“going in eyes wide open is like are you going to be the big fish or the little fish... when you have two companies that are kind of equal size all of a sudden it's like I want it on my stack and I want control of the building relationship and all those things you know we've run into issues before”

Know who is the big fish before signing a bundle partnership

External bundle partnerships create great press and real business results, but they break down when both parties have equal leverage and competing tech stacks. Michael's rule: before signing, decide which partner owns the billing relationship, the data, and the customer experience. If both sides think they are the primary, the deal will stall or blow up. Going in with clear eyes about power asymmetry is the prerequisite.