Forecastable Blog

Forecastable's Education Center -- The best advice on building partner programs that produce forecastable revenue.

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Two professionals discussing a laptop screen at a wooden conference table in a bright office setting.

Nearbound Marketing: What It Is and How It Works

Demand generation that runs through partners by borrowing their trust, measured as pipeline.

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Nearbound Marketing: What It Is and How It Works

Demand generation that runs through partners by borrowing their trust, measured as pipeline.

MDF Programs That Generate Real Pipeline (Not Just Activity)

Short answer: most MDF (Market Development Funds) programs in B2B SaaS waste 50 to 70 percent of their budget. The cause is structural, not size. MDF gets framed too narrowly as marketing money. It then goes to partners who will not run the activity that drives pipeline. The fix is a defensible MDF program that […]

Joint Demand Generation: How to Run Co-Marketing That Converts

Short answer: joint demand generation campaigns with partners produce 2x to 4x the ROI of solo demand-gen when designed correctly. They produce 0.5x or worse when designed wrong. The difference comes down to four design decisions. You need a shared ICP, a single accountable owner, lead-level attribution, and a structured handoff motion. Get those four […]

Two professionals discussing a laptop screen at a wooden conference table in a bright office setting.

Nearbound Marketing: What It Is and How It Works

Demand generation that runs through partners by borrowing their trust, measured as pipeline.

Read Article
Partner manager and account executive reviewing partner overlap accounts on shared laptop

Nearbound: Definition, Operating Model, and 2026 Playbook

Nearbound is a sales motion in which a vendor uses its partner ecosystem as the primary signal and channel to enter a buying account, rather than relying on inbound or outbound. The motion runs on overlap data, partner-led trust, and joint deal mechanics. Done well, it produces materially higher win…

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Multi-company partnership working session with four professionals at a round table sharing laptops

Ecosystem Partnerships: What They Are, How They Work

Ecosystem partnerships are the network of technology, services, and channel partners whose combined presence at the same customer accounts produces co-sell, co-build, and customer-expansion opportunities. The operating model is different from one-to-one channel partnerships, ecosystem partnerships compound through overlap, integration density, and shared customer success rather than through bilateral commercial agreements. Run them well and […]

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Network of glowing amber nodes connected by gold lines on deep navy, illustrating ecosystem-led growth

What is ELG?

ELG, or ecosystem-led growth, is a go-to-market strategy in which a company’s partner ecosystem becomes the primary source of pipeline, expansion, and retention rather than a sidecar to direct sales and marketing. ELG companies measure ecosystem-influenced revenue as a first-class number, design their CRM and operating cadence around partner overlap data, and treat the partner […]

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Three old brass keys lined up on a dark slate surface, lit from the right.

Where Does Ecosystem-Led Growth Work Best?

ELG works. The honest question is when to use it and when to use something else. Here are the three situations where ecosystem-led growth moves pipeline best, and the four where another motion fits better.

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Head of partnerships presenting an ecosystem map on a sticky-note wall to seated colleagues

Partner Ecosystem: How Modern B2B Companies Build One

A partner ecosystem is the network of companies a vendor sells with, sells through, and integrates with. That includes tech alliances, resellers, distributors, OEMs, agencies, ISVs, and service implementers. Together they produce more revenue than any single direct motion can. A modern partner ecosystem is not a logo wall. It is an operating system for […]

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The Four-Zone Ecosystem-Led Growth Maturity Model: progression from Spectators (solo selling) through Partnering and Competing into Winning (full ecosystem orchestration), with confidence-in-market-position rising from 3-4 at the low end to 8-10 at the high end.

Ecosystem-Led Growth (ELG): Why 70% of the Revenue Comes from Execution, Not Tooling

ELG (Ecosystem-Led Growth) is a real third revenue motion alongside outbound and inbound. The conversation around ELG in 2026 is mostly wrong: roughly 70% of public content is about tooling; the actual revenue split is the inverse. Here’s the operational frame.

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Two professionals analyzing financial charts at a desk, with a calculator, notebook, and glasses nearby.

*The Secret* to Partner-Sourced Revenue: Stop Focusing Solely on Sales Reps as Referral Partners

Stop Focusing Solely on Sales Reps as Referral Partners When organizations go to market to source partner revenue, they often focus on engaging the partner’s sales team. They’re thinking about how to get them to refer business, or how to ensure they recognize and communicate their value proposition without having to ask them. This fixation […]

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Team of coworkers performing a fist bump over a wooden table with laptops, notebooks, and coffee cups, symbolizing teamwork and collaboration.

*Systematic Category* Domination for Anchor SaaS Companies

Definitions: Anchor SaaS Company: SaaS provider with a large ecosystem of both service and technology partners. Supporting Partners (SaaS/Services/Hardware): Any partner or category of partner who’s critical along the ideal customer journey the Anchor SaaS Company has defined. The route to SaaS success (systematic revenue acquisition, retention, and expansion) has become a collaborative journey, involving […]

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