Meet Juhi Saha, the CEO of Partner1, an organization that helps B2B companies grow profitably through partnerships.
While watching her father’s company evolve from a small business to an enterprise during her childhood, Juhi learned firsthand what it took to grow a successful company. After a successful career in technology, Juhi took her father’s advice to trust her gut and founded Partner1 to support scaling B2B businesses. Juhi’s success is due in part to her inner compass, which guides all her professional decisions, as well as the lasting legacy her father left her as an entrepreneur. Today she is working to start a scholarship program to provide early startups with resources they often can’t yet afford.
We spoke with Juhi about the founding story of Partner1, the achievements she’s most proud of thus far, and the advice that has had the greatest impact on her entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us the story behind your company’s founding. How and why did you start working on Partner1?
While I always aspired to start my own business, Partner1 resulted from a series of career twists and turns rather than from a design. After starting down a technical career path, I pivoted into business and took on partnership roles with Microsoft and Clearbit. I built and ran several programs to assist both new and established businesses to partner with Microsoft’s global sales teams to increase their sales. This included building Pegasus, which has become Microsoft’s flagship program for high-potential startups.
After leaving Microsoft, I joined Clearbit to build their partner program from the ground up. As Vice President of Partnerships, I increased revenue generation by 20% within a year. This cleared the way for HubSpot to acquire Clearbit. I was quickly approached by several startups to help navigate Microsoft’s partner programs. Recognizing that the time was right to branch off on my own, I launched Partner1 to help guide B2B companies to grow profitably through strategic partnerships.
We dare you to brag. What achievements are you most proud of?
I am proud to have helped engineer components that were used on a deep-space telescope that generated data for Nobel Prize-winning research on the accelerating rate of the universe’s expansion. I’ve always been fascinated by astronomy and physics, so it was an honor to be involved in a project to help humanity peer further into the origins of the universe than ever before.
More recently, I’m very proud that Partner1 was selected as a finalist for IAMCP’s 2024 Advisor of the Year award. IAMCP is an international association consisting of hundreds of thousands of Microsoft partners. To be selected as a finalist among all of these partners was tremendously validating!
What resources or people have contributed the most to your successes?
I attribute my entrepreneurial “itch” to my father and watching him transform a small business into a large enterprise over the course of my childhood. I spent a lot of time around my father and his business growing up, tagging along to his meetings, and listening to him talk about issues related to sales, marketing, and operations. Not only did I learn a lot, but I aspired to emulate his success when I grew up.
In addition, I could not have started my own business without encouragement from former colleagues and customers who have been instrumental in helping me define my offerings and referring clients to Partner1. I also attribute a large part of my success to support from communities like Dreamers & Doers, The Upside, CEO Rising, and Chief.
Have you discovered any underappreciated leadership traits or misconceptions around leadership?
Vulnerability is definitely an underappreciated leadership trait. A lot of people think leaders must always be stoic. However, I’ve found that showing vulnerability and being open about challenges, mistakes, and lessons learned can build true trust within a team. Leaders don’t need to have all the answers. The best leaders I’ve had have surrounded themselves with experts and empowered them to find solutions without micromanaging them. My philosophy on leadership is that it’s more about asking the right questions than about having all the answers.
What is the advice that has had the biggest impact on your entrepreneurial journey?
Growing up, my father used to tell me, “You’ll know in your gut when you’re ready. You just need to make the leap and trust that it will all work out.” These words have acted as a compass in my career. As an entrepreneur, I frequently need to make decisions with limited data. While I’m an engineer by training, the final decision in matters where the data doesn’t provide a clear path often comes down to trusting my gut. It was quite daunting to found Partner1 after decades in corporate roles. However, my father’s words gave me the confidence to make that leap. I rely on this inner compass to make decisions that are aligned with my values and to carry on my father’s legacy as an entrepreneur.
What’s next for you and Partner1?
We have several new initiatives that will be announced in the coming months, including a new scholarship program. We created this program to provide earlier-stage companies access to our expertise, as they typically lack the resources to work with us. This initiative will help a broader range of businesses unlock their full potential through effective partnerships.
Juhi is a member of Dreamers & Doers, an award-winning community that amplifies extraordinary women entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders by securing PR, forging authentic connections, and curating high-impact resources. Learn more about Dreamers & Doers and get involved here.