The Channel Surfers

This conversational, insightful, and often humorous episode brings together hosts Jeff and John with guest Craig Booth, a seasoned technology sales and channel expert. The discussion charts Greg’s journey from direct sales at companies like Juniper Networks and Avaya into partner/channel leadership, and introduces his methodology-first approach to modernizing the partner ecosystem through data, AI...

In this celebratory and playful episode of the Channel Surfers podcast, co-hosts Jeff Lennon and John McCabe draw a compelling and humorous parallel between the founding of the United States in 1776 and the modern-day challenge of building and scaling a successful channel partner ecosystem. Recorded with Jeff “just outside of Philadelphia” on the cusp of America’s 250th birthday, the conversation...

John and Jeff open with their trademark easygoing banter—John’s son just got married in Charleston, South Carolina, and both hosts are happily exhausted—before welcoming their guest: Braden Young, co-founder of Sendoso and founder of Slash Experts. Across the conversation, they blend startup war stories, practical go-to-market tactics, and candid reflections on hiring, fundraising, scaling, and th...

In this episode, The Channel Surfers blends candid sales-shop talk with practical channel strategy and grounded AI insights. Jeff and John interview Jon Purcell, who runs Untapped Channel Strategy, to unpack how to de-conflict MSP and direct sales motions, compensate fairly, and leverage AI without the hype. Key threads: customer-first principles, smart comp plans, rules of engagement, AI as a pro...

On this episode of The Channel Surfers, Jeff and John opened their podcast by tackling the decline of the "generalist" partner model, where businesses try to be everything to everyone. They argued that market pressures from buyers, vendors, and AI are making this broad approach unsustainable. The core thesis is that partners must specialize to survive, focusing on specific outcomes, environments,...

On this episode, John McCabe and Jeff Lennon sit down with guest Joe Cellucci, operator, advisor, and co-founder of 215 Advisory—for a candid, operator-minded conversation about AI in go-to-market, revenue operations, and channel strategy. The trio cut through hype to focus on execution, governance, and context, blending practical mechanics with humor and straight talk about what actually moves th...

In this episode of The Channel Surfers, host John McCabe and Jeff Lennon introduce this fast-paced, candid conversation tackles the real mechanics of ecosystem go-to-market (GTM)—what it actually means in the field, how to orchestrate multiple partners around a single customer, and how to avoid “ecosystem theater” (great logos and decks, zero execution). The hosts blend humor and practitioner grit...

This episode of Channel Surfers features co-hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon in conversation with Neil Dooley, founder of Successful Selling Advisory and a data-driven fractional Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). The discussion is a candid and practical exploration of building and managing successful B2B SaaS revenue models, with a specific focus on sales forecasting, the role of fractional executives...

In this episode of "The Channel Surfers," hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon ride the fast-moving wave of "agentic AI" and its growing impact on the partner motion. With their signature conversational and insightful style, they explore the shift from AI that assists to AI that acts, helping listeners navigate what this change means for channel professionals without getting "crushed along the way."...

In this episode of "Channel Surfers," hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon are joined by Anders Noremo, founder of Third Party Trust (now acquired by Bitsight), to discuss his experience building a successful, 100% channel-focused sales model. In a candid, conversational discussion, Anders shares the strategic imperative and practical application of going all-in on channel, offering a masterclass in...

Partner-sourced attribution is one of the most debated and least trustworthy metrics in the channel. This episode builds the clean three-bucket model — sourced, influenced, accelerated — and gives you a way to get sales leadership to agree on it.

In this week's episode of "Channel Surfers," John McCabe and Jeff Lennon are joined by guest David "Dave" Levine, a technical sales executive, cybersecurity expert, and author of the new book, "Navigating the AI Wave." The wide-ranging discussion flows from the evolution of the IT channel and cybersecurity to the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence on the workforce, demystifying commo...

The Channel Surfers: Why Co-Marketing is the Best Bang for Your Buck In this episode of "The Channel Surfers," co-hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon dive deep into the strategic importance and practical execution of co-marketing with channel partners. In a conversational and collaborative style, they argue that co-marketing is a more effective and cost-efficient strategy for brand awareness and lea...

