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Nearbound Daily #442: From spooky to inspiring 👻

Startup Day at the Summit will feature Jason Lemkin, Pete Caputa, Kevin Maney, Lindsay Cordell, Madelyn Wing, Laura Padilla, Jay McBain, and many more!

Still haven’t registered? Don’t miss the biggest virtual event in B2B GTM.

A Halloween Tale 🎃

Don’t worry, Michael! Only 6 more days!

It was a dark and stormy Halloween night. A GTM leader sat in his office, staring blankly into the pale glow of his laptop. 

A soft *ding* echoed into his empty study, indicating a new email. It was from his boss, with the subject line "2024 KPIs".

It can’t be, he choked. Not yet. Sweat began collecting on his furrowed brow. He took a deep breath and clicked the email open. 

At that exact moment, lightning struck, stretching its bright, finger-like tendrils across the cloudy sky.

He jumped out of his ergonomic chair. It was worse than he thought. The goals were higher, the budget was lower, and the pressure to meet them was as heavy as the thunder outside his window.

He started pacing in front of his IKEA desk. He and his team couldn’t get there with the strategies they’d been using. 

What the heck are we going to do? He asked himself. 

There’s another wayyyyy, a voice responded as if just behind him. He spun around, grabbing the wiffle ball bat his son had left on the floor of his office just that morning. 

Who’s there?! he shouted, pulling his arms up into his best Babe Ruth stance, ready to strike. 

Nearbound is the wayyyyy, the voice sang out again in a ragged whisper. 

A cold passed through his bones as he saw his computer mouse begin to move on its own, clicking the search bar, and then slowly typing:

n-e-a-r-b-o-u-n-d-s-u-m-m-i-t-.-c-o-m

The page appeared. He kept his weapon ready while carefully approaching the computer.

He couldn’t believe what he saw.

80+ speakers and thousands of attendees gathering virtually just 6 days from now to solve the exact problems he and his team were facing. And he wouldn’t have to pay a cent to attend. 

Who...who are you? He asked more gently, finally understanding that, whatever this entity was, it was here to help. 

But there was no response. Only the roar of the storm and the soft muffle of his children’s candy-fueled laughter downstairs.  

He quickly registered, and then slowly shut his laptop. After all, who was he to ignore the messages of guiding spirits on All Hallows’ Eve?

Escape the horror! 

Collaboration doesn’t need to be scary 😱

Success teams shouldn’t be afraid of partners. 

They should see them as their greatest allies.

Partners can provide the intel, influence, and introductions needed to give your customers a world-class experience. That means Success teams can have the shortest and easiest path to retention.  

Change the narrative between Customer Success and Partnerships teams from spooky to inspiring with the help of Sunir Shah and Bruno Yoffe on Success Day at the Nearbound Summit. 

Danger lurks in the Metaverse 😨

Image source: JSTOR daily

The metaverse is gaining in popularity. Millions of people around the world are joining the online universe to connect professionally and personally.

But according to Forbes, there is privacy and data danger lurking in the corners of this new online playground.

Here’s why:

• To offer personalized experiences, metaverse platforms amass mountains of data about user actions and preferences. However, it’s unclear how it is stored and shared.
• The metaverse is essentially one big Halloween party. Users can opt to stay incognito or create digital personas. This kind of anonymity can be used to facilitate complex scams.
• The metaverse acts as a bridge between your online and offline life. This means that actions in the metaverse can have real-world repercussions.

It’s also important to ask how dangers in the metaverse will impact the trust of those who connect with other professionals online. If buyers get gamed in the metaverse, who’s to say they won’t be even more distrusting of other data-driven software, or even professional connections made through LinkedIn?

It’s a creepy potential reality—and one that can only be combated through real-world relationships.

Nearbound trick or treat! 🍬🍭

Don’t wait for tonight! Get some early nearbound treats from this conversation with Will Taylor,  Zac Blakely, and Ari Barmapov.

Listen to the episode here.

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Join the official Nearbound Summit community brought to you by Partnership Leaders — Partnership leaders’ goal is to connect people interested in learning about partnerships around the world. 
• November 1st —Firneo Partner Strategy Forum (Day 3): How to Get Executive Buy-In for Partnerships— Learn how to secure resources & support from key stakeholders that are critical to partnership success. 
• Nov 8th, 2 PM EST —How to Navigate a Nascent Partner Ecosystem— Join Jules Birchler (Head of Business Development at Zapata) and Scott Pollack (CEO at Firneo) as they venture into the great unknown of emerging markets. 
• November 6th-9th —Nearbound Summit 2023— The future of GTM is Nearbound. Join us for the biggest-ever remote experience in GTM where B2B leaders across departments unite to share how they’re winning with Nearbound strategies and tactics. 
• Enroll before November 14th —PXP Academy Partner Manager Certification Course— Join the interactive learning session that equips you with everything you need to be successful in your daily job as an operational Partner person. 
• November 16th —Elevate Your Presale GTM with Tech Partners— Learn from industry experts like Kelly Sarabyn (HubSpot), Jared Fuller (nearbound.com and Reveal), Sunir Shah (AppBind), and Alexander Buckles (Forecastable). Evolve your GTM strategy with tech partners. 
• Enroll by November 17th —Firneo’s Mastering Partnerships Strategy (4-week course)— Registration is now open! Learn how to diagnose and solve your partner program’s biggest challenges from the world’s top partnership leaders. Use the code "NEARBOUND" for a 1:1 Strategy Coaching package (worth $1,000) for FREE. 
• April 19th-20th —SaaS Connect 2023— It’s that time of year again! Get your spot early for the 11th annual partnership conference in San Francisco, hosted by Cloud Software Association. 

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