The EA-Podcast: Why Trust is the New Currency in GTM feat. Forest Yule Donovan
By Sebastian Hoelzl,
Lead gen is broken. In Ecosystem Alpha’s debut, Full Story’s Forrest Donovan explains how to ditch old playbooks and leverage trust, AI, and partner ecosystems to win in the new Who-Economy.
Traditional lead gen is broken, and buyers are tuning out. In the current market, trust is the most valuable currency you have.
Welcome to the very first episode of Ecosystem Alpha, the podcast where ecosystem strategy meets GTM execution. Today, hosts Sebastian and Will sit down with Forrest Donovan, Senior Director of Strategic Alliances at Full Story, to roast the old-school funnel playbook and discuss what actually works in 2026.
Forrest shares how top teams are moving away from the volume-based “how” economy and stepping into the “who” economy by leveraging trusted partner networks. We break down how to use AI as a scalpel—not a sledgehammer—to build hyper-personalized co-selling material, why the industry is shifting from Software as a Service (SaaS) to Results as a Service (RaaS), and the anatomy behind a massive multi-million dollar partner-sourced deal.
If your response rates are dropping and your sales team is frustrated, this episode is your blueprint for a new way forward.
- Welcome to Ecosystem Alpha: The GTM Trust Crisis
- Introducing Forrest Donovan from Full Story
- The GTM Roast: Why the Traditional Demand Gen Waterfall is Breaking
- Getting Above the Noise: Using AI & Ecosystems to Build Trust
- The Shift from SaaS to Results as a Service (RaaS)
- Anatomy of a Deal: Breaking Down a Multi-Million Dollar Co-Sell Win
- Rethinking KPIs: Why We Need a “Partner Impact Score”
- Outro & Nominating Our Next Guest: George at High Touch
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