Partnerships Is Not a Problem to Fix. It Is an Operating Motion | Jim Mirusaca, RainFocus

Jim Misuraca has won Adobe Partner of the Year twice. He has spent 20 years building partner programmes across Fortune 500 and 10-person startups, mostly in MarTech, data and ad tech. In this episode he sits down with Mike Tumalty to talk about what genuinely separates the partnerships organisations that generate revenue from the ones that produce activity reports.This is a conversation about the structural reasons partnerships is still misunderstood inside most B2B technology businesses, why the friction between direct sales and indirect motions is healthy when it is managed properly, and what hiring for a partner role actually requires when the traditional eight-years-in-vertical screen produces the wrong outcome. Jim is candid about where partnerships sits on the org chart, why it depends entirely on the type of partner you are, and what AI is and is not changing for the function right now.What is covered:Why winning Partner of the Year twice comes down to executive sponsorship, product commitment and vertical focus, not relationships aloneThe structural reason most companies underfund partnerships and treat it as a problem to fix rather than an operating motionWhere partnerships should sit on the org chart and why the answer depends on whether you are SI, services or ISVThe friction between direct sellers and partner motions, and why the best reps understand pie expansion versus margin erosionHiring for partnerships: the figured-it-out gene, why traditional vertical-experience screens get it wrongHow AI is changing partner work today (efficiency) and where it has not arrived yet (the core motion)The EMEA versus North America buyer dynamic: consensus building versus strong-voice decision makingCrossbeam as the single most useful tool in a partner leader's stackAbout the guest:Jim Misuraca is a strategic partnerships and corporate development leader with two Adobe Partner of the Year awards to his name. He has operated across the MarTech, data and ad tech space for 20 years, working with companies from Fortune 500 down to 10-person startups. He is currently based in Phoenix, Arizona.About the host:Mike Tumalty is the founder of InsideNow, a GTM diagnostic and commercial due diligence consultancy. He has 25 years of B2B SaaS experience across ServiceNow, Lokalise, Decibel/Medallia, and Panaya.Episode 2 is supported by Flourish, an early-career B2B sales recruitment and training business. If you are hiring sales talent, look at what they do: https://info.helloflourish.com/hire-a...Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. New episodes every Tuesday.Connect with Jim Mirusaca: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrmisuraca/ Connect with Mike Tumalty: linkedin.com/in/miketumaltyFollow The Outside Seat: linkedin.com/company/theoutsideseatThe Outside Seat is produced by InsideNow. Find more at insidenow.co.uk