We originally wrote this as a full-length article for another publication but it turned out a little longer than needed.  We decided to publish the full-length piece here to share important perspectives we have while we edit down the content elsewhere.   Coronavirus notwithstanding, as a leader in a SaaS company, you have a lot of macro and micro challenges that you face to do your job. You are responsible for aligning all the conditions to grow your business, and there is never a day that you can take your foot off the gas pedal because your investors expect exponential growth. Let's face it, with so many pressing matters on your plate; it is tough to manage everything or to be an expert in all aspects of your business. As our company's primary leader, I know this problem all too well. Some days I don't know if I am coming or going. So all this being said, we want to share thoughts that you will find helpful to help create your ideal conditions.  When you dreamed ...

  Throughout my career in partnerships, I have had the good fortune to witness some great partner programs, some real works of art! But for every well-executed plan, I have seen dozens of mediocre, poorly run programs, and many that have just outright failed. This bothers me. Running partnerships is hard work, but seriously, why is the profession I have chosen to be involved in so full of train wrecks? The subject has caused me to sit back and think of why some programs succeed and why some fail. When I ask CEOs and CROs why their partner program failed, they point to many factors, both internally and externally. Common items that I hear: we don't have a partner culture, we had the wrong partners, sales never adopted the model, we tried it for six months and made no progress and on and on and on... However, when I step back, partnership programs fail from one of two directions. They either have too little or too much experience leading it. Let me explain.   A majority of ...

  Most earlier stage companies do not think "Ecosystem First" because founders and early-stage leaders do not have a channel or partnership experience base. Early-stage leaders typically come from engineering, finance, marketing, or direct sales backgrounds. Thus the concept of alternative revenue streams, ecosystems and how to build and support them are foreign ideas.    Where can a company get this expertise? Partner teams are an expensive investment, right?!? Maybe but it doesn't have to be. Fractional leadership in other disciplines (CMO, CFO, Sales) is a proven way to cost-effectively bring experienced leadership to the table for early-stage companies without breaking the bank.  If you are an early-stage company and you are looking to bring experience on your team, then a fractional leader might be just the ticket.  If you are a later stage company and you are investing in partnerships (or trying to fix a failed attempt), then a walk before you run approach...