GreenShoot Innovation

Our team at GreenShoot is beyond excited to be investing in All & Sundry, the Airtable service consultancy?that brings #lowcode, #AI-driven transformation to organizations everywhere. Maria Ada Santos and Sally Ip are such an impressive duo to work with, we’re almost jealous of the clients who will get all their time and attention! Whatever your org’s size, hit them up if you need an Airtable overhaul. #ChannelChampion #enterprisesoftware #partnerships #airtable

“We got a call from monday saying, ‘You're using monday at 5,000% of what a business of your size normally does. So we are really curious to see what you're using it for’…So we were offered to be partners with monday, and we took the partnership.” - CEO @ Omnitas Consulting Great software companies can find great channel partners in lots of places, but one of our favorites is from their own customers – power users! In this Tegus call (an oldie but a goodie), the expert from Omnitas Consulting explains that this is exactly how his business, monday.com’s 2023 EMEA Partner of the Year, got started. monday.com invested in this close-knit partnership from the beginning, not just in lead sharing (“Every day, I'm getting between 15 and 25 sales qualified leads – in what other business will I get this?”), but also in product, as Omnitas was an early mover in configuring monday.com as a CRM – a key offering in their product lineup today. The mutual benefit here is staggering – monday.com effectively turned one great customer into many, and a power user got to build an entirely new business from his existing skills. We think all software companies and product experts should seek out opportunities like this! #ChannelChampion #customersuccess #partnerships #mondaydotcom

It’s always great to see a #ChannelChampion go public! In their recent IPO filing, enterprise data security vendor Rubrik announced that channel partnerships would be a key area of investment for the proceeds. In fact, the company considers themselves to be “100% through the channel,” bringing resellers, MSPs, and other partners “into every Rubrik opportunity.” The company has achieved some fantastic results under the partner-led GTM model, including: ? $784M Subscription ARR (growing 47% YoY!) ? 1,742 customers with $100K+ Subscription ARR ? 99 customers with $1M+ Subscription ARR ? >130% average Subscription Dollar-Based Net Retention From the filing: “We plan to continue investing in building out and leveraging our partner ecosystem to broaden our distribution footprint, drive more platform usage, and drive greater awareness of our platform.” We’re excited to see what new opportunities these investments will open up for Rubrik channel partners! #ChannelChampion #saas #partnerships #rubrik

Our next #ChannelChampion shoutout goes to cybersecurity platform Coro, who just announced that a substantial piece of their recent $100M Series D will go into partnerships! The investment includes tier-based revenue margins and an improved partner relationship management system, both hallmarks of a truly developed partner program. Coro is also unique in that they help lower some of the hurdles to scaling an MSP business through their “modular managed services,” whereby a smaller MSP can offer their clients the full Coro security platform even before they’ve become experts on all 13 modules. Per co-founder Dror Liwer, Coro’s channel team today is about 65 strong, or 18% of company headcount – and yet their channel partners drive 70% of company revenue, with aspirations for even more by 2025! We think Coro is a prime example of the leverage available to any software company that chooses to be truly partner-first, and we’re excited to see how these investments play out. #ChannelChampion #saas #partnerships #coro

About 1 year ago, Okta overhauled their channel partner program as Elevate, a modern GTM platform with revenue incentives, four distinct tiers, badges and specializations, and streamlined deal registration for partners. How have these investments played out? In their most recent fiscal quarter, Okta stated that partner-driven billings have increased to comprise over 40% of the business, with partners involved in 8 of their top 10 deals by ACV. CFO Brett Tighe indicated that they want to boost these numbers even further, as they are actively “tilting [the] company to be more partner-friendly.” Okta is a great example of how even scaled software companies can scale further by continually equipping, incentivizing, and investing in their channel partners. #ChannelChampion #saas #partnerships #okta

