Certified Partner Programme
Certified Partner
Open application. Deliver Marg, a 108-agent AI workforce, to your own clients. Earn 50% of every engagement. Co-brand rights, full platform access, and a structured onboarding programme included.
Applications open October 2026. Register early interest below.
Benefits
What Certified Partners receive
Co-brand rights
Operate as "[Your Firm] in association with Appetals" or carry the "Powered by Marg" mark on your client engagements. Your brand leads. Appetals and Marg back it.
Revenue split: 50/50
You earn 50% of every client engagement you bring. No year-one/renewal distinction at this tier. The 50/50 split applies for the life of the engagement.
Full Marg access
Direct access to Marg, including the splinter diagnostic system and all partner-onboarded skills. Agent compute is included in your monthly platform fee.
Templated case studies
A structured case study template for each engagement you complete. Publish under your own name. No joint byline requirement at this tier.
Monthly office hours with Ishwar
Group office hours, 90 minutes, recorded, every month. Bring your active client situations. Ishwar works through the hardest ones in the room with the full Certified Partner cohort.
Quarterly enablement webinars
New ICP briefs, new playbooks, new case studies, and emerging patterns from the Marg diagnostic pipeline. Every quarter, the knowledge base updates and you are the first outside Appetals to receive it.
Obligations
What we expect from a Certified Partner
The 50/50 split reflects a working partnership. Delivery quality is the only non-negotiable.
- Minimum engagement volume. Run two or more client engagements per year on the Marg operating system. Each engagement must use the full Marg diagnostic pipeline. No agent-skipping.
- Certification assessment before going live. Pass the certification assessment at the end of week four of onboarding before running any client-facing engagements. The assessment covers Marg pipeline operations, brand voice standards, and the 90-Day Blueprint anatomy.
- Brand standards compliance. All client-facing content under the Appetals or Marg name meets the brand voice standards. The Appetals design-brand-guardian agent reviews all public outputs. Any material carrying a "Powered by Marg" attribution is subject to pre-publication review.
- Monthly platform fee. INR 15,000 per month, payable from month four onward (first three months are covered by the certification fee). The fee covers platform access, compute, and support regardless of engagement volume.
- Non-competition on named clients. You may advise any client you choose. You may not serve a business that is an active, named Appetals direct retainer client during the term of the partnership.
Qualification criteria
The five criteria every Certified Partner clears
Five or more years operating or advisory experience
Demonstrated in named engagements, not just stated on a profile.
One or more referenceable SME clients in at least one of our six ICPs
Manufacturing, Financial Services, Study Abroad, Media and Entertainment, or Edtech. The reference is checked before any offer is made.
Brand voice fit: 75 out of 100 on a writing sample
You submit one page of client-facing writing. It is assessed against the Appetals brand voice standard by the Marg design-brand-guardian agent. A score below 75 is a coaching signal, not a permanent disqualification.
Basic tooling literacy
Familiar with AI tools, modern CRM platforms, Google Workspace, and workflow concepts. The full training programme is provided; prior familiarity reduces ramp time.
Founder reference call with Ishwar
Required for all Certified Partners. Regardless of how every other criterion scores, a partner who does not pass this call does not proceed.
The process
Five steps from application to your first independent engagement
Apply
Complete the Certified Partner application form on this page. Include your firm name, sector expertise, current client count, and two reference contacts. We review within five business days.
Review
Appetals reviews your application against the five qualification criteria. If the fit looks strong, you receive an invitation to the founder reference call.
Founder reference call
A 45-minute call with Ishwar. He wants to understand your advisory background, your current client relationships, and how you see yourself using Marg in your practice.
Decision and agreement
Within five business days of the call, Ishwar confirms yes or no. If yes, you receive the Master Partnership Agreement, the certification fee invoice, and the onboarding calendar.
Onboarding and certification
A four-week structured onboarding programme: brand and operating model in week one; Marg pipeline integration in week two; live engagement shadow in week three; first independent engagement in week four. Go-live after week four sign-off.
Commercials
The numbers, plainly stated
| Item | Certified Partner |
|---|---|
| Revenue split | 50% partner / 50% Appetals on every engagement |
| Renewal split | 50% / 50% (no change at renewal) |
| Certification fee | INR 50,000 one-time (covers onboarding, materials, months 1-3 of Marg access) |
| Monthly platform fee | INR 15,000/month from month four onward |
| Contract term | 12 months, auto-renewing on 12-month cycles |
| Termination notice | 30 days, no cause required |
| Settlement period | 30 days from client payment receipt |
| Attribution window | Deal source in our CRM is authoritative. 30-day lock. |
| Non-solicitation post-termination | 12 months on named direct retainer clients |
| Marg access | All 108 agents, splinter system, partner-onboarded skill scope |
Worked example: a manufacturing client on INR 100,000/month retainer