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Partnerships & Co-Marketing

Team up with a company that already serves your customers — integrate, co-create or get resold — so their audience becomes yours and yours becomes theirs.

Cost
Free
Time to results
Months
Difficulty
Medium
Best for
B2B
0/7

Proof first

6 companies already did this.

The best partnerships give each side something its users notice — not just a logo swap.

Deep dives

Two case studies, start to finish.

Spotify × Facebook — plug into a bigger network

Spotify · 2011

Platform integration · 1M+ new users

What they built: listening activity shared to Facebook; sign-up with Facebook

What they didAt Facebook's f8 conference in September 2011, Spotify launched a deep integration: what you listened to could appear on Facebook, and new users signed up with their Facebook account.

Why it workedEvery song played became a visible recommendation to friends. Reports counted over a million new users within days. (Spotify's US launch that summer helped too — integrations amplify a good product; they don't replace one.)

Copy thisIntegrate where your users' friends already are, so using your product shows it to the next user.

Stripe × Shopify — be the engine inside a platform

Stripe · 2013

Embedded partner · Shopify Payments

What they built: "Powered by Stripe" in the Shopify Payments logo at launch

What they didWhen Shopify launched Shopify Payments in August 2013, Stripe processed the payments underneath. The launch logo even read "Powered by Stripe".

Why it workedInstead of selling to merchants one by one, Stripe reached them through the platform they already used — every new Shopify store could become Stripe volume.

Copy thisFind a platform whose customers need what you do, and offer to be the part it doesn't want to build.

The guide

7 steps, each anchored to a real example.

Tick each step off as you go. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Step 1 · ~2 hours

List companies that already have your customers

Same buyer, different problem — not competitors. Write down 20: tools your users already pay for, agencies that advise them, platforms they build on.

SpreadsheetYour users' tool stack

How HubSpot did this step

Illustration

HubSpot's Solutions Partner Program works with agencies that already advise HubSpot's buyers — so they sell and implement it as part of their work.

Source [6] ↓

Step 2 · ~1 week

Find the integration that helps both sets of users

Look for the moment a user of their product needs yours. Build or propose the connection that serves that moment.

APIsZapierFigma mock-up

How Spotify did this step

Discord
Slack
WhatsApp
Facebook

Illustration

Spotify's Facebook integration put what people were listening to in front of their friends — every play became a recommendation.

Source [1] ↓

Step 3 · ~2 weeks

Start with one co-marketing project

Before any big agreement, propose one concrete thing: a co-written guide, a joint webinar, a bundle, a newsletter swap. Small wins build trust.

Shared docWebinar tool

How GoPro did this step

Illustration

GoPro and Red Bull — two of the biggest extreme-sports brands on YouTube — built their relationship through shared content. In 2016 it became a multi-year deal, with Red Bull taking a stake in GoPro.

Source [3] ↓

Step 4 · ~1 hour

Make the value to them obvious

Lead with what they get: a feature their users ask for, retention, revenue share. Bring numbers about the audience you share.

One-page proposal

How Uber did this step

Illustration

Uber riders with a paid Spotify account could play their own music in the car — a feature for Uber, and a reason to use Spotify every day.

Source [2] ↓

Step 5 · ~Months

Build a partner program once 1:1 works

When a few partnerships work, make it repeatable: a partner page, a revenue share, a directory listing, support for partners' own customers.

Partner pageRevenue shareDirectory

How Shopify did this step

Ambassador
Moderator
Member

Illustration

Shopify describes a $1.3 billion app ecosystem built by developers on its platform — partners grow Shopify by growing their own businesses.

Source [5] ↓

Step 6 · ~Months

Or become the engine inside someone else's product

If a platform's customers need what you do, offer to power it for them. You give up the spotlight in exchange for reach.

APIPartnership agreement

How Stripe did this step

#CHANGELOG

Illustration

Stripe processed payments for Shopify Payments from its 2013 launch — reaching Shopify's merchants through Shopify.

Source [4] ↓

Step 7 · ~Monthly

Track what every partner sends

Give each partner a tracked link or code. Keep the partnerships that bring customers; politely end the ones that don't.

UTM linksPartner codesCRM

How HubSpot did this step

Illustration

HubSpot's partner program pays revenue share on the deals partners bring in, with tiers and benefits based on that business.

Source [7] ↓

Before you start

Pros & cons.

Works in your favour

  • Reaches an audience you couldn't buy
  • Borrowed trust: a partner's recommendation carries weight
  • Often free or revenue-share only
  • Integrations make your product stickier
  • Can scale into a whole channel

Go in with eyes open

  • Slow to set up — big partners move slowly
  • You depend on someone else's priorities
  • Many partnerships produce nothing; most value comes from a few
  • Platform partners can change terms or compete with you

Make it yours

Three ways to run it.

The Spotify × Facebook model

Platform integration

Plug into a bigger network so use spreads itself. Best for consumer products with something to share.

The Stripe × Shopify model

Embedded engine

Power a platform's feature. Best for infrastructure and APIs.

The HubSpot model

Agency / reseller program

Partners sell and implement you for their clients. Best for B2B software that needs setup.

Copy and paste

Templates & resources.

Partnership pitch email

lead with their users

Subject: Idea for {their company}'s {customers}

Hi {name} — many of your customers use {product} for {job}; we hear them ask for {connection}.

Idea: {one concrete project — integration / co-written guide / webinar}.
For you: {benefit to their users or revenue}.
For us: {honest benefit}.

Worth 20 minutes to sketch it?

Co-marketing plan

one project before any big deal

Project: {joint guide / webinar / bundle}
Audience: {their list size} + {yours}
Each side does: {tasks}
Promotion: {email date} · {social} · {in-app}
Success looks like: {signups / leads} by {date}
Next step if it works: {integration / revenue share}

Partner tracking sheet

keep what works

Partner | Type | Link/code | Visits | Signups | Paying | Revenue | Last contact | Keep?
{name} | integration | | | | | | |
{name} | agency | | | | | | |

From the showcase

Be the first founder featured here.

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Discussion

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Share a result, ask a question, or say what you'd do differently. The next founder to try this will thank you.

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Receipts

Sources & references.

Last reviewed

  1. 1.
    Spotify gains 1 million new users from Facebook integration (opens in a new tab)

    The Next Web, 2011

  2. 2.
    Uber and Spotify team up for in-car music (opens in a new tab)

    Engadget, 2014

  3. 3.
    Red Bull takes a stake in GoPro as part of content partnership (opens in a new tab)

    Tubefilter, 2016

  4. 4.
    Shopify's secret growth weapon: Stripe (opens in a new tab)

    The Logic

  5. 5.
    The developers behind Shopify's $1.3 billion app ecosystem (opens in a new tab)

    Shopify

  6. 6.
    HubSpot Solutions Partner Program (opens in a new tab)

    HubSpot

  7. 7.
    Solutions Partner tiers, benefits and revenue share (opens in a new tab)

    HubSpot, 2026

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