The Cheat Code & Friends

Today’s guest has worked in many bootstrapped B2B start-ups and VC-backed companies, starting in sales roles and moving into marketing roles. He’s on a mission to make sure every B2B marketing and sales interaction provides impact outside of the product. Taylor Wells is the Host & Founder of GTM.news and Fractional Head of Demand Generation at Potential Opportunity. Taylor shares why go-to-market leaders need a reality check, why adding value to the end customer should be the focus of any partnership, and which types of partner motions early-stage startups should pursue.

Takeaways:

• The foundation of any successful partnership is its ability to jointly impact the customer positively. Understanding the customer's needs and how the partnership can address those needs is crucial.
• If the product wasn't designed with partnerships in mind, including integrations and tapping into ecosystems, focus should be on simpler forms of partnership like co-marketing or co-learning.
• Initiating the first steps in a partnership by giving without expectations can establish trust. Hosting webinars, creating joint content, or referring customers first are ways to show commitment and value to potential partners.
• Deep insights into the customer come from strong relationships. Building and maintaining relationships with partners, customers, and within the industry are vital for gaining trust and understanding customer needs.
• For startups, the emphasis should be on co-learning, co-marketing, and possibly co-selling. These early stages are crucial for establishing trust, understanding market needs, and laying the groundwork for more intricate forms of partnerships.
• With increasing commoditization, creating an offering that stands out and provides unique value is key. This differentiating factor can strengthen partnerships by offering something exclusive to the partnership that benefits end customers.
• Ensure that every partnership and sales effort is committed to creating real value for the customer. This commitment should be ingrained in the company culture and reflected in every business activity.

Quote of the Show:

• “Unless you create a product that's specifically designed to go through a partnership motion, it's going be really challenging.” - Taylor Wells

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorrwells/ 
• GTM.news Website: https://www.gtm.news/ 
• Potential Opportunity Website: https://potentialopportunity.com/ 

Shoutouts: 

• Sangram Vajre: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sangramvajre/ 
• Focus by Al Ries: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/focus-al-ries?variant=32206920876066 

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Today’s guest is a seasoned partnership leader with experience in building and managing strategic alliances with top technology and service companies. Samantha Yarborough is the Chief Growth Officer, Salesforce at Invisory, Co-Host of the Friends with Benefits Podcast, and a proud member of the Women in Partnerships community. Sam joins Hosts Justin Gray and Sean Kester to dive into the challenging yet rewarding world of forming strategic partnerships and navigating complex ecosystems like Salesforce, AWS, and Azure. Sam shares the critical importance of executive buy-in, strategic alignment, and nurturing one-to-one relationships to actualize the potential of partnerships fully.

Takeaways:

• Executive buy-in is crucial. Achieving executive sponsorship and support is non-negotiable. It differentiates companies that are merely "partner-curious" from those that are "partner-led." Executive buy-in accelerates initiatives and ensures alignment across departments.
• Understand that partnerships must be rooted in strategic alignment between the companies involved. This means aligning on goals, customer segments, and values from the outset to ensure mutual success and avoid missteps down the line.
• Even in vast ecosystems, success starts with individual relationships. Personal connections with strategic players within partner ecosystems can lead to referral networks, which eventually snowball into broader engagement.
• Entering and succeeding in partnership ecosystems demand commitment and consistent effort. Tailoring your approach to the specific language and needs of the ecosystem, like that of Salesforce, and persistently engaging with relevant stakeholders are keys to visibility and success.
• Knowing how to articulate the value proposition of the partnership to top executives on both sides is essential. This includes making a compelling case for the allocation of resources towards integration and collaboration initiatives.
• Adopt an entrepreneurial mindset for partnership roles. Successful partnership managers wear multiple hats and can skillfully negotiate and strategize internally and externally. This includes being agile in responding to changes and opportunities.
• Leverage internal success stories. Sharing internal wins, such as deal closures or successful integrations resulting from partnerships, can boost internal buy-in and demonstrate the tangible benefits of the partnership program across the organization.
• While foundational strategies are critical, staying open to evolving partnership landscapes and being flexible enough to pivot as needed are vital for long-term success.

Quote of the Show:

• “Having executive buy-in is crucial” - Samantha Yarborough

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-yarborough-a96b3326/ 
• Invisory Website: https://invisory.co/ 
• Friends With Benefits Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2176003 

Shoutouts: 

• Alex Dayton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexdayton/ 
• Jared Fuller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredfuller/ 
• Jessie Shipman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-shipman/ 

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Today’s guest is a dynamic go-to-market leader who is passionate about partnerships. He's the Ted Lasso of business growth and a strong partner motion advocate. Judd Borakove is a Partner at Red Monkey Consulting and Co-Host of GTM Unfiltered. Judd joins Hosts Josh Wagner and Justin Gray to discuss how to prepare your organization for properly implementing the right partner motion, why speaking with the same language and terminology is a key part of a successful partnership, and what can happen when partnerships go wrong.

