Winning Together: Brandon Kaitschuck Of Sphynx Links On How Strategic Partnerships Can Unlock New Sales Opportunities
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Winning together is much more fulfilling than playing a zero-sum game, and our partners and customers will always reap the benefits of up-front value, no matter what.
Strategic partnerships have the potential to unlock growth and create new opportunities in ways that businesses can’t achieve alone. To explore this important topic, we had the pleasure of interviewing Brandon Kaitschuck.
Brandon Kaitschuck is the founder of Sphynx Links and architect of the “Closed-Loop Healthcare Flywheel,” helping remote healthcare organizations scale safely toward $100M+ ARR. A former top performer at ADP and his professional drive is rooted in a personal transformation involving faith and extreme physical discipline as a sober Ironman triathlete. Today, he operates as a global digital nomad dedicated to building healthcare infrastructure and leaving a positive impact on others.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Of course! It always makes me laugh when I take a look back at where we started and how we ended up here. I remember taking a career aptitude test in middle school and seeing the following job titles stick out on a piece of paper: Clergyman, Car Salesman, Entrepreneur. I had no idea what a clergyman or an entrepreneur was at the time, and didn’t have much interest in cars. But I would find out a few years later in high school that I had a strong passion for outbound sales and relationship building. What started out as an amateur pot-selling hobby in my younger years led to a part-time gig as a cigarette brand ambassador in college. From there, I became a full-time nicotine pouch sales rep, scaled up to a six-figure career in software sales, did a short stint at a cybersecurity startup, and finally landed exactly where we are today with Sphynx Links.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began working with partnerships or collaborations?
Awe man, I gotta pick one? Here’s one thing I’ll leave the readers with. What you currently view as misfortune will open up opportunities and pathways you would never have thought possible. Blessings often come in the form of pain, and making that switch in your mind will bring you a great deal of inner peace and presence in the long term.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Successful leader? You must be mistaking me for my father! But in all seriousness, Sphynx Links runs very lean right now with 2 highly talented AI engineers in India (shoutout to you Tushar & Krishna!) We also have 8 of the hardest-working and most customer-focused partners in healthcare technology that a founder could hope to work with. But here’s what I’ve learned over the years. When I was in college, I started a student organization and ran the group for 3 years, and eventually became a state chair that supported other chapters and their respective presidents. I wasn’t very good at it, but it did teach me a lot about what to do and what not to do as a leader. True leadership and value delivered outside of scheduled meetings. No fancy title, promotion, mandate, or rhetoric is going to magically make someone a leader. I’ve been blessed with tremendous leaders and managers over the last decade and had the privilege of learning from their successes and failures. Here are 3 traits that Sphynx Links has implemented from their teachings:
- Speed — The best way to establish trust is by solving problems for people, communicating well, and delivering quickly. Can you imagine what happens when you do all 3? The best way to lead is by example, so this is a good foundation for earning that respect.
- Autonomy — While some employees may require a bit more coaching/ one-on-one time, I’ve found that good hires won’t stick around very long when they’re being micmanaged. You hired someone to do a job. let them do it, and furthermore. The best leaders I’ve had would clear the way for me and block other people from taking my time. (Yes, that includes giving you a pass on stupid corporate meetings)
- Grace — I’ve made countless mistakes throughout my life (and still do all the time). Whenever I would accidentally step out of bounds, break rules (sometimes intentionally because they would be inefficient), or upset a team member in an anonymous survey request (yes, that happened), the best leaders I had would seek to understand the situation and go to bat to protect me. No one is perfect. When you’re a solutions-oriented leader who wants to build a high-performing, autonomous team, welcome mistakes and offer grace.
Let’s now jump to the focus of our interview. What does a “strategic partnership” mean to you, and why do you think it’s such an essential part of sales growth today?
Strategic partnerships are the foundation of what we do and are non-negotiable for doing business today. Think about this: the success of your business is dependent on the success of your customers’ businesses. Winning together is much more fulfilling than playing a zero-sum game, and our partners and customers will always reap the benefits of up-front value, no matter what. There’s an abundance of tools and platforms solving highly specific problems across every industry, but a huge gap right now in customer service and deliverability. It turns out that forming strategic partnerships is pretty easy. Be kind, have fun, solve problems (quickly), and communicate well. You will often attract good people doing the same thing, and trust me.. the bad actors will eventually come to light.
How do you go about identifying potential partners that align with your business goals? Are there specific qualities or traits you look for in a partnership?
With tools like LinkedIn Sales Nav, AI Ark, Instantly, Valley, etc. It’s never been easier to find customers and potential partners. You can start by defining your parameters on what those profiles look like (ICP and IPP) i.e. Ideal Client Profile and Ideal Partner Profile. Once you’ve got that dialed in, you can begin outreach. Be mindful that it often takes some time to develop and strengthen trust in partnerships, and of course, there are green flags and red flags that will pop up along the way. Here’s where I see a lot of people get it wrong. They spend forever in the vetting process, making contracts, negotiating, etc. I’m a firm believer in adding value up front for people and approaching them with a general idea/strategy for working together. Be the kind of partner you’d like to have in your network and give others an opportunity to collaborate with your business. You’ll eventually be able to see how they treat their customers and employees, whether or not they follow through on what they say they’ll do, and what motivates them each and every day.
What steps do you take to build trust and ensure that a partnership will be mutually beneficial for both sides?
Give people a chance to show their character. Seek to add value, collaborate, get to know people, and in time, you’ll know if it’s a good fit!
Can you share a specific example of a strategic partnership you were involved in? How did it come about, and what impact did it have on your business?
