Building ecosystems takes expertise you may not have in-house.
You know ecosystems matter. But hiring, training, and managing a world-class partnerships team takes years and millions of dollars. By the time you're ready, competitors have already built their partner moats. We provide senior alliance and channel expertise on demand - you control strategy, we execute daily operations.
Talk to our ecosystem team →The Build-or-Buy Decision You're Facing
Option A: Build an internal team
Hire a VP of Partnerships ($200K+), partner managers ($120K+ each), partner ops ($90K+), enablement specialists. Wait 6-12 months to recruit them. Another 6 months for them to ramp up.
Hope you hired the right people. Risk them leaving and starting over.
Option B: Use your existing team
Your sales ops person “owns” partnerships now. They’re doing their best, but they’ve never built an ecosystem before. Progress is slow. Partners are confused. Your team is stretched thin.
You’re not really building an ecosystem - you’re improvising.
Option C: Get experienced ecosystem operators
They start immediately. They bring proven playbooks. They handle recruitment, onboarding, enablement, relationship management, performance optimization.
You get ecosystem outcomes without the hiring risk or ramp-up time.
Why Building Internal Ecosystem Teams Is So Hard
Many companies with excellent products have mediocre ecosystems. Building the team is harder than building the strategy.
The learning curve is brutal. Even if you hire experienced people, they need 3-6 months to understand your business, products, market, and partners. Then they need to design the program, build the plays, recruit partners. You’re 12+ months in before you see results.
You need multiple specializations. Partner operations (process and systems). Partner enablement (training and certification). Partner marketing (co-marketing and demand gen). Partner sales (co-selling and deal support). Strategic alliances (executive relationships). That’s 3-5 different skill sets. Hard to find in one person, expensive to hire multiple.
The talent doesn’t exist locally. Great partnership professionals are rare. They’re already employed at companies with strong partner programs. They’re not actively looking. When they do look, they have multiple offers. You’re competing with companies who already have established ecosystems and can pay top dollar.
The talent doesn’t exist locally. Great partnership professionals are rare. They’re already employed at companies with strong partner programs. They’re not actively looking. When they do look, they have multiple offers. You’re competing with companies who already have established - ecosystems and can pay top dollar.
You don’t know what good looks like. If you’ve never built an ecosystem before, how do you evaluate candidates? How do you know if they’re doing it right? What’s normal ramp time vs. underperformance? You’re managing work you don’t understand.
The risk of getting it wrong is high. Hire the wrong VP? You’ve wasted 6-12 months and $250K+ before you realize it’s not working. Start over, damage already done. Partners were onboarded poorly. Plays don’t work. Your team is demoralized.
Most companies underestimate what it takes to build and run a high-performing ecosystem team.
While You're Hiring, Your Competitors Are Scaling
The opportunity cost of waiting 12-18 months to build an internal team is measurable: deals lost, partners gone to competitors, strategic position weakened.
Your competitors are recruiting your ideal partners. While you’re writing job descriptions and interviewing candidates, they’re signing your target partners to exclusivity agreements. The best implementation partners in your vertical? Already committed. The influential technology partners? Building integrations with your competitors.
Market windows close. Your industry is consolidating. Buyers are forming preferences. Ecosystems are hardening into networks that create switching costs. Every quarter you delay is a quarter you can’t get back. First-mover advantages in ecosystems compound.
Your internal teams are improvising, not executing. Without dedicated expertise, partnerships are handled reactively: random partner requests, one-off deals, custom agreements. No repeatable plays. No scalable processes. You’re wasting opportunities and burning partner goodwill with poor experiences.
Leadership loses patience. You pitch the ecosystem vision. Get budget approved. Six months later: No results to show. “We’re still hiring.” “Team is ramping.” “Partners are in onboarding.” Eventually leadership questions the investment. Budget gets cut before ecosystem has a chance to prove itself.
The cost of building internal teams isn't just money - it's time. And in ecosystems, time is strategic position.
Senior Ecosystem Expertise, On Demand
Start immediately, not in 12 months.
We bring experienced alliance and channel veterans who've built ecosystems before. They start week one. No recruiting. No interviewing. No onboarding delays. We hit the ground running.
Get multiple specializations without multiple hires.
Our team includes: ecosystem strategists, partner operations specialists, enablement experts, co-sell coaches, alliance managers. You get the full skill set without hiring 5+ people at $500K+ in fully-loaded costs.
Proven playbooks from day one.
We don't figure it out as we go. We bring frameworks, templates, and plays that have worked in dozens of ecosystems. Partner onboarding? We have the checklist. Co-selling? We have the playbook. Joint business planning? We have the template. You get best practices immediately.
Scale up or down based on needs.
