At a glance
| Who it is for | Fintech, lending, mortgage, wealth and B2B fintech infrastructure companies, typically $50M to $2B in revenue |
| The focus | New partnership development and launch preparation |
| Leadership | Kevin Schwaner, with a second director and two U.S. account managers on research and follow-up |
| Your team | An executive sponsor and legal, compliance and product leads |
| Commercial structure | Monthly retainer plus a performance fee on closed partnerships |
| After launch | Ongoing partner management by your team, unless separately scoped |
What does the fractional role cover?
We lead outreach, discovery, commercial negotiations and launch preparation. Your executive sponsor sets priorities, and your legal, compliance and product leads review and approve the work. The partners launch under your team's name.
Ongoing partner management remains with your team unless separately scoped. Our strategic partnership consulting page explains the engagement.
We do not sell leads, book meetings at volume, or resell another company's product.
How does the model compare with hiring?
The three arrangements differ in who does the work, what your team has to supply and what you are left with afterward. When considering a fractional VP of partnerships or any fractional business development provider, agree which of these the engagement covers.
| What to compare | Full-time hire | Fractional advisor | Schwaner & Co. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment structure | Full-time employee, recruited and onboarded by your company | External advisory engagement, scoped by the hour or month | Retained partnership development team |
| Execution support | The hire, plus any staff your company allocates | Advice and plans. Execution by your team unless scoped | Kevin on every partner conversation, with a second director and two U.S. account managers on research, scheduling, materials and follow-up |
| Relationships at the start | Depends on who you hire | Depends on the advisor | 200+ enterprise relationships opened across insurance, banking, lending and consumer platforms |
| Internal responsibilities | Set priorities, resource the role and approve decisions | Set priorities and provide execution resources as agreed | Provide an executive sponsor and legal, compliance and product leads |
| Reporting | Set by your company | Agreed in the advisory scope | Weekly pipeline review of every target, its stage, next action and owner |
| Handover | Stays in-house | Deliverables and transition agreed in scope | Contacts, deal documents, pilot terms and reporting shared with your team in writing |
When should you consider a full-time hire?
Consider a full-time hire when the role calls for continuous internal leadership, team management or substantial responsibility for existing partners. Fractional partnerships support fits a defined development mandate alongside your existing team. Decide from the workload, decision authority and support required. Many companies do both, with the fractional seat opening new partner categories while the internal team runs the partners already live.
Who leads the partner conversations?
Kevin is on every partner conversation, from first message to signature. The supporting team handles research, list building, scheduling and follow-through.
Relationships already open in your partner categories
We have 200+ enterprise relationships across insurance carriers, banks, lenders and consumer platforms, built over nearly a decade. Where your partner categories overlap with those relationships, the first conversation starts warm.
We reached 173 people inside one top-five P&C carrier, starting from a cold message with no introduction, and the result was a signed partnership agreement. That persistence is the job, and it does not get handed to someone junior.
What can the first 90 days look like?
The first 90 days below are an illustrative work plan. Progress depends on partner engagement and approvals.
- Days 1 to 30. Review the initial target map, built using the Partnership Graph. Confirm priorities and approvers, begin outreach, and review progress at the Day 30 checkpoint.
- Days 31 to 60. Develop the opportunities where partners engage. Clarify customer fit, partner economics and launch requirements.
- Days 61 to 90. Advance proposals and partner pilot plans as discussions and approvals allow.
We track opportunities through Identify, Engage, Discover, Scope and Launch. The partnership strategy and management guide explains the stages. See business development consulting services for the documents, reporting and handover included.
The 60 to 90 day partner pilot evaluates a launched partnership against agreed goals. Its timeline is separate from the monthly consulting engagement.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a fractional head of partnerships cost?
Fractional partnership leaders are usually retained monthly, and the retainer reflects how much of the work they do themselves. Schwaner & Co. works on a monthly retainer plus a performance fee on closed partnerships, scoped to the products and partner categories in play. Specifics are covered on the first call, after you have seen the initial target map.
How should we assess a fractional leader's availability?
Ask how the leader allocates time across clients, who responds when a decision is urgent and which support is included. Agree the meeting cadence and access expectations when defining the engagement. At Schwaner & Co., Kevin is on every partner conversation and the weekly pipeline review.
What should we plan if we are also recruiting internally?
Define the interim remit and the intended division of responsibilities once a hire joins. Identify which active opportunities need continuous ownership and arrange introductions before transferring responsibility. Everything we hold is handed over in writing.
Share your product and partnership goals so we can prepare an initial target map for our first call. Discuss your partnership goals.