I found my passion for partnerships at a very young age. This was thanks to my father, who's been active in indirect channels for >30 years and shared his lessons with me on a daily basis at our kitchen table.

When I founded my first company (a B2B agency) at the age of 20, we worked mainly for companies with an indirect channel of partners in automotive and ICT. I've experienced firsthand how hard it is to engage partners in vendor marketing activities. 

It could take months and dozens of touches to get something live on the website and social media profiles of partners. Once it was finally live, the campaign was almost over... Not to start about retrieving the data to measure the results and ROI, that was even harder.

Why was it so hard? Because most vendors rely on their partner portal for partner marketing. 

The partner portal... The tool that everybody has, but nobody likes. Portals are reactive, waiting for partners to proactively collect assets and publish them. But partners aren't doing this. In fact, less than 10% of partners actively use the portals provided by their vendors.

When we founded Channext, we asked ourselves the question: Why wait for partners to come to your portal? Why don't we bring the content of the portal to the partners?

Instead of a portal, we have built a SaaS solution that integrates with your partner's systems and proactively distributes content and information to their websites, social media, digital advertising, and CRMs. Data is automatically retrieved from the partners and displayed in a central dashboard. It helps channel professionals to measure crucial partner engagement and end-user demand generation KPIs.

We call it the Channext Partner Hub. The Partner Hub increases the partner participation from less than 10% to up to 95%. The integrations with partner systems enable a 12X faster go-to-market of new product introductions and campaigns. The Hub gives channel teams and partners access to real-time data, being able to iterate much faster.

With Channext, partnerships professionals can take the wheel and steer their channel towards Scalable & Predictable Growth. Our software helps channel teams to create happy & engaged partners, accelerate pipeline, and get more grip on their channel.

Rick van den Bosch

Vince Menzione

Founder of Cloud Wave Partners LLC

I help technology leaders thrive in an era of rapid, tectonic change—mastering Microsoft, AWS, and Google partnerships to drive growth, innovation, and impact.

From scaling startups to leading a $4.6B business at Microsoft, I’ve learned one enduring truth: success is built on meaningful connections—between people, ideas, and opportunities. And the multiplier is always trust.

I was raised in a close-knit Italian family in New Jersey. My grandfather arrived in the U.S. with $20 in his pocket and built sustainable businesses through grit and determination. My dad—an Army veteran of WWII—taught me that integrity and trust aren’t “nice to have.” They’re everything. Those lessons became the foundation of my leadership.

I’ve spent my career building—and rebuilding—organizations through partnerships:

In the startup world, I helped scale a company from $6M to $125M and to a successful public exit.

At General Dynamics, I turned around a struggling division—driving exponential growth, securing $20M in defense appropriations, and delivering roughly a third of the company’s revenue by aligning partners around execution.

Then came nearly a decade at Microsoft, where I led the U.S. Public Sector Partner business through a major transformation. We grew revenue from $2.5B to $4.6B, helped shape the modern cloud reseller model, and built high-performing teams known for alignment, results, and credibility.

But along the way, I saw a gap: leaders didn’t just need strategy decks. They needed focus, practical frameworks, and a trusted space to learn from one another.

So in 2017, I founded Ultimate Partner® to be that compass for technology leaders navigating ecosystem-led growth. Through the Ultimate Guide to Partnering® podcast (270+ episodes) and Ultimate Partner LIVE events, I bring together top voices from Microsoft, AWS, Google, and the broader partner ecosystem. I also developed the 8 Principles of Partnering Success—a practical framework leaders use to align strategy and drive measurable outcomes.

My mission is simple: empower leaders and their organizations to grow with clarity, connection, and credibility—building partnerships that scale with purpose.

If you’re building in the hyperscaler ecosystem—and want to grow faster, execute better, and lead with trust—let’s connect.

Founder

Over six years ago, I embarked on a mission to empower partners struggling to navigate the complex world of tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and AWS. 

Having witnessed the industry from multiple perspectives – leading a $4.6 billion Ecosystem at Microsoft, spearheading partnerships for a billion-dollar company, and hosting 200 episodes of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering®, I’ve gained invaluable insights and crafted a manifesto of principles to guide your success.

In an era defined by tectonic shifts, such as the global pandemic, economic headwinds, and the rise of AI, the role of hyperscalers has become increasingly critical. With investments of billions of dollars in ecosystems, technology, and customer acquisition costs, they have secured over $200 billion in customer commitments to durable cloud budgets. We stand on the precipice of a marketplace moment where simplifying and streamlining economic models associated with co-selling and ecosystem-led growth will shape the decade ahead.

Yet, as vendors and organizations demand more from us while resources diminish, we ask, “Where do we go? How do we navigate these seismic shifts? How do we thrive during this decade of the ecosystem?”

If you’re a partner, you’re likely grappling with these questions. The watering holes of the past no longer offer the guidance required to transform into a Cloud GTM and embrace Ecosystem Led Growth. That’s why Ultimate Partner exists – to be your trusted compass amidst the noise.

Visit our website, tune into Ultimate Guide to Partnering and join The Ultimate Partner LIVE events.

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