Startup is a term we use to refer to companies that our established business customers, the Enterprises, rely on for digital innovation. Iterate works with Startups of all ages, team sizes, funding levels, location, legal entity that offer hardware, software or both that are proven to move the needle (“Brilliant Basics”) or expand an organization’s vision and future (“Big Bets”) of our Enterprise customers.
Iterate has created a first in class innovation platform, Iterate.ai, which enables large enterprises to discover, curate, and connect with, innovative Startups that can help them with their innovation strategy. Iterate, through its platform and tech-enabled services, is the connection point that is used to enable a productive and successful relationship between the Startup and the Enterprise.
We have standard terms and agreements. Yet, each company is different. If you have ideas or thoughts, write to Andy Wichern at andy@iterate.ai.
You can fill it out without any obligation to work with Iterate. It will help companies like Helzberg, Ulta, Kingfisher and Iterate understand your service.
Usually. Iterate charges on a retainer basis (most often) and for project work (occassionally). The retainer fees tend to be small when compared to consulting organizations like McKinsey, Bain, Capgemini or Accenture. Large orgnaizations like the Enterprise Retailers and Media companies that Iterate works with, like our model because we bet on their success. We win when they succeed. We have a vested interest in their success, based on what their goals are. Our "cost structure" is tight and we are largely dependent on our ability to find startups that fill important needs for the Enterprise.
When we work on retainer with an Enterprise, we are working over the long haul -- basically as their Lab -- and we have long-term influence. We can guide the brands and guide the startups. We have an interest in the success of both companies.
Iterate can not blur lines, because. in the end, we have to consistently serve the Enterprise with best of breed technologies. If we see a strong technology coming up, we can alert the startup. We've had great success with a number of large organizations.
No, Iterate Studio is not an introduction service. Our PilotPass has proven to be extremely effective to both Enterprises and Startups. We perform a lot of startup grading (long term) that our Enterprise Partners depend on us for. We offer microservice components that Enterprises are going to be installing to speed their innovation strategies. A large $15 billion retailer will be first to do that, and at that point we are "operating" as a software company installed in the Enterprise stack, inserting startups and creating recipes. This process works with both online and offline technologies, so it's appealing to Enterprises that need rapid installs and a more modular stack.
No, Iterate Studio is not an introduction service. Our PilotPass has proven to be extremely effective to both Enterprises and Startups. We perform a lot of startup grading (long term) that our Enterprise Partners depend on us for. We offer microservice components that Enterprises are going to be installing to speed their innovation strategies. A large $15 billion retailer will be first to do that, and at that point we are "operating" as a software company installed in the Enterprise stack, inserting startups and creating recipes. This process works with both online and offline technologies, so it's appealing to Enterprises that need rapid installs and a more modular stack.
Iterate has created a first in class innovation platform, Iterate.ai, which enables large enterprises to curate and connect with innovative startups that can help them with their innovation strategy. Iterate is the connection point that is used to enable a productive and successful relationship between the startup and the enterprise.
Just as you normally would – by engaging with a customer through an agreement. The enterprise would use your product or software, and then pay you for its use, after you’ve negotiated terms.
Iterate has pioneered the PilotPass agreement, which enables enterprises to engage with startups on collaborative terms, without all the encumbrances of a typical engagement. The PilotPass agreement enables enterprises to see if they can have a productive and successful partnership with the startups and their technologies, without making multi-year commitments. Once a trial of the startups software has concluded the enterprise can decide whether or not they want to commitment to a full agreement.
Some, but not all. We have entrepreneurs who insist on paid trials and still succeed in the Iterate model. We have customers who understand why some Proof of Concepts are paid. Iterate handles this by communicating with the customer up-front, and by setting the right expectations during communication with the customer.
The average agreement ranges from two to three years in duration, and together, we can choose if we want to have it auto-renew at the end of its term.
Yes, but only if the startup is adopted for use by the enterprise. We believe in a success based compensation strategy – when you win, we win. Iterate receives compensation from Startups in two different ways. Both forms of compensation are negotiable, and we know the challenges of being a startup so we strive to be flexible and understanding when working out deal terms.
Cash Based Commission
a. When you succeed and get paid, Iterate receives a percentage of the payment. We work with you to get the number right, but generally it will fall between 10% to 20%.
