Building Scalable, Trust-Driven Partner Ecosystems

Bryn Jones’s path to Partner Relationship Management was anything but typical. Starting as a competitive swimmer on Canada’s national team, Bryn shifted gears during graduate school when he discovered a passion for technology and entrepreneurship. His first venture, a nonprofit collaboration platform called Pod, unintentionally led him to the world of partnerships. A simple “refer-a-friend” feature became that business's most effective growth tool—prompting him to realize the untapped potential of affiliate-driven go-to-market models.

In 2015, after conversations with Shopify’s early partnerships team and a successful pitch to Y Combinator, Bryn co-founded PartnerStack with a mission to transform how software is sold. The platform began as a basic referral tool but evolved into a full-fledged ecosystem management solution, addressing critical gaps in partner tracking, payout integrity, and top-of-funnel enablement.

Today, Bryn leads PartnerStack as it powers thousands of B2B SaaS partner programs with scalable affiliate marketing infrastructure. His approach has been rooted in trust, transparency, and the belief that partner ecosystems are not just a sales channel—but a strategic, data-driven growth engine. From athlete to ecosystem architect, Bryn’s journey underscores the importance of curiosity, resilience, and long-term vision in building the future of PRM.

PartnerStack’s early launch in 2015, tagged “get paid for recommending products you love,” quickly revealed a deeper market gap: B2B companies lacked infrastructure to support partner relationships. A turning point came when a partner reported $60,000 in unpaid commissions, highlighting the urgent need for financial transparency. This led PartnerStack to evolve beyond simple referrals, integrating affiliate marketing technology into a robust, commission-based platform that prioritized cash payouts and partner trust—distinguishing it from competitors focused on gift card incentives.

From 2015 to 2020, the idea of partnerships faced VC skepticism, with direct sales favored as the only scalable model. That changed abruptly with COVID-19, as lockdowns forced companies to find new paths to market. Partnerships became essential for reach, customer retention, and efficient growth—validated by SaaS leaders like HubSpot and Shopify, whose ecosystems drove significant revenue.

Beyond the pandemic, Product-Led Growth (PLG) emerged as a third wave, redefining partners as integrators and influencers, not just resellers. This shift expanded the partner definition to include review sites, consultants, and content creators—demanding new tools to manage these ecosystems. PartnerStack responded by building a platform for scalable, transparent, full-lifecycle partner management across this modern landscape.

PartnerStack has evolved into a robust ecosystem management platform centered on demand generation through top-of-funnel partnerships, including affiliates, influencers, and referral partners. These partners—from review sites and podcasts to consultants and forums—use tracked links to drive leads and revenue. The platform’s strength lies in seamless tracking, attribution, and global payouts. Since COVID-19, a network vision has matured into a core business engine, distinguishing PartnerStack from traditional PRM systems. Rather than offering custom portals, it operates as a distribution ecosystem, helping vendors discover and activate new high-value partners.

As an "honest broker," PartnerStack ensures partner authenticity, tracks traffic sources, flags fraud, and facilitates tax-compliant payments across dozens of currencies and countries. It supports the full partner lifecycle, from marketing qualified leads to upgrades and usage-based rewards—building trust and long-term value.

Looking ahead, PartnerStack is scaling to serve larger, more complex enterprises. Like Salesforce for CRM, it aims to be the unified platform for managing specific partner types. While it won’t offer deep workflow customization, it remains focused on core strengths: scalable demand gen and financial integrity. With AI, PartnerStack plans to enhance partner matching and optimize investment in successful partnerships, fueling exponential ecosystem growth.