Partnerships in Growth Stages

A Practical Guide to Building the Right Partnerships at Each Stage

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 types 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” 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

One ScaleUp leader shared: "We tried to copy enterprise-level partner programs. Big mistake. We needed to build something we could actually deliver on."

Here's what works instead

• Start with simple programs you can actually run and measure
• Use data to decide how and when to grow
• Get your processes right before adding tools

No fancy software can fix broken processes. First, create processes that work for your product and partners. Then find tools to make these processes better.

This applies beyond partnerships. Every part of your growing business needs solid processes. For more on this, check out the Revenue Architecture framework from Winning by Design - it's especially helpful for recurring revenue-based businesses.  If you have questions about revenue architecture, I can help.

The GrownUp Stage: Partnership Ecosystem ($100M+)

At this point, you're not just running partnerships - you're building an ecosystem. Your business model works, and now it's about smart scaling and market expansion.

The Ecosystem Mindset

This stage needs a different way of thinking. You're not just adding partners - you're creating a network where everyone wins. Partners don’t just sell your product, they are building entire businesses around it.

Channel Excellence:

Your channel program needs to be world-class:

• Multi-tier programs that scale
• Advanced partner enablement systems
• Clear partner specializations
• Automated partner operations

At this stage you will see that specialized partner tracks can be very helpful to keep growing as they use the advantage of an ecosystem. Instead of partners competing, they start collaborating. Some focused on implementation, others on industry solutions.

Product Platform Play:

Your product isn't just a tool anymore - it's a platform:

• Marketplace strategy
• Partner-built solutions
• Revenue sharing models
• Technical certification programs

Stop thinking about integrations and start thinking about extensibility. How can partners build on your platform?

Service Partner Network:

Service partnerships become crucial for scale:

• Global implementation coverage
• Specialized consulting practices
• Partner delivery methodology
• Training certification programs

Managing Complexity

With success comes complexity. Some tools may reach their ceiling and you need to adjust and rebuild parts of your partner tech stack. What worked at $50M can break completely at $200M. Don’t panic, just be aware and prepare for it.

Key Focus Areas:

• Partner automation tools
• Clear partner metrics and KPIs
• Regular partner business reviews
• Partner advisory boards

The Enterprise Stage: Market Leadership (IPO+)

This is where partnerships drive market dominance. Your challenge isn't just growth - it's maintaining leadership while continuing to innovate.

Strategic Partnership Focus

Every major business decision now includes partner strategy. At this stage, I recommend adopting ISO 44001 (Collaborative Business Relationship Management) to standardize and improve your partnership approach. Applying ISO 44001 comes with the advantage that you later can also use it for internal partnerships e.g. among businesses units.

Ecosystem Orchestration

• Industry-wide initiatives aligned with ISO 44001 principles
• Multi-partner solutions with structured governance
• Partner-led innovation programs
• Global partner communities with standardized processes

Market & Economic Impact

• Joint ventures with structured frameworks
• Industry standard setting
• Market expansion through partners
• Complex revenue sharing models
• Joint IP development
• Partner M&A strategies

Balancing Innovation and Stability

The ISO 44001 framework provides clear processes for managing partner relationships in enterprises. It helps organizations balance innovation needs with program stability, making partnership management more predictable and effective.

Final Thoughts: The Partnership Journey

Partnerships evolve as you grow. What worked last year might not work next year. The key is matching your partnership strategy to your growth stage.

Remember:

• Start small but think big
• Build what you can support
• Listen to your partners
• Measure what matters

The best partnerships are never just about growth - they're about building something bigger than what any company could build alone.