Josh Braun

Braun Training

Are you sending lots and lots of cold emails but getting little to no responses?

Wish you could start more conversations with skeptical prospects?  

Wish granted: https://courses.joshbraun.com/p/badass-b2b-growth-guide

Email me: josh@joshbraun.com

Founder

Inside Selling is a podcast about how to sell without selling your soul through the simple acts of caring, being curious and making people smile.  

Listen here - https://joshbraun.com/podcast-episodes/

Host of the Inside Selling Podcast

Basecamp

--Helped Basecamp be even more awesome in the areas of customer success, churn mitigation and growth. 
--Created life-cycle drip email campaigns to convert trials to customers.
--Conducted customer interviews using the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework to increase conversion rates.

Head Of Sales

Jellyvision

--Managed and coached a 7-person sales development team  
--Doubled the number of weekly meetings set by the SDR team in 60 days
--Created and implemented my sales playbook and strategy for the SDR role
--20% growth of net new appointments 11 out of 13 months

VP of Inside Sales

--$2 - $10m in 8 years
--Exceeded my $720,000 annual quota every year
--Prospected for new business using cold emailing, cold calling & “trigger” events & referrals
--Won Fortune 500 accounts including IBM, GEICO, Verizon, McDonald’s, Fidelity, Disney & Aetna
--Created and implemented my prospecting sales playbook for Account Executives
--New and existing client development
--Channel development
--Contract, SOW and business proposals

VP of Business Development

CompassLearning

--Led development of new product lines for K-12 software platform representing $40 million in annual sales
--Planning, staffing and leadership of the K-12 software development organization (60-person team)
--Managed relationships with key third party partners and offshore development centers
--Helped open Austin office and build out an amazing company culture

VP Product Development

ChildU

--$0-$6m ARR in 3 years
--Created and implemented a repeatable sales process
--Helped open the Weston office and build out an awesome company culture
--Acquired by CompassLearning

Head of Growth

Megahedz

--Created and marketed an after school and summer technology camp for kids
--232 students enrolled in 1 year
--90% renewal rate

Palm Beach County School District

--Elementary school teacher
--Teller of stories
--Infused technology into the classroom to engage students

Teacher

Nickelodeon

--Production Assistant on Clarrisa Explains It All
--Created "behind the scenes" video
--Went shopping
--Cut fruit
--Served fruit

Production Assistant

Be the mint scoop in a sea of vanilla sales messages so you can start more conversations with skeptical prospects.

I created the Badass Growth Guide to eliminate commission breath. It gives you the best possible chance of starting conversations with people you don't know. It's a radically honest approach where prospects feel safe telling you the truth because they don't feel "sold" or "manipulated."

💥WHAT YOU GET:
➡️ More conversations with your ideal prospects.

I post weekly content about sales on LinkedIn.  
👍Like the content? Follow me. 👍

❤️I DON'T KISS AND TELL, BUT MY CLIENTS DO ❤️
"In one year, Josh has helped my company grow from 10 enterprise customers to over
200 with brand names like Twitter, Viacom, and Brown University" - Claire Coder, CEO at Aunt Flow

"We’ve got about 40 new meetings out of the training you provided." - Chris Murray, CEO at Oomph Inc.

“I used the email template from your playbook and it worked. I got to the decision-maker in one email and ultimately got the sale.” - Richard P. Perrott, WatchTower

💥NEWSLETTER💥
Join my list to get tips on being a red ❌ is a sea of white circle sales messages. 
https://joshbraun.com/newsletter/

💥WORKSHOPS💥
I facilitate workshops on two things: (1) cold calling + defusing objections (2) cold emailing. Inquire here -joshbraun.com/connect

💥PRODUCTS💥
THE BADASS B2B GROWTH GUIDE
https://courses.joshbraun.com/p/badass-b2b-growth-guide

POKE THE BEAR COLD CALLING METHOD
https://courses.joshbraun.com/p/poke

The Discovery Call Course
https://courses.joshbraun.com/p/discovery

TONGUE TIED SALES OBJECTION FLASHCARDS
Know what to say when prospects put you on the spot.
https://gumroad.com/l/objectionflashcards

💥INSIDE SELLING PODCAST💥
Learn sales tactics and strategies that will help you sell without selling your soul. 
Listen here -https://joshbraun.com/podcast
Learn more at joshbraun.com

Are you sending lots and lots of cold emails but getting little to no responses?

