Asher Mathew

CEO at Partnership Leaders | Helping partnership and business leaders build modern businesses through partnerships

Join Partnership Leaders at www.partnershipleaders.com

Co-Founder & CEO

Joined full time in Feb 2023

Partnership Leaders is a private network built to elevate the role of partner teams in their companies. Partnership Leaders is the only organization designed exclusively to enable the success of 1,500+ of the world’s top partner professionals.

Apply at www.partnershipleaders.com

Another new high for Chief Partner Officer roles.

1187 on Feb 1.
1220 today.

The title is rising fast.

But a title does not create a Chief Partner Officer. Mandate does.

Two things determine whether the role is real or symbolic:

Budget.

You need direct ownership of capital.
Not borrowed dollars.
Not discretionary scraps.
Not marketing leftovers.

If you do not control budget, you do not control outcomes.

Authority.

Authority means the power to prioritize.
The power to decline.
The power to protect focus.

If you cannot say no, you are not leading. You are reacting.

Without budget and authority, the CPO is a coordinator with executive branding.

With them, the CPO becomes a growth operator.

The role rests on four pillars.

Build.
Market.
Sell.
Serve.

If partnerships do not drive all four, they are not embedded in the business model.

Titles are expanding.
Mandate must follow.

Something interesting is happening in deals right now.

In the past week I spoke with four services companies.

Each told me the same thing.

Customers are asking for the partner manager to join deal calls.

Why?

Because the deal no longer involves just one vendor.

There are multiple companies delivering the outcome:
• The platform
• The services partner
• The software (think app) partner
• Sometimes even the data or AI provider

Customers want someone coordinating the ecosystem.

Not just selling the product.

That role is increasingly falling to the partnerships team.

If this trend continues, it changes how we think about partnerships.

Partner managers are no longer behind the scenes.

They are becoming the orchestrators of multi-party deals. (I know James Hodgkinson will love this one). 

I am curious if others are seeing this too.

Are customers asking for partnerships teams to be present in complex deals? Pre-Close? Post-Sale?

Am I the only one thinking when will Anthropic launch Claude for #Partnerships?

anyone else?

Hire a Chief Partner Officer...Demo to Satya!

Way to go Marcel!

A new marketplace player enters the market!

Something interesting is happening.

Events are back.

Our London Summit is already at capacity, and NYC and SF are close behind.

What is different this year is who is showing up.

Catalyst is expanding beyond software to include leaders from services and hardware companies.

The conversations around ecosystems and partnerships are getting bigger.

If you plan to attend one of our Summits or the Catalyst Conference, register soon.

More info: join catalyst dot com

One way I think about Catalyst is this:

It’s the premier conference to recruit, re-engage, and retain partners.

Not just network.
Not just content.
Actual ecosystem building.

This year, we’re leaning into Services companies that unlock the enterprise.

Think SIs, agencies, and management consulting firms.
The partners you need in your mix if you want to tap into the $6.15T global IT spend.

We’ll still have strong content for early and mid career partnership leaders. That foundation matters.

But the next unlock is CPO readiness.

What does it take to move from running motions to owning ecosystem strategy?
From supporting revenue to shaping company direction?

That’s the conversation.

Catalyst is for the companies and leaders preparing to shape the next wave of tech through partnerships.

If you’re serious about building a modern partner ecosystem, this is where you should be.

Grab your ticket, early bird ends tomorrow!

Build. Market. Sell. Serve.

Partnerships summed up in 4 words.

Enterprise growth does not break because you lack features.

It breaks because you are not invited into the room where decisions get made.

And those rooms are crowded.

CIOs do not wake up looking for new vendors.
They listen to the firms already embedded in their transformation.

The SI running the cloud migration.
The consultancy redesigning the operating model.
The agency modernizing digital experience.

If you are not inside that orbit, you are fighting uphill.

That is the real partnership conversation.

Not badges.
Not tiers.
Not “ecosystem” as a buzzword.

Access.

Catalyst this year is centered on the companies that control that access.

Services firms that influence how the $6.15T in global IT spend actually gets deployed.

Because here is the uncomfortable truth:

You can build a great product and still lose
if the people shaping the enterprise narrative are not aligned with you.

We will still invest in rising partner leaders. Craft matters.

But the next unlock is bigger.

How do you move from running partner plays
to understanding enterprise power structures?

How do you stop thinking about partner sourced revenue
and start thinking about who shapes demand before the RFP exists?

That is the conversation.

Catalyst is not about partnerships as a department.

It is about partnerships as leverage.

If you want to play inside the enterprise,
you need to understand who already owns the room.

See you in NYC!

