Question:
You have invented a new technology feature for digital cameras and have been trying to license the technology to Japanese camera companies-with no luck. One day, you are approached by the American manager of the Santa Clara office of a large Japanese trading company. She says that the trading company is interested in working with you to get your technology into the Japan market. For this purpose, she says that a Japanese senior vice president of her trading company is visiting the Bay Area in a month, and she invites you to make a presentation to the V.P. when he is here.
What do you do to prepare for this meeting? What do you want to know about the trading company? .. about the V.P. and his/her delegation? ..about their inquiry? How can you find out these things? What do you want to highlight in the meeting with the V.P.? If things look positive in that meeting, what would you expect to happen at the next stages of the discussions? How are your actions in this situation different from the situation in which you make the first move in order to find a licensee?