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Join me for a weekly drop covering all things PartnerOps, with a backlog from my days running 'Behind the SaaS.' Jump in, get connected, and let's push for higher standards! - Getting Started in Partner Operations - Career Growth and Future Direction: Pushing for More Opportunities - Facets of Partner Ops: RevOps, MarketingOps, Sales Ops, Enablement, and more! - Partner Ops as a driver of Partner Experience - Partner Tech! What's here, what's not, and where it's going - Partner Architecture ...
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So what happens if you upload your resume to NotebookLM as the single source? AI podcasts go deep on your experience and say 'Sauce' (SaaS)... They don't consider 'Atlassian' as a big name brand, hah They legitimately cover a lot of ground and value, and do a really compelling job of making me sound super interesting They discuss the SaaS industry …
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We did it! We launched the community! If you're in PartnerOps and looking for people, send a message over on LinkedIn and we'll get you added to the official PartnerOps Partner slack community thread. This episode is a brief update to cover the launch of the community, trends in the job market, and the recent launch and summary of Partner Foundatio…
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Life Happens: An Update and Gratitude from Aaron Howerton In this episode, I provide an update after a three-month hiatus, sharing personal and professional challenges that led to the break. Despite the pause, the podcast has surpassed a thousand downloads, which I credit to loyal listeners and the occasional new audience member that seems to conne…
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This week we take another stroll down PartnerOps lane and hear from Wendy Wen! Wendy got started in PartnerOps just over a year ago at Pigment and is now on the verge of hiring her first intern. Although new to PartnerOps, Wendy brings the kind of background that makes for a great leader in the space. Tune in to learn more about: A few of the place…
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This week, I'm taking a play from "Stuff You Should Know" and I'm going into the archives to pull back a 'classic' - CRM Foundations for Partnerships! UNLIKE my para-social friends Chuck and Josh, however, I'm calling it a 'rehash' because I'm not just cycling up the old content. I've pulled it out for an update and tied it a pretty big announcemen…
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This week we're circling back to PartnerOps and introducing everyone to Ashely Ortega on her podcast debut! Ashley recently received her THIRD promotion within Partner Operations at Klaviyo and was kind enough to join me to celebrate! We also discuss her trajectory from Channel Operations Analyst to her new role as Senior Manager, Partner Operation…
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Antonio is currently the Senior Director of Channel Programs at Megaport where he's been building and expanding the partner foot print for nearly 3 years. Before that, he cut his teeth at a global powerhouse called IBM (maybe you've heard of them?). Today, Antonio and I basically realize we need more time to go through a few more things. BUT... in …
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Last week (because #life after #SKO sickness has delayed everything), one of my favs joined me to share insight into her journey as a Partner Tech Founder and a few other things, such as: Who is "Bluey" really made for? An unreasonable amount of time discussing how long we've known each other Jessie's journey as a tech founder from initial launch t…
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This week it's early stage partnerships with Adam Pasch! Adam brings several years experience with early stage program development as well as a deep background in public sector partnership work. He was kind enough to jump over from our time on Literal Scratch and join me for a 1-1 where we covered: His background and 'qualifications' to level set t…
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This week we circle back to Tech Founders and I'm very excited to drag my friend and founder Rob Rebholz onto the podcast. In this episode: Rob describes Superglue and it's value in building bridges between Partners and AEs Discussion on the importance of integrating technology to assist sales and partner teams more effectively, focusing on real-ti…
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This week I'm thrilled to have my friend Mollie Bodensteiner join us to discuss the connection between PartnerOps and RevOps. We didn't cover everything I wanted to cover, but we did manage to chat about: The evolving definition and significance of Partner Ops roles. The evolution of operations at Deel, where we first ran into one another How Partn…
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Welcome to a new episode of Partner Ops Partner. This week, we're excited to feature Linkon Axon from Arys Consulting and a conversation around ISVs and Partner Ops. In this episode... The role of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) in the fintech sector. Managing partnerships in both hardware and software domains. The significance of Partner Opera…
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Kick back with a drink and get to know a fellow Ops professional! This week I'm very excited to introduce everyone to Kim Stagg, a relatively new friend that is now also acting co-founder for PartnerOps Partner as we forge into a new year! Kim has, count it, nearly 20 years in Channel, with the last several being dedicated to the Channel Ops functi…
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This week, a conversation with Kenny Browne! A few caveats about the episode before we dive in... We recorded a while back so this isn't a bonus episode - it actually convinced me to shift focus for this year and do more of this work. Stay tuned for the report mentioned - it should land any day on Partner Fleet's social media channels. The 'In-App'…
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Welcome to 2024 and a new agenda for PartnerOps Partner! This is, hopefully, one of the few if not the only episode of the season in which you have to listen to just me rambling for 10-12 minutes. In this episode: A new website for PartnerOps Partner - sign in required?! A new co-founder for PartnerOps Partner A new format for the PartnerOps Partne…
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Welcome.... to the season 2 finale episode. I'd love to say it's chock full of lots of goodies but the reality is that it's actually a double episode that's still only 12 minutes long. In this episode: Week 12 Summary: Wrapping up the 90 days PartnerOps Partner - Big things coming in 2024 (for me anyway) Did I find a partner in this endeavor? Wishe…