Wish you could start more conversations with skeptical prospects?  

Wish granted: https://academy.joshbraun.com/p/badass-b2b-growth-guide

Email me: josh@joshbraun.com

This is by far my best-performing cold email subject line.

It also gets the most responses.

Via {Name}.

When I sold into HR, I didn’t start with people at the top.

I started with the ones doing the work.

During those conversations, I’d ask,
“Would it be okay if I mentioned your name when I reach out to {Scott}?”

If they said yes, I’d include their name in the subject line:

Via Kim.

And my first sentence was simple:
“Kim suggested I contact you regarding FSA participation.”

Doors at the top open more easily
when someone below has already welcomed you in.

Struggling to book meetings? Getting ghosted? Want to sell without pushing, convincing, or begging? Read this profile.

Don’t let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t say on a cold call.

There’s no “right” way.

Only your way.

There is no single path.
Only the one that fits your rhythm.

The one that rolls off your tongue with ease.
The one that feels like breathing, not acting.

The one that makes you sound like a person, not a playbook.

Find your way. 
Then refine it.

That’s when cold calls start to feel less like performing…
and more like connecting.

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”

– Andy Bernard, The Office

It’s the kind of line that sounds soft at first…
but hits like a freight train later.

Because we don’t recognize our strength
until stairs leave us winded.
We don’t notice our energy
until it’s gone by 2 p.m.
We don’t appreciate feeling good in our bodies
until they stop cooperating.

The good old days aren’t just high school or your twenties.
They might be today.
Right now.
This moment, where your joints still work
and your kids still ask to play.

We’re wired to take things for granted until they’re gone.
To wish we could go back, even though we never really noticed what we had.

So here’s a thought:
What if today is one of those days?

Not perfect.
Not dramatic.
But one you’ll miss.

What would you do differently
if you knew you were already in the good old days?

Marc Gaudett

Helping family offices in Canada provide their high net worth investors with preservation of their capital through a closed-end value added fund that seeks to identify and take advantage of opportunities to redevelop and improve on existing real estate assets while achieving strong risk-adjusted returns for investors.

Details:
Targeted net returns 12-18%

Disrupt Real Estate Investments Inc

Maropost

Partner Channel Advisor

Maropost is the leading provider of on-demand email, digital marketing, CRM and Ecommerce solutions. Our Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies provide organizations with integrated platforms to connect with customers via email, mobile, social, automation, display on Marketing Cloud and CRM, Ecommerce, Sales Automation, Sales Management on Sales Cloud.

-Helping to improve the deliverability of high volume email senders sending up to 1 billion emails a month
-ISP and compliance strategy provided to run a world-class email and multichannel marketing strategy
-Consultation provided to highly regulated industries and those requiring HIPAA and HITRUST Compliance
-Provide Guidance on set up, strategy, implementation and how to keep on top of the best practices that your competitors are using to increase engagement rates

Some of my achievements are
- Helped scale the company from 20-50M in Revenue
- Helped scale the team from 4 employees to 35+
- Consistently add the most net new revenue to the company each year helping Maropost keep its momentum as one of the fastest-growing companies in Canada
- In partnership with other departments helped design sales, marketing, pricing, and overarching go-to-market strategy
- Helped Develop referral and partner program and brought the first partners into the program
- owned and managed implementation of Hubspot and Salesforce implementations

Senior Enterprise Account Executive

eSSENTIAL Accessibility

eSSENTIAL Accessibility is a comprehensive digital accessibility-as-a-service platform. We help organizations create inclusive web, mobile, and product experiences through digital accessibility testing, evaluation, and remediation.


Some of my achievements are:
- Brought on the largest enterprise customer that contributed more net new and expansion revenue than any other company in 2022
-Led the organization in net new business sales while maintaining the highest quota in the organization
- In partnership with other departments helped design sales, marketing, pricing, and overarching go-to-market strategy
- Helped Develop referral and partner program and brought the first partners into the program contributing to an additional 15% in revenue
- Created outbound strategy that generated more qualified meetings from my SDR/BDR team than any other territory in the company

Strategic Enterprise Consultant at eSSENTIAL Accessibility WCAG, AODA, ADA, Sec. 504, Sec. 508

Gymnut

Gymnut, 'The iTunes of Fitness', empowers trainers, athletes, and brands to connect with fitness enthusiasts in innovating ways, making it the best place to find a personalized workout, nutrition, and training plans they need.

