The Sumo Advantage: Leveraging Business Development to Team with Heavyweights and Grow in Any Economy

This book was recommended as necessary reading when I took on the role of VP, of Business Development at my company. Business Dev was new to me, and I had very few ideas on how to structure my strategy. After reading this book, I felt like I had taken a Masters course in BD. Countless times I'd refer back to the book as I was talking with companies. I saved countless hours and dollars by understanding when to walk away from deals. Could not recommend more highly for anyone in business, in particular Partnerships and Business Development.

I am the Managing Partner and Founder of a growth advisory / consulting firm. We work with lower mid-market companies and this book was recommended to me by one of our clients - a CEO of a $10MM firm in the automotive industry. I am an avid reader, mostly inspirational and business themed content and I am selective with what I read and even more stringent with what I perceive to be high quality. This book is fantastic and should be required reading for any growth-minded business executive. Many people responsible for revenue generation lack creativity and rely on old strategies and tactics and rarely do we see folks in these roles create new approaches and provide innovation that helps the organization achieve new growth. This book teaches us how to do that. We have a handful of books that we have as "recommended reading" for our clients and this book was just added to the list. Well done Bernie Bremmer, thank you for writing this book and sharing all of your knowledge and experience with us!

I've read dozens, if not hundreds, of books about sales and partnerships. No book resonated more than The Sumo Advantage. While going from "zero to one" at a startup, this book was the mentor I wish I had.Bernie does a great job defining the BD role and how that role can become a strategic advantage for the firm. For those in a business development or strategic partnerships function, or for those that wish to be in such a function, this book will serve as a codified framework for the role.As a recovering SaaS sales professional, this was one of my favorite quotes from the book:"BD is strategic in nature, not transaction focused. No direct revenue is generated when executing a BD contract, as it is with sales. Key contacts have a full plate of tasks to attend to, and your proposed BD deal isn’t on it. Every sales book drives the importance of 'getting to yes.' But in BD, you don’t focus on getting to a yes—you focus on not getting a no. This is critical with BD deals."

This book is provides incredible insight into the world of deal making within the Business Development role in exceptionally pragmatic terms. For those who are professionals within the business side of their respective areas, you will be able to gain a deeper insight on the mistakes that you have made along the way, and gain even more confidence in the decisions that you have made correctly. The author is genuine, experienced, and has lived what he writes about in this book. It is my opinion that this book should be made a staple of assigned reading in all business schools to help with the differentiation between sales and business development. The tips shared within this book are also very useful, as well as the mistakes that the author mentions as happening during his career. Kudos Mr. Brenner!

10/10 - I don't even know where to start because this book was absolutely amazing.I never had the pleasure of meeting Bernie Brenner, but from researching him and reading this book he is definitely a well-respected man that is genuine, positive, intellectual and a person that really cares about people and family. I love the company he set up "Thanksabunch" to support our American Heroes who risk their lives for us every day.Being an entrepreneur and running a business I always have focused on transactional sales. From reading Sumo Advantage, I got a very deep understanding on how business development works and how completely different it is from transactional sales. There is so many amazing explanations and examples on how to leverage other companies to succeed and make a mutual beneficial agreement.A bible that can be used for every entrepreneur to think outside the box and capture opportunity that you would have never thought of.After reading this book I immediately set a meeting with my partners to get a whiteboard and start creative thinking.THANK YOU Bernie Brenner for providing the world with this kind of knowledge, examples, and ways to improve any business.10/10

Recently, I was on a call with Bernie and was very impressed. He said "did you read my book?" I was a little embarrassed in that I had only read the first chapter.We talked about how his approaches would help our company CarLister.co, and I continued to read the rest of the book.As Bernie correctly states, business development or "BD" is a dramatically different approach than pure sales - although both will produce revenue in different ways over different time frames.The book is a recipe for taking the BD approach. Most importantly, Bernie has an extremely relevant resume detailing his experience that supports his thesis as laid out in this book.Highly recommend the book.

Best business strategy book I've read in a long time - all Biz Dev pros, entrepreneurs and CEOs should read it. Why do strategic partnerships? Which partnerships are right for your business? How is BD different from sales? Whether it's a killer app type advantage or long term business accelerator you are looking for, Bernie Brenner has literally written the book on adding a business development layer to your organization to turbo charge future growth and enhance competitive advantage .. The Sumo Advantage that is.

I think Brenner has done a very good job writing about a subject that is not properly discussed. This book is painted with yellow highlighter and has found the whiteboard with many of its concepts. I think more than ever, Business Development is the foundation that can keep you somewhat sane in the chaotic business/political environment that is occurring today and in the future. It's not getting any less chaotic and Brenner wrote the underrated book that will make you think very differently on how the superstar partnership businesses are doing it and follow suit with your own SUMO SUCCESS in BD and beyond. FYI: Keep your eye on the Salesforce/Microsoft CRM relationship status with the MS acquisition of Linkedin....

Must read for all CEOs and Senior Leadership Team