Build, Buy or Partner: a build vs buy strategy simulation
Every month before your rivals launch is worth about $550k. Spend your diligence where it can change the decision.
- Six routes: two build plans, three acquisition targets and one partner
- A $600k diligence budget that buys sharper estimates, not certainty
- Deal terms as risk tools: earn-outs, contract length, retention bonuses
- A mid-course setback, then a staged or all-at-once launch
Not sure yet? Try the free 3-round Price War first: no sign-up, about five minutes.
Is there a simulation that teaches build versus buy versus partner decisions?
Build, Buy or Partner from Bodhih Arena is a 15-minute strategy simulation in which a retailer must launch an in-app wallet before its rivals. You split a due diligence budget, choose to build, buy one of three firms or partner, set the deal terms, respond to a setback and choose how to launch.
What is Build, Buy or Partner?
Build, Buy or Partner is a single-player strategy simulation about sourcing a new capability. You lead digital at Fennick & Rowe, a home and garden retailer with 140 stores, which needs a wallet with saved cards and pay-in-instalments before rivals launch around month 14. In four steps you spend a $600k diligence budget, choose a route and terms, handle what goes wrong mid-way and launch. The server scores value created, time to market and how well you handled risk.
Build, Buy or Partner at a glance
| Format | Micro-sim, single player |
|---|---|
| Length | About 15 minutes per play |
| Players | One person; every play is a new seeded scenario |
| Devices | Any modern browser on a laptop, tablet or phone |
| Scoring | Scored on the server out of 100, with sub-scores and a debrief |
| Credential | Open Badges 3.0 micro-sim credential at a score of 80 or more, with a public verification page |
| Competencies | Commercial Acumen (SPN.4.5), Planning and Prioritisation (SPN.5.1), Decision Making (SPN.4.3) |
| LMS | LTI 1.3 launch from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or D2L, with grade passback; usable as a Bodhih pathway stage |
| Price for one person | $12 |
| Price per seat | $12 per seat, volume pricing by seat count |
The slide says "buy". The integration says otherwise.
Routes are compared on cost alone
Build, buy and partner are often weighed on the price tag. The real difference is in time to market, what you own afterwards and what can go wrong, and those are harder to put in one cell.
Diligence is spread thinly, or skipped
Either every option gets a light review or the favourite gets none. Then the cheap target turns out to be cheap for a reason, or the partner's quoted share is not the real one.
The deal is signed and the risk is forgotten
Founders leave after a sale, partners change owners, launches fail in public. Terms and launch plans that could have absorbed the shock were treated as paperwork.
Here is the situation you walk into
You lead digital at Fennick & Rowe: 140 stores and an app used by 1.8 million people. Customers keep asking to save their cards and spread big purchases over a few months. The board has approved a wallet. Your two biggest rivals will have one in about 14 months.
Finance estimates the wallet adds about $550k of gross profit a month until rivals catch up, then about $420k. Your CTO says a lean team could build it in about 14 months, a full team in about 10. Three small firms are for sale, each with a pitch. A payments company, Tallypay, could plug its wallet in within three months for "around a third" of the value.
You have $600k for diligence and a few weeks. Which options deserve a real look?
4 decisions, one debrief
- STEP 1
Step 1: diligence
Split up to $600k across a review of your own build plan, diligence on each of the three acquisition targets and diligence on Tallypay, up to $300k each. Bigger budgets give sharper estimates of product quality, integration difficulty, hiring slip, certification time, the partner's real share and the risk its terms change. Anything unspent is saved.
- STEP 2
Step 2: choose the route and the terms
Build lean or full, buy one of the three firms, or partner. If you buy, pay cash or offer an earn-out: 75% now and up to 40% more if the product hits its targets. If you partner, choose a two-year contract or a five-year exclusive with a lower share and no easy exit.
- STEP 3
Step 3: something goes wrong
Engineers you were counting on take other offers, a security flaw turns up in an acquired card vault, integration is harder than promised, or the partner asks for a bigger share as a competitor buys it. You respond, and decide whether to pay $0.6M of retention bonuses to keep key people.