-Created new Vertical extending our offering into Studios and Gym Franchises expanding our offering into a multi-billion dollar industry.
-Created Short and Long Term Partnerships that set the stage for Gymnut to earn 7 figures in 12 months
-Delivered our First Enterprise client

Advisor

Salesforce

-Reached out to and engaged both cold and warm prospects in the SMB market to form long term relationships and generate sales
-Consistently helped my team surpass our monthly team revenue goals by more than 20%
-Leveraged skills developed as a top-performing BDR to consistently generate the most outbound activity and new business pipeline
-Consistently negotiated commercial contracts across multiple products with C-level Executives contributing to over 30% year over year business growth.
-Coached and mentored up and coming Account Executives

Account Executive

-Reached out to and engaged with cold prospects to prompt conversations about how salesforce.com could be leveraged to manage, grow and scale their business
-Sourced and created deal sizes of 25-300k in value
-Consistently exceeded monthly quotas (155% on avg.)
-Lead the Mid Market Sector in pipeline generation of over $4 Million in annual revenue 
-Broke the record for most pipeline generated amongst a mid-market AE
-Member of the interview committee to assist in hiring selection
-Audit Committee Member- Ensure compliance and data quality before submitting opportunities and deals for approval-including accuracy of dollar amount, timelines, Decision makers involved and close dates
-Team Lead and Mentor, involved in sharing of best practices, successful on boarding strategies, training sessions, and maximizing team productivity

Sr. Business Development Representative

Physique Factory

We are a fitness company. We work with people of all ages at improving and manage their own health so they can use the improvement in energy and focus to get the most out of themselves in each other area of their lives.

We Specialize in:
-Bootcamps and group training fitness classes
-Body Transformation Coaching
-Nutritional and Workout Program Design
-1 on 1 personal training

Owner

World Trade Group (WTG)

Responsible for growing two of the companies largest events, The American Manufacturing Summit and Global Pharmaceutical Summit.

-Consistently cold-called  C-Level Executives of Fortune 500 Companies regarding investing in sponsorship packages for World Trade Group Summits
- Performed market research to identify and target key niches contributing to the growth of The American Manufacturing Summit by approximately 50% from the previous year.

Project Director

Scholars At Your Service

In charge of recruitment, hiring, training, coaching and overall franchise operations (marketing, sales and production) for the Lawrence Park and High Park regions of Toronto.

Results
-Two 6 figure businesses produced over the course of the each summer
-Recruited, Hired and Trained over 20 employees
-Mentored and Assisted in Coaching 7 Other Franchisees


Skills Developed:
-Operations Management
-Personnel Management
-Project Management
-Marketing Management
-Stakeholder Management
-Sales Management
-Market Research Forecasting and Planning
-Brand Management/Marketing
-Business Planning
-Commercial Strategy
-Customer Service

Senior Franchise Owner

Sears Canada

Provided support to the various buying teams comprising the Craftsman and Electronics  and Leisure and Sports divisions

Marketing Business Associate

We've been helping B2B SaaS Founders grow profitable businesses over the past decade

Imagine your calendar filling up with sales appointments, hiring a salesperson or team, your revenue increasing, cash accumulating in your business checking account, getting your next round of funding, or seeing a clear exit from your business.

That’s what most DREAM about, yet cease to ever accomplish…

After working with and speaking with hundreds of Software Companies and Startups,

I’ve noticed a pattern of why most SaaS founders can’t scale in their early stages and I’ve distilled it down to three key forces:

Force #1: Generalism: Not solving a specific problem for a specific person or specific business

Without this specialization, the SaaS founder can't capitalize on one of the most powerful Economic forces - Desire. This results in generic marketing and NO demand generation. 

Force #2: Systems: No systems in place to generate consistently qualified meetings that turn into REAL pipeline.

The Founder needs to do all prospecting and sales with inconsistent results each month. 

Force #3: No Sales Operating Procedures - No predictable sales process or sales team in place.

Without a high-converting sales process, it's impossible to scale, let alone remove the Founder from the sales process. Most SaaS Founders haven’t developed the necessary sales skills, or the documentation needed to effectively remove themselves from the sales process.

