Introducing "Grappling With Partners"

This blog has been lingering in the back of my mind for some time and, now that it’s finally here, it probably makes sense to start at the beginning.  No, not at the beginning of my story, nor, Airplane-style, at the beginning of time, but at the beginning of my philosophy on partnerships and why I believe there’s a missing, and much-needed, skill-set hanging over the head of most mid-sized, marketing technology (martech) organizations and how they can begin developing a partner team that can become the strategic hub of the organization.

Before we go too far, let’s quickly establish a couple of things: 1) the target audience for this blog and 2) why it’s called “Grappling With Partnerships” (GWP).

First, the target audience for GWP is aimed squarely at anyone in corporate leadership who’s considering building/struggling to build a partner program, as well as anyone who works directly with partners, at the mid, to late-stage martech startups. When I refer to “startup” in this context, I’m referring to a company that’s made it past the initial, awkward teenage phase of establishing its value proposition, has been around for a few years, has a relatively well-defined ICP (ideal customer profile), has product-market fit, and has a product that does most of what it's supposed to do (we all know that there's no such thing as a tech product that delivers on 100% of its supposed value proposition).  

These companies can range from around $5 million in ARR (annual recurring revenue) with under 50 employees, all the way up to over $150 million in ARR with hundreds of employees but, the one thing they all have in common is their desire to grow rapidly, generate an unassailable market presence and exit either via acquisition or IPO.  Additionally, most will have a variety of loose partnerships with various organizations but will lack a dedicated, and empowered, head of partnerships.

Second, why "Grappling With Partnerships"? The honest answer is that I'm passionate (OK, perhaps "obsessed" would be a better word) about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and I see dozens, if not hundreds, of parallels between BJJ and business, partnerships, and life in general.  In BJJ, we're constantly solving kinetic puzzles by grappling with various partners and it's through these grappling sessions that we're able to learn, grow and develop the kind of "game" that will allow us to eventually become the best version of ourselves at any given point in time.  Our grappling partners, regardless of their relative skill, are simultaneously our friends, teachers, and competitors so maintaining a reputation as someone who is humble, and can be trusted, is crucial to achieving one's goals.   

As in business and partnerships, BJJ is not something you ever truly master. The time you put into these endeavors is not time spent in pursuit of a definitive endpoint rather, it's time spent in the pursuit of progress, refinement, and the mastery of specific aspects of the craft which, ultimately, will allow us to build a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.  

In writing this blog, I'll draw from my experience on the mats, as well as my experience in business, to help interested readers understand, and relate to, the points I'm attempting to make.  Will I always (or even, usually) nail my analogies? Probably not.  But I'm going to attempt to have fun writing about martech, partnerships and, yes, BJJ and, hopefully, we'll all find the output useful.

So, now that we've established this base of understanding, the next step is to discuss why partner strategy has become so critical to the success of the aforementioned organizations. In the next couple of weeks, we'll broadly introduce some concepts around where partnerships fit in the typical martech company then I'll outline a general partner philosophy that can be used to help develop an effective strategy.

For now, thank you for starting this journey with me and I hope that, on a weekly basis, I can bring you insights and ideas that will be helpful in building, refining, and executing partnership and adjacent strategies that will grow and empower your business.