How I work with sponsors

I'm an independent analyst covering AI x GTM strategies and technologies. I work with a small group of brand partners. They sponsor my work in exchange for advocacy and market insights. I only partner with products I use and believe in as a builder and strategist. Sponsors buy access, but never have a say in my thinking or frameworks. Every vendor score and rank comes from my data and methods. Sponsors can't tip the scale. I outlined my principles for working with brands below.

Current and past partners

beehiiv

ZoomInfo

Apify

Primer

DevRev

Clay

My principles

I only work with brands I'd want to share even if they didn't pay me. I have to think the product is great, and the brand needs a noteworthy strategy for the agent era. My test: can my agents connect to it and run it through an API, MCP or CLI? I'm a builder too, so I use these products in real agents, skills, and workflows. I have already passed on many deals because of this requirement.
Sponsors buy access, never conclusions. They get placements, amplification, research and sometimes my time (insights, advice). They don't get a say in my thinking or frameworks.
It's not pay to play. I cover categories that include sponsors and non-sponsors. Apify is a sponsor, and I still wrote about Firecrawl's $75M raise. If I'm covering a trend, I discuss all the players that are interesting and gaining traction, regardless of my commercial relationships.
I'm transparent about my partners. They're all listed above. It's also front-and-center in my newsletter. On social media I call it out when relevant.
The rank is never for sale. In the GTM Index, every product I track gets scored. Sponsors never get a boost in my GTM Index, Creator Index, or Moves.

What I offer brands

Advocacy

Your brand in front of the GTM leaders and builders who read my newsletter. Amplification and real builds with your product when relevant to my work.

Advisory

Bespoke market insights based on my research system and curated market data. It monitors about 20,000 posts a month and identifies the trends, vendors, and people driving GTM strategy and tech in the agent era. You get reports and data your team, or your agents, can use.