If you're starting a company for the first time, or are in a position where you're starting to get into high-level meetings at other companies, it can feel daunting to go into these meetings and talk. I’ve done a lot of these, including many potential-partner meetings. Here are some of my thoughts and recommendations. # 1. Keep introductory meetings simple Initial meetings with a company you're considering working with should be thought of as a kind of first date. You’re finding out if you’re talking to someone you want to try to get to know better. You generally do _not_ want to commit to _anything_ other than a second date/meeting at this stage. _Do not come on too strong/eager._ # 2. Keep the meeting small 2.CEO/founder/lead to CEO/founder/lead, maybe one or two more people (note taking and high-level discussions). _Max 3 people from your side._ This is a bad stage to bring in the whole team, as it’s too many cooks and distracts from the point of the meeting. # 3. Show up, don't delegate If you're the CEO or otherwise the leader of your group, you're responsible for the meeting and your side of the agenda (which should be minimal at this stage). _This isn’t a delegate situation._ People on the other end will be primarily expecting to talk to you. # 4. Let them run it if they initiated it If they reached out to you to talk, they have an agenda they want to cover. You can probably expect them to set the main agenda. Let them run this, listen to their asks, their thoughts. Your goal here is to learn what they want. Your responses should be info-gathering follow-up questions to flesh that out, and answers to their questions. # 5. Don't commit immediately Anything brought up requiring a further commitment or time from your end can be answered with a variation on “I’ll run that by my team and we’ll get an answer for you.” You want to give your team time to weigh in. # 6. Diligent note-taking This should be 80% of your job during the meeting (or that of one person you bring in). _Everything must be written down in detail_. Your notes should help bring your team up to speed.