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    For CEOs and CROs at $10M to $350M B2B SaaS

    Make the next GTM bet without betting your seat.

    I help CEOs and CROs at growth-stage SaaS pick their next GTM bets, pressure-test them, and prove them before the board meeting.

    Book a 30-minute working sessionHow advisory works
    Matt Dornfeld

    Matt Dornfeld

    Partnerships I've launched or run with

    • Amazon
    • Google
    • Meta
    • TikTok
    • Walmart
    • Mercado Libre

    Your playbook didn't stop working because you got worse.

    Matt Dornfeld speaking on a panel

    You just walked out of the board meeting. Maybe growth is slowing, rep productivity is slipping, and the ask specifically to you was to re-accelerate all of it with AI. Perhaps your partner program barely exists, and you're similarly trying to figure out how to attach AI to as many deals as possible.

    I've sat in that room at a few companies, and you're not behind. Few people, if any, have this all figured out, whatever LinkedIn says. The playbook you built your career on assumed a world that has changed, and the next bet you make will be a visible one.

    If that's not your week, this partnership may not be for you, and that's totally fine.

    Things that looked like the answer and weren't

    A partner program

    Partners never got a reason to invest in you, so they didn't.

    An AI tool stack

    Each tool promised 10x, adoption landed in the single digits, and nobody can tie the gains to revenue.

    AI pilots

    They were measured on vibes ("feels faster"), so finance won't fund round two.

    "Clean the data first"

    It kept AI on the roadmap and out of production, quarter after quarter.

    Chasing Google or Meta

    You got a logo, a silent partner manager, or nothing.

    An enablement hire or platform

    It became a training calendar instead of a way to scale what your best people know.

    Hiring to backfill

    You hired against a job description written for the old version of the job.

    None of these were dumb bets. Most of them were missing the same thing underneath, and none of them were pressure-tested before the money moved.

    Fundamentals first. AI is the payoff.

    There's a pattern I've seen in every GTM org I've worked in. Two reps, same territory, same playbook, same stack, and one consistently wins. It isn't effort. It's judgment, and the question I've been chasing for about ten years is how you scale it.

    Where I've landed is that it comes from a small number of bets made well, and most of them aren't AI bets. They're the ones that make AI bets provable.

    01

    Programs that create distribution

    Partner programs that give partners a real reason to invest, platform partnerships that actually get worked, and events tied to a revenue number instead of a badge count.

    02

    People and systems that scale judgment

    Enablement with real programs for managers, reps and ops, hiring for the version of the job that exists now, and raising the floor of the whole team instead of cutting it.

    03

    AI where you can prove it

    Once the first two are running, there's a baseline, an owner and a number finance recognizes. That's when you know what to build (your judgment layer) and what to just buy.

    How advisory works

    Six questions before any bet gets budget

    Most of the bets that blow up on a revenue leader weren't bad ideas. They were committed before anyone asked a few boring questions. These are the ones I ask before a partner program, a tool, a hire or an AI pilot gets money.

    1. 1

      What's the baseline?

      If you can't say what the number is today, you won't be able to prove anything moved.

    2. 2

      Who owns it?

      One name. Not a committee, and not the vendor.

    3. 3

      What number moves, and will finance recognize it?

      Revenue per rep, partner-sourced pipeline, ramp time. Not "better insights."

    4. 4

      What's the smallest reversible version?

      A cohort, a region, one partner, one segment. Prove it small before you scale it.

    5. 5

      What would make us stop, and when?

      Write down the kill criteria and the date before you start, so stopping is a plan and not a failure.

    6. 6

      What's the vendor actually claiming, and can they show it working somewhere like you?

      If they can't, you're the case study.

    See how advisory worksEmail this to your team

    My receipts, not frameworks

    Numbers I owned, from inside the companies that produced them.

    $28MM

    Partner-sourced ARR, 140% to plan, 48% of FY24 revenue

    100+

    Partners acquired, team of 11, co-sell playbooks across AMER, EMEA and APAC

    40+

    Global platform partnerships launched at Commerce

    #1

    Rep at a retail SaaS company, 133% of quota, $1.3MM new ARR

    Matt Dornfeld presenting the GTM AI Maturity Ladder to a full room at Forrester B2B Summit 2026

    Forrester B2B Summit, April 2026

    Embracing Change: why engineering has its AI productivity story and GTM doesn't yet, and what revenue leaders can do about it.

    Forrester speaker page

    A talk that became a funded role

    A CRO at a growth-stage vertical SaaS company used a version of my Embracing Change talk and a few follow-up conversations to define a new role on their team, then got it funded at up to $300K. He described the conversations as instrumental.

