In this episode, Asher and Kelly sit down with Richard Ezekiel to unpack his book COELEVATE, a practical framework built from decades in the trenches in Silicon Valley and as part of the venture capital ecosystem. Richard breaks down how to build a “virtual company” between partners, why operational rigor is often overlooked, and how partner professionals can move beyond buzzwords to drive real business value.

Chapters

04:28 – From Wired Magazine to Amazon

10:29 – The Partnership T: A Customer-Centric Framework

17:42 – The Real Reason Richard Wrote COELEVATE

24:05 – Why 70% of Partnerships Fail

29:13 – Building a Partnership Like a Virtual Company

34:42 – The Problem with “Alliances” and Industry Nomenclature

42:33 – Scaling with Platform Partnerships

48:12 – AI, Methodology, and What’s Next for COELEVATE

Key Takeaways

1. The 70% Problem - Most partnerships fail within two years, not because of execution issues, but because the foundational idea wasn’t strong enough.

2. The Virtual Company Mindset - A great partnership should function like a shared operating entity between two companies.

3. Idea Quality > Execution - You can’t fix a weak idea with flawless execution. Strong partnerships start with high-quality, differentiated ideas that actually matter to the customer.

4. Platform Strategy Isn’t Plug-and-Play - Scaling to one-to-many partnerships doesn’t mean copy-pasting one-to-one motions.

5. It’s Time to Codify the Discipline - We’ve built sales, marketing, and product into academic and operational disciplines. It’s time to do the same for partnerships with a common language, methodology, and structure.

Key Quotes

"You’re not building a deal. You’re building the architecture for two companies to evolve together. If that framework’s not there, the partnership won’t last." - Richard Ezekiel

"Most partner pros don’t realize they can take their skills into entirely new industries. The ceiling moves when you stop thinking of partnerships as just a B2B function." - Asher Mathew

"Execution depends on culture. You can’t build a strategic partnership if your company values or brand DNA fundamentally clash, even when the numbers look great." - Kelly Sarabyn

Final Thoughts

Partnerships are complex, evolving ecosystems that need better tools, better thinking, and stronger foundations. Richard Ezekiel’s book COELEVATE is a serious attempt at codifying what most of us learn the hard way: that sustainable partnerships need structure, creativity, and a real operating model behind the press release.

This episode is for anyone trying to bring good ideas to life through collaboration. Tune in to hear what’s next for the discipline and what Richard is building to make the methodology real and usable with AI.

Natan Edelsburg, Chief Partnerships Officer at Muck Rack, joins Asher Mathew and Kelly Sarabyn on Unlearn to talk about what happens when a revenue leader outgrows the CRO seat. They unpack how modern PR is evolving, why media training matters more than ever, and how partnerships roles are becoming more dynamic and strategic than ever before. Natan shares his journey from early employee to CPO, the challenges of navigating internal change, and the power of authentic storytelling in a noisy world.

Chapters

01:03 – Natan’s Journey to Chief Partnerships Officer

10:00 – Why He Stepped Down as CRO

13:40 – Building a Role Around Partnerships & Evangelism

19:50 – Staying Focused on PR in a Distracted Market

30:32 – LinkedIn’s Role in Modern Comms

37:20 – What Makes a Strategic PR Campaign

40:35 – Why Media Training Is Essential

43:00 – Using AI for Smarter Media Prep

47:50 – Activating Relationships Through LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

1. Modern PR Requires Integration - Great campaigns span paid, earned, shared, and owned channels. PR isn’t just pitching anymore.

2. Media Training Isn’t Optional - Executives are expected to show up polished on every channel, not just in interviews.

3. Partnerships Can Be Evangelism - Natan’s role blends relationship-building with brand representation, showing CPOs aren’t confined to revenue KPIs.

4. AI Should Augment, Not Replace - Smart teams are using AI to speed up busywork—but keeping humans in the loop to protect quality.

5. LinkedIn Is an Underrated Power Tool - Relationship capital, activated thoughtfully, still opens more doors than cold outreach ever will.

Key Quotes

“You still want to do incubation stuff, but the company’s needs are highly specialized. That’s the trade-off every growth-stage exec faces.” - Asher Mathew

“While tech stacks change, relationships remain the most durable asset in go-to-market.” - Kelly Sarabyn

“Being media trained doesn’t mean being robotic. It means knowing your story and being able to tell it in a way that connects.” - Natan Edelsburg

Final Thoughts

Natan’s story is a reminder that career growth isn’t always up. It’s sometimes sideways, strategic, and self-aware. From building Muck Rack’s comms ecosystem to leading without a team, he’s showing what flexible leadership looks like. And with AI, PR, and social platforms evolving fast, the conversation doubles as a blueprint for staying relevant and trusted in any go-to-market function.

As VP of Partnerships at Factorial, Marcel Queralt turned a side project into a full-blown business unit, driving one-third of the company’s revenue. In this episode, Marcel breaks down how he built a 100-person global team, why partner leaders need to think like entrepreneurs, and the exact culture and org structure that keeps it all running.

Chapters

02:30 - Why partnerships became a growth lever

06:05 - Finding product-market fit before hiring

10:33 - Why Marcel hired “mini-founders” first

27:50 - Culture of ownership and reporting discipline

45:52 - The role of partner enablement at scale

50:48 - Presenting to the board and owning the number

Key Takeaways

1. Mini-Founders First: Marcel prioritized hiring entrepreneurial talent who could own a market and figure out what works before scaling.

2. Reporting is Strategy: Clean attribution and shared CRM visibility are non-negotiable if you want internal alignment and credibility.

4. Partner Enablement is Make or Break: Fast partner activation—within the first two weeks—is the key to long-term results.

5. Partnerships = Business Unit: Marcel runs his org with full P&L ownership, localized teams, and dedicated marketing and ops support.

6. Culture Eats Incentives: Internal collaboration is less about comp plans and more about shared trust and aligned goals.

Key Quotes

"My whole thing right now is, hey, can a partnership leader track performance all the way down to earnings per share... even if you can come down to like net income generated from partnerships, that would actually be a pretty cool thing." - Asher Mathew

"It sounded like when you initially took this on, you were looking quite broad at a lot of different types of organizations that could drive the business forward." - Kelly Sarabyn

"Signing a partnership doesn't mean anything... we want to understand if they want to invest or not on this relationship, if they are able to sign on a business plan or not, and if they have the ambition to be relevant for us. Because we want to be relevant for them." - Marcel Queralt

Final Thoughts

Partnerships don’t scale on charm alone. Rooted in ownership, discipline, and strategic hiring, Marcel’s approach shows what it takes to turn partner teams into revenue engines. Whether you’re in the early days or managing a global org, this episode is a blueprint for doing it right. It’s also a reminder that treating partnerships as a real business unit is necessary if you want to move the needle.