June 25, 2024

minutes

Nearbound Daily #613: Reveal and Crossbeam Got Married—The Dawn of a New Era

Micaela Richond

Reveal and Crossbeam Got Married

How crazy is that?

It’s the biggest and best news in partner tech history!

And it brings changes, including to this newsletter, which will combine with Crossbeam’s ELG Insider to deliver the best Ecosystem-Led tactics, plays, content, and events to your inbox Monday through Friday.

If you will indulge us, dear reader of the Nearbound Daily, we’ve got some personal reflections to share on this momentous occasion.

We both wrote personal notes for the tens of thousands of you who have followed PartnerUp, PartnerHacker, and the nearbound.com journey.

– Isaac Morehouse & Jared Fuller

A LETTER FROM ISAAC MOREHOUSE

I’m listening to the official 2022 PLX Summit soundtrack as I write this. (I’m not crying, you’re crying!)

I can hardly comprehend all that’s happened in the last 26 months or the speed at which it’s happened.

It started with a podcast.

One partner pro learning out loud with others.

A newsletter, a website, and a company followed. Hundreds of articles, three more podcasts, hundreds of videos, and events. So many events. More than 20,000 registrants for events over two years. (And to think, when we started I told Jared, “I do NOT want to do events.”)

Then a merger with one of the best companies in the industry, a rebrand, three guides, a best-selling book, and now another merger with another of the best companies in the industry.

But you know where my heart really is?

This little daily newsletter right here. For me, this is what this movement was built on. We’ve penned over 600 of these, plus more than 100 weekend editions.

So, what does writing 700 daily emails over two years get you?

The opportunity to participate in one of the greatest shifts in business history. The chance to write a few strokes of the story in real time. A community of passionate partner pros and GTM leaders. A set of unforgettable experiences. Challenges like never before. Going from B2B noob to CMO, getting help and support all along the way. (Special shout-out to Mark Kilens and Tyler Calder, two CMOs who gave me tons of great insight to help me survive).

The honor of working with some of the best people I’ve ever known through thick and thin.

Jared and I set out to change an industry. We wanted to help make famous those in B2B who were building for the future. Those building around partner ecosystems. Those who were “partner-pilled”, and running what came to be called nearbound, and now Ecosystem-Led Growth.

I am proud of everything I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of. I came in as an outsider but was (almost:-)) universally embraced by this amazing industry.

I can’t possibly list the dozens and dozens of people I have learned from and loved working with. The PartnerHacker/Nearbound/Reveal faithful, you know who you are! You. Yes, you!

I cannot tell you how excited I am for Crossbeam and Reveal to come together. This is what the industry needs and it will greatly accelerate the Ecosystem-Led future. It will create a unified network for partner data, and allow ecosystem tools and tactics to be built on top of a platform that feeds all GTM motions.

(BTW, I remember telling Jared way back in early 2022 that these two companies needed to merge and would eventually do so. He told me it would never happen. Not that I’m keeping score.)

It’s time for this movement to take the next step. I will be forever grateful to have had a part in it, and will forever advocate for nearbound and Ecosystem-Led Growth in every business, everywhere.

It is the way forward.

I couldn’t be more excited for Shawnie and the team to take over this amazing content and community. I have been working together with Alex, Crossbeam’s CMO, for a smooth transition of all we have been collectively building.

Thanks everyone,

Isaac

PS - I’ll be sharing what’s next for me soon. It’s not in the same industry, but it is 100% Ecosystem-led.

A LETTER FROM JARED FULLER

WHAT IS UP PARTNERUP? Any OG’s remember this old tagline?

First off, thank you.

Seriously. Tens of thousands of you. Thank you.

I’m beyond fortunate to write this sign-off (for now)—what a ride.

It’s been almost exactly four years since I pressed record on the very first episode of Partner Up, The Partnerships Podcast.

Hundreds of episodes later, thousands of emails and social posts later, the fastest-growing media company in B2B tech history (PartnerHacker), the acquisition of PartnerHacker by a world-class tech company, the rebrand to nearbound.com, two industry-defining events (The PL[X] & Nearbound Summit), a bestselling book (NEARBOUND), and here we are—at my end, but barely the beginning for the best ecosystem in all of tech, the partner ecosystem.

I can’t help but close this chapter to this part of my life’s work with a recap of where it’s all come from. A story. My story with all of you.

And what a fitting end.

Let’s go back to Episode #001 of PartnerUp (now The Nearbound Podcast) brought to you by none other than…Crossbeam.

