I've been on both sides of the dialog and unfortunately inside of a big company it's about extracting the maximum amount of value. You need to position your company as being the end of that extraction as opposed to a means.

When I was the smaller company - the conversations went very differently when we had our incredibly talented BD/sales person on our side included in every step of the process. It seemed to set expectations that we were there to discuss partnership or sales than to simply brainstorm about our technology.

Hey we knew there was a slim chance they'd buy us, but at least treat the little guy innovator with respect.

Not prevent us from demoing our technology when we flew all the way out there to do so. Further, once we tell you how we accomplished something you've didnt figure out yet show us the door and say "The race is on."