturing firm.   A key aspect of the business plan was to develop a manufacturing partner that had strong relationships in the painting industry.  A partner in Los Angeles was identified and selected to sell, assemble, and distribute this technology in the Southern California region.   Los Angeles was viewed as the firm's beachhead market, making this partner critical to the success of this commercialization effort.  The partnership enabled both firms to compete effectively against more established paint booth system vendors, while leveraging the design and manufacturing expertise that each party provided. 

Internet Partner

A potential strategic partner was identified for a start-up, internet firm.  The start-up was looking for a partner that could help it ramp quickly.  This partnership development effort required a search to develop a partnership that was mutually beneficial to both parties.  Specifically, a partner was needed that would value new click-through customers, while the start-up could leverage the partner's current database of customers.   Market Potential provided key information to the start-up about the partner, including strengths, weaknesses, revenue model and estimated number of clients.   The partner's financing was uncovered as well to determine their financial ability to enter into a partnership.  A partnership model was developed to help the start-up understand how it could engage this partner and what benefits and risks were in a deal with this candidate partner.