I’m a growth-minded executive with a unique blend of marketing and ecosystem leadership experience, most recently serving as Chief Partner Officer at WorkSpan, where I built and scaled strategic partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, and Google. Now, as the Founder and Host of Inside Partner, I’m focused on advancing the partnerships industry - spotlighting partner leaders and insights through executive interviews and thought leadership content.

Over the past 20+ years, I’ve led teams across marketing, ecosystem strategy, and community engagement at category-leading SaaS companies. At WorkSpan, I created the Ecosystem Management category and launched Ecosystem Aces, a video podcast series featuring over 220 executive interviews and 110+ show-floor conversations from major partner events. These experiences cemented my belief in the power of storytelling and relationships to drive strategic growth.

Whether building demand gen engines from scratch, positioning companies for Series A to C growth, or shaping industry conversations through analyst briefings and event presence, I bring energy, strategy, and executive credibility to every engagement. I thrive in fast-paced environments, and I’m passionate about coaching teams, developing ecosystems, and helping B2B SaaS companies grow through partnerships and marketing alignment.

Key Strengths:
🔹 Ecosystem & Partner Strategy
🔹 Pipeline Generation & Driving Revenue
🔹 Category Creation & Messaging
🔹 Video Content & Thought Leadership
🔹 ABM & Demand Gen Engines
🔹 Community Growth & Influencer Marketing

Let’s build something impactful - whether it’s a brand, a category, or an ecosystem.

Chip Rodgers

🎙 Inside Partnering | Chief Partner Officer | CMO | Ecosystem Strategy | B2B SaaS Growth & GTM Leader

🔵 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗦𝗩 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗥𝗢 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻. 🔵

This week, I had a great conversation with Shobana Shankar, Head of ISV Sales for Data Analytics at Google Cloud. 

We talked about how Google Cloud is evolving its partner ecosystem - and what it really takes to build meaningful ISV partnerships today.

One insight from my conversation with Shobana really stood out.

The most successful ISV partnerships with Google Cloud don’t live inside the partnerships team.  They live inside the sales organization.

Shobana described how the strongest ISV relationships happen 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗥𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 - and actively thinking about how to use Google to close more business.

As she put it:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘙𝘖 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘚𝘝 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘦.𝘤𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯.”

In other words, the goal is treating Google Cloud as an extension of the sales team.

That means 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀, aligning on pipeline, and figuring out how Google can help:
✅ accelerate deals
✅ increase deal size
✅ source new opportunities

It’s a very different mindset from the traditional “partner manager to partner manager” relationship.

And it’s becoming a core expectation in hyperscaler ecosystems.

Another interesting shift is how Google Cloud thinks about marketplace.

Marketplace is no longer just about processing transactions.

“𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳.”

That means helping partners accelerate deals, increase deal size, and even source new opportunities.

And that shows up in incentives.

Shobana shared that her team is now 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗦𝗩 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀.

A great conversation about how cloud ecosystems are evolving.

➡️ 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗥𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀? 𝗢𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺?

Full episode and article are linked in the first comment.

Chelsea Berlucchi Dai Vu Colleen Kapase Philip Larson Scott Barneson Brian Stavis Samrah Khan Jim Anderson Gina Fratarcangeli Kevin Ichhpurani Ninh Do Marion James Tina Feng Liu Amy Bray

Real ecosystem influence happens inside engineering.

Most people think partnerships stop at go-to-market.

They don’t.

In this clip, Rohan Karmarkar explains how partner feedback flows directly into Amazon Web Services (AWS) engineering teams.

Solution Architects working with ISVs and SIs collect real-world input on what capabilities are needed. That feedback doesn’t sit in a document - it gets prioritized, roadmapped, and built.

And in many cases, it goes even further into true co-engineering between AWS service teams and partner engineering organizations.

That’s when partnerships move from alignment to innovation.

Where have you seen partnership drive real product innovation?

Abhisheikh Lahoti Jessica Rudy Allison Johnson

Too many partnerships are pushed. 

But the best ones? They get pulled in.

In this clip, Ron Piovesan, Head of Technology Partnerships at Okta, explains why great partnerships don’t require constant reminders, escalation emails, or pressure on sales teams.

They create value - as Ron says "partnerships should create outsized value". 

I love that!

When a partnership delivers outsized value to the customer, sales teams lean in naturally. They see how it helps them win faster. They see how it improves the story. They see how it accelerates the deal.

That’s when co-sell becomes effortless.  💪 🚀

“It’s not a push. It should be a pull.”

If you’re constantly nudging reps to call the partner, the issue probably isn’t enablement. It’s value clarity.

The strongest partnerships make sense for:
🙋‍♀️ The customer
💁🏽‍♂️ The field
🏙️ Both companies

And when that alignment happens, momentum follows.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆?

The SaaSpocalypse presumes a vibe coding takeover - but enterprises demand durability.