“Full circle,” really doesn’t do justice to how crazy this all is.

The Reveal and Crossbeam merger is without a doubt the biggest news in partner tech history.

And it’s wild to think I somehow played a role in all of this.

It’s been a little over two years since I stood on top of a table at SaaS Connect and launched PartnerHacker to the world with Isaac.

Wild, isn’t it, that that coffee table just so happened to be at the Crossbeam Lounge for the PartnerHacker Launch Party.

Destiny.

I’ll never forget that moment, especially now in light of the Crossbeam and Reveal merger! And on that note, I couldn’t be more proud and excited.

Every industry leader and the future enduring companies will be fueled by nearbound plays and Ecosystem-Led Growth strategy. And Reveal and Crossbeam are the two companies who now, together, are unifying the movements and momentum for the benefit of YOU.

But while we look forward to a new era, I also can’t help but look back at some of my top 10 favorite moments on this wild ride fueled by YOU.

10 milestones I’ll never forget:

Launching PartnerUp The Partnerships Podcast – #001 “Landing Your 1st Sumo”
Launching PHD - PartnerHacker Daily – #001 Stated Vs Revealed Preferences
Launching PartnerHacker.com – The epic PartnerHacker coffee table launch speech
Launching The PartnerHacker Handbook – Our first bestselling book (an anthology)
Ecosystem Week 2022 – The first week-long event in partnerships with PartnerStack!
The 2022 PL[X} Summit – The “Moment” Partnerships Goes Mainstream
- 5,000 people, 100+ speakers, 5 days, workbooks, soundtrack, magic, and so much more to make this the biggest event in partner tech history.
The Reveal acquisition of PartnerHacker – The Press Release
Rebranding PartnerHacker to Nearbound.com – Rebranding the podcast and daily
- And you can’t forget the launch of The Nearbound Sales Blueprint
The 2023 Nearbound Summit – Taking Partnerships to Every Department
- Who could forget these EPIC Nikes?
- And let’s be real, the Harry Mack moment was the most epic of all!
Launching NEARBOUND and the Rise of the Who Economy – #1 bestselling across 3 categories and only #2 to Elon Musk’s biography in ALL of the business categories!

What a ride indeed.

And since I’m on the top 10 lists, I’ll end with this: I’m known for saying the same ten things 1,000 times versus saying 1,000 things one time. The reality is wisdom is information applied. In a world abundant in inapplicable noise, I truly believe grounding first principles and the application thereof is the most powerful tool we wield.

So, here are my top 10 favorite phrases I’ve repeatedly repeated over the podcast and in the NbD:

Trust is the new data
Live in market > go to market
Great product never beats great Go-To-Market, but great Go-To-Market never beats great network effects
Partnerships shouldn’t be a department but instead a strategy for every department
The 3 I’s of Nearbound Sales: Intel, Influence, Intros
Nearbound = Surround
Trust comes from helping others reach their promised land but we paradoxically only trust those who’ve been to the places we want to go
Strategy is a choice and not all choices are equal
The shift from the “How” to the “Who” economy
Curiosity, Courage, Conviction

I hope that my small dent and some of this lexicon will help fuel your passion to continue the good fight, together. These aren’t complicated principles. As my former boss and mentor David Cancel used to say, “simple, not easy.”

Change can be tough, but for the brave and the bold, know that with you leading with these principles and an ELG transformation strategy, you are on the right side of history.

Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart and the top of my soul. Thank you.

I’ll leave you with this quote by Jerzy Gregorek, perhaps my favorite quote of all time: “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

The ideas I strove to bring you over the past few years I hope will continue to force hard conversations.

May they force hard choices in your business and in your life.

I challenge all of you who have followed me over the years and are reading this to “choose hard.”

Adapting to a nearbound way of thinking requires curiosity, courage, and conviction.

When you make the hard choices and feel the conviction in your bones, life gets easier after the choices you make get harder.

So, a special thanks to each of you who embarks on this journey with an open mind and the world at your feet.

The business world needs a change, it needs a resistance, it needs a revolution, it needs a movement. And you are that movement.

So get moving.

Stay curious.

Be courageous.

Find your conviction.

Go build a world where everyone can win, together.

Jared Fuller
The OG PartnerHacker

P.S. Naval Ravikant once wrote, "All returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest." He advised us to "play long-term games with long-term people." These words encapsulate the essence of partnerships and the gains earned by lasting, real relationships. To that end, like Isaac, I’ll be sharing on LinkedIn soon what I’m up to next but it is 100% nearbound and it is 100% with Isaac.

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