Now if you are facing any of these forces, I have good news! These are completely avoidable and reversible if you just follow the right process.

At MarcGaudett.com, we are client-obsessed helping SaaS Founders succeed by filling these gaps. Our “North Star” is our clients. Helping them get their first 1M in revenue and then grow to 10M+ in ARR in the fastest, most predictable, and cost-efficient way possible. Our hygiene standard is to help our Founders go from 1-10M in ARR in their first 4 years without any paid advertising.

We’ve spent the last 10+ years dialing in a process that just works!

Some of Our Results
→ Created a 6 figure + business in less than 12 months from scratch
→ Generated Over 4.5M in pipeline in less than 12 months
→ Generated over 4M in sales in a single year and 10M+ in net new business revenue in less than 5 years

If you are a SaaS Founder and want to learn more you can book a time in my calendar (located in my featured section). Alternatively, you can join my weekly newsletter (The Saturday SaaS Founder) which highlights SaaS founders who are actively growing their ARR (see my featured section).

I put together a short framework called  “The Lovable Play.”

It breaks down how we’re building partnerships without waiting.

Lovable didn’t wait for Shopify’s blessing.
They just used the API, built something incredible, and the internet did the rest.

That’s the energy we’re bringing at Instantly.

We’re not waiting for permission.

We’re building integrations that redefine how growth happens, 

→ from AI + Automation (OpenAI, n8n)
→ to No-Code (Lovable)
→ to Multi-Channel Outreach (LinkedIn, Calling).

Each one isn’t just a feature, it’s a category-defining play.
A way for users to do in minutes what used to take entire teams.

And the best part?
We’re not talking about them in theory, we’re building them right now.

Drop a “⚡️” in the comments or DM me “Lovable” and I’ll send it over personally.

#Partnerships #Integrations #Ecosystem Instantly.ai Lovable n8n OpenAI #GTM

Leading the Partnerships Team at Instantly | Building $100M+ Partner-Sourced ARR+ Case Study

From “just another integration” → to $1.2M+ in partner-sourced pipeline.

The biggest unlock in partnerships isn’t adding more partners — it’s activating the right ones.

Here’s how we are turning one integration into a multi-million-dollar motion:

1. Co-built the playbook with the partner’s sales + marketing teams (not just a logo swap)
2. Embedded UTM + PartnerStack tracking across all touchpoints
3. Prepared/Run co-marketing that aligned messaging + audiences
4. Built automation triggers so both products can grow together

Where we’re headed:
🚀 A scalable framework designed to drive 200+ qualified opportunities
📈 A predictable partner-sourced pipeline modeled to cross seven figures
⚙️ A repeatable system any integration partner can plug into


World-class partnerships aren’t about speed — they’re about systems that scale.

We’re onboarding 10 more SaaS partners this month for our “Build with Instantly” integration flywheel.

Comment “PARTNER” and I’ll send you the form to fill out.

Ben Tschirgi Krushna Patel Looking forward to building partnerships like this with you both!

 Instantly.ai

Loved Hans Dekker’s post breaking down the lean, AI-first GTM stack.

Couldn’t agree more — the same thing is happening in partnerships.

Everyone thinks partner growth has gotten more complicated…
New platforms, new tiers, new dashboards.

But here’s the truth:
AI and modern tooling haven’t made partnerships harder,
they’ve made them 100x easier to scale.

You just need to know how to connect the right pieces

AI-Powered Partner Outreach

Instantly.ai → write and send outreach to potential partners, automate follow-ups, and even let AI reply for you (I still like to add a human in the loop, but way easier to get in front of the right people). Best-in-class deliverability, waterfall enrichment, and done-for-you infrastructure.

Partner Discovery & List Building

Instantly.ai (again) → build prospect lists from intent signals, enrich with every LLM available, and map which companies fit your ideal partner profile.

Freckle.io → pull from your CRM + enrichment to identify customers ready to become partners.

Custom scrapers → “vibe coding” is real — semi-technical teams can build these to surface niche partner categories.

Partner Signals

Trigify.io → social listening that shows you when your ideal partners launch, fundraise, or go to market, perfect for timing your outreach.

