What does it really take to build a world-class SaaS partner program from scratch? In this episode of Partnership Mastermind, I sit down with Jennifer Rima, Director of Partnerships at Apollo.io, to unpack how she built Apollo’s entire partner ecosystem—starting as a literal team of one and scaling it into one of the most respected partner engines in SaaS today.
We dive deep into the real work behind partnerships: from scrappy LinkedIn outreach and early mistakes, to designing affiliate, agency, tech, and startup ecosystem programs that actually drive revenue. Jennifer shares how Apollo turned partnerships into a serious growth lever at $150M+ in ARR, why process beats brute force, and how automation, discipline, and internal education helped partnerships earn credibility across sales, product, and leadership.
If you’re a partner manager, partnerships leader, or founder trying to scale partnerships the right way, this episode is packed with hard-won insights on prioritization, co-selling, agency partnerships, internal alignment, and playing the long game.
Jennifer Rhima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferrhima/
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Learn more about Partnership Mastermind https://partnershipmastermind.com/
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lavoie-phd-aaaa4111b/
Chris Lavoie is a leading voice in B2B SaaS partnerships, known for building programs that deliver real, measurable results. As the founder of Partnership Mastermind, he equips professionals with actionable tools, training, and mentorship. After building multiple partnership programs, he launched Partnership Mastermind.
