Open Innovation Contests – Connect big companies with startups

In France, where the posted initiative originates, there is a weird obsession among mainstream startups of getting partnerships with big companies ASAP. As if that can help with product-market fit or customer dev. It's as if startups are all about bizdev hounding corporate partnerships, for something akin to validation.

That's why, IMO, there are so few successful B2C/consumer products startups coming from France. Besides, of course, the usual reasons, the huge brain drain to SV, wrong mythology, lack of funding, stifling regulation.

The hounding for partnerships sometimes finishes in a pity acquihire with a tiny ROI.

End of startup or realization that you aren't solving a real pain / your solution doesn't solve their pain?

I've done a number of pilot projects with large companies, some go well, others don't. That's part of B2B startups.