Speaking The Language Of Revenue In Partnerships With Michael Shen

Partnership leaders spend a lot of time building relationships, recruiting partners, and creating programs. But many struggle when it comes time to explain their impact to the rest of the business. The challenge isn't usually the work itself. It's translating partnership efforts into the language that executives, finance teams, and revenue leaders actually understand. In this episode, Michael Shen, Head of Growth at OuterSignal and former Senior Director of Channel Partnerships at Zapier, joins Tyler Calder, CMO at PartnerStack, to discuss what partnership leaders can learn from growth marketing. Michael shares how his background in paid media shaped his approach to partnerships, why partner teams often get stuck measuring the wrong things, and what it takes to build credibility with leadership teams that care about revenue, forecasting, and business outcomes. They also explore how partner leaders can pressure-test their assumptions, prepare for executive conversations, use experimentation more effectively, and develop stronger business cases for partnership investments. You’ll learn: Why partnership leaders struggle to prove impact inside the business How to translate partnership activity into metrics executives actually trust What growth marketing can teach partner teams about measurement, experimentation, and executive buy-in Jump into the conversation: (0:00) Introducing Michael Shen (2:16) Michael's path from marketing to partnerships (4:17) What paid media teaches you about partnerships (5:20) Translating relationships into business metrics (8:31) Evaluating a partnership program through first principles (10:50) Identifying misaligned partner incentives (13:17) Why partnership teams struggle to prove impact (15:02) Getting clarity from executive stakeholders (17:59) Leading with vision and healthy skepticism (20:49) Escaping the partnership echo chamber (23:32) Where executive skepticism comes from (26:44) Preparing for high-stakes leadership meetings (29:26) Using AI to pressure-test your thinking (33:11) The metrics executives actually care about (37:22) Why partnership leaders should talk to more skeptics (39:19) Building a culture of focused experimentation (42:08) Michael's perspective on AI and growth (45:05) Why every leader should spend time building with AI Resources: Connect with Michael on LinkedIn:   / michael-shen   Learn more about OuterSignal: https://outersignal.com/