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I'm nearly two weeks late, but there's good reasons, and I talk about them in this episode. I also talk about: How my diagnosis has impacted my understanding of myself How ADHD has impacted my career to date Different coping mechanisms for achieve success anyway How success still didn't feel like success because #impostersyndrome The impact of fina…
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This week has been on hell of a long month. I'm late to publish, went too long, and am simply grateful that I get to take on such a vain project. This week: Stats: Crossing 1200+ downloads across two platforms The Twist: Mindset from IC to Influence and back The Twist: Unexpected results for this post on LinkedIn ADHD Diagnosis! For reals though...…
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Week 9 brings a birthday for my sister who will always and forever be older than me - thankful for small blessing, #amiright? Professionally, week 9 brings real control in my position over what's coming. In this episode I'm talk (i.e. ramble) about: Ownership v. Control Slowing down v. running fast Prioritizing relationships The tension between wha…
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Week 8 represents the first 60 days of the new role! In this episode: The difference in 30 and 60 day summaries The audience and purpose for this content What's included in the 60 day review? My internal battle with pointless content Content creation as a learning tool PartnerOps as a career - we need more direction! Events I'm working in Thanks an…
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Every record a podcast and then... forget to publish it? Welcome to Week 7: Influence, published one week late! Let's think of it like a bonus episode after a well-deserved week off? Everyone taking a new job has to take on the effort to rebuild their influence in a new organization. Building influence takes a variety of skills and is often the cri…
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This week is a pretty clear transition to fully owning my role and work effort. It's where the rubber meets the road for blending the narratives that already exist with the story I want to tell. This week: Recognizing historical cognitive bias Project ownership and influence Kicking off a Listening Tour The value of qualitative research Musings on …
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This week I get to be on-site for an off-site with my team and the rest of the Partnership organization at Samsara! The big challenge for me - distilling my 'vision' for Partner Experience into a 30 minute presentation for my team. What's the foundational assumption for building Partner Experience? Viewing the partner tech stack as a 'Product' The …
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This is week four of a multi-week series following my first 90 days in a new role dedicated to PartnerOps and Experience. Subscribe today to follow along and check out the historical episodes to get caught up! Four weeks already - next week I go onsite! But.. what about my 90 day plan? This week's focus: Small Wins. Literally taking a chapter from …
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Following last week's discussion around junior v. senior roles, this week is a focus on the transition from onboarding to ownership. In this episode: The end of structured onboarding content The big things left on my 'onboarding' plate How I maybe should be using 'The First 90 Days' as a resource The value of workflow! My Priorities for week 3 Grat…
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Week 2 is all about... doing the same thing in new directions. That's right - still building connections and leaning in this week just toward new learnings. Tune in to hear my ramblings on: My tendency to run fast Slowing down to build relationships Respecting what's already here The difference in junior v. senior ops roles The difference in rampin…
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This is it! The first week of the new role! I'm excited and a little anxious, but mostly excited because I really do enjoy change when it's time. This week I cover: The general outline of the next 3 months of episodes covering my first 90 days in a new role What I will and won't be talking about (hint: proprietary stuff is off the table!) Connectio…
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WHAAAAAAT?!?! Yes, that's right. After a brief 10 month stretch I've accepted a new role at a new company and I'm leaving Atlassian! "But Aaron..." , you scream into the darkness, "why would you leave Atlassian right now?! You're less than a year in, you're about to vest stock, the economic market is nuts, the benefits are great, and you keep talki…
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Last week I stumbled across a dream job in Partner Experience and quickly went about getting an interview. Within two days I got into a screener with the recruiter in spite of 900 applicants ahead of me. 15 minutes later I was out of the running. So.. what happened? What did I lack? Where do I go from here? More than that...what does it take to shi…
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This week I focus on understanding who the audience is for PartnerOps content. I'm still turning over the implications for how it impacts what I do professionally but also what it might mean for others and the continued evolution of the role. At the end of the day, we as PartnerOps professionals have to get deeper understandings of how our efforts …
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I recently turned down a job offer and recently learned the top range may be $30k higher than the offer I received - did I miss out on a $50k raise?! Probably not, but it got me thinking about the process and all the things I maybe did wrong that lead to my own decision to walk away from a leadership role with a team in a pre-PRM organization (yes.…
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This week, details on the inflection point I'm facing and where I'm going from here. Topics include: A summer break for weekly article generation The future of the podcast (hint: interviews!) Masterclass Service Offerings Community Stay tuned because the podcast isn't going anywhere and will hopefully get a little better. Got questions, feedback, o…
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You need an Account Mapping strategy. That means you need a vendor. This week - a guide to selecting that vendor! Gather the Stakeholders Readiness Check Validate the Strategy in Advance Vetting the Vendors Get the full guide online via LinkedIn or through my friends at PartnerHacker. Need help picking a vendor? Reach out at aaron@partneropspartner…