A new #ChannelChampion has emerged: Hive, a project management and productivity software company who recently launched their Global Partner Program! Channel partners are especially relevant for Hive because of the company’s democratic product roadmap – all feature releases are voted on by users, so the involvement of expert service partners who live and breathe Hive will supercharge this effort. Not to mention the Hive Adoption Guarantee, which promises customers a 100% trained/active initial user group within 90 days. Great channel partners will be critical to delivering on this promise! We think that Hive is a prime example of how great software companies at virtually any stage can foster mutually beneficial relationships with channel partners. #ChannelChampion #saas #partnerships #hive

“…the partners, they have distribution advantage, they have CXO relationships. We don't have that. We are a small company. Our strength is product. Our strength is the technology...their strength is complementary to ours. And it just makes sense to work together…” - Head of Product Automation & Generative AI @ Yellow.ai Channel partnership opportunities exist everywhere in the software industry, including with younger vendors in nascent categories like Yellow.ai. In this Tegus call, the expert touches on one of the most powerful partnership structures: consumption-based commissions, which enable both the vendor and partner to participate in the revenue upside as a customer gets more and more value from the product. While not applicable/appropriate to every software company or in every partner program, consumption-based commissions are likely a small price to pay for the indispensable reach that channel partners provide. And they certainly incentivize partners toward active customer engagement, which benefits everybody. This sort of tight alignment between vendor and partner is what makes any partnership great! #ChannelChampion #saas #B2Bsoftware #partnerships

Our next #ChannelChampion shoutout goes to Wiz, whose CEO Assaf Rappaport recently declared their channel partner program a “first priority” for investment over the next few years. These investments include: ?? Key hires in Wiz channel leadership (already underway!) ?? Joint business plans ?? Co-selling motions ?? Accelerated partner recruitment ?? Stronger partner portals, certifications, and enablement This initiative makes perfect sense when considering that Wiz just grew their ARR from $100M to $350M in only 1.5 years (over 130% compound annual growth) and plans to grow their current employee headcount from 900 to 1,300 in 2024 (about 44% growth). How does a software company at Wiz’s scale sustain 100%+ topline growth with only 44% internal resource growth? Channel partners certainly help. Wiz is clearly building an ecosystem of mutual success with their partners in the emerging AI and cloud security arenas, and we’re excited to see what else this ecosystem accomplishes in the coming years! #ChannelChampion #saas #partnerships #wiz

“…if you're an enterprise software company, at a certain point, you're going to need partners. You're going to need a channel motion because you can't grow past a certain point without other people selling for you. It just becomes untenable...” - Former Product Marketing Manager @ Cisco Meraki For tomorrow’s leading software companies, investing in a channel partner program is not a question of “IF,” but rather “WHEN.” In this Tegus interview, the expert from Cisco Meraki frames the decision as a trade-off: ?? Invest early = greater market reach + reduced strategic control ?? Delay the investment = greater strategic control + reduced market reach Obviously, the best time to build your partner program is different for every vendor. But market reach means growth, and while great software leaders can manage for control risks, it’s a lot harder to manage for a growth problem. At GreenShoot Innovation, we believe that great software companies have great channel partners – sooner, more often than later! #ChannelChampion #saas #B2Bsoftware #partnerships

Our next #ChannelChampion shoutout goes to Cloudflare, who recently announced their 2024 service partner program roadmap. The plan will boost partner certification, training, and support, including: ?? Launching a Cloudflare MSP specialization ?? Equipping partners to tackle higher-value deals through service offering blueprints and new training opportunities ?? Adding Cloudflare’s Network and Developer Platform solutions to the Authorized Service Delivery Partner program (this means that partners can now attain this high accreditation level across ALL Cloudflare products) Investments like these prove that Cloudflare takes its partnerships seriously, and it gives top-performing partners an opportunity to build stand-out reputations and accelerate their businesses. These investments are paying off, since Cloudflare reported $202 million of partner-driven revenue in fiscal 2023, growing 65% year-over-year and now contributing 16% of their total revenue (up from just 9% four years ago). The opportunity is ripe for experienced cybersecurity and networking professionals who might be considering a partnership with Cloudflare. We’re excited to see where the Cloudflare channel program goes from here! #ChannelChampion #saas #partnerships #cloudflare