Michael McNerney is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Performance Horizon. But like many people in business development, he didn't start out with a plan to end up here. His path began in product management at McGraw-Hill, navigating the decline of print media.
"I didn't even know what I was doing was called business development," he told me. "I was just trying to figure out how to grow the business as everything around me was changing. We had this incredible legacy content, and I was looking for new ways to get it to market."
What is business development?
McNerney defines the field broadly: "Business development is all about helping an organization determine the best ways to create value." He draws a critical distinction from sales: "You're not always selling a product. You're selling ideas, and that's a little bit different."
His experience across different companies — from the legacy media world at McGraw-Hill to the high-growth startup environment at Yodle — reinforced that BD fundamentally involves identifying complementary partnerships and creating mutual value. The context changes; the core skill doesn't.
What it takes to succeed
According to McNerney, effective BD professionals need cross-functional collaboration skills rather than a "hunter" sales mentality. The ability to evaluate potential partnerships quickly through strategic analysis. And strong questioning abilities to inform those assessments.
He also notes that individual BD success depends heavily on broader organizational performance. "You can be the best dealmaker in the world, but if your product isn't delivering or your ops team can't support the partnership, it doesn't matter."
Three tips for BD professionals
Build a relationship with your CFO. They control final approval on most significant deals. Understanding how they think about ROI, risk, and resource allocation will make you a better dealmaker.
Connect with the institutional knowledge holders. IT, support staff, development teams — these are the people who know where the bodies are buried. They can tell you what's actually possible versus what the pitch deck promises.
Establish clear professional goals early, but remain flexible. Know what you're building toward, but be open to the unexpected turns that define most BD careers.
Originally published March 2018