Takeaways:

• The foundation of any successful partnership is thorough preparation. Understanding mutual goals, aligning on expectations, and clarifying the roles each partner plays are essential steps before launching into a partnership.
• Partners must align on nomenclature and communication. Clear communication is critical, along with a shared language. Misinterpretations can derail partnerships; hence, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding goals, expectations, and terms is vital.
• When identifying potential partners, look for those who share your customer base, complement your offerings, and where both parties can provide mutual value. Strategic alignment on business goals and customer focus can significantly amplify the impact of the partnership.
• Providing partners with the right tools, resources, and support is fundamental. Successful partnership management involves empowering partners to succeed, which, in turn, drives your own success.
• Regularly revisiting the partnership's goals, performance metrics, and the value delivered to both parties helps in making informed adjustments and improvements over time.
• Partnerships have the power to significantly influence brand perception. Ensuring positive and productive partner experiences is paramount, as this reflects on your brand and can accelerate growth.

Quote of the Show:

• “The one thing that I have found that expedites the growth in partner and gives the type of returns they want is the upfront preparation.” - Judd Borakove

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juddborakove/ 
• Website: https://www.redmonkeyconsulting.com/ 

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

In this episode, Josh Wagner, Justin Gray, and Sean Kester discuss strategic business partnerships and how they can be built and leveraged for business growth. They highlight the importance of assessing a potential partner's alignment with your business strategy and the customers you serve, and also touch on the idea of handling objections through partnerships. They also discuss various types of partnerships, including co-marketing, co-selling, referral, and re-selling arrangements, emphasizing the importance of continuing engagement and adaptation in these relationships. You’ll hear about the challenges of working with large organizations, the value of partnerships in competitive advantage, and the concept of achieving outcomes through partnerships.

Takeaways:

• Start assessing potential partners by developing clear objectives and making sure that the outcomes that are driving a potential partner align with your business strategy. 
• When finding the right partner for your business, it's important to serve not only the same customer but also the same buyer within that customer. If you service the needs of different buyers within the same customer, your partner may not have the connections or influence needed to sell your product or services.
• A good partnership often fills a solution gap in the market. A good question for finding partners is what business strategies can you achieve in the next two years, and what strategies will need to be sidelined? Partnership can address those sidelined strategies.
• It is critical to understand your role in the partnership. Whether you are the platform or the point solution, each has its unique challenges and opportunities. 
• It’s important to fully understand the different types of partnerships available, such as Co-marketing, Co-selling, Referrals, and Re-selling. On top of this, recognizing what stage your business is in can help guide the type of partnership that would benefit the most. 
• Partners can serve as perfect objection handlers for your sales team, enabling them to resolve issues effectively. Their feedback can improve your offerings in the long run. So, provide the sales team with triggers to listen for in order to introduce suitable partners.   
• A partnership is not a 'set it and forget it' deal. Actively engaging with your partners, and staying connected with their goals, progress, and customer responses is important for a sustainable relationship.

Quote of the Show:

• “Giving to get is the number one, dichotomy shift I think that needs to happen within partnerships” - Justin Gray

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Today’s guest is an inspiring leader who has been a top performer at enterprise SaaS companies. She is the creator of the co-sell software category and she's also changing the flow of capital through the Fempire movement. Cassandra Gholston is the CEO of PartnerTap. Cassandra joins co-hosts Josh Wagner and Sean Kester to share why startups need to be thinking about partnerships as early as possible. Cassandra dives into how to build a partner-first culture, why you should focus on one partner at a time, and how co-selling can transform your business.

Takeaways:

• For startup companies specifically, it's vital to think about partnerships early in the business journey. Mapping out potential partners who cater to the same customer segments can help in laying the foundation for successful strategic partnerships.
• A successful partnership is built on the idea of giving before taking. Be prepared to put in the effort, show value, and demonstrate what your company brings to the table before you start expecting to see returns.
• Focus on one key partner. Rather than scattering resources across multiple partners, focusing on just one and nurturing that relationship is more effective. This allows for an in-depth understanding of each other's business and facilitates mutual growth.
• Use co-marketing to combine marketing efforts with your partners for greater impact. Co-selling can unlock additional customer segments, increase market reach, and enhance brand credibility, especially for startups and smaller brands.
• An incredible competitive edge can be gained by integrating your technology solution with your partners’ products. The right integration can increase customer stickiness and lead to higher retention.
• Communication and alignment are key to partnership success. Spell out your intentions, expectations, goals, and desired outcomes right from the start. Make sure you know how each party defines success. This sets a solid foundation for your partnership.
• Make sure your partnerships align with your company's goals and culture. The right partnership should feel like a natural extension of your business, rather than a forced or artificial alignment.

