Want to work with eBay? Here's how

Director of Corporate Strategy, Erik Stuart, on how to work with the world's biggest marketplace

Thousands of companies probably aspire to be bought by eBay or to do a distribution deal with eBay.

But how do they get into the door? One way is through Erik Stuart, Director of Corporate Strategy at eBay, whose job it is to meet startups to determine how they fit in the eBay empire. For instance, he initiated and championed eBay's acquisition of Stumbleupon. 

In this episode of Lessons learned with Bambi Francisco, Stuart gives some key pieces of advice for companies trying to work together with eBay.

1. Pitch your product quickly and precisely.

"Be able to tell me pretty quickly and precisely what your product does," Stuart explains that many entrepreneurs he meets with coming outside of Silicon Valley attempt to spend the first 45 minutes telling him their life stories and why they started their companies.  Stuart admits, "In Silicon Valley here, I want to hear what your product does in the first 5 minutes or else I'm going to get very antsy."

2. Come to eBay open to working together.

If you don't have any ideas on how to work together with Ebay, don't expect a deal.  Stuart shares, "It's best if we can have a converstaion about what we might be able to connect on."

3. Don't be wedded to whatever it is that you have in mind.

Stuart shares, "Lets have an open conversation about whether there's some sort of way for us to work together."  If you're attached to your idea, and not willing to adapt with eBay, look somewhere else.

Check out the video for the entire interview.