Belly2Belly

Hosted by Bill Kenney

Business MarketingInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

172

Latest episode

May 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The Belly2Belly podcast is focusing on exploring in-person B2B marketing. Our goal is to help you get the most out of your marketing and to leverage all of your business development assets.Belly2Belly is brought to you by MEET (meetroi.com) a company that specializes in helping international companies exhibit at US trade shows.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 16, 2026Episode 1014 min

Partner Networks Often Fail Long Before Anyone Realizes They're Failing

In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Chris Messina from QuarqAI about why traditional partnership models break down, why treating partners as lead-generation machines creates hidden risks, and how AI is helping organizations manage ecosystems more strategically.Chris Messina, QuarqAIhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjmessina..Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

May 12, 2026Episode 912 min

Getting More Partners Off the Bench with Emily McLellan

Most partner ecosystems struggle with the same challenge: only a small percentage of partners actively drive revenue. In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Emily McLellan from Bongo about why partner activation gaps exist, the risks of inconsistent messaging, and why verification matters just as much as training.Emily McClellan, Bongohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-mclellan/..Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

April 29, 2026Episode 814 min

Reimagining Enterprise Partner Programs: Insights from Jason W. Gallo

Enterprise partner programs are evolving as AI, SaaS, and customer expectations reshape the market. In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Jason W. Gallo from Cisco about how partner programs are shifting toward value, outcomes, and ecosystem collaboration.Jason W. Gallo, Cisco..Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

March 5, 2026Episode 714 min

Partnerships for Native AI Companies with Chris Samila

Partnership ecosystems are evolving quickly as native AI companies scale at unprecedented speed. In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Chris Samila from Partnership Leaders about how AI companies are building partner programs, why distribution matters more than ever, and how service and technology partners are beginning to blend together in the AI economy.Chris Samila, Partnership Leadershttps://www.partnershipleaders.com/https://www.joincatalyst.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissamila/..Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

March 3, 2026Episode 614 min

Partnering with AI Companies: Insights from David Winter

AI partnerships are evolving quickly, but they are not yet mature.In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney speaks with David Winter of Orion Innovation about the current AI partnership landscape and what system integrators should focus on today.They cover:• Why AI partnerships currently flow through cloud ecosystems• The role of Microsoft AI Foundry and AWS Bedrock• How frontier AI partner programs may develop by 2026• The hardware layer behind AI inference• How to prepare to become a launch partnerDavid WinterOrion Innovationhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/davewinter3/---Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

February 25, 2026Episode 514 min

Avoiding the Most Common U.S. Market Entry Mistakes with Cameron Heffernan

Sales is the one lynchpin to U.S. success.In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Cameron Heffernan from Beyond Borders Marketing about the most common mistakes companies make when expanding into the U.S. market and how to avoid them.They discuss why go-to-market matters more than operations, how to approach early traction, why niche targeting works, and what realistic B2B timelines look like.Cameron Heffernanhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronjh/https://www.marketingbeyondborders.com/blog-posts/expanding-to-the-us-market-avoid-these-8-most-common-missteps---Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

February 24, 2026Episode 415 min

Building High-Impact Partner Marketing with HubSpot's Christi Williams

Partnership marketing requires more than co-branded campaigns.In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Christi Williams from ‪HubSpot about defining a joint value proposition, aligning on shared KPIs, clarifying swim lanes, and building recurring partnership frameworks that drive measurable growth.Christi shares practical advice on verticalization, accountability, and avoiding the “one-and-done” trap in ecosystem marketing.Christi Williamshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/christikeating/ ---Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

February 19, 2026Episode 313 min

Activating Agency Partnerships with Tom Balanda

Agency partnerships require a different mindset than traditional tech partnerships.In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Tom Balanda from Simpli.fi about building trust with agencies, adopting a give-first mentality, and creating early momentum through communication and shared wins.Tom shares practical advice on activating agency partners, managing internal alignment, and driving real outcomes through relationship-led partnerships.Tom Balandahttps://www.simpli.fi/---Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

February 9, 2026Episode 211 min

Board-Level Readiness for U.S. Expansion With David Rose

U.S. expansion succeeds or fails at the board level. In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with David Rose about why European venture-backed companies so often underestimate budgets, timelines, and go-to-market reality, and how USXP’s new U.S. Expansion Board Guide helps boards pressure-test readiness before entering the market.David Rose, USXPhttps://www.usxp.co/..Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/

January 9, 2026Episode 112 min

Unlocking U.S. Incentives with Upsite’s Kajal Sanghrajka

In this Belly2Belly episode, Bill Kenney talks with Kajal Sanghrajka, Founder of Upsite, about the $90 billion U.S. incentives market and why so much of it goes unused. Kajal explains how incentives work at the federal, state, and local level, how early and later stage companies can qualify, and why incentives should be part of a long term strategic growth plan rather than a last minute decision.Kajal Sanghrajkahttps://upsite.ai---Feel free to contact us with any questionsBill Kenney, bill@meetroi.comMEET, https://meetroi.com/