Career Span: 20+
Agency Coverage: Big Six
Regions: 3
Team Size: 18+
Enterprise Partnerships

Architecting a Global Partnership Ecosystem

How a 20-year career across Dentsu, Braze, and all six major holding companies created a repeatable playbook for building global partner-sourced revenue at scale.

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Years | Career Span
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Holding Companies | All Big Six
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Regions | AMER, EMEA, APJ
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Team Members | 3 Directors + Reports

The Career Arc

Dentsu (Carat ANZ) -- CEO & Chief Customer Officer

Led Dentsu's flagship media agency managing relationships with Disney, Microsoft, and L'Oréal across 4 organisations with institutional scale.

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  • Managed relationships across all six major holding companies: WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, Dentsu, IPG, and Havas
  • Built executive-level partnerships with CMOs, CDOs, and procurement leaders
  • Established foundation for understanding enterprise partnership architecture at global scale
  • Pre-IPO through scaling experience

Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE) -- Global AVP, Commercial Partnerships

Architected the global partnership ecosystem strategy from pre-IPO through post-IPO Rule of 40 growth.

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  • Led 3 Regional Directors across AMER, EMEA, and APJ
  • Each director managed 6+ direct reports = 18+ person global team
  • Partner ecosystem recognised by Gartner Magic Quadrant as key competitive differentiator
  • Partner ecosystem recognised by Forrester Wave recognition
  • Scaled partner-sourced revenue from foundation through institutional maturity
  • Built attribution models linking partner influence to closed revenue

Partnerships.community -- Founder

Distilled 20 years of partnership-building into a composable consultancy model.

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  • Fee-at-risk managed services -- 0 upfront cost to client, outcomes-based pricing
  • AWS marketplace integration for channel expansion
  • On-demand expert advisory for SaaS companies at any stage
  • Packaging enterprise partnership expertise for scaling companies

The Methodology

Four core frameworks adapted and refined across two decades of enterprise partnership scaling:

MEDDPICC Framework

Enterprise sales methodology adapted for partnership qualification and pipeline generation.

MEDDPICC certified →
  • Metrics -- Partner sizing and revenue potential
  • Economic Buyer -- C-suite executive alignment
  • Decision Criteria -- Partner success metrics and KPIs
  • Decision Process -- Multi-stakeholder approval frameworks
  • Pain -- Partner business challenges we solve
  • Implicit Process -- Buying committee structure
  • Champion -- Advocate within partner org

Ecosystem Architecture

Designed tiered partner programs that mapped partner capabilities to customer journey stages.

4-tier structure →
  • Strategic -- Executive co-investment, revenue share
  • Core -- Certified partners, co-marketing, deal support
  • Preferred -- Integration and enablement focus
  • Community -- Self-service app marketplace

Revenue Attribution

Built co-selling motions with clear attribution models linking partner influence to closed revenue.

Attribution model →
  • First-touch attribution -- Partner sourced the opportunity
  • Multi-touch attribution -- Partner influenced across buying journey
  • Deal influence scoring -- Quantifies partner contribution
  • Outcome-based compensation -- Partner commissions tied to revenue realisation

Executive Alignment

Maintained C-suite relationships across the Big Six holding companies for strategic co-investment.

Holding company coverage →
  • WPP -- GroupM, Mindshare, Wavemaker relationships
  • Publicis -- Publicis Media, Sapient partnerships
  • Omnicom -- OMD, PHD, Goodby partnerships
  • Dentsu -- Carat, isobar institutional relationships
  • IPG -- Mediabrands, FCB, Draftfcb partnerships
  • Havas -- Havas Media, Havas Lynx relationships

Methodology Strength Model

MEDDPICC Execution Attribution Ecosystem Alignment Architecture

The Go-Forward Model

Partnerships.community now packages this expertise into outcome-driven services:

Service Areas

Service Tiers

Partnership Audit

Diagnostic review of existing partner ecosystem health and coverage gaps. Executive summary with recommendations for program architecture and tier structure optimisation.

Model: Project-based
Timeline: 4-6 weeks
Deliverable: Strategy deck + roadmap

Program Architecture

Full partner program design with tiers, incentives, enablement playbooks, and co-selling frameworks. Ready-to-deploy materials and operational documentation.

Model: Project-based
Timeline: 8-12 weeks
Deliverable: Full program ops manual

Fractional Leadership

Embedded partnership executive on retainer, operating as an extension of your team. Hands-on management of recruitment, enablement, deal support, and strategic evolution.

Model: Monthly retainer
Hours: 20-40 hrs/week
Fee-at-risk: Bonus tied to outcomes

Revenue Operations

Attribution models, pipeline tracking, and joint business planning frameworks. Systems and processes that scale with partner ecosystem growth and complexity.

Model: Retainer + fee-at-risk
Timeline: Ongoing
Bonus: % of partner-attributed ARR

Key Takeaways

Partnership ecosystems are architectural, not tactical. Success requires clarity on partner tiers, capability mapping, and revenue attribution from the first conversation. Ad-hoc partner management fails at scale. Intentional design compounds returns over decades.
Outcome alignment is the accelerant. Partners perform best when incentives, success metrics, and compensation are explicitly tied to mutual business outcomes. Vague partnership agreements decay quickly. Transparency builds trust.
Regional complexity demands localised leadership. Enterprise partners expect regional depth and decision-making authority. Centralised partnership functions struggle with cross-cultural nuance and market-specific go-to-market requirements. Distributed teams with consistent frameworks outperform.
Executive relationships are the moat. Holding company partnerships, multi-level account engagement, and strategic alignment with C-suite priorities create structural advantage. Relationships built at operating level are vulnerable to personnel change. Relationships built at executive level compound.
Partner-sourced revenue scales differently than direct sales. Contribution from partner ecosystem can exceed direct enterprise sales revenue. Requires patience, investment in enablement, and willingness to share upside. But returns compound: revenue becomes recurring, customer acquisition cost drops, and channel velocity improves over time.

What's Next

The playbook has proven repeatable. Current work: scaling partnerships.community with SaaS founders and enterprise leadership teams building their first ecosystems or optimising existing programs for Rule of 40 performance.

The thesis: partner-sourced revenue is the fastest path to sustainable growth for B2B SaaS. Investment in ecosystem architecture, not just sales capacity, creates defensible competitive advantage.