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David Steckel on The Partner Awesome Podcast: know your partner like your customer
On The Partner Awesome Podcast, Polygrade founder and CEO David Steckel talks about learning a partner’s business before you pitch it, and using AI prototypes to get a partnership to a test faster.
Toronto
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Polygrade founder and CEO David Steckel joined The Partner Awesome Podcast, a show about partnerships from PartnerAwesome, in an episode released November 9, 2026.
David traces his path through partnerships, from building custom homes, where he learned the best way to win a partner is to give them work, to founding Setter and then building partnerships at Thumbtack after it acquired Setter. He also shares an early lesson from pitching one of Canada’s biggest banks before he understood its business.
His rule now: know the partner as well as you know the end user. He walks through how to learn a new partner category, starting with its vocabulary (warranty says “severity” where insurance says “loss ratio”), then reading what its people read, attending their conferences and building personas for their operations, finance and technology teams. He also explains why a high-fidelity prototype built with an AI tool can get a partner to a test faster than months of integration talks.
About Polygrade
Polygrade is an AI-native claims management platform for the warranty industry. Polygrade uses specialized AI agents across the claims lifecycle, from first notice of loss through contractor payment. Founded in 2025 by veterans of Sears Home Services, Thumbtack and Setter, Polygrade has offices in Toronto, St. George, Utah and Austin, Texas, and serves warranty companies, suppliers and service providers across the United States. For more information, visit polygrade.com.
Media contact
Jess Poindexter
jess@polygrade.com