Equity Based Compensation
a. Iterate operates on a performance-based model, where a portion of that percentage is vested each time the Startup chooses to enter an agreement with an Iterate customer. Our “Form” agreement contains our average numbers, which can be worked out based on the particulars of the Startup. No portion of equity is granted unless the Entrepreneur enters a deal. We’ve learned over the years that a one-time granting of shares is a more tax- and administratively-favorable way to operate; the equity is then vested on performance, with a small amount vested for each deal, rather than an incremental grant for each deal. Nothing is earned and vested unless the Entrepreneur is paid by an Enterprise. The Entrepreneur can say no to any deal that Iterate brings to the table. For some Entrepreneurs, the percentage equity does not fit their Startup. In these cases, we have an alternative structure that is a cash-only commission for the life of the customer, often times with a commission-cap. Between the two structures and the particulars of the Startup, there is often an alignment that works for both parties.
Iterate Is The Innovation Engine For World-Class Enterprises
Iterate Studio using its Iterate.ai platform (we commonly call ourselves "Iterate") is the bridge and the translator between established Enterprise and Startup.
A group of 60+ non-competing and outstanding emerging technology companies have a partnership with Iterate. We are privileged to say to our Enterprise customers **we endorse this Startup as a technology category leader.
Can an Enterprise executive answer succinctly what the Enterprise is doing in terms of ongoing digital innovation? When they work with Iterate they can. Iterate means successful applied digital innovation In a time when navigating the waters of change can be a daunting, almost an insurmountable challenge for a small or large corporate innovation team.
Enterprises and Emerging Technology companies need an exchange and a bridge to connect the benefits, interests and needs of their organizations to keep up with their internal goals and their competition. Iterate.ai is the solution, helping guide each Enterprise's innovation journey by connecting them with the emerging technologies that will help them reach their goals and survive in this new world of unprecedented change.
For the Enterprise, Iterate is the almanac to innovation and the bridge to the Startup ecosystem. Iterate and its partners expedite this innovation by fast-tracking best-in-class Startup solutions based on a careful analysis of each of the client's needs.
Iterate recommends startup solutions to eliminate the divide between an Enterprise challenge and a tangible Endorsed Technology result.
All Enterprises face the challenge of innovating in tumultuous times, and the ones that have worked with Iterate and its endorsed technologies faced that challenge to stick out from the crowd. They are sharpening their competitive edge, gaining market share, improving employee engagement, all the while their customers are experiencing their brands in more satisfying and successful ways. Some of the companies that work with Iterate in their journey of applied innovation include:
Iterate.ai, available currently to the public at no charge, is our innovation platform showcases the strengths of startup solutions to Enterprises. It is utilized by Enterprises, Startups, and the Iterate team, to connect the groundbreaking Startup solutions to the Enterprises who need them. Enterprises add the tech-enabled assistance of the Iterate Services team to derive more value from the ecosystem and the Iterate.ai platform.
Iterate provides a hands-on custom innovation experience enabling each Enterprise to get the greatest return from their investment. For large companies, Iterate greatly reduces the time, costs and risks associated with analyzing and deploying innovative startup technologies. Iterate does this by utilizing its experience, network, knowledge, and software, to greatly speed the Enterprise assessment and implementation of emerging technology companies and Iterate Endorsed Technologies.
Iterate first learns the Enterprise strategic priorities and then provides hands-on assistance to speed adoption of emerging technology solutions. Iterate does this by using practices including those described below.
Quarterly Reveals; IterateOn; Managed Proof of Concept Testing** : Iterate presents to Enterprise executives unique technologies tailored to their strategic goals, which are anticipated to provide immediate KPI improvements to the Enterprise. Iterate also presents technologies that the Enterprise "should know about" unrelated to their goals. The Enterprise wants to know what they need and they want to know what they don't know. Iterate presents this to the Enterprise in a "Brilliant Basics" and "Big Bets" type format.
Custom Curation :** Enterprises submit technology challenges to Iterate. These Challenges often involve selecting one or more sub-areas (e.g., 360 View of the Customer, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain, Loss Prevention ) and Iterate then shortlists the startup opportunities and maps these to roadmaps and strategic goals. A Custom Curation like this may also include Landscaping (presenting the current innovation ecosystem), creating Collections (groups of innovative technologies currently available), grading technologies within Collections (prioritization of current technologies based on criteria ), or (presenting multiple Startup technologies as a solution for the Challenge in the form of a Digital Recipe).
Tour of the Possible:** A Tour is an executive level briefing of the Startup ecosystem with the intent of immercing the Enterprise in what is possible and keeping Enterprise executives fully appraised of emerging trends within a given industry or across industries. Tours often include a presentation of 12 to 20 technology opportunities.