Partner Enablement Layer

Fathom.ai →record partner calls, sync action items to Slack/CRM, and auto-generate co-marketing proposals from transcripts.
Claude → connect to your tools, draft partnership decks, and write aligned copy in seconds.

Partner CRM

Zero Inc → AI-first CRM that automates data entry, tracks co-selling motions, and even finds “similar companies” to your best-performing partners. Santtu Koivumäki and Tuomo Riekki are pretty cool to :)

The modern partnership stack isn’t complicated.
It’s actually simpler than ever — when you know which tools are worth your time.

Everyone loves the word partnerships.
Few talk about how hard they actually are.

We’re building ours from the ground up — no playbook, no perfect attribution, just a lot of moving parts and even more communication.

Every partner has their own roadmap, priorities, and internal politics.
We do too.
It’s not a linear process — it’s a relationship.

That means constant check-ins, clarifying what success looks like, and asking the uncomfortable question:
What happens if we don’t hit those goals?

Here’s how we’re trying to bring order to the chaos 👇

Daily (1-Day Horizon)
Micro-alignment. Slack messages, shared dashboards/docs, quick feedback loops.
If something breaks or stalls, we fix it in real time — those small questions that only surface while doing the work.
(“Why isn’t this integration syncing as expected?” “Who owns this workflow on your end?”)

Weekly (1-Week Horizon)
We track what actually moved the needle — not vanity metrics, but conversations started, integrations tested, campaigns shipped.
It’s about staying connected while we build the muscle for consistency.

Monthly (1-Month Horizon)
We step back and ask: are our joint efforts leading to more users, better adoption, and stronger retention?
If not, we recalibrate — no blame, just learning.

Six Months from Now
We’re aiming for an ecosystem where attribution, co-marketing, and platform partnerships all feed one another.
A flywheel — not a patchwork.
(And right now, if we’re being honest, a lot of it still feels like patchwork.)

It’s a grind — but it’s also the part I love most.
Each partnership motion builds the muscle for the next one.

Because when you get it right, both sides win — and the growth compounds quietly in the background while everyone else is chasing the next big campaign.

Partnerships aren’t plug-and-play.
They’re built — like trust. One interaction at a time.

#GTM #Partnerships #SaaS #Integrations #Growth #Leadership

Aleksandar Besarovic Karthik Anand Santtu Koivumäki Tuomo Riekki

…STORYTIME…

When I started in partnerships, most people still treated it like glorified sales.

Get a referral link.
Send a few co-marketing emails.
Call it a day.

But that’s not what partnerships are.

Partnerships are leverage.

They’re the compounding effect that happens when you connect the right people, systems, and incentives-and let momentum do the rest.

A few years ago, I was building GTM systems inside SaaS companies where partnerships were an afterthought.
Everyone chased ads, outbound, “more SDRs.”
Meanwhile, the smartest founders were building distribution ecosystems.

That hit me like a brick.
Why fight for attention when you can engineer collaboration?

So I started documenting everything I was doing:
→ How we onboarded partners and customers
→ What incentives worked
→ What led to more customers faster
→ What specific actions worked and which ones were vanity metrics

I shared the journey with others joining the organization wins, mistakes, lessons.

That transparency started attracting the right people.

Other partnership leaders, the right customers, the right partners
People who wanted to build together.

That’s how I got invited into 6- and 7-figure partnership deals, not from cold outreach, but because people saw the work in public and wanted in.

Today, I lead partnerships at one of the fastest-growing GTM platforms in the world-

and I still build in public.

Because this isn’t just marketing.
It’s momentum.

Partnerships are the ultimate “build in public” model.
They force you to be transparent, consistent, and collaborative,
and the universe tends to reward that kind of alignment.

Don’t wait until it’s perfect to share.
The act of documenting attracts opportunity.

Stay tuned for part 2…
(How we scaled our partner-sourced ARR without hiring more reps.)

Instantly.ai

P.S. This photo’s from a while back, but the lesson hasn’t aged a day. Partnerships still compound faster than anything else I’ve seen.

Most companies treat “Partnerships” as a support function.

At Instantly, we flipped that model completely.

We’re building it like a product inside the company —
with systems, roadmaps, and releases.

Here’s what that looks like in practice 👇

The Affiliate Engine
We are rebuilding the onboarding, activation flows, and tracking from scratch.
It’s now a revenue-generating machine — not a referral link graveyard.
Each affiliate has data, assets, and automation that makes them scale like a micro-marketer and we want to support that.