- STEP 4
Step 4: launch
Release to 10% of app users first, a month slower but safer, or to everyone at once with a campaign. Then the debrief shows the value created over three years, the best plan with hindsight and what each option really was.
Who Build, Buy or Partner is for
- Digital, product and technology leaders. You will face a build-or-buy call on a platform, a tool or a feature. Practise comparing routes on value, speed and risk at once.
- Corporate development and strategy teams. Diligence allocation, earn-outs and retention are your daily tools. The simulation lets juniors see why they matter in numbers.
- Procurement and partnership managers. The partner route shows how contract length, exclusivity and an exit plan change your exposure when a supplier's situation changes.
- MBA and executive education participants. A compact, scored exercise in make-or-buy strategy, due diligence and deal structure, different every play.
Who should skip it
If you need to value a company or draft acquisition legal terms, this does not teach that; it trains the strategic choice and risk handling around the deal.
Make the next sourcing decision with your eyes open
The debrief lays out the true quality of every target, the real build timeline and the partner's real terms beside the route you chose.
Compare routes on three axes
You will weigh value, time to market and risk together, and say which one you are trading for which.
Spend diligence where it counts
You will concentrate review money on the two or three options that could win, because diligence is cheap next to the decision it informs.
Use terms to manage what you cannot know
An earn-out when quality cannot be verified, a shorter contract when a partner could change, retention when know-how might walk out.
Stage launches when quality is uncertain
You will see a month of caution as cheap insurance against a failed launch day in front of every customer.
Think strategically about ownership
You will ask what you own after year 3, not only what you get in year 1. That is the long view boards expect from capability decisions.
Learning goals
- Compare build, buy and partner on value, speed and risk together
- Use due diligence where it can change the decision
- Use deal terms and a staged launch to manage what you cannot know
Skills practised: Strategic thinking about capability and ownership, Decision making under uncertainty, Due diligence and value of information, Deal structuring as risk management, Time-to-market planning, Commercial judgement.
Competencies scored
Sub-scores map to the open Bodhih Competency Spine, so results sit beside your other learning records.
What the debrief shows
- Your route, terms, launch month and the quality of what you launched
- Gross profit created over three years, plus what the wallet is still worth, against the cost, and the best plan with hindsight
- The reveal: each target's real quality, integration difficulty and any hidden security flaw; the real build slip; the partner's real share
- What strong players do, and the key concept: build, buy or partner
Build, buy or partner
Three ways to get a capability. Build: most control and fit, slowest and riskiest to staff. Buy: faster, but you pay a premium and must integrate people and code. Partner: fastest and cheapest up front, but you share the value and depend on someone else.
Use Build, Buy or Partner with a team
Seats are $12 each. Buy up to 25 seats online and assign them from your company admin; above that, or for a facilitated programme or an institution licence, request a quote and we activate your seats after payment.
A workshop for product and technology leaders
Ask everyone to play, then group people by route. Each group explains why, then sees what the others found out the hard way.
Pre-work for an M&A or partnership programme
Set it as a stage in a Bodhih pathway so participants arrive having allocated diligence money and lived with the terms.
An assessment centre exercise
Sub-scores map to Commercial Acumen, Planning and Prioritisation and Decision Making on the Bodhih Competency Spine. Targets and truths change each play.
Through your LMS
Launch from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or D2L Brightspace with LTI 1.3, and the score returns to the gradebook.