Quote of the Show:

• “If you want to go sell to the enterprise, go and partner with the enterprise leader that you're complimentary to as a technology company.” - Cassandra Gholston

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandragholston/ 
• Website: https://partnertap.com/ 

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Today’s guest brings a wealth of experience from nearly three decades working in the go-to-market world. Doug Landis is a Growth Partner at Emergence Capital. Doug joins Josh Wagner and guest host Sean Kester to discuss how building meaningful relationships is a powerful tool in the business world. They delve into the importance of “giving a shit” and how being genuinely interested in people will nurture relationships leading to robust networks over time. They also discuss how these connections further boost career prospects and deal opportunities as well as influence personal and professional decision-making.

Takeaways: 

• Maintaining and nurturing your connections and relationships is vital to a successful career. Among many benefits, doing this can also lead to potential referrals and job opportunities.
• Picking up the phone and calling people has become a lost art. Phone conversations can establish deeper relationships, but it is crucial to be prepared for a lengthy discussion or to leave meaningful voicemail messages.
• Rather than using a ‘take first’ mentality, use the 'give first' approach to help build strong networks. Offering value and assistance before expecting any benefits can create a meaningful relationship.
• It's key to remember that every interaction you have within your network makes up your personal brand. Hence, it's crucial to ensure positive and beneficial interactions are part of your personal brand. 
• Taking the initiative to reach out, maintain, and nurture connections in the network, even if it's just a quick check-in, can significantly strengthen your network.
• Be intentional about finding community. Utilizing LinkedIn and other social media platforms can be an excellent method for networking. Try spending at least an hour a day commenting on others' posts and creating meaningful engagement.
• The strength of your network reflects the depth and breadth of your experience and the effort you put towards nurturing your connections.

Quote of the Show:

• “My cheat throughout my life and throughout my career has been connections.” - Doug Landis

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglandis/ 
• Website: https://www.emcap.com/ 

Shoutouts: 

• Craig Rosenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigrosenberg/ 
• Scott Albro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottalbro/ 
• Aaron Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronross/ 
• Chris Walker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswalker171/ 
• Cassie Young: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassyoung/ 
• Sam McKenna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samsalesli/ 

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Today’s guest has run business-altering partnership programs for companies such as Terminus and Drift. Jason Yarborough is the Co-Founder of Arcadia and the Co-Host of the Friends With Benefits podcast. Jason joins Justin Gray and Josh Wagner to discuss aligning leadership teams to empower each partner, the importance of your joint value proposition, and how to identify the red-flags of a bad partnership.

Takeaways:

• Your Joint Value Proposition (JVP) is a “better-together story” that explains to the customer why they should invest in both products. Once you and your partner agree on the JVP, you need to share in the market so that your mutual customers and prospects begin to understand it.
• A strong partnership is a "trust hack". Consistently creating value leads to building trust with the partner. This trust has a ripple effect, helping to gain the trust of customers and accelerate deal cycles.
• Regularly review and present metrics related to partnership success. This data can validate the importance of partnerships to internal stakeholders and provide guidelines for improvement.
• A key element for driving alignment between teams is to utilize communication platforms like Slack to maintain regular contact, discuss on-going projects, and share insights among partners.
• Data is instrumental in justifying the partnership's benefit to the organization. Demonstrating partnerships' impact on metrics like deal size, deal cycle, and customer retention can gather buy-in from the entire organization.
• Not all partnerships lead to mutual advantage. If the relationship becomes one-sided or if a partner's expectations drastically shift, it might be time to reevaluate the partnership or potentially walk away.

Quote of the Show:

• “Deal cycles moved about 40% faster when a partner was involved versus when they were not.” - Jason Yarborough

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yarby/ 
• Friends With Benefits Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2176003  

Shoutouts: 

• Andy Cochran
• Justin Keller

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Welcome to Season 2 of The GTM Cheat Code Podcast! This season, we’re focusing on Go-To-Market partnerships. We're super excited to have an awesome stable of guests coming onto the show in season two who are experts in partnerships, nearbound, and using those strategies to go-to-market.

Our first guest to explore the world of partnerships with us is a nearbound revenue architect and self-proclaimed Thought-Doer. He is the former Senior Director of Partnerships at Drift, Co-founder of Partner Hacker, and creator of Nearbound Daily, a partnership-focused newsletter that took the GTM space by storm. Jared Fuller is the Chief Revenue & Partner Officer at Reveal, Producer and Co-Host of the Nearbound Podcast, and Author of The Partner Hacker Handbook. Jared’s latest work Nearbound: The Book, will be available on Amazon starting 2/28/2024. Jared joins Co-Hosts Justin Gray and Josh Wagner to share his go-to-market cheat code for partnership success: Strategic Alliances. Jared explains his formula for finding and creating strategic alliances, the three C’s partner leaders need to have, and what strategy actually means for GTM leaders.

