A customer who works closely with a vendor during development, giving feedback on early versions in exchange for influence over the product and usually favorable pricing.

A title conferred on firms who are testing unfinished software, debugging it with their own associates' hours, and supplying a logo for the funding deck, described throughout as a partnership.

• Partnership Without Parity: One side holds the roadmap, the pricing, and the right to walk, and the other holds a title.
• Unbilled Quality Assurance: The feedback is product development work, performed by people whose time is otherwise billed at four figures an hour.
• House-Cleaning Reality Check: Like being asked to test a friend's new restaurant for free and being called a culinary design partner.

Love Island (Season 6): a couple is voted into the Hideaway and the villa treats it as an honor bestowed on them, when the invitation, the timing, and the cameras were all arranged by people who are not in the villa.

A customer testing unfinished software in exchange for influence and a discount.

“We are proud to name three leading firms as design partners for this release.”

“Three firms are testing the beta, reporting bugs, and getting a discount and early access in return.”