Thanks, I think I needed some pushing here. Ecosystem pretty much equalled partners and integrations in my mind. This is a better way to have a holistic appreciation of it.
so glad it reconated - yeah, I really think it runs deeper than partnerships - it touches the org design and business model. Would love to analyze more examples soon. What are your fauvorite ecosystems? Have a great 2026! Thanks for reading this Substack <3
Exceptional breakdown of Clay's ecosystem model! The shift from 'push harder' to 'design pull systems' really nails why traditional GTM feels like a tredmill. Most startups probably wonder where to even start with all those rings tho. I've seen teams try to build everything at once and end up burning through resources instead of unlocking compounding growth loops.
Hey - I wish I knew your name so I could reply more personally :))
1. Happy 2026, hope you had a great celebration.
2. Huge thanks for reading this Substack and for your excellent comments - love having you here.
3. It is so tempting to think that "others are gonna do the sale/affiliate instead of us" (I did this mistake early on, too). We have to learn how to sell the thing first and scale messages and offers that are proven to work - not saying that you did that - but seeing this anti-pattern in my portfolio companies. My best recommendation here is that, more likely than not, the founder will have to do all the "visionary sales" from 0 to 1. After something works, more people are eager to jump on. I just got a message from a friend who was scaling a partnership program (agencies for an AI product, post-PMF). He limited the participation to 20 established partners of an adjacent company - cannot be more specific- sorry - and managed them hands-on for 8 months to get to something shy of $1M in new revenue. You are welcome to tell me more, so I can be more specific.
Thanks a million for your feedback, I agree we should carefully watch what is going on in the GTM ecosystem space- especially with AI native companies. Happy 2026!
Thanks, I think I needed some pushing here. Ecosystem pretty much equalled partners and integrations in my mind. This is a better way to have a holistic appreciation of it.
so glad it reconated - yeah, I really think it runs deeper than partnerships - it touches the org design and business model. Would love to analyze more examples soon. What are your fauvorite ecosystems? Have a great 2026! Thanks for reading this Substack <3
Exceptional breakdown of Clay's ecosystem model! The shift from 'push harder' to 'design pull systems' really nails why traditional GTM feels like a tredmill. Most startups probably wonder where to even start with all those rings tho. I've seen teams try to build everything at once and end up burning through resources instead of unlocking compounding growth loops.
Hey - I wish I knew your name so I could reply more personally :))
1. Happy 2026, hope you had a great celebration.
2. Huge thanks for reading this Substack and for your excellent comments - love having you here.
3. It is so tempting to think that "others are gonna do the sale/affiliate instead of us" (I did this mistake early on, too). We have to learn how to sell the thing first and scale messages and offers that are proven to work - not saying that you did that - but seeing this anti-pattern in my portfolio companies. My best recommendation here is that, more likely than not, the founder will have to do all the "visionary sales" from 0 to 1. After something works, more people are eager to jump on. I just got a message from a friend who was scaling a partnership program (agencies for an AI product, post-PMF). He limited the participation to 20 established partners of an adjacent company - cannot be more specific- sorry - and managed them hands-on for 8 months to get to something shy of $1M in new revenue. You are welcome to tell me more, so I can be more specific.
Maja, Loved the way this ties product usage, community, and partners into one GTM system.
Feels like the natural evolution of PLG done right.
Thanks a million for your feedback, I agree we should carefully watch what is going on in the GTM ecosystem space- especially with AI native companies. Happy 2026!