Of course! Right now, our strongest partner is a healthcare technology platform for remote care. These guys have essentially built the entire infrastructure needed for wellness and healthcare operators to treat, diagnose, and manage patient care across North America (and soon globally). They are the glue that healthcare executives need to scale their organization to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. I was fortunate enough that one of my cold emails piqued the interest of their Chief Strategy Officer, and we’ve been working together now for the past 9 months. Sphynx Links has evolved from a cybersecurity brokerage to a custom software development brokerage to a closed-loop healthcare technology ecosystem. All because of cold LinkedIn outreach and cold emails! This partnership has allowed me to learn so much about healthcare and technology, opened numerous doors, and made Sphynx Links a profitable business.
What role does communication play in maintaining a strong, long-lasting partnership? Are there particular practices or tools you use to keep everyone aligned and engaged?
Communication!! This is undoubtedly the single greatest power of Sphynx Links. Our messaging and follow-ups are the reason people stay engaged with us, hop on calls, talk to our partners, and ultimately decide to do business together. Listen. There are no excuses for poor communication and follow-ups anymore. We have note takers like Fathom or Gong to record our calls, tools like Gemini and Claude to help analyze them and craft messaging, and platforms for LinkedIn Sale Nav, and AI Ark to find customers that will benefit from our offer. I’d also like to give a huge shoutout to Zayd and Alex at Valley. This tool has helped me generate millions of dollars’ worth of pipeline for Sphynx Links and continues to absolutely dominate in B2B outbound automation. If you already know who your customer is and what they care about, use this tool to scale your lead gen.
Let’s now focus on actionable strategies. Based on your experience, can you share “5 Steps to Create Strategic Partnerships That Drive Sales Growth”?
1. Figure Out What Problems Need To Be Solved
Figure out what problems need to be solved for a specific group of people.
2. Determine How You Will Solve These Problems
Determine how you will solve these problems for those people.
3. Find The People You Are Solving Problems For
Find these people you are going to solve problems for using the digital tools available today.
4. Contact The People You Are Solving Problems For
Make sure to keep the messaging about them, their problems, and a few things they could do to solve those problems. Make a clear offer to add more value. Don’t ask for a call right away.
5. Get To Know These People And Seek To Solve Other Problems
Get to know these people, learn more about them, and seek to solve any other problems they have. You’ll eventually have a network of people and introductions to make that all solve different problems.
What advice would you give to smaller companies or startups that may not have the resources or networks of larger businesses but want to start building strategic partnerships?
My advice is simple. Keep your head down, learn as much as you can, be as helpful as you can, and work as much as you can. Say no to everything that doesn’t help you grow spiritually, mentally, physically, or financially. There’s a tremendous amount of noise and distraction in the world right now, but the good news is you don’t have to participate in it.
How do you handle challenges or conflicts that may arise in a partnership to ensure that the relationship stays strong and productive?
This is a great question! You will be tested at times for sure. Remember that not everyone shares the same level of discipline, communication skills, knowledge, or work ethic. Sometimes you will have to meet people where they’re at. Remember the mantra on grace and forgiveness? This applies to everyone, including yourself. With others, I’ve found it’s better to over-communicate than it is to under-communicate. And like any other relationship, it’s not always going to be a good fit, and that’s okay. I prefer to work with someone who is light-hearted and keeps an open mind but is also professional and passionate, so you’ll have to make some judgment calls once in a while. The good news is that you get to decide who you do business with.
Can you share a surprising or unexpected lesson you learned from a past partnership?
Awwe man. I can’t go into detail, but let’s just say I was working with someone that I respected and got along very well with. Some pretty nasty things were sent to me over text message, so I no longer partner with that individual anymore. However, this taught me patience and unconditional kindness.
What trends or changes are you seeing in how businesses approach strategic partnerships, and how do you think this will evolve in the coming years?
This is another great question. Here’s what’s happening. It no longer takes months to form a partnership or to make decisions together. Send a DM, Slack, or text message and get the conversation going now. The age of the competent Solopreneur and startup is upon us. A team of just a few people with the proper context and autonomy needed to move quickly will far surpass the bloated bureaucracy of the corporate world. Basically, now is the best time to be an entrepreneur, and the advantage is being able to move quickly with the right people.
In your opinion, how do strategic partnerships impact not just sales, but a company’s reputation, relationships, and long-term growth?
Humans weren’t meant to walk alone. Our relationships, partnerships, peer group, and environment will ultimately shape the people we become. The same logic applies to businesses. Sphynx Links is only as strong as our partners, and we’re grateful for all the hardworking leaders and builders we meet along the way. Money is the byproduct of providing a surplus of value, reputation is the byproduct of providing that value over time, and relationships are the foundation that makes it all sustainable. Together, these create a compound effect that makes long-term growth inevitable.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would inspire more companies to embrace collaboration and partnerships, what would that be?
The movement is called Sphynx Links. We’re uniting the right partners, systems, and technology to help healthcare operators run autonomously and scale to $100M ARR.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or visit our website at SphynxLinks.com.
This was great. Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing with us. Thank you for the awesome interview! Special shoutout to Dana Lujan and Gemmay Nguyen at WellthLinks for making this interview possible. If you’re looking to design care models for long-term resilience, Wellthlinks has you covered!
About The Interviewer: Chad Silverstein is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience as a Founder and CEO. While attending Ohio State University, he launched his first company, Choice Recovery, Inc., a nationally recognized healthcare collection agency — twice ranked the #1 workplace in Ohio. In 2013, he founded [re]start, helping thousands of people find meaningful career opportunities. After selling both companies, Chad shifted his focus to his true passion — leadership. Today, he coaches founders and CEOs at Built to Lead, advises Authority Magazine’s Thought Leader Incubator.
Winning Together: Brandon Kaitschuck Of Sphynx Links On How Strategic Partnerships Can Unlock New… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.