Using PilotPass® to Streamline and Speed Innovation:** Our PilotPass program provides simplified Enterprise access to trial Iterate Endorsed Technologies in a development environment without engaging procurement and legal with each Endorsed Technology that the Enterprise is interested in accessing in a proof of concept.
When Iterate discovers a Startup that is proven to deliver solid KPI improvements for Enterprises, Iterate and the Startup enter into an Endorsed Technology agreement to streamline their ability to meaningfully engage with the Enterprise. When contracting with Iterate a Startup passes an experimentation license to Iterate. Iterate then passes this experimentation license to our Enterprise Members, who can use it to perform a proof of concept in a development environment and further engage with an Endorsed Technology, fast.
Iterate has years of practice and has gathered Perfect Insights® necessary to streamline the Enterprise engagement with a Startup to reduce risk and maximize benefits. This insight reduces the bureaucracy and speeds up trials dramatically
When working with Enterprises, Startups are cataloged and evaluated inside the Iterate.ai Innovation Platform. Iterate.ai utilizes custom artificial intelligence, neural networks, baysean preprocessors and other really cool and advanced stuff (continually being trained and refined) to search for technologies that can enhance the many touchpoints along a digital journey. The 160,000 technologies identified inside Iterate.ai involve e-commerce, mobile, in-store/on-premise software capabilities as well as technologies to enhance the customer's experience, including artificial intelligence, robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT). We are always looking for tech leaders and new technology categories where they may live.
A subset of these Startups become Iterate Endorse Technologies (ETs) for our Enterprise Members to find very real results and benefits while reducing the time, costs and risks associated with analyzing and deploying more and more of these emerging technologies.
Using the traditional type of business to explain, Iterate is between a referral partner and a reseller, it is a new model that has worked well to align everyone and focus attention only when there is very real interest from the Enterprise customer. This eliminates the top of the sales funnel for the Endorsed Technology and eliminates what are noisy sales practices to the Enterprise executive. While Iterate is no substitute for your sales efforts, make no mistake, however, that Iterate complements rather than conflicts with these sales priorities and practices.
Iterate has helped many Emerging Technologies launch into large multi-billion dollar enterprises, which has resulted in millions of dollars of revenue for the Emerging Technologies. Iterate does this by fast-tracking the trial and adoption of these innovative technologies within the enterprises. Iterate does this, in part, by using its realtionship with the Enterprise and in part with the use of Iterate's PilotPass® program. The PilotPass® agreement enables Iterate Endorsed Technologies (ETs) to quickly launch their technologies within these Enterprises, without having to go through the lengthy process of procurement.
Iterate has already gone through the procurement process and entered into an Agreement with its Enterprise customers. After we complete, an Enterprise 1. understands that a different set of rules apply for innovation in the procurement and legal process, and 2. a different set of rules apply for Iterate Endorsed Technologies. A faster, more efficient, less costly and less burdensome process is created to bring emerging technology to the Enterprise.
Iterate created the PilotPass® program to reduce needless friction involved in digital innovation. PilotPass® reduces the time and cost of pre-pilot legal and procurement administration. It speeds up experimentation to establish proof-of-value. In the digital era, doubling experimentation doubles your success. But, in many organizations, the time and cost of pre-pilot legal administration alone may mean the difference between doing a pilot or not. Legal processes created years ago is one cause of the problem. Old legal frameworks were often built for enterprise software that touched many parts of the business infrastructure, and took years to configure, test, and promote into production.
Today, SaaS has changed software. Digital innovators can implement experiments in controlled test environments in a matter of minutes. These experiments can be removed just as fast. With PilotPass®, Iterate’s enterprise partners can leverage a nimble yet appropriately protective legal process. It’s a common sense approach. What SaaS is to Software, PilotPass® is to older legal frameworks.
With PilotPass®, Iterate does the heavy lifting for each Enterprise Partner. Up front, Iterate secures the ability for all Enterprise Partners to pilot needle-moving products built by Emerging Technology Partners (Startups). This saves time for Enterprise business and legal teams. By signing one Membership Agreement with Iterate, Iterate Enterprise Partners may experiment rapidly with several pre-vetted Emerging Technology Solutions within a test environment … essentially turning the Startup Ecosystem into an extended Internal Innovation Lab. Once an experiment is finished, the Enterprise and Startup may enter into an MSA or a longer-term production agreement.
By leveraging PilotPass®, valuable time and resources are spent only when it matters – upon completion of the pilot, and when value to both the Endorsed Technology and the Enterprise is demonstrated.
See more on the relationship between Enterprise and Endorsed Technology in the "About Iterate Endorsed Technologies and PilotPass" section of this site
Iterate found an easy, fast, and elegant "Consensus Building Workflow" for us to advance our relationship in the agreement stage for our Endorsed Technology related agreements, whether it is the NDA, Proposal Letter, Endorsed Technology Agreement or a Tier 2 Agreement.
This workflow is powered by ParleyPro, which is a secure cloud-based platform for the modern agreement management process - Initiating, reviewing, discussing and ultimately signing the agreement.
In this manner, we can be the most responsive, accurate and efficient - it reduces email ping pong, reduces labor cost generally and manages the workflow to get us there faster.
Parley allows you to to select the appropriate agreement and then share, discuss and colloraborate with your internal team or any external parties, if desired. You can then easily post to Iterate any discussion item that may result and we'll give you a response. Everyone is working from the same document version. If there is no discussion, the selected agreement enters a work flow for signature which then distributes a fully executed copy to you for your records. This will trigger a handoff to Iterate's customer experience team at the appropriate point to onboard you as an Endorsed Technology of Iterate.
We are Iterate, we use Innovative products, such as Parleypro. ParleyPro allows us to efficiently focus only on key outstanding issues.
Start at the Homepage for Endorsed Technology self-service. Review materials and request the desired Endorsed Technology related agreement. When an NDA, Proposal Letter, Endorsed Techology Agreement or Tier 2 Agreement is selected, a link is generated and sent to your email address inviting you to review the document in ParlyPro.
If desired, any of your team members may be added for internal review. Your team members review the same document and may provide comments and text suggestions which are captured in interactive discussions. The document is updated when consensus is reached.
Any dicussion items that remain after an internal review can be posted to Iterate to review. Suggestions and comments are captured in interactive discussion on the same platform and on the same set of documents. This speeds the process by focusing our attention on any key delays that may exist to complete the agreement.
When there is no discussion the approval process is initiated to move the document into eSignature via Docusign to complete the agreement.
You can fill it out without any obligation to work with Iterate. It will help companies like Helzberg, Ulta, Kingfisher and Iterate understand your service.
We have standard terms and agreements. Yet, each company is different. If you have ideas or thoughts, write to Andy Wichern at andy@iterate.ai.
Usually. Iterate charges on a retainer basis (most often) and for project work (occassionally). The retainer fees tend to be small when compared to consulting organizations like McKinsey, Bain, Capgemini or Accenture. Large orgnaizations like the Enterprise Retailers and Media companies that Iterate works with, like our model because we bet on their success. We win when they succeed. We have a vested interest in their success, based on what their goals are. Our "cost structure" is tight and we are largely dependent on our ability to find startups that fill important needs for the Enterprise.
When we work on retainer with an Enterprise, we are working over the long haul -- basically as their Lab -- and we have long-term influence. We can guide the brands and guide the startups. We have an interest in the success of both companies.
Usually. Iterate can not blur lines, because. in the end, we have to consistently serve the Enterprise with best of breed technologies. If we see a strong technology coming up, we can alert the startup. We've had great success with a number of large organizations.
Usually. No, Iterate Studio is not an introduction service. Our PilotPass has proven to be extremely effective to both Enterprises and Startups. We perform a lot of startup grading (long term) that our Enterprise Partners depend on us for. We offer microservice components that Enterprises are going to be installing to speed their innovation strategies. A large $15 billion retailer will be first to do that, and at that point we are "operating" as a software company installed in the Enterprise stack, inserting startups and creating recipes. This process works with both online and offline technologies, so it's appealing to Enterprises that need rapid installs and a more modular stack.
We have found that opportunities often arise quickly, and often before there is time to sign an agreement. The non-binding one page proposal letter allows you and Iterate to move forward on such opportunities with a good-faith understanding while the agreement is being put in place.
The letter can be signed by any authorized representative of your company.
Date and Name will be completed in the signature software when you are ready to sign the letter.
Non-binding.
Shows intent.
Requires that Agreement will be worked on in good faith.
The commercial terms on on the proposal letter will be used in the Endorsed Technology Agreement when you later request the Endorsed Technology Agreement.
Once you have selected "request proposal letter" the letter will be sent to your email address for your review. You may then add others on your team to review in ParleyPro.