Takeaways:

• Strategy is a grossly misused term and to understand Strategic Alliances, we need a definition. Simply put, strategy is a choice. A “Strategy” can answer the following questions: What is your winning aspiration? Where will you play?  How will you win? What must be in place for that to be true? 
• When looking for Strategic Alliance opportunities, first, uncover what is most important to the potential partner and find how you can impact that in some way better than the other partners. Without figuring that out, no Strategic Alliance deal will ever materialize.
• The Formula for Finding a Strategic Alliance: 1. What is most important to the company? (EG: A top-3 metric for the CEO), 2. How do you impact that metric? 3. What does your impact on that metric look like at scale? 4. Who in the company is compensated based on that metric?)
• For example, Jared identified the most important metric to HubSpot was free-to-paid conversions and that the best indicator a customer would convert was if they closed a deal in the CRM. Jared then created a way for PandaDoc users to seamlessly integrate HubSpot data into e-sign forms, which helped those users close more deals. Jared then presented the data he collected from these users to HubSpot’s VP of Product
• Creating a successful partnership requires an entrepreneurial-minded approach as there is no rulebook. The creative solutions needed to build a thriving partnership come from considering the entire business of each party and how to impact what matters most.
• To be successful in a partnership role, you need to have curiosity, courage, and conviction. You need to be curious about the market, customer, and industry. You need the courage to go to your leadership and explain why you want to go all in on a partnership. You need the conviction to be willing to die on that hill, which takes guts and a well-informed decision. 

Quote of the Show:

• “If you're not an entrepreneur, as a partner leader, get out. Go do something else that's easy and that has a rule book.” - Jared Fuller

Links:

• Nearbound.com Website: https://nearbound.com/ 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredfuller/ 
• Reveal Website: https://reveal.co/ 
• Nearbound Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nearbound-podcast/id1533135144
• Josh’s Episode of the Nearbound Podcast: https://nearbound.com/resources/057-partnerup
• Strategic Alliances: Partner Up and Play to Win: https://nearbound.com/resources/strategic-alliances-partnerup-and-win/ 
• The Partner Hacker Handbook: https://a.co/d/8bDxZbQ 

Shoutouts: 

• The Sumo Advantage by Bernie Brenner
• Bernie Brenner - Co-Founder of True Car: https://www.linkedin.com/in/berniebrenner/ 
• Brad Coffey - Board Member of Teamwork: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradfordcoffey/ 
• Brian Balfour - Founder & CEO of Reforge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/ 
• David Cancel - Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Drift: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcancel/ 
• Elias Torres - Co-Founder of Drift: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliast/ 
• Bobby Napoltonia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-napiltonia-8b82624/ 
• Andrew Gibson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agibs1/ 
• Chris Voss - CEO & Founder of The Black Swan Group: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophervoss/ 
• Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
• Steve Lucas - CEO of Boomi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nstevenlucas/ 
• Friedrich Hayek - 20th Century Austrian Economist

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast 

Sangram Vajre’s career journey can be summed up in a few acronyms: MA (Marketing Automation), ABM (Account Based Marketing), and GTM (Go-to-Market). You may know him from Pardot, Terminus, Flip My Funnel, or GTM Partners – there’s hardly any conversation happening in the B2B world without Sangram being a part of it. He says he’s leveraged his “cheat” of being intentional with every single opportunity in every role he’s inhabited, from marketing expert to entrepreneur, and as a speaker, podcast host and best-selling author. 

In this episode of The Cheat Code Podcast, hosts Justin Gray and Josh Wagner ask Sangram about which factors have shaped his personal growth alongside his entrepreneurial mindset. Sangram talks about taking on uncomfortable challenges, not having a Plan B, and why he thinks it’s critical to embrace opportunities and be highly intentional with them, no matter what stage of your career.

In the latest episode of The Cheat Code Podcast, hosts Justin Gray, Josh Wagner, and Sean Kester discuss what the fall of OpenView Partners means for Venture Capital and the startup world.

The trio share why OpenView is only the first domino to fall and why other VCs should be taking a hard look at their own standing as well. They highlight problems and hard truths that likely contributed to OpenView’s struggles, in addition to the need for investor expectations to change. Justin, Josh and Sean touch on their views for how VCs can evolve and landmines they can sidestep in order to get on more stable ground – and how this will benefit startups in the long-run.