What a large company needs to hear that your investor deck doesn't say

What a large company needs to hear that your investor deck doesn't say

Of every ten startups that approach a large company, roughly one ends up signing a contract.

In Brazil, where this has been measured more extensively than anywhere else in the region, the 2025 Ranking 100 Open Startups recorded more than 45,000 participating startups. Of those, 5,125 secured a validated contract. That's about 11%.

In Europe, the numbers are even tougher. Since 2017, the European Commission's corporate partnership program has facilitated more than 1,500 meetings between startups and over 120 large companies. Those meetings resulted in just over 100 agreements. Around 7%.

And the European report's main finding isn't what you'd expect. The primary reason a pilot fails to move forward isn't the startup. It's a lack of internal alignment within the corporation: between business units, competing priorities, or the innovation and procurement teams.

That means two things.

First: if they said no, it probably wasn't because of your product.

Second, and this is the useful part: you can find that out before spending six months trying.

Ten questions they're asking on the other side

They don't ask them out loud. But all ten get answered in the first meeting if you know they're there.

1. What exactly does your product do?

Sounds obvious. It's the most common mistake. Many startups finish their pitch talking about market size, competitors, funding rounds, and valuation — while the person listening still doesn't understand what the solution actually does.

2. Does this solve a problem I have today?

Not a problem I might have someday. One that's already on my priority list, with someone responsible for it and a budget attached.

3. Who owns this problem internally?

If there's no business unit manager who actually feels that pain, the project has no home. It lives in innovation and dies in innovation.

4. What do I have that you need besides money?

A corporation that can't open doors for you, provide distribution channels, or help you scale knows it isn't the right partner — and often, that's the real reason behind the "no."

5. Who signs off on this, and do they even know about it yet?

The question that determines everything, and the one almost nobody asks. If the person you're talking to can't name whoever approves the budget, the process hasn't even started.

6. Will procurement actually be able to hire you?

Minimum revenue requirements, years in business, certifications, insurance policies, payment terms. A two-year-old startup can be disqualified by requirements nobody mentioned in the meeting.

7. What happens if this goes wrong and a customer finds out?

For the corporation, the real risk isn't losing the money spent on the pilot. It's reputational damage. If you don't bring an answer to this question, they'll come up with one themselves — and it's usually "better not."

8. What does it integrate with, and who's going to maintain it?

Nothing goes into production without going through the technology team. The later that conversation happens, the more expensive it becomes.

9. What happens the day after the pilot ends?

The European report addresses this directly: the strongest predictor of failure is that nobody defined what happens once the pilot is over.

10. Will your company still exist in two years?

This isn't a question about your valuation. It's about whether your company will still be around when the contract is up and running.

Ten moves to scale with a corporation

Before the first meeting

1. Qualify them, too.

You're evaluating whether it's worth investing six months of your runway. Show up with questions, not just answers.

2. Find out whether they've bought something similar before.

A company that has never hired a startup your size doesn't have the process in place. You'll be the one paying the cost of creating it.

3. Prepare two versions of your pitch.

Your investor pitch answers how much your company could eventually be worth. Your corporate pitch answers what problem you solve for them. Using the first with the second audience is the most common reason a meeting goes nowhere.

During the meeting

4. Explain what your product does in the first ninety seconds.

No market size, no competitors, no funding rounds. What it does, who it's for, and what changes.

5. Ask who owns the problem.

"Who's dealing with this problem inside the company today?" If there's no name, there's no project. Better to find that out right away.

6. Ask who signs off.

"If this works, who approves the budget?" It's uncomfortable. It saves months.

7. Ask to speak with procurement before the pilot.

It's the conversation everyone postpones and the one that kills the most pilots. Having it early tells you whether getting a contract is even possible.

When wrapping up the pilot

8. Make sure the pilot has a price.

A free pilot has no internal owner, and what costs nothing rarely gets defended when priorities have to be set.

9. Put what happens if it works in writing.

Before you start: what defines success, who evaluates it, on what date, and what contract comes next. Without that, success leads nowhere.

10. Don't rely on a single person inside the company.

Your main contact might change departments, leave the company, or shift their priorities. Build relationships across business, technology, and procurement teams. If your project depends on one person to move forward, all it takes is for that person to leave for everything to stop.