In this clip, Brian Landsman makes an important distinction: speed is not the same as enterprise readiness.

As Brian puts it, enterprises don’t want disposable software. They want:
✅ 24/7 operations
✅  threat detection
✅ compliance auditing
✅ uptime SLAs
✅ single sign-on
✅ encryption
✅ and scalability supported by a mature ecosystem of SIs and admins.

That’s not something you recreate overnight.

Salesforce's new announcement gives builders access to that foundation - decades of platform investment, now exposed through tools like Salesforce Vibes and Agentforce.

For ISVs and founders, the question isn’t just “How fast can I build?”

It’s “What am I building on?”

If you had access to 20 years of platform investment, how would it change what you build?

Andrew Kisslo Christopher Mercer Lenore Lang Shakeeb 'Shak' Malik Shane Galligan Steve Hamrick Vala Afshar Muddu Sudhakar Gary Larter Bruce Richardson

📌 Many times, the hardest part of partnerships is not strategy - 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁. 💡

Cloud partnerships are not just about logos or listings in Marketplace.

They are about 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁.

In this clip from my conversation with Chandos Quill at Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent, she talks about what it really means to work differently with a partner like AWS.

Epsilon’s sellers have long standing relationships with Marketing and Line of Business leaders. AWS sellers often have strong ties into IT and procurement. When those motions connect, deals can move faster - especially through Marketplace.

But that connection does not happen automatically.

𝗜𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁. It requires enablement. It requires real customer win stories 🚀 that show sellers how co selling actually helps them close.

The opportunity is clear - when you combine Marketing influence with IT alignment, you create leverage that neither side has alone.

➡️ How are you helping your sellers embrace a new go to market motion with partners?

If a seller has to work too hard to validate you, 🚫 you’ve already lost 🚫

Co-sell doesn’t break down because of strategy. It breaks down because of execution.

In this clip, Erica Hakonson makes a simple but powerful point about working with Microsoft field teams.

When sellers don’t already know you, they have to do homework.

🚫 They have to dig.
🚫 They have to validate.
🚫 They have to reduce risk.

🚫 If your leads aren’t registered…
🚫 If your deals aren’t updated…
🚫 If your win stories aren’t documented…

You’ve just made their job harder.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿.

✅ The ones who have proof points queued up.
✅ The ones who show repeat wins.
✅ The ones who demonstrate credibility in the workload and industry.

As Erica puts it, you’re making it easy for a seller to say:

“This is a partner I can rely on.”

That reliability matters. Because no seller wants to introduce a partner and have that customer come back with a bad experience.

Co-sell success is rarely about being the loudest.
It’s about being the easiest to trust.

There’s a lot of upfront work involved. But the partners who consistently invest in organization, proof, and visibility see very different results.

Full episode link in comments.

Have you read it?

If you haven't, take 5 minutes and read it now. Then share it with friends and family.

So simply stated - and valuable. 

What's your reaction?  

Are you using and testing the limits of AI every day?

Thanks Matt Shumer. 

https://lnkd.in/gc3WhdXP

Vineet Anshuman Jagjit Dhaliwal (JD) R "Ray" Wang Asher Mathew Jay McBain Larry Walsh Dharmesh Shah Swami Sivasubramanian Sandy Gupta Brian Stavis Nima Badiey Sandy Carter

Execution > analysis.

Most AI tools tell you what happened.
Very few actually help you execute.

WingRep is inviting 25 serious B2B reps to shape what an AI sales teammate should actually look like - before, during, and after the call.

Not analysis.
Execution.

If you’re a B2B seller working complex deals inside Salesforce or HubSpot, and you record your calls, this could materially change your workflow.

Applications close Friday.

Comment 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 to apply.

Founder & CEO @ WingRep | The AI Teammate That Shows Up on Every Sales Call

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗥𝗲𝗽 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗽?

It’s not:
• A beta
• A free trial
• Another sales tool

It’s 25 serious B2B reps getting early access to the first AI sales teammate.

Not a dashboard.
Not summaries.
Not call scoring.

A teammate that:
• Preps you before the call
• Reinforces what matters during
• Executes follow-ups after
• Updates your CRM automatically
• Learns how 𝘺𝘰𝘶 sell

Most AI analyzes.

Very little executes.

We’re building the execution layer for revenue teams — and inviting 25 reps to shape it with us.

If you:
✔ Sell complex B2B deals
✔ Record your calls
✔ Use Salesforce or HubSpot
✔ Want less admin and better execution

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 → https://lnkd.in/gAUsEPjd

Applications close Friday.
Founding Reps onboard next week.

Comment 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 and I’ll DM you the link.

taplio

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Asher Mathew

Chip Rodgers

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The Battle

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Chip Rodgers

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