The Agency VIP Program
We don't just want to selling to agencies we want to scaling with them.
Instead of MRR goals, agencies now get growth tiers tied to ARR impact.
The ones winning with us are expanding faster than our sales team can keep up.

The Integration Ladder
Every partner has a path they can follow:
Build With → Send With → Powered By.
Each step compounds reach, retention, and revenue.
When HighLevel goes live in two weeks — you’ll see this ladder in action.

The Partner Marketplace (coming soon)
This isn’t just a page with logos.
It’s the next evolution of Instantly’s ecosystem — where partners can plug in, co-market, and grow their own ARR alongside ours.

We’re designing Partnerships like a GTM Operating System.
Each motion builds on the next.
Each partner adds to the distribution flywheel.

This is how we’re turning relationships into predictable ARR.
And we’re just getting started.

#Partnerships #GTM #AffiliateMarketing #Integrations #SaaS #Growth

Karthik Anand Siddharth Chakraborty Varun Vairavan

GTM Architect | Partnerships & Affiliate Revenue Specialist | Building $100M+ Partner-Sourced ARR+

I built something for myself, and now I use it every day.

It’s not an AI agent.
It’s a mindset agent.

It kills overthinking before it kills momentum.

Here’s how it works 
→ Feel stuck? Move.
→ Feel uncertain? Ship.
→ Feel afraid to post? Post anyway.

Because the biggest killer of world-class execution isn’t failure, it’s hesitation.

This week I’m doubling down on content, action, and motion.
No perfect drafts. No overthinking. Just forward.

If you’re ready to build with that same energy, follow along.
That’s the game now.

Instantly.ai

Deliverability isn’t just an email problem — it’s a partnership problem.

Because the way your message lands determines whether your relationships — and your revenue — grow.

When I worked at an ESP, everyone asked for “better deliverability.”
But few understood what that really meant.

It wasn’t about avoiding spam words.
It was about whether the relationship between sender and receiver was strong enough for trust to form.

That’s the same truth behind every great partnership.

At Instantly, I see it every day — a co-marketing campaign can have the perfect copy, the best offer, and still fail if the infrastructure, tracking, or alignment between partners isn’t there.

Deliverability is infrastructure.
If your systems, data, and trust signals aren’t clean — your message never lands, no matter how good your words are.

And that’s the hidden cost of most partnerships:
They fail not because of bad intent — but because of bad setup.

The same rules apply to both worlds:
	•	Predictability kills trust.
	•	Misalignment kills momentum.
	•	Lack of infrastructure kills scale.

In the rest of 2025, the partners who win won’t just send more messages — they’ll build systems that make those messages land.

That means:
-Clean data pipelines
-Verified domains
-Shared dashboards for attribution
-Co-marketing QA before and after launch

Because when you treat deliverability like a relationship — not a tactic — your messages, your partners, and your revenue all start compounding.

If you’re building SaaS, scaling affiliate channels, or managing co-marketing campaigns — start auditing deliverability like you audit pipeline.

It’s not just about inboxes.
It’s about impact.

PS: This post was inspired by a great take from my colleague Aaron. Reid Reid, who shared how modern spam filters don’t just flag words — they flag patterns. The same is true for partnerships. Predictability kills trust.

#Deliverability #Partnerships #GTM #EmailInfrastructure # Instantly.ai

Deliverability Is a Partnership Problem

Why 90% of Partner Programs Fail (And How We’re Fixing It)

Most partnerships fail not because the technology sucks, but because no one treats them like a channel.

Here’s the ugly truth:

A recent analysis of partner programs by Growann shows too many track only deals closed, they ignore full pipeline, velocity, and retention metrics. 

At Instantly.ai we flipped the script.

Here’s our 4-step program for scaling integrations and partnerships into real growth engines:

1. Score the partner like a marketing channel.
Impact, Confidence, Ease — these aren’t just words, they’re filters.

2.  Build the stack before the handshake.
Integration + Tracking (PartnerStack/UTM) + Co-marketing = activation.

3. Measure everything you can from day one. Partner-sourced pipeline value, win rate, velocity, deal size,  the full set. 

