Working with Nelson has been an absolute game changer. His guidance on partner strategy and program design helped turn what began as a hodgepodge of small passion projects, into a cohesive, high-performing ecosystem. In less than a year (!!), Clay’s partnerships motion evolved into a true growth engine.... driving pipeline, partner-sourced ARR, and deeper co-sell and delivery alignment across our solutions partner network. His frameworks also helped us establish the ground work for all our work tapping into new channels (private equity, GSI, etc.). Don't think our team could've done this as quickly - or at this caliber - without Nelson's coaching.

We brought Nelson in to build our partnerships strategy from scratch, and the impact has been immediate. He assessed our entire partnerships go-to-market strategy, conducted cross-functional interviews with our leadership, sales, product, and engineering teams, and delivered a comprehensive partnership framework tailored to our stage and market. Nelson doesn’t just advise, he also embeds himself in the business and began building relationships immediately with potential partners. He joined our Slack channels, built relationships across our team, and brought the kind of operational rigor you’d expect from someone who’s built partner programs from zero to $200M+ at companies like Airtable, Miro, and Box. His ability to translate high-level strategy into concrete deliverables - from ideal partner profiles to deal structures to GTM plays with partners was incredibly helpful. He also helped us hire an incredible Head of Partnerships by building the ideal candidate profile with key criteria, JD, interview process and initial interviews to ensure we got the right person in seat to drive the partner business. If you’re a founder or CRO trying to figure out partnerships, Nelson is the person to call.

Nelson is one of the most impressive partnerships leaders I’ve ever worked with. What stood out immediately was how deeply he invested in understanding our product, our vision, and the ecosystem we’re building for. This wasn’t surface-level consulting as Nelson immersed himself in the nuances of voice AI, our competitive landscape, and how partnerships could accelerate our platform in ways we hadn’t fully mapped out ourselves. He helped us think through integration partnerships, technology alliances and solutions partners - and how to structure partner programs that our entire team was genuinely excited to support. His recommendations were sharp, specific, and actionable, not generic playbook advice, but strategies built for exactly where we are and where we’re headed. Nelson quickly became a trusted partner across our entire organization. He also helped us build a hiring process around the Head of Partnerships role (saving us countless hours and helping to reduce business risk) and found an amazing Head of Partnerships for us as well. Leading AI companies serious about building a world-class partnerships function should work with Nelson - I highly recommend him.

I've known Nelson since we worked together 17 years ago. It's been incredible watching him build partner programs from zero to one at leading tech companies. When we worked together at Box, he helped scale the partner program to hundreds of partners and I saw firsthand his passion, enthusiasm and work ethic with partners. He excels at bringing a strategic vision, principles first thinking and frameworks to build and scale partnerships at fast growth tech companies. I highly recommend his work!

Nelson is one of those exceptional leaders you hang onto! I’ve had a front row seat to Nelson building an organization from zero to tens of millions in ARR. Hands down one of my favorite people to work with. His commitment to principles and practical frameworks consistently delivered impactful results. Plus, he brings a unique blend of empathy, clarity, creativity and dedication to continuous improvement that really sets him apart. As a leader or IC looking to elevate your partnership strategy, you must call Nelson right away.

I had the pleasure of working with Nelson when he led mobile partnerships at Optimizely. He did a tremendous job in creating and scaling up a solid foundation for the partner program. He expertly worked with our sales, marketing & operations team globally. I've stayed close with Nelson through the years & have learned a great deal from him & highly recommend Nelson if you’re looking to learn about partner strategy & building a world class program from 0 to 1.

The transition from an expert to authority is the ability to distill complex knowledge with clarity, workflows and logic. Nelson brings forth his deep market insights, career experience and expertise into these simple to follow frameworks. We've leveraged some of these assets into our existing models, ensuring we deliver best practice methodologies for companies we engage with. Be ready any time for an exec briefing to nailing a partnership strategy with key partners. Download them, and let your partners know too! We're all better together

The Partnership Principles strategy pitch deck is a complete game changer for anyone in Channels & Alliances. Nelson provides you with a structured framework that is easy to consume. Whether you are building a program from scratch, pitching for internal alignment, or creating a joint strategy with your strategic partners, I would highly recommend this template. What I love most is how versatile it is. It provides the foundation you need and allows you to customize to your specific use cases. I will be using this deck from here on out to structure my presentations internally and externally.

