Insights

Field notes on partnerships that compound.

Field notes and build guides across the seven layers of the partner operating system, from strategy and program design to economics, operations, leadership and change, with AI and automation underneath.

20 insights

Guide10 min read

Building partner attribution in HubSpot

HubSpot ships without a partner attribution module. The pieces are all there. Where you assemble them wrong is where the partner number stops being defensible.

OperationsRead

Reference1 min read

The partner program glossary

The words partner people use every day.

ProgramRead

Tool2 min read

The partner program ROI most teams never run

Partner ROI is one of the least trusted lines in a budget review because the math is rarely done honestly. Run it here.

EconomicsRead

Tool2 min read

Work backwards from the number: a partner pipeline planner

A revenue target is not a plan until you know the coverage underneath it. Run your number and see what the partner motion has to produce.

Go-to-MarketRead

Field note3 min read

Partner metrics, mapped to the whole journey

An interactive bowtie of partner metrics across the full journey, from first touch to expansion.

OperationsRead

Field note1 min read

Promote monthly, demote semi-annually

Monthly upside tells a partner that what they do this month counts this month. A six-month wait on demotion splits the drive to climb from the fear of one bad quarter.

ProgramRead

Field note1 min read

Points-based scoring that's still a revenue scoreboard

When performance is 60 or 70 percent of the score, the other categories are just decoration. You can call them Skilling and Customer Success, but the math is still a revenue scoreboard.

ProgramRead

Field note1 min read

A partner score without a recommendations layer is a report card

A score with no advice on how to move it is a report card. Partners feel ranked and move on. The recommendations layer turns a number into a next step.

ProgramRead

Field note1 min read

Co-sell that actually closes

Co-sell is not a motion you announce. It is a handoff you engineer, a comp plan you align, and a cadence you keep.

Go-to-MarketRead

Field note1 min read

The partner portal went live. Nobody came.

The tiers are built, the badges are ready, the benefits are written up. And recruiting still moves slowly, because the first question was never answered: why would a strong partner choose this?

ProgramRead

Field note1 min read

Your partner org chart is not an operating model

A partner org chart shows who reports to whom. It says nothing about who decides segmentation, who settles a deal conflict, or when the field escalates.

LeadershipRead

Field note1 min read

An ecosystem is shaped by who leaves

There are exit rules for deals and for employees. For partner ecosystems, usually nothing. Just a growing roster with less and less activity per partner.

StrategyRead

Field note1 min read

Your partner program is rewarding the wrong things

A partner quietly building AI deployment skills gets the same tier as one doing none of it, as long as the revenue holds. That is not a stable state.

EconomicsRead

Field note1 min read

Why multi-agent deals break partner attribution

When an agent finds the account, a tech partner adds context, a services partner builds the case, and the direct rep closes, sourced versus influenced stops working.

AI & AutomationRead

Field note2 min read

The partner base is about to split in two

AI agents are taking over the work that gave many services partners their margin. The programs that handle it well are making an honest call about who can move up.

AI & AutomationRead

Field note1 min read

When a partnership stalls, suspect structure before people

Wrong partner, wrong contact, wrong rep. Those are the usual suspects. The fixes that actually work are changed decision rights, changed pay, and changed process.

Go-to-MarketRead

Field note1 min read

Most programs enable partners too early

Training a partner before there is a live deal is preparing for a future that may never come. Account mapping without trust is two sides swapping wish lists.

ProgramRead

Field note1 min read

A co-sell SPIFF is a bet on behavior, not a reward for revenue

AEs already have quota for revenue. A co-sell SPIFF exists to close the gap between partners being available and AEs actually bringing them into deals.

ChangeRead

Field note1 min read

Why partner programs stall between year one and year three

Programs stall where structure ends. If pipeline growth flattens between year one and year three, look at the operating model before you look at the partners.

OperationsRead

Podcast1 min read

On the ISV Society podcast: why many partner programs fail

I was invited to the ISV Society podcast, hosted by Amiee Keenan, to share my perspective on why many partner programs fail.

ProgramRead