Partnerships and co-selling for Series A companies: the 90-day install for healthcare and life sciences
The exact 90-day plan for standing up partnerships and co-selling at Series A — the point where the founder can no longer be every function. Written for commercial leaders at healthtech, medtech, and life-sciences companies.
This edition is written for commercial leaders at healthtech, medtech, and life-sciences companies. In healthcare and life sciences, healthcare buyers move under regulatory constraint and reward domain-specific messaging, so the way you install partnerships and co-selling has to reflect that reality from day one.
Series A is the moment partnerships and co-selling stops being optional. The founder has to step out of some of the work, the plan requires a defensible growth number, and every quarter compounds toward the next raise.
Day 1 to 30: diagnosis and instrumentation. Name the constraint, write the ICP, wire sourced and influenced pipeline from partners into the board pack.
Day 31 to 60: first live cycle at 20% of planned volume. Founder still in every review. Kill criteria written and enforced.
The binding constraint we see in healthcare and life sciences is almost always regulated-sale cycle length, not intent. Partnerships and co-selling is only useful in this vertical when it is pointed at that constraint — not at a generic growth number borrowed from another category.
Day 61 to 90: ramp to full volume, hire the first dedicated operator, and hand off ops. Founder retains strategy and the weekly review.
By day 90 the metric is legible and the trajectory is defensible. This is what turns a Series A story into a Series B round.
Trap most Series A companies fall into: signing MOUs no one operationalises. It usually shows up around day 45 when the founder tries to hire ahead of the model.
The Series A version of partnerships and co-selling looks small compared to what you will build at Series B. That is the point — it is a foundation, not a monument.
Concretely for healthcare and life sciences: the healthcare teams that install this get past procurement instead of dying in it. That is the reason it is worth installing partnerships and co-selling properly rather than half-heartedly across three vendors.
Frequently asked questions
Partnerships · healthcare — answered
- Does partnerships and co-selling work for healthcare and life sciences?
- Yes — provided it is aimed at regulated-sale cycle length, not intent rather than a generic growth number. The healthcare teams that install this get past procurement instead of dying in it.
- Should we start partnerships and co-selling before Series A?
- Yes if the founder has time; the Series A version is the same model at higher spend.
- How much of the round should fund partnerships and co-selling?
- Meaningful — often 20–30% of the growth line — but only after diagnosis.
- When do we hire the first partnerships and co-selling operator?
- Around day 60, once the model has run one full cycle with the founder.
- What Series A trap should we avoid?
- Signing MOUs no one operationalises — usually a premature senior hire.
- What is the healthcare specific pitfall with partnerships and co-selling?
- Running the generic playbook without adapting to healthcare buyers move under regulatory constraint and reward domain-specific messaging. The install has to be vertical-first.
Growth Broker editorial
Filed under partnerships · healthcare