On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Cristina Cordova, Partner at First Round Capital.

Partnerships are one of the most effective forms of marketing, but one of the most difficult to predict and scale.

In this session, Cristina pulls from across her decade-long career running partnerships at Stripe and Notion to share the inside scoop on deals that had an unexpected outsized impact — as well as the ones that went sideways.

Specifically, Cristina discusses:

2:09 - What are partnerships, why do they matter, and the different types of partnerships?

14:14 - How partnerships are different from referral programs

17:10 - When is the right time to do partnerships?

23:44 - Tips and tactics for reaching out to partners early on

34:01 - Where to find partners

36:46 - Top 3 things to stop doing with partnership outreach

47:14 - How to determine when to hire the first partnership person

56:29 - How to get partners to keep driving your agenda

1:06:00 - Books and podcasts Cristina highly recommends

Learn more at https://tractionconf.io

Connect with Cristina Cordova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinajcordova/

Learn more about First Round Capital at https://firstround.com/

This episode is brought to you by:

Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI

Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca

Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

Partnership Lessons from Scaling Stripe & Notion from Zero to billions with Cristina Cordova

Traction Podcast

Partnership Lessons from Scaling Stripe & Notion from Zero to billions with Cristina Cordova