    From partner to advisory client

    A revenue-tech SaaS business closed its deal with a public company with my support, and later hired me as a GTM strategy advisor to expand the selling motion.

    Pricing

    Start with a conversation. Most people do.

    Free

    Working session

    30 minutes

    Every engagement starts here. You bring the problem, I'll give you a straight read on where I think the leak is, and if I'm not the right person I'll tell you who is.

    Book a working session

    Monthly

    Advisory

    Starting at

    $5K/month

    Three-month minimum.

    An operator in your corner who helps pressure-test every meaningful bet before the money moves, helps you keep a bet log you can share with your leadership team or board, and helps you prepare for each board meeting.

    How advisory works

    One-time

    GTM Strategy Workshop

    $25K to $50K

    One day with your exec team, for when one bet deserves the whole team in the room.

    About the workshop

    Interested in having me speak at a conference or hosting an exec dinner? See speaking.

    Recent memos

    Short, plain, and written to be forwarded.

    Fundamentals before AI

    AI Spots the Deal Risk. Acting on It Still Takes Days.

    A new survey of 195 revenue leaders found 45% take four or more days to act on a deal-risk signal. The tool isn't the slow part. Here's how to give every signal an owner, a play and a clock.

    7 min read    Fundamentals before AI

    AI Budgets Are Up, Returns Are Flat. In Other News, the Sky Is Still Blue!

    Bain's 2026 survey found most AI savings landed in the 0 to 10% range. Here's the build-versus-buy decision that changes the math, and why your own data is the part worth owning.

    7 min read    Calling out the slop

    Enterprise AI Needs an Operating Model, Not More Agents

    SAP's own course correction at Sapphire 2026 says what most revenue leaders already suspect: AI returns depend on the operating model underneath, not on how many agents you deploy.

    6 min read
    All memos

    From the platforms

    One of the most common things I hear from CROs is that the big partners won't return the call. Here's what some of the people on the other side of that call say about working with me.

    “I have worked on partner deals with Matt at multiple companies and would gladly work with him again.”
    Amazon

    David Savelson

    Global Partnerships Lead, SP-API, Amazon

    “Matt's ability to structure and manage complex partnerships is truly impressive.”
    Meta

    Jan Gandhi

    Head of Partnerships - Commerce & AdTech, Americas, Meta

    “I couldn't recommend Matt more highly to any organization looking for a leader with a creative, commercial mindset.”
    Walmart

    Linh Nguyen

    Sr. Manager, Strategic Channel Partnerships, Walmart

    “Matt demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, and an unparalleled ability to bridge organizational goals with mutual success.”
    Mercado Libre

    Mariano Migues

    Head of US Business Development, Mercado Libre

    Read the full recommendations

    Questions people ask first

    CEOs and CROs at investor-backed B2B SaaS companies doing roughly $10M to $350M, often an exec with big-company pedigree now running a smaller or downmarket business. Retail and commerce SaaS is where I go deepest.

    Not really. I help with the GTM bets that make AI worth doing (partners, enablement, events, hiring) and then with the AI bets that sit on top of them. If you want someone to deploy agents next week, I'm probably not your person.

    With a 30-minute working session, and then usually advisory, lined up with your board calendar. You're not signing up for a transformation project to find out if we work well together.

    Most of what I do is risk management. Every meaningful bet gets a baseline, an owner, a number finance recognizes, a small reversible first version and written kill criteria before it gets budget. The goal is that nothing on your plan surprises you or your board.

    No. I don't sell software, and I'll only recommend specific tools or vendors if you ask. Some of my advisory clients are GTM software companies, and if one of them comes up, I'll tell you up front.

    Yes, usually by reframing it. Most of the time the better answer is raising the floor of the team you have, a smaller number of roles doing different work, and a clear plan for proving the AI piece in numbers finance will accept.

    That's been a big part of my career (I launched 40+ platform partnerships at Commerce). The short version is that they engage when you've given them a reason to, and figuring out that reason is usually one of the first bets we work on.

    A one-day session with your exec team for when one bet deserves the whole team in the room. It's $25K to $50K depending on scope, and most clients do it inside or after an advisory engagement.

    I don't run your team. I help you decide which bets to make, pressure-test them, and prove them, and you and your team run them.

    Yes. I still help lead GTM strategy at a high-growth SaaS company, and I advise a small number of revenue leaders alongside it. It keeps what I tell you current, and it's why I keep the client list small. Nothing confidential moves in either direction.

    Yes, on the same ideas: scaling judgment, partner and platform programs, and what's changing in revenue roles. See the speaking page.

    Book a 30-minute working session

    Pick what you'd like to talk about and grab a time. Every call is 30 minutes.

    Rather send a note?

    I read every one of these myself and reply by email within two business days.