Trust should be the assumed baseline for any partnership, not a goal to be discussed. The more actionable focus is on transparency—the open, honest communication about both successes and failures. Transparency is how you navigate the real-world complexities and daily challenges of working together to solve customer problems.

For Ipsen, aligning with a partner on data-driven success criteria is not a post-deal task but a prerequisite for signing. If the parties cannot agree upfront on what defines success for a program, they will not proceed with the partnership, ensuring discipline and preventing future misalignments.

Before launching any partner activity, define target customers, tactics, and follow-up processes with partners and internal teams. This pre-alignment is the key to achieving and proving ROI, moving beyond just tracking spend after the fact.

A 'structured reset' is a deep, infrequent re-evaluation for major partners when issues arise, often requiring consultants. In contrast, a 'health check' is a lightweight, routine process run by alliance managers themselves to assess alignment, performance, and trust.

To repair a struggling partnership, first listen to raw, unfiltered feedback. Then, frame performance gaps not as failures but as shared revenue "opportunities." This shifts the conversation from "sell more for me" to "how can we grow your business together," positioning you as a strategic advisor.

Beyond complementary skills, a strong co-founder dynamic is built on five core principles. Founders must have deep trust, maintain constant communication, provide candid feedback, and commit to evolving personally and professionally as the company scales.

Don't let the cofounder dynamic run on autopilot. Proactively establish "vows"—commitments on decision-making and conflict resolution. Then, create a regular relationship rhythm for check-ins. This practice of stepping "onto the balcony" to observe the relationship is crucial for long-term health and success.

Instead of focusing solely on traditional growth metrics, evaluate partner health by asking three key questions: Do they have a happy team? Do they have happy customers? Can they acquire more happy customers? This provides a more holistic and human-centric view of a partner's business.

Solely measuring a team's output fails to capture the health of their collaboration. A more robust assessment includes tracking goal achievement, team psychological safety, role clarity, and the speed of execution. This provides a holistic view of team effectiveness.