4. Repeat what works and automate the rest.

One integration turns into a motion you roll out across 5, 10, 20 partners.

If you’re leading the partnerships or GTM channel at a SaaS or data company, this isn’t optional, it’s your growth moat.

Want the Partner Engine Blueprint 2026 Edition (template + metrics + launch checklist)?

Comment “BLUEPRINT”, and I’ll DM it to you.

Instantly.ai

You can’t scale if you never simplify.

For me, “simplify” didn’t mean doing less.
It meant cutting everything that didn’t create leverage.

I stopped chasing shiny tactics (this isnt't always easy).
Stopped saying yes to every “growth idea .” (again not always easy)
And started focusing on one thing: partnerships that compound.

Once I made that shift, everything changed.

→ Deals started coming through people, not to me.
→ Revenue became predictable.
→ Work started to feel light again-not because it was easy, but because it was aligned.

Here’s what changed in the last 45 days:
• Built a repeatable GTM playbook that drives partner-sourced ARR every week.
• Launched new integrations that open entire ecosystems overnight.
• Turned cold relationships into warm introductions.

This is what freedom looks like to me now:
Systems that scale while I live my life.

You don’t need 100 tactics.
You need one system that compounds.

If you’re building partnerships or want to design a GTM engine that scales without burnout — follow along.

I’m documenting the real playbook as I build it and share your journey with me as you grow.

I used to think “more partners=more revenue.”
Now I know it’s “fewer partners, but ones who actually move.”

A month ago, I was sitting in back-to-back partnership calls.
Every conversation sounded the same.

→ “We’re super interested.”
→ “Let’s circle back next quarter.”
→ “We love what you’re doing.”

Thirty “yeses" on paper.
Zero movement in reality.

It hit me during one of those late nights, laptop glowing at 1 AM, Slack blowing up — that I was mistaking interest for intent.

Everyone says they want to grow with you.
But few are willing to move when it’s inconvenient, when it’s not on their roadmap, or when their team is “waiting for sign-off.”

So I flipped the strategy.
I stopped chasing volume.
And started betting on velocity.

Now I look for three things:
1. Partners who prioritize — they message first.
2. Partners who act — they ship before we even follow up.
3. Partners who align — they see the same Q4 we do.

Last week, I said no to five new logos that would’ve looked amazing on a slide deck.
And yes to one partner who launched in 48 hours.

Guess which one drove revenue by Friday?


Momentum doesn’t come from having 30 partners in your CRM.
It comes from 3 who actually build with you.
Partnerships aren’t about popularity. They’re about proximity to action.

If you’re done chasing “someday” partners, and ready to go all in with the ones who move, DM me.
We’re building big this quarter (and every quarter thereafter) but only with people who treat it like their top priority too.

Better yet fill out this form to get on our radar: https://lnkd.in/dwxxPwzi

Instantly.ai

Open article: General Partner Intake Form (Step 1) by 1al11eb0evx.typeform.com

The 4 Levers That Turn Partnerships Into Predictable ARR

Everyone wants more partners.
Few know how to design a system that turns partners into predictable revenue.

Here’s the exact framework we’re using at Instantly to do just that 👇

1. Activation and Acquisition go Hand in Hand

We still bring in new partners every week — but the real unlock has been activating them faster once they’re in.

→ Partners are now hitting their first commissions sooner and staying engaged longer.

The shift wasn’t more signups.
It was building better activation flows— clear milestones, better resources, and systems that guide partners from registration → revenue (we are still making this better)

2. Incentives Tied to ARR, Not Vanity

Clicks and signups don’t pay bills.
So we are agressively working towards tied every tier, payout, and reward to ARR impact.

If a partner drives real revenue, we want to reward that with instantly.
It turns the leaderboard into a growth engine.

3. Integration Ladder: Build With → Send With → Powered By

Each step compounds distribution:

Build With → simple integration, joint audience.
Send With → product embed that drives shared usage.
Powered By → infrastructure-level partnership that scales ARR together.

This is how we’ll roll out the GoHighLevel launch and eventually our marketplace in two weeks.

Each layer builds distribution for both sides.

4. Co-Marketing Flywheel Vision

Every launch triggers amplification across 3 channels:
→ Partner’s audience
→ Our 40K+ customer base
→ Affiliates & agencies resharing content

One partnership = weeks of distribution.
That’s how compounding works.

