BestBuy Co. Inc. execs are probably a lot more worried about how consumers feel about their stores than how entrepreneurs perceive them as corporate partners. Still, startup TechForward’s recent legal victoryin a case against the retail giant certainly won’t enhance BestBuy’s image as startup-friendly.
Last week, a jury awarded TechForward $27 million in damages after it and venture capital investors sued BestBuy, claiming the Richfield-based company stole its “BuyBack” concept. It’s not often that VCs bother ponying up cash to fund a lawsuit, demonstrating how acrimonious the relationship between the TechForward and Best Buy must have become.
BestBuy has a history of working with startups, and also runs a venture capital arm, Best Buy Capital, that makes investments in promising companies. (It also launched an ad campaign spotlighting tech entrepreneurs earlier this year).
Will this deal gone awry turn startups off to working with BestBuy?
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Kim Garretson, co-founder of Minneapolis-based Ovative/Group and BestBuy’s former liaison to venture capital firms, said in an email that he doesn’t think the case will change much.
“I don’t think it affects startup[s’] opportunities and chances. The reason is there is always overlap between the features and technologies of different startups and internal projects all vying for a piece of the puzzle. Startups need to understand these risks, and I see this case as an outlier in terms of where the money came from. Most startups need to go in with eyes wide open that they’ll probably never know all the ins and outs of not getting selected.”