Volume pricing
| Seats | Per seat | How to buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12 | Online |
| 2 to 10 | $10.80 | Online |
| 11 to 50 | $9.60 | Online up to 25, then quote |
| 51+ | $8.40 | Quote |
Build, Buy or Partner or a case study?
| Compared on | A case study or slide-based course | Build, Buy or Partner |
|---|---|---|
| What you do | Assess a company's acquisition or partnership with the facts laid out. | Decide what to investigate, choose the route and terms, then handle the fallout. |
| Information | Complete and free; diligence is assumed. | You pay for sharper estimates and decide where that money goes. |
| Consequences | Described in the epilogue. | A setback lands mid-way and you must respond, then launch. |
| Replay | The same deal each time. | Targets, their hidden quality and flaws, and the partner's risk change every play. |
| Evidence | A memo or discussion to assess. | Server scores for value, time and risk handled, with a credential at 80 or more. |
| Where a case study is better | Real deals, valuation detail and negotiation history. | Stylised numbers so the trade-offs are visible in 15 minutes. Use it alongside a case. |
What to pair with Build, Buy or Partner
The Purchasing and Vendor Management System
If you lean towards partnering, this kit gives you a TCO calculator and supplier workbook to compare real vendors and their terms.
See the kit →Pro KitThe Product Launch Command Centre
The staged launch lesson in practice: a launch workbook, forecast calculator and calendar for your next release.
See the kit →Online courseAI for Finance course
For finance partners who build the business case behind these decisions: scenario models and a one-page recommendation, faster with AI.
See the course →Trainer ToolkitBusiness and operations trainer toolkits, including Vendor Management and Contract Negotiation
Trainers can extend the partner and deal-terms lessons into a full programme with role-plays and case studies.
See the toolkit →AssessAll assessmentCritical Reasoning Assessment
Diligence is reasoning from incomplete evidence; this timed assessment measures it across five dimensions.
Take the assessment →Bodhih TrainingStrategy workshops by Bodhih Training
For leadership teams facing a real sourcing decision, a facilitator can run the simulation and then apply the same questions to your case.
Talk to Bodhih Training →Related simulations
How much does Build, Buy or Partner cost?
For one person, $12, paid online for your own access. It is sold as an individual simulation.
Can my company buy seats?
Yes, at $12 per seat list price with volume tiers. Buy up to 25 seats online; for more, or for facilitated sessions and institution licences, request a quote, pay offline, and we activate the seats.
How many minutes does it take?
About 15 minutes for the four steps and the debrief.
What do I get?
The simulation, a score out of 100 with sub-scores for value created, time to market and risk handled, a debrief built from your choices, the hidden truth about every option and the best plan with hindsight.
Is it the same every time I play?
No. Each replay is a new seeded scenario: different targets, a different one hiding a flaw, a different build slip and a partner that may or may not change its terms.
Is there a credential?
Yes. Score 80 or more for a micro-sim credential (Open Badges 3.0) with a public verification page and Add to LinkedIn.
What do I need to know beforehand, and on what device?
No M&A or payments knowledge is needed; every option explains its cost and timing. It runs in any modern web browser; the diligence table is easiest on a laptop or tablet.
Does it integrate with an LMS?
Yes. LTI 1.3 launch from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or D2L Brightspace, with grade passback. It can also be a stage in a Bodhih pathway.
Who is it for?
Digital, product and technology leaders, corporate development and strategy teams, procurement and partnership managers, and MBA or executive education participants.
Why not just teach the build vs buy framework with a case?
A framework tells you what to weigh. This makes you weigh it with incomplete information, pay for diligence and live with a setback. A case adds real-world depth, so they work well together.
What happens to my data?
Decisions and scores are stored in your Bodhih account; an employer that provides your seat can see results inside its own organisation. Read bodhih.org/privacy.
Is there a refund policy?
Yes, at bodhih.org/refunds. You can also try the free 3-round Price War first, with no sign-up, to see how Arena works.
Fourteen months. Six routes. One wallet.
Choose where to look, what to sign and how to launch, then see what each option was really worth. Put your diligence money where the doubt is, and find out how close you came to the best plan.
Want a feel for Arena first? Play the free 3-round Price War.
- Play it as often as you like for 12 months: every play is a new scenario
- A debrief after each play: what happened, why, and what strong players do
- A verifiable credential when you score 80 or more
- Scored on the server, mapped to the Bodhih Competency Spine
Not sure yet? Try the free 3-round Price War first, no sign-up.
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