For companies that interface with another business to reach customers, another thing to consider is that a happy intermediary rarely implies a happy customer. K

For companies that interface with another business to reach customers, another thing to consider is that a happy intermediary rarely implies a happy customer. Knowing your end user better than you know an intermediary's official requirements, not just better than you know yourself, makes for an even more meaningful success. Think Apple's choice to give up a Verizon partnership rather than let them interfere with the iPhone's OS. Despite that move, I hear the fruit company is doing pretty okay.