A model of team-based philosophy is applied to test the efficacy of a partnership between a university and a social enterprise development agency during the set-up and development of a work integration social enterprise (WISE). The proposed research has three data collection phases ‘early’, ‘middle’ and ‘late’. Analysis of interview data taken during the ‘early’ phase of this research evaluation revealed five themes: ‘Communication’, ‘Unity’, ‘Concept and Planning’, ‘Personalities’ and ‘Personal Perceptions’. These interim findings are discussed in relation to the proposed model and its appropriateness for the evaluation task