Never GTM Alone

Acting as the Ecosystem Strategist, Not the Event Planner

Too many partner marketers are still treated as the team that runs the events, builds the co-branded one-pager, and executes the MDF spend. Nicole Steele wants that definition retired. A marketer who's worked at the intersection of field, digital, and partner at Sage, SAP, Aryaka, and F5 — where 95% of the business ran through partners — Nicole joins Rick to make the case that customers aren't buying products anymore, they're buying platforms, and platforms only deliver when there's an ecosystem behind them. That changes the job.  In this conversation, Nicole breaks down why field, digital, and partner can't keep running as silos, why the quarterly QBR cadence is killing partner relationships, and the business acumen skills that separate operators from strategists. The closing challenge: stop showing up as a support function and start operating as the ecosystem strategist your GTM motion actually needs.

Mercedes Villanueva on Reinventing Partner Marketing and Leading Through Transformation

Transformation sounds exciting—until you’re in the middle of it. In this episode, Mercedes Villanueva shares what it actually takes to rebuild a global partner marketing function while the entire company is rebranding, restructuring, and redefining how it goes to market. From prioritizing just three high-impact initiatives to reshaping partner programs around real customer outcomes, Mercedes explains how to cut through complexity and focus on what drives value. She also shares why flexibility matters more than perfection, how to let go of ideas that don’t work, and what resilience really looks like when nothing is fully under your control. A practical and honest look at building, leading, and adapting when everything is changing at once.

Austin Burningham on Why Partner Events Need to Be Smaller, More Targeted, and Actually Memorable

Big partner events are fading—and the teams seeing real pipeline impact are doing the opposite. In this episode, Austin Burningham from Atlassian breaks down the shift from high-volume events to smaller, highly targeted experiences that actually move deals forward. He shares why webinars still play a critical mid-funnel role, how executive roundtables and one-to-one experiences are driving bottom-funnel conversion, and what it takes to get the right customers—and sales teams—into the room. The conversation also gets practical on event strategy: securing customer speakers, aligning partners and sellers, and attributing real pipeline impact across multiple touches. The takeaway is clear: the best partner marketers aren’t choosing between digital and in-person—they’re designing both to work together, with precision.

Amyn Jivani on Making Partner Marketing the Engine of Your Company's GTM Strategy

Partner marketing only works when it stops acting like a side function. In this episode, Amyn Jivani, Senior Director of Partner Marketing at Contentful, breaks down how the best teams turn partnerships into the connective tissue of their entire go-to-market strategy. Amyn shares why most partner programs fall into “random acts of marketing,” and what it actually takes to align partners to pipeline generation, product adoption, and market expansion. He explains how to map the right partners to the right stages of the customer journey, why data alone isn’t enough to drive partner decisions, and how to measure real impact beyond partner-sourced pipeline. The conversation also dives into the practical side of alignment—showing up in the right rooms, tying work to company goals, and knowing when to say no. The takeaway is clear: the most effective partner marketers don’t just run programs—they make sure every motion across marketing, sales, and partnerships is pulling in the same direction.

Fixing Partner Reporting & Attribution w/ Michael Venman

Most partner teams don’t have a demand problem — they have a reporting and attribution problem. In this episode, Rick sits down with Michael Venman, Founder of The Sales Nerd, to unpack why partner revenue so often gets lost inside CRM systems, conflicting definitions, and undefined SLAs. Michael shares practical insight on:  • Why deal registration architecture determines whether you can prove ROI  • How misaligned sales and partner teams create attribution chaos  • Where partner data should actually live inside your CRM  • What private equity firms and executives expect when they ask for clean funnel reporting If you’ve ever struggled to defend partner-sourced revenue, align on who gets credit, or produce reporting leadership actually trusts, this conversation will give you a clearer framework. This episode is for partner marketing leaders who want attribution that holds up, reporting that’s defensible, and a partner motion that drives measurable pipeline.