I work in Partner Acquisition and Activation at HubSpot, responsible for growing the Solutions Partner ecosystem across Australia and New Zealand. Nelson's Partner Principles training has been one of the most valuable development experiences I've had in this role. It didn't just teach frameworks - it fundamentally changed how I approach every partner conversation. From how I qualify prospects and structure discovery calls, to how I build activation plans and assess partner fit, I'm operating with a completely different level of clarity and confidence now. What surprised me most was how much it changed how I use AI in my day-to-day work. Nelson didn't just talk about AI tools - he showed us practical, real-world ways to integrate them into partnership workflows. That opened up a whole new way of working for me, and I've since built AI-assisted processes across my prospecting, call prep, and partner assessment workflows that I wouldn't have even thought of before. The best thing about Partner Principles is Nelson himself. He's genuinely down-to-earth and easy to engage with, which makes a huge difference when you're learning new concepts. He has this ability to take broad partnership principles and reframe them in a way that directly resonates with your specific role and context - and that's what separates someone who knows the theory from someone who's actually lived it. The sessions never felt like training. They felt like having a senior mentor in the room who's deeply invested in setting you up for success now and as you progress in your career.

I am a huge fan of the work Nelson is doing at Partner Principles for channel professionals. While every business is unique, the principles, objectives and challenges are often very similar. Having a set of proven structures and frameworks helps tremendously, whether you are rookies or veterans in the field. I highly recommend Partner Principles to any channel professionals looking to build a program.

We brought Nelson in when we needed to build our US partnerships motion and rethink our overall strategy. Nelson was tremendously helpful to give us the frameworks and strategic pointers that saved us months and backed our intuitions with his experience. What sets Nelson apart is that he always contextualizes his frameworks to your situation. He took the time to understand our product, market, and constraints, then adapted everything to where we actually are. He also went well beyond advising: making introductions, embedding himself in our day-to-day, and rolling up his sleeves on the work itself. And as an AI company, we especially appreciated that he brings an AI-native lens to partnerships rather than relying on legacy playbooks and ways of working.

Nelson’s 12-week training program has been an incredibly valuable experience for my team. I enrolled all five members, and throughout the course they found the sessions both eye-opening and highly practical. Nelson’s approach provided clear insights, actionable strategies, and a fresh perspective that challenged the team to think differently and improve their skills. I would highly recommend Nelson’s training to any leader or organisation looking to invest in their team’s growth and development.

Nelson has been an invaluable source of wisdom for both me and my team. He has equipped us with priceless knowledge that we will carry with us throughout our careers—from new AI tools and how to use them effectively, to partner strategies and best practices for communicating with both partners and customers. He challenged us to think outside the box and reflect on how we can perform our roles in the most effective way possible. Even beyond the scope of his formal agenda, Nelson never hesitates to answer our questions and offer guidance. His support has meant a great deal to our team and is something we will not forget. Thank you so much, Nelson! Keep in contact :)

I'm a partnership leader that's generating revenue and product adoption across fintech, ecommerce, adtech, and martech. Nelson and his partner strategy template helped me operate with clarity. I used his frameworks to sharpen planning and connect partnership work directly to revenue outcomes. Everything goes back to first principles, frameworks you can apply in different categories. If you want to learn how real partnership teams scale from zero to revenue, use these templates and chat with Nelson.

Truly, great partner programs have thoughtful, forward-thinking leaders who understand the eco-system, share & blend the expertise from serving in similar roles for various companies, and ultimately thrive by leaning in with their partners to find ways to win together. Nelson Wang embodies the excellence of great leadership & great partnership. I am grateful our paths crossed several years ago, I am grateful he inspired me to diversify, and more importantly, I am grateful that as we tried different things he gave me the space and freedom to pivot and figure out how GPMO aligned best. The result was confidence to pave our own path towards the clients we wanted to reach and serve. If you are out there thinking you want to stand up a new partner program or mature an existing partner program, definitely reach out to Nelson Wang at Partner Principles to take you on a journey of how to strategically achieve your goals! He's definitely got the secret sauce!

Nelson is a true legend. As we developed our updated partner program strategy, we leaned on him to help us validate industry standards and best practices. His insights and recommendations around professional services and partner synergy were invaluable. Nelson is consistently thoughtful, thorough, and an absolute pleasure to work with. Truly appreciate everything you do, Nelson!

Although I am now retired, I owned a boutique IT Consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. We became one of the leading national Cisco SMB Partners in no small part to the enthusiastic and creative support from Nelson as our Cisco Partner contact. He inspired us to achieve more than we imagined!

When I worked at CDW, Nelson came to one of our team meetings and pitched why we should be selling Box. I had no idea what the technology was but he helped me understand how my competitors were using it and if I wasn't going to bring it up, they were. I was early in my career and that conversation helped me understand the competitiveness of the industry and pushed me to always seek new knowledge. I still think back to that conversation 10+ years later. Thank you Nelson!