John McCabe and Jeff Lennon break down how channel leaders can turn RSA Conference momentum into real pipeline and partner-driven revenue. With a practical, no-nonsense approach (and a few laughs along the way), they outline how to avoid “happy ears” and post-event drop-off by focusing on disciplined execution. From pre-event planning to 30-60-90 day follow-up frameworks, the episode delivers clea...

John and Jeff deliver a warm, candid, and often humorous conversation that is a pragmatic exploration of AI for channel leaders. Across three intertwined themes—AI literacy and value, partner enablement and forecasting, and governance and guardrails—they share first-hand tactics, tool stacks, and cautionary notes for making AI both useful and safe in day-to-day channel operations. Major Takeaways...

In this episode, we look to help listeners stop running “partner programs” like a list and start running the ecosystem like a revenue operating system. Focus on what Kyle is known for: partner reality checks, PartnerOps plus RevOps alignment, clean definitions, and weekly execution cadence. Episode Promise: Most teams do not have a partner problem. They have a systems problem. Messy data, unclear...

Co-hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon return to the roots of Channel Surfers with an energetic, candid, and practical deep dive into Nearbound—what they describe as a people-first, trust-driven distribution philosophy—alongside actionable guidance for measuring influence, building channel programs, and designing quarterly motions that compound results over time. The tone is conversational and frien...

- The episode dives into building repeatable revenue machines and modern channel orchestration, featuring Leland Morris—founder and “revenue architect” behind ChannelBridge. - Core message: eliminate manual friction and architect clear, continuously updated, syndicated content across partner ecosystems; systems and execution beat one-off heroics. - Why it’s valuable: blends strategic foresight (AI...

A lively, field-tested masterclass in channel presence and partnership craft. Hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon welcome Mitch Simon —known on LinkedIn as “#MitchOnTheRoad”—for a candid, humorous, and deeply practical conversation about life “in the field” as a channel leader. The trio covers what it really takes to operate in the trenches with partners, the mindset shift from direct sales to chann...

In this deeply insightful and practical conversation, guest Will Taylor of AudienceLed joins hosts Jeff and John to deliver a masterclass on executing effective and scalable co-marketing strategies. The discussion, characterized by its conversational yet professional tone, moves from high-level principles to granular, actionable advice for businesses of all sizes. The hosts express profound apprec...

This episode of the Channel Surfers podcast features the return of Andreas Geamanu, CEO of Introw, for a warm, conversational, and business-focused discussion with hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon. The conversation covers the "crazy" growth and new AI-powered features at Introw, and the potential for powerful collaborations between their respective companies. The tone is enthusiastic and opportun...

In this multi-faceted episode of "Channel Surfers," hosts John McCabe and Jeff Lennon, dive deep into "SKO season," the pivotal time of year dominated by Sales Kickoffs. With their signature conversational, practical, and insightful style, they offer a comprehensive playbook for maximizing the value of these industry gatherings. They emphasize that SKOs are critical work opportunities requiring a...

Jeff and John sit down with Entrepreneur Raj Skrezyna of CONNECTIVEAI to talk about new ways to partner utilizing Gen AI to help run your partner business. Raj can be reached at raj@runconnective.ai or her website www.runconnective.ai

Jeff and John sit down with Jessica Simon of Google to discuss the world of Distribution partners. Jessica's experience in the Disti space is unmatched and we learn about treading the waves of working with Disti. Major Takeaways - Distribution has shifted from logistics and financing to strategic enablement, platform development, and hyperscaler navigation. - Even for software-first organizations,...

This isn’t a recap episode—it’s a surf session across the 12 biggest waves that shaped the channel in 2024. In this fast-paced, value-packed year-end special, Jeff and John stitch together the most impactful insights, debates, and field-tested truths from the past year of The Channel Surfers. From nearbound and ecosystem economics to revenue reality, operator grit, AI execution, and the rise of fr...