Huge thanks to all who attended Dealmaker LA‘s latest Strategy Series and Mixer, “Partnering with the Big Dogs: Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick” this past Wednesday at Manatt’s offices.

While the dream of scoring an outrageously successful partnership with a market goliath is enticing, the odds are, it ain’t gonna happen. From unequal bargaining power to rights of first refusal, partnership land mines are one of the most misunderstood and underrated topics in the startup world.

The round table conversation was anchored by Christina Glorioso, VP, Marketing Partnerships, MTV Networks, Kara Nortman, SVP of Publishing, Citysearch, David O. Sacks, CEO, Geni and Yammer, Dmitry Shapiro, CEO, Veoh , and James Citron, CEO, Mogreet.

The debate around rights of first refusal, bargaining rights, partnership incentives, risks of being bogged by bureaucracy, etc was joined by all attendees, including LA PR all-star Nicole Jordan and GRP Partners’ Mark Suster.

Attendees included:
* Greg Johnson, Executive Creative Director & Head of Digital, William Morris Agency
* Richard Wolpert, Managing Director, The Mail Room Fund
* Whitney Howard, VP Corporate Development Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment
* Damon D’Amore, President and Founder, Delta Echo Interactive
* Tom Dare, GM and COO, Tsavo Media
* Kelly Merryman, Content Acquisition, Netflix
* Hale Boggs, Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
* Scott Kerfoot, West Region Strategy Director, Microsoft
* Abdul Khan, CEO, I Beat You

…And more. Be sure to join us again in July!

Thanks again to our Dealmaker LA sponsors: CoreObjects, Manatt, Microsoft BizSpark, Clearstone Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Mailroom Fund, Rustic Canyon Partners, Media Temple and TechZulu!