Partner Types - Overview
A "partner" is not a client. A partner is someone - an individual or a company - who takes the DeX product to market or helps deliver it, under a licensing agreement with Colakin.
Licensing, not ownership. A partner agreement gives you the right to use DeX materials, branding, CRM, and sandbox access for a defined term - like a car's registration, not the car's title. It can be renewed, and it can expire.
There are three partner roles. They're independent - one partner can hold all three on a project, or different partners can each hold one and split the value.
The three roles
1. Referral Partner - 8% (client)
Brings a client to a demo, or introduces another company into the partner network. Does not need technical delivery skill - this is business development.
2. Collaborative Partner - 14%
Acts as the subject-matter expert sitting with the client: product owner, architect, or domain expert. Owns requirements gathering, BRD/SRS/FSD, and sign-off through to the start of build.
3. Implementation Partner - 20%
Builds the project on DeX: reviews requirements, generates and reviews code, runs QA, and deploys through dev → staging → production. Requires demonstrated technical qualification.
How the roles combine
| Roles held | Commission |
|---|---|
| Referral only | 8% |
| Collaborative only | 14% |
| Implementation only | 20% |
| Referral + Collaborative | 22% |
| Referral + Collaborative + Implementation | 42% (maximum) |
Collaborative and implementation work can also be split between multiple people or companies on the same project - for example, two collaborative partners might split the 14% as 8%/6%, or two implementation partners might split the 20% unevenly based on contribution. Colakin allocates the split based on documented contribution.
Categories vs. roles
The three roles above describe what you do on a project and set your commission. DeX also groups partner organizations into three categories - Technology, Consulting, and Industry - which is a separate way of describing the kind of organization you are, independent of role. See Partner Categories.
Qualification differs by role
- Referral partners need to understand DeX well enough to pitch it confidently - typically after seeing a live demo - and are expected to work toward a territory revenue target (see Revenue Targets by Region).
- Collaborative partners need demonstrated experience as a product owner, architect, or domain SME, with reference projects, but no fixed sales target.
- Implementation partners go through a certification process: proven technical expertise (e.g. minimum years of experience in a given stack), evidence of past delivered projects in relevant technologies, and onboarding onto DeX's delivery tooling (including the DeX Time Sheet).