Episode
This is why Every Company's Partner Strategy Is Broken From Day One
- Podcast
- Hunters and Unicorns
- Published
- Aug 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4524
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Summary
What separates a good partner strategy from a truly transformational one? For Akshay Rao and Tom Henderson, it comes down to one thing: turning partner strategy into real field execution. In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with the co-founders of a stealth startup and two of the most experienced leaders in partner and channel alliances, with experience at companies including Wiz, Zscaler, AppDynamics, and Skytap. They break down why companies struggle to capture their Partner Total Addressable Market (PTAM), why strategy often gets disconnected from execution, and how organizations can use partnerships to accelerate growth rather than simply generate sourced revenue. The conversation explores what a gold-standard partner strategy looks like, how to measure the true value of partner relationships, why focused partner ecosystems outperform “everything to everyone” approaches, and how field teams can turn individual deals into long-term partner momentum. In this episode: • The missing link between PTAM and field execution • Why partner strategy cannot live only on a PowerPoint deck • How to calculate the real value of a partner relationship • Why focused partner strategies outperform broad ecosystems • How deals can become “currency” for building partner momentum • The difference between sourcing revenue and accelerating TAM • How companies can unlock growth they couldn't achieve alone About Akshay Rao & Tom Henderson - Akshay Rao and Tom Henderson are veteran partner and channel executives who have worked together for more than 11 years across companies including Wiz, Zscaler, AppDynamics, and Skytap. They are now co-founders of a stealth startup focused on rethinking how companies build and execute transformational reven…