Affiliate marketing has often been misunderstood in the B2B space. Outdated perceptions and poor execution have kept it from becoming the performance channel it has the potential to be.
In this episode, Tye DeGrange (Founder and CEO of Round Barn Labs) joins Tyler Calder (CMO at PartnerStack) to break down how affiliate and influencer strategy work today. With years of experience across eBay and startups alike, Tye shares how trust, creative testing, and partner-first thinking are helping brands scale through content creators and communities. He also discusses the role AI now plays in affiliate visibility and what B2B companies should be doing to stay ahead.
You’ll learn:
Jump into the conversation:
(0:00) Introducing Tye DeGrange
(3:12) The Cowboy Code and what it teaches about leadership
(4:48) How Round Barn Labs defined its focus
(8:39) Breaking the bad rap of affiliate marketing
(12:20) Traits of high-performing partner ecosystems
(14:50) Why affiliate and influencer are converging
(21:11) Four content pillars for improving AI visibility
(25:50) How to run your own visibility audit
(29:43) Why sentiment and search signals matter in B2B
(33:22) AI-generated content vs. human-powered trust
(37:54) Why creators will lead AI experimentation and growth
Check out Tye’s talk “The Cowboy Code of Marketing: Building Trust in B2B” at PartnerStack’s STACK’D Connect 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpOXLVkzqdA
