One of my advice to startups, when it comes to partnerships, has been to avoid working with smaller companies or startups. Why? Because, startups don’t have the luxury of building a brand, they are focused on actionable metrics from day one (acquiring customers, getting revenue) – which is great for the startup, and is a endearing quality, but partnerships get strained very quickly. If you are partnering with a startup whose key metrics depends on you, you will be more or less changing your goals to make sure they succeed – the relationship gets far more skewed if a startup is sponsoring an effort.
Companies are like trees. Startups are like saplings. Startups do grow faster under the shadow of a bigger tree – and not when they have to fight for the same attention and resources as another their size. Managing all partnerships take time, so if you are going to invest in one, invest in one with a bigger and well known company, where they have the luxury of seeing past the present to the future – where they are focused on building a brand and experience, instead of sales, directly from the engagement with you.
This also means, you deliver something of exceptional value for a bigger company to notice and want to work with you. That, however, will only make you better.