Attribution, forecasting, program economics, KPIs and the decisions about who to hire and when.
13 articles · Guides, Playbooks, Templates, Analysis
Signed partners are not a result. The seven numbers that tell you if a partner motion is working, the thresholds under $25M ARR, and the vanity metrics to stop reporting.
A transparent 12-month model compares outbound and partner-led growth using contribution, ramp time, founder effort, customer economics, and downside cases.
A BD consultant costs $3,000-$15,000 a month and usually leaves you with advice. A hire costs $120K+ and usually leaves you with a salary. The third option is a system you own. Here is the decision math.
Before you sign off on a $150K sales hire, run the math against a partner motion you operate yourself. For most SMBs under $5M, the partner system wins the first bet.
CFOs frequently underestimate partner program costs by 40-60%. Here is the line-item P&L that produces accurate budgeting and defensible ROI calculations.
Deal registration is the operational backbone of every working partner program. Here is the practical walkthrough — from form fields to dispute resolution — that prevents attribution chaos.
Partner attribution is where most programs lose credibility internally. The fix is a small set of operating rules that produce defensible numbers your CFO will trust.
The first month sets the trajectory of a new Head of Partnerships. Here is the 30-day plan that turns the hire into a productive operator instead of a politically frustrated one.
Hiring a Head of Partnerships too early kills the role; too late stalls the program. Here are the trigger signals and compensation benchmarks that produce successful hires.
Most partner business reviews are status meetings that produce no follow-up action. Here is the QBR format that converts the meeting into the highest-leverage hour of the quarter.
Direct sales is the most common silent killer of partner programs. The structural fixes that make sales an ally, not an obstacle.
Partner-sourced pipeline is notoriously hard to forecast. Here is the model that produces forecasts CFOs trust and CROs can defend in the board meeting.
Not every problem needs an advisor. Some problems need execution, not advice. But there are specific inflection points where the right advisor creates outsized value.