Partnerships don’t grow simply by adding more.
They grow by designing better systems.

If you’re building a partner motion — start with these four levers.
They compound. Every time.

What else?

#Partnerships #GTM #SaaS #AffiliateMarketing #Integrations #Growth

Partnership success = Pipeline diversity.
Here’s the 3-layer system that keeps ours moving even when one motion stalls

In Q4, timing is everything.
One partner might be deep in co-marketing, another might be mid-integration, and a third might just be launching.

When you’re managing 20+ initiatives across affiliates, integrations, and agencies — not everything lands at once.
That’s why I structure the partnership pipeline like a portfolio:
each motion serves a purpose, and together they create stability and scale.

Here’s how I build it:

Short-term wins → Affiliate & referral partners.
They bring fast ARR and immediate distribution.
Low lift, quick velocity.
 
Mid-term bets → Integration partners.
They compound over time as usage grows.
These deepen retention and expand reach.

Long-term plays → Strategic brand alliances.
Co-marketing, shared data, joint offers — the kind of moves that redefine categories.

When one motion slows, another takes the wheel. 

It’s similar to sales — you’ve got your big deals (longer-term opportunities in the pipeline), your mid-sized ones, and your consistent, fast-moving wins.
The mix keeps momentum constant and revenue predictable.

That’s how you stay consistent even when everyone else is waiting for the “perfect timing.”

A great partner portfolio works like an investment fund: diversify early, double down on what compounds.

Don’t let one delayed integration stall your quarter.

Want a Partner Pipeline Tracker that follows this system?

Comment PIPELINE and I’ll DM it over this week

Instantly.ai

Partnerships used to be an afterthought.
Now they’re the growth engine behind every breakout SaaS story.

The companies winning today aren’t just selling products —
they’re building ecosystems.

Every integration expands distribution.
Every affiliate amplifies reach.
Every co-marketing campaign compounds trust.

That’s the real flywheel.

The smartest teams I know have realized something simple but game-changing:
You don’t scale through more spend — you scale through alignment.

When product, marketing, and partnerships move in sync,
revenue stops growing in lines —
and starts growing in layers.

Q4 of 2025 isn’t just another quarter for “growth.”
It’s the quarter companies double down on partnership leverage —
the multiplier that turns collaboration into compounding.

If you’re ready to see how world-class teams are doing it,

I’ve documented the exact framework DM me 

Instantly.ai

Aleksandar Besarovic Karthik Anand

We’re turning partnerships into a revenue engine, not a side channel.

Most companies still treat partnerships as “nice to have.”
We’re building it like a profit center.

Because the truth is…
There are thousands of agencies, CRMs, consultants, and SaaS platforms that already have the trust we spend months trying to earn with ads, webinars, and SEO.

They’re sitting on the exact audiences we want, and they’re one deal away from becoming a growth engine.

That’s why I’m going all-in on partnerships as a core GTM lever.
Affiliate. Integration. Referral. Co-marketing.
Different entry points — same outcome:

→ Shorter sales cycles
→ Higher win rates
→ Lower CAC
→ Compounding distribution

The goal isn’t to build “a program.”
It’s to build an ecosystem, one where every partner win becomes a shared win.

2026 is the year partnerships stop being a cost center and start being a profit engine.

CTA:
If you’re building partner-sourced revenue or want to plug your brand into our ecosystem, DM me, we’re opening up new partner slots this quarter.

The Other Sales Team

Every week, I meet founders asking how to scale outbound.
But almost none ask how to scale distribution.

Here’s what I mean:

→ A great salesperson can close deals.
→ A great partner system brings deals before sales gets involved.

This quarter alone, here’s what our partner motion unlocked:

– New affiliate partners driving net-new pipeline
– Integration partners bringing leads from their own user base
– Agency VIPs closing deals we never touched
– All tracked through PartnerStack + UTM attribution

And the crazy part?

No discounting.
No extra hires.
Just high-fit partners, activated the right way.

Here’s what makes it work 👇

1. Solid positioning: partners know exactly who we help
2. Fast onboarding: every partner gets what they need on Day 1
3. Clear incentives: rev-share tiers, co-marketing, early access
4. Attribution system: every signup, tracked to source

We treat partners like an extension of the GTM team.
Because that’s what they are.

Instantly.ai

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