7 Key Issues Before Hiring Your First Partnerships Leader
With the start of a new year, certain early stage, growth companies are hiring their first partnership leader.
The founder of one of those companies called me recently for advice on hiring their first partnerships leader.
Here are some key issues I suggested they consider before selecting the best candidate:
Compensation structure: Landing initial, high-impact partners and a repeatable revenue model will take time. Given this, I recommend a compensation model that rewards a strategic approach rather than transactional velocity. Quality over quantity. Annual not quarterly bonus.
Interview panel: Your first partnerships lead must have strong relationships with your other functional leads (e.g. Sales, Legal, Finance, Marketing). Their support on this hire is key to the candidate’s success in the role. They should be the interview panel.
Quality of their questions: The best candidates will shine with the questions they ask. Do they use the interviews to probe in ways that reveal they understand the challenges they will face in this role? Do they ask questions that show they are thinking ahead to the next stage of your partner program?
Partner types: Ask your candidates to stack rank their experience among the most common B2B partner types: (a) services, (b) tech/ISVs, (c) resellers, (d) cloud. Compare their answers to your company’s needs.
Deal types: Early on, it is more likely that you need someone who can land and scale a few strategic partners (whale hunter) rather than onboard dozens or hundreds of partners (net fishing). Make sure to dig into the types of partners and deals they have landed.
Company experience Dig beneath the resume. Some partnership leaders from BigTech bring complex deals experience with early stage products. Some startup partnership leaders lack experience with complex, cross-functional deals.
Title and hiring terms: Do not reflexively hire a VP of Partnerships. Instead, reflect on what title makes the most sense given your company's stage and situation. Also, are you sure you are ready for a full-time hire? Would a 6-month contract or a fractional partnership lead be a better fit right now?der.
While the advice was crafted for a startup founder, it is just as valuable if you are looking for a role leading partnerships.
Build your narrative around the challenges you’ve faced and how you overcame them.
Anticipate questions about the partnerships you’ve led, the deal types you know and the companies where you’ve worked.
Prepare as much for the tough questions you will ask as the answers you deliver.
Good luck!
And don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help you find your next role.
