Partnerships in Growth Stages [Early Access]

A newsletter about partnerships strategy &
operations by Bernhard Friedrichs

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Hi,

After releasing my first newsletter Partner-to-Market: When to Partner & Why I have been asked for more details about partnerships at each growth stage.

This guide dives deeper into how partnerships evolve as your company grows - from seed stage through IPO/Enterprise. You'll learn which types of partnerships make sense at each stage, what to avoid, and how to know when you're ready for the next step.

Early Access Note: This is an exclusive early access version for subscribers. Your feedback will help shape the final version. You’ll find the final version later in the Knowledge Hub.

Introduction

Building partnerships is like building a house - you need the right materials at the right time. You wouldn't put in the windows before the foundation is set. The same goes for partnerships: each growth stage needs specific partner categories and partner partners that match your company's ability to handle them.

This guide will show you how to build partnerships that match your growth stage. We'll look at what works when, what to avoid, and how to know you're ready for the next step.

Understanding Growth Stages in B2B SaaS

Before we dive into partnerships, let's be clear about growth stages. Most B2B SaaS companies follow a path from Seed ($0-1M) through Startup ($1M-10M), ScaleUp ($10M-100M), and GrownUp ($100M+) to Enterprise (IPO and beyond). Each stage brings new challenges and opportunities.

You can split these stages into two main ways of thinking about growth. We call them growth paradigms:

1. Capital-Efficient Growth (CEG): This runs from Seed through ScaleUp. Here, you're trying to do more with less, making every dollar count.

2. Profitable-Efficient Growth (PEG): This kicks in at the GrownUp stage. Now you're balancing growth with profits and thinking long-term.

The Seed Stage: Building Your Foundation ($0-1M)

What's Happening at This Stage

You're focused on one thing: proving your product works and that people will pay for it. Your team is small, money is tight, and every minute counts. Many founders make the mistake of trying to build too many partnerships too soon.

The Right Partnership Approach

At Seed stage, be very picky about partnerships. Think of them like expensive tools - only buy what you absolutely need right now. Here's what works:

Product Partnerships

• Only build essential integrations demanded by early customers

• Keep integration development simple and focused

• Add features through partnerships when building yourself isn't efficient

Check out this guide to decide whether you should build, buy or partner: https://pro.partnerstandard.com/guides/deciding-between-build-buy-or-partner

Customer Community

• Create an exclusive "Founding Member" program for early adopters

• Collect product feedback from your first clients to develop the product

• Share your roadmap and turn early adopters into product ambassadors

Kleo and Face2Face are currently great examples of companies that build Founding Member Communities.

Why Other Partnerships Usually Don't Work Yet

Channel partnerships might seem attractive, but they're often a distraction at the seed stage. They demand resources you can't spare yet. Your priority should be achieving product-market fit (PMF) and go-to-market fit (GTMF) - that's your essential homework.

A common mistake is spending months setting up partner programs when your product still needs work. Your limited resources are better spent on product development at this stage.

Channel, service and marketing partners are not a shortcut in this stage. Also you are not really interesting to these partners. Even if you convince them to sign an agreement you will see that commitment will drop the moment they see that you are not ready. Partners don’t want to risk their reputation for unfinished products.

The Startup Stage: First Real Partnerships ($1M-10M)

At this stage, you've got paying customers and your product works. Maybe you are still calibrating your PMF (that may never stop), but you have a good idea of what your roadmap looks like to grow your product. Now the question shifts from "can we build it?" to "can we sell it repeatedly?" In other words, find the right GTM motion to get ready for scaling. Partnerships start having an increasing impact.

The Partnership Sweet Spot

Quality over quantity becomes your guiding principle at this stage. While competitors might showcase hundreds of partners, success often comes from having just a few deeply engaged partners. Focus on partners who can actually bring customers or add clear value to your product. Five committed partners typically bring more value than fifty passive ones.

Product Partnerships That Work Now

Start with the integrations your customers request most frequently. Don't just build them - market them. Each integration should:

• Solve a clear customer problem

• Be easy to set up and use

• Have a clear promotional plan with your partner

First Steps into Marketing Partnerships

This is when co-marketing starts making sense. Be smart and start small:

• Joint webinars with partners who share your target market

• Content swaps that require minimal time to create

• Shared case studies with your product partners

Testing Channel Waters:

Channel partnerships are possible now but need careful handling. Your success depends on how well you've developed your Product-Market Fit and Go-to-Market Fit.

Important reminder: Channel Partners won't engage with products that are too early stage. They might sign an agreement, but they'll quickly lose interest if they see you're still working heavily on product-market fit. Why? Because they won't risk their customer relationships with an unproven solution.

Common Mistake to avoid:

Just signing many channel partners is not an indicator for success in this stage. You will very like end up with many “Paper Partnerships” (see glossary: https://pro.partnerstandard.com/glossary/paper-partnerships). Yes,  there is a term for this 😅, because you won’t be the first person who made this mistake.

You should also be able to present a working Go-to-Market motion. Before starting channel partnerships, you need to know how to sell and market your product yourself. Don't expect channel partners to figure this out for you. Yes, sometimes they might help - but I've only seen this work when the partner had invested money in the business and had skin in the game.

What works:

• Start with 2-3 partners who already sell to your target market

• Create a simple partner program you can actually support

• Make sure you can help them succeed before adding more

The ScaleUp Stage: Building Real Programs ($10M-100M)

This is where partnerships get serious. You have proof your business works, and now you need to make it bigger. Good partnerships can help you grow faster without burning through cash.

The New Partnership Reality

At this stage, partnerships need real resources and systems.

Building Your Partner Operations

Now's the time to create proper partner programs:

• Build partner training systems

• Create clear partner tiers and benefits

• Set up partner success metrics

• Scale your partnerships team by implementing partner recruitment, partner growth, partner enablement, partner marketing, when needed.

Product Partnerships Level Up

Your integration strategy needs to be systematic:

• Build a proper technical partner program

• Create developer documentation

• Set up integration certification processes

• Plan your API strategy

Channel Partners Get Serious

This is when channel partnerships can really drive growth:

• Create territory and account mapping

• Build proper enablement programs

• Set up deal registration

• Use tools that support your established process.

This is when service partnerships can become critical for growth*

• Build a certified implementation partner network

• Develop standardized delivery methodologies

• Create partner training and certification programs

• Establish quality assurance processes

*Depending the touch-level of your product.

Common Mistakes to Avoid