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This week - we explore the challenges faced by Partner Ops professionals and their reliance on CRM systems that aren't designed for their needs. Maybe it's time to drop the CRM? CRMs are't designed for Partnerships out of the box. Heavy customizations create highly sensitive and unique environments. Integrations continually add dead weight to CRM i…
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This week it's back to tactical advice on how to start managing Partner Experience! The topics are riveting and include whiz-bangers like: What to track about the tech stack Mapping the Stakeholder Journey Casting a Vision and Securing Buy-In Coordinating the Roadmap The Daily Grind Summary: Everyone is in Partnerships. Next week I'll be returning …
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In this episode, we (okay I) talk about who should "own" the concept of Partner Experience in a company. We'll (okay.. again... I) will cover: A summary of last week in case you missed it! How I used Descript and ChatGPT to help generate my content this week (hint - it wasn't perfect) The way several other roles are tied to Partner Experience and w…
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Partner Experience is more than a buzzword - it's a critical element of your Ecosystem planning. This week's podcast dives three main 'Why's for establishing a Vision for Partner Experience, discussing: Partners are customers Layered relationships create complexity Intentional effort and thought needed to manage complexity Partners are foundational…
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I love Partner Tech. After years in SaaS I feel like I'm finally found a 'niche' of the industry where I 'get' the point and 'see' the roadmap. This week in formerly Behind the SaaS, now PartnerOps Partner, thoughts on my Partner Tech Dream State. I rant about... PartnerOps as the foundation of truly great Partner Experience The state of PartnerOps…
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This week we clarify the purpose of Partner Ops - delivering strategic value. That's it - skip the episode if you want because that's what we talk about or listen in for a reminder of what you already want/believe. Upcoming Changes/Housekeeping I got a new mic! Audio quality is improved Defining Partner Ops as a Strategic Role Strategic Mindset = A…
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I'm back at it this week with a personal revelation after gettin gmy own project stood up with the help of ChatGPT after literally MONTHS of beating my head against a wall looking for help and thinking about it. Meet OSCAR: www.oscartech.co How does this story of AI generation impact Partner Experience? Listen in to find out! In this episode: The g…
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What up Partner People? Welcome to another episode and this time we run 13 minutes (yeah.. I know... I'm working on it....) all about Partner Influence. In this episode: Partner Influence is a murky topic without a lot of clarity on the long term value. None-the-less, people are asking to track it and we're going to talk about how to do it. As with…
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This week... my microphone failed and I had to use Airpods so #1 - my apologies and thank you for listening anyway! I think I'm about to have to buy some new gear so if you've been sitting on the sidelines waiting to jump in as a sponsor, let's talk! Now... for the show. We hear from the community to understand how shifting PartnerOps under RevOps …
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Account Mapping is a strategic play that comes with lots of incredibly powerful data. The real downside of Account Mapping is really the amount of potential it has because organizations are often under-staffed or under-prepared to utilize all of it at once! Tune in this week to hear: What is a 9-Box strategic plan? Prediction for how people will ha…
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This week on Behind the SaaS, building CRM for Partnerships. Hint: the ice machine is your architecture. Also in this episode: Big news in the partnership world for Reveal and Crossbeam as they announce new partnerships around content/community. Don't Skip the Ice Machine (or, my weekend date night observation) Elements of Partner Architecture Ques…
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Salesforce, like any other platform, is only going to be as good as you make it. That being said, in my continuous effort to drive Partner Operations value out of the tech you have, some ideas on how to make Salesforce Views work for Partnerships. In this episode... Acknowledging the software that works is the software people use Building views tha…
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Although this focuses on Salesforce, the concepts are the same for any CRM with comparable tools. Join me today for a quick discussion on: Why we need a partnership app Design principles for building a space Steps on setup Considerations for Home Page Custom Pages As always, this post is available in detail on LinkedIn and now, weekly at PartnerHac…
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Partner Recruitment is an often overlooked aspect of program development. It lives with program leads and ends up lost in spreadsheets and email. Odds are, even a startup has all the tools you need to build a basic partner recruitment model that creates more transparency and improves your partner experience. In this episode, practical guidance on h…
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Geez what a title.... but why not be specific? In this episode, the value of enhancing your Crossbeam (or really any) Salesforce widget with the power of Spekit, a just-in-time learning platform designed to bring enablement and education to where your teams work in real time. I put this tech together for the first time at 6sense and found it incred…
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Building trust with Partners, like with people, takes time. 2023 is going to be a hard year for many and the word of the year is going to be 'Retention.' Shift the narrative with your Partners and start measuring what you GIVE instead of what you GET. Tune in for ideas on: Leads MDF SPIFFs Training Account Mapping Renewals and Retention Reporting T…
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SaaS has a well established book of metrics as an industry that tend to revolve around a few key pillars of Revenue, Customer Behavior, and Marketing Costs. There's a lot to talk about within that space alone. If you've been listening then you know I tend to drill down toward Ecosystem. I'll come back to a primer on SaaS metrics soon, promise, but …
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