NEIL BURNS
Managing Partner of Neil A Burns LLC and CEO of P2 Science, Inc., USA

An old boss of mine from back in Manchester used to say that whenever someone mentioned the word partnership during a business meeting, he would immediately look for his wallet and get a firm grasp on it, as he was sure that it was about to be picked. He was a cynic of course but his heartfelt admonition against the overused word rang true. How many times have we heard a customer solemnly intone that their company values true business partnership from their suppliers only to learn that value of such partnership is about 5 percent of the going price for what they purchase from you. That, and maybe 15 more days to pay. Ah but now I’m getting cynical. Partnerships can and do, often add value greater than the individual parts. Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, Sonny and Cher, Sid and Nancy. The list goes on and not only in the world of entertainment. Who can forget when Ronald and Margaret stared down the Hammer and Sickle or when Steve and Steve (Jobs and Wozniak) built what was to become the largest company in the world.

We’ve read a lot about partnerships recently in the world of surfactants and so I thought I would riff on the theme a bit. Biosurfa ...