Paul Melchiorre: When to Prioritize a Channel Partner Sales Model

Welcome to the Volition View!

Don't miss our featured article from Volition Strategic Advisory Board member, Paul Melchiorre. In his piece, "When to Prioritize a Channel Partner Sales Model," Paul shares from his past experience on the best ways to think about indirect sales.

Paul's past experiences include his time as Global Customer Officer and Chief Revenue Officer at Anaplan, a leading SaaS platform to facilitate financial planning and management, where he contributed to a successful IPO in 2018 and saw the company grow from $80 million to $300+ million in Annual Recurring Revenue and to over a $7 billion market cap.

Also included in this edition:

Scaling Success: Unlocking Private Market Insights with Peter Walker

Portfolio News: Relish, Screenverse, US Mobile

Volition Events: Leadership Summit 2024 Highlights

Volition Jobs: Investment Analyst, Community Associate, Sr. Manager of IT

Portfolio Fun: Super73 x Red Bull Collaboration

When to Prioritize a Channel Partner Sales Model

"Many founders who are prioritizing building a direct sales model earlier, have underestimated just how hard it is to do. The infrastructure of a strong sales organization cannot just be built with the snap of a finger. You have to hire sales leaders, the right SDRs, train them, there is a ramp-up period, and there will also be turnover too. Also, there is no guarantee that the professionals you hire – at each level – are the right hires and will hit their quotas consistently. These challenges are only further exacerbated when looking at the enterprise sales space.

In an effort to circumvent some of these challenges, a great strategy can be to work with channel partners to create a sell-with, sell-through, or an embed model. Especially at the enterprise stage, being part of a channel partner program with a large enterprise can give you access to sizable contracts that you otherwise would not have had access to as a smaller, yet rapidly growing company. These enterprises have been selling consistently to companies for 20+ years and there is a brand name and reliability that will be hard to replicate on your own.

At the surface, there will appear to be a “downside” to using a channel sales model by having to give up 20-30% of your margin to the partner. However, there are a couple questions you should ask yourself when worrying about this tradeoff..."

Click here to read the full article from Paul on the Volition Capital website.

Scaling Success: Unlocking Private Market Insights with Peter Walker

In this episode of Scaling Success, Volition Capital Sr. Director of Marketing, Laura Moran, is joined by Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta.

In the conversation, Laura and Peter discuss a variety of topics including the vision behind Carta's insights function, how to approach splitting up founders equity, what Carta is seeing from a fundraising perspective in this current macro-economic environment, and so much more!

Volition Events: Leadership Summit 2024 Highlights

After taking some time to catch our breath, last week on Linkedin, we shared four key highlights from the Leadership Summit 2024.

While you can read the full post here , we wanted to feature one of the highlights regarding the strengthening of the Volition Ecosystem.

Strengthening the Volition Ecosystem: One of the most gratifying aspects of the event was watching Volition portfolio executives build meaningful relationships with one another. Between sessions, founders shared best practices, not only within industries but across them as well. SAB members also spent time nurturing existing relationships and establishing new ones with portfolio company executives. As we plan to expand next year’s Summit to include even more executives and Senior Advisors, we are excited to see these connections continue to blossom.

We look forward to doing the Leadership Summit even bigger and better next year!

Volition Award: Sean Cantwell & Roger Hurwitz named Top Software Investors of 2024

We are excited to share that Volition Capital Managing Partners, Sean Cantwell and Roger Hurwitz, were recently named Top Software Investors of 2024 by GrowthCap.

Congratulations Sean and Roger!

Click here to read the full list of awardees from GrowthCap.

Portfolio News: Relish, Screenverse, US Mobile

• Relish: Relish Chosen for the "50 Providers to Watch in 2024" List by Spend Matters
• Screenverse: Screenverse Announces Partnership with GPO VALLAS to Integrate SOMO
• US Mobile: US Mobile Hits $100M in ARR

Volition Jobs: Open Opportunities at Volition Capital

The Volition Capital team is growing!

We are excited to share that we are looking for three talented individuals to join the Volition team:

-Investment Analyst

-Sr. Manager of IT

-Community Associate

Make sure to check out the job descriptions for the positions below:

1. Investment Analyst

At Volition, our analysts play a critical role in helping us identify, evaluate, and execute investment opportunities in growth equity. This is a dynamic and fast-paced environment that requires strong analytical skills, excellent relationship-building abilities, and a passion for investing. Our analysts are responsible for conducting due diligence on potential investments, modeling financial projections, and working closely with the investment team to make informed investment decisions. With opportunities for growth and development, this is an ideal role for individuals who are looking to build a successful career in the world of growth equity.

Link: https://lnkd.in/eC-3TuUk2 .

2. Sr. Manager of IT

We are seeking a strategic, results-oriented IT leader to build and execute Volition’s core technology strategy. You will provide oversight of the strategic direction and execution of Volition’s technology stack and internal IT. The successful hire will drive new technology initiatives that support Volition’s capital deployment and portfolio support goals.

Link: https://lnkd.in/e9qcYCWS3 .

3. Community Associate

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized Community Associate to join our operations team. In this role, you will be responsible for fostering strong relationships within our network of external advisors/vendors, portfolio companies, and strategic partners. You will also lead engagement initiatives, manage communications, and help build a sense of community that aligns with our firm's mission and values. The ideal candidate is an enthusiastic self-starter, detail-oriented, and thrives in a fast-paced environment.

This is a unique opportunity to make an impact and contribute to our growth journey.

Link: https://lnkd.in/ebp5D3wU

Portfolio Fun: Super73 x Red Bull Collaboration

Congratulations to Super73, Inc. on announcing their collaboration with Red Bull Racing & Red Bull Technology!

Click here to learn more about the collaboration.

Thanks for the read! We would love to hear what you think, so feel free to reply to this email if you would like to chat.

-The Volition Team

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