On this episode of the Unlearn Podcast, hosts Kelly and Asher engage with Greg Sarafin, delving into his extensive career journey at IBM and EY. Greg highlights the significance of grasping a company's business model, and distinguishing between scarcity and abundance mindsets. He emphasizes the success potential of companies embracing abundance by partnering to deliver client outcomes effectively.
The conversation also covers topics such as the impact of cloud technology on collaboration, prioritizing outcomes over individual partnerships, and the necessity for quantifying strategic value in partner leadership. Greg's insights from transforming EY's partner program advocating for an abundance mindset, offering valuable perspectives on measuring partnership ROI and optimizing enterprise-level partner functions.
00:00 - Introduction
01:09 - Career journey and partnership building in the consulting industry
09:00 - CPO role and business model in the context of partnering and abundance economy
13:41 - Partnering and abundance mindset in business
19:18 - Business models, collaboration, and capital strategies
23:46 - Partnering strategies in business
28:40 - Data monetization and cleanup in the decade ahead
33:29 - Partnering function value creation and C-suite engagement
38:02 - Partner ecosystems and outcomes
45:12 - Partner relationships and cost optimization
51:11 - Partnering with audit firms and HR in tech companies
Asher discusses the Chief Partner Officer (CPO) role, involving collaboration with top CEOs on organizational design and resource allocation. Greg highlights the importance of the CPO understanding the business model to facilitate effective partnerships, particularly between CPOs and CTOs. He distinguishes between companies operating with a scarcity or abundance mindset, noting the advantage digital natives have with their outside-in approach for efficient market operations.
Greg advocates for elevating the Chief Partner Officer role to the C-level, aligning with the company's abundance mindset and capital allocation strategy. He suggests prioritizing outcomes over products, using the automotive industry as an example.
Greg contends that collaboration isn't a business model but a crucial cultural trait for success. The speakers explore the notion of abundance in business models, with one underscoring the significance of a capital model in launching a platform to the market.
Greg contends that companies overly prioritize the right side of the value chain (go-to-market) rather than the left side (product development and supply chain). Asher acknowledges the value of tech integrations but highlights a distinction from the value creation discussed in the podcast. Greg notes that cloud technologies lower interoperability costs, facilitating effective partnerships and capital sharing for increased returns. Kelly observes a shift in companies' approach to code building, with increased investment in APIs and UI extensibility for partners to build upon.
Greg advocates for partner leaders to have a seat at the strategic decision-making table. He posits that partner offices might be too distant from the C-suite to effectively represent their needs. Greg proposes a rethink of the go-to-market strategy, prioritizing outcome orchestration over individual sales channels. Additionally, he suggests starting with a customer segment already under the company's ownership and validity, and then expanding from there.
Partners should complement and differentiate without diluting focus with too many parties, according to Greg. He argues that partner leaders should prioritize outcomes and impactful motions for the company, rather than viewing partnerships solely as a channel or incremental cost of sales. Kelly concurs, noting the absence of a data-driven approach in many companies for identifying their top partners and understanding their high value. Greg distinguishes between surface-level market expansion and true value creation for customers, advocating for a separation of these concepts. He further recommends a structured approach to understanding the value of channel partners, avoiding the mixing of different concepts.
Greg emphasizes few, strategic partnerships for maximum impact and advocates for prioritizing and optimizing the cost of sales to maximize earnings. He highlights the importance of tracking win rates and spread in strategic partnerships to showcase incremental earnings and accretion to the balance sheet. Kelly concurs, acknowledging that collaborating with larger companies can create combined value propositions that win more deals and boost earnings.
Asher underscores the significance of processes, value focus, and stakeholder management, advocating for reducing partner ops debt for streamlined operations. Asher advises aspiring Chief Product Officers (CPOs) to consider the role's durability in enterprises and seek guidance for a smooth transition. He also stresses the importance of providing defined services and outcomes rather than just heads or automation. Greg highlights the importance of adopting an abundance mindset in business, especially in partnering functions, and provides examples of its success.
"It doesn't matter what I think, the market trends are remarkably consistent. Abundance mindset outside in value orchestration, business models, are increasingly going to outperform those that are not." - Greg Sarafin
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