I'd love to hear PG and other knowledgable folks around here talk a bit about partnerships: when, whether, why?

My experience too is that most partnerships are only valuable for social proof. Often nothing much else happens, maybe one or two customer connections. At the same time with some partnerships there is a risk of brand dilution. If you are letting someone re-sell or bundle, there's a risk that they might downplay your brand in favor of theirs and sort of appropriate your brand equity.

These sorts of things do sometimes make me feel out of my depth as I try to put on biz-dev shoes as someone who's primarily technical.