Partnerships require more than just a willingness to collaborate. Partner programs that thrive are built on consistent effort, data-driven insights and strong internal alignment across teams.

In this episode, Jason Yarborough (Co-Founder of Arcadia and Head of Partnerships at Knak) joins Tyler Calder (CMO at PartnerStack) to discuss the shift from being partner-curious to partner-committed. Jason has extensive experience in leading partnerships at companies like Drift, Terminus and PFL, and he explains how to create an ecosystem that supports partners from the very start.

He breaks down his Three I’s framework for transforming partner programs into strategic drivers of revenue, urging partner leaders to be prepared before they approach a new prospect and leverage existing relationships to unlock new ones.

You’ll learn:

• How to build a partner program that drives long-term success
• The key factors that separate partner-curious from partner-committed teams
• How early-stage brands can start fruitful partnerships

Jump into the conversation:

(0:00) Introducing Jason Yarborough

(2:45) Why generalists excel in partnership leadership

(4:40) What being partner-curious means

(8:27) Getting leadership buy-in to build a partner program

(10:40) How early-stage brands can start building partnerships

(14:14) The Three I’s framework: Intel

(15:20) The Three I’s framework: Intros

(21:06) Operationalizing partner requests at Drift

(22:58) The Three I’s framework: Influence

(25:14) Ranking partner influence and understanding its impact on deals

(28:17) Differentiating co-sell and co-marketing influence for better outcomes

(30:07) The story behind Arcadia

Resources:

Jason Yarborough’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yarby/ 

Knak website: https://knak.com/ 

Arcadia website: https://bearcadia.com/