# On the ISV Society podcast: why many partner programs fail — PartnerImpact

> Bart Dirksen joins the ISV Society podcast, hosted by Amiee Keenan, to share his perspective on why many partner programs fail.

- Source: <https://www.partnerimpact.net/insights/isv-society-podcast-why-partner-programs-fail>
- Markdown version: <https://www.partnerimpact.net/md/insights/isv-society-podcast-why-partner-programs-fail.md>
- Published: 2026-09-30
- Category: Program Design
- Layer: Program

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I was invited to the ISV Society podcast, hosted by Amiee Keenan, to share my perspective on why many partner programs fail. You can listen to the episode here:

<iframe title="ISV Society podcast: why many partner programs fail" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3IFMSU0e7K5lexEjcXmbZP?utm_source=generator&theme=0" width="100%" height="232" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>

The question behind the episode is one I run into every week: partner programs rarely fail because partners are unmotivated or the market is wrong. They fail because of the design underneath them. A program that rewards the wrong behaviour, recruits partners it cannot enable, or measures itself on the wrong KPI's.

In the conversation we get into the patterns behind that. Most of all, we talk about treating building partner program as an operating model.

If the episode leaves you with a question about your own program, the field notes in this library go deeper on most of the topics we touched, the [partner maturity assessment](/partner-maturity-assessment) helps assess your program, and the [book](/book) provides all information on build a successful operating system.

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