Launching ecosystem? We're hands-on daily. Ecosystem mature? We shift to advisory. Market changes? We adjust quickly. No layoffs, no restructuring, no HR headaches. Flex the engagement as your needs evolve.
You stay in control.
This isn't outsourcing where you lose visibility. You set strategy. You own key partner relationships. You make final decisions. We execute daily operations, report progress, recommend adjustments. Think of us as an extension of your team, not a vendor.
What We Handle For You
We provide comprehensive managed ecosystem services tailored to your stage and needs:
| Phase | Timeline | Key Services | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem Foundation | Months 1-6 | Partner Recruitment (archetype identification, outreach, qualification) Partner Onboarding (90-day activation, training, certification) Program Setup (deal registration, portal, playbooks) | Functioning ecosystem with first partners activated and revenue flowing |
| Ecosystem Operations | Ongoing | Relationship Management (check-ins, escalation, QBRs) Enablement (training, certification, resources) Co-Selling Support (opportunity matching, deal coaching) Performance Optimization (metrics, play refinement) | Day-to-day operations running smoothly without burdening your internal team |
| Ecosystem Growth | Months 6+ | Strategic Expansion (new archetypes, geographic/vertical expansion) Advanced Programs (co-innovation, joint GTM, ecosystem events) | Scaling ecosystem that drives compounding value and competitive advantage |
You Get
- Dedicated team working on your ecosystem
- Weekly progress updates and metrics
- Monthly strategy sessions
- Quarterly business reviews
- On-demand access to our team
You Control
- Overall ecosystem strategy
- Key partner relationships
- Budget and investment decisions
- Program priorities and timing
Alliance and Channel Veterans, Not Consultants
Our team has built and operated ecosystems at:
- B2B SaaS platforms (scaling partner programs from 0 to 100+ active partners)
- Enterprise software vendors (activating global partner networks)
- Technology companies (building channel programs in competitive markets)
- Industrial and infrastructure firms (partner ecosystems in regulated industries)
What we bring:
- 15-25 years average experience in alliances, channels, and ecosystem roles
- Operator mindset: We’ve carried quotas, managed partners, closed deals, resolved conflicts
- Industry expertise: Technology, SaaS, industrial, financial services, healthcare
- Proven playbooks: Not theoretical frameworks - processes we’ve run before
- Scar tissue: We’ve seen what fails and know how to avoid it
You’re not getting junior consultants learning on your dime. You’re getting senior practitioners who’ve done this work for decades.
What You Experience
You skip the 12-month hiring and ramp process.
We start immediately. First partners recruited within 30 days. First deals in pipeline within 90 days. Functioning ecosystem within 6 months. You're 12-18 months ahead of where you'd be building internal team from scratch.
You don't have to become an ecosystem expert yourself.
We bring the expertise. You leverage it. You don't need to learn partner operations, enablement methods, co-selling techniques. We handle execution; you focus on your core business.
Partners get a professional experience from day one.
Structured onboarding. Clear communication. Responsive support. Training and resources when they need them. Your ecosystem runs like an established program, not a startup experiment.
You get predictable results without hiring risk.
No worrying if you hired the right people. No managing underperformers. No backfilling departures. We deliver outcomes per our agreement. If something's not working, we adjust or bring in different expertise.
Your internal team isn't stretched thin.
Sales focuses on selling. Marketing focuses on marketing. Product focuses on product. They collaborate with partners when needed, but they're not responsible for running the ecosystem day-to-day.
You scale partnerships without scaling overhead.
As ecosystem grows, we adjust resources accordingly. You don't have to do headcount planning, hiring, or org design. We handle the people challenge so you focus on business outcomes.
You have a strategic partner who's invested in your success.
We're not order-takers. We provide strategic guidance, identify opportunities, recommend improvements. We're compensated based on ecosystem outcomes, not hours billed. Your success is our success.
How We Work Together
We offer flexible engagement models based on your stage and needs:
| Engagement Model | Description | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Launch (6-12 months) | Building ecosystem from scratch or major reboot. Full-time equivalent team dedicated to your ecosystem. Heavy involvement in strategy, recruitment, setup, and initial operations. | $15-25K/month depending on scope |
| Operate (12+ months) | Running established ecosystem day-to-day. Ongoing partner management, enablement, operations. Strategic support and quarterly planning. | $10-18K/month based on ecosystem size |
| Advisory (Flexible) | Strategic guidance and specialized support for teams with internal resources. Monthly advisory sessions, play development, escalation support. | $5-8K/month |
All engagements include:
- Dedicated team assignments
- Weekly/monthly reporting
- Regular strategy sessions
- Access to our playbooks and tools
(Specific pricing and scope finalized based on your ecosystem size, complexity, and goals)
This is how modern companies build ecosystems fast.
Experienced operators who start immediately, execute with proven playbooks, and deliver results without the hiring risk.