Most tech founders are still running lead generation the hard way — cold outreach, event booths they hope will pay off, a sales team grinding through the funnel. Drew Allgeier has a different problem. He has more leads than his salespeople can handle, an 80% close rate, and Fortune 1000 clients including ConAgra, Tyson, and Cornerstone Building brands on his books. None of that came from cold calls.

Drew is the founder of Starken Tech, a nationwide network infrastructure and LAN deployment company that's spent a decade building what most founders talk about but few actually build: an indirect channel that generates warm introductions daily. Not occasionally. Not when a contact remembers you. Every single day.

What makes this different from the referral networks most tech companies try to build is the structure behind it. Master agents, strategic partners, and deeply embedded relationships across the technology supply chain — each one incentivised to pass deals because they get paid when Drew closes. The result is that by the time Drew gets on a call with a prospect, the trust is already there. The partner has done the work. The close is almost a formality.

We also get into the 80% close rate in real terms — how active business intelligence from partners tells Drew where he sits against competitors, what the prospect is thinking, and when to adjust pricing before the proposal even lands. That's not luck. That's a system.

And then there's the growth ceiling most fast-moving companies don't see coming — the plateau that hits when you can sell but can't deliver. Drew's take on why back-office investment has to run ahead of sales growth is one of the most practical things on this episode.

If you're in MSP, VAR, or B2B tech and you're still building revenue the slow way, this conversation is worth your time.

00:00 — Introduction: Drew Allgeier and Starken Tech 00:53 — The 10,000 foot view: 10 years, Fortune 1000 clients, 80% close rate 01:27 — The genesis of the indirect channel: Jay Sherman Henderson and the authorised agent model 03:21 — What most founders miss when trying to build partnerships 05:15 — How master agents like Telarus and Sandler Partners work — and what it actually costs to get in 07:59 — Why events aren't lead generation — they're relationship maintenance 10:15 — The psychology of the booth cheque and why Drew's approach is different 11:10 — The 80% close rate: how partner intelligence shapes every deal in real time 13:51 — Qualifying everything: how to tell a real partner opportunity from a quote shop exercise 16:07 — Strategic partnerships vs. master agents: the Vtech example 18:28 — The continuum of technology services and how to identify partner adjacency 19:14 — Decentralised data centres, product development, and building end-to-end solutions 21:53 — M&A context: what founders get wrong when building a company to sell 22:44 — Organic growth vs. new logo acquisition — and why most people get the balance wrong 24:00 — Increasing consumption: the Seth Godin Purple Cow concept applied to client growth 25:05 — The three levers of revenue growth 26:04 — The plateau problem: what happens when sales outrun delivery capacity 27:47 — Why back-office investment has to run ahead of sales headcount 28:33 — Final question: what should a tech founder do differently this quarter 29:00 — Seek to be of service: the relationship-first philosophy behind consistent revenue 30:55 — "If they're not talking to you, they're leaving you" 31:31 — Close: people remember how you made them feel

Drew Allgeier | Founder, Starken Tech starkentech.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-allgeier-3910384/

Gary Lafferty | Host, Growth Focus Podcast | Founder, Growth Focus Partnerships - growthfocus.io   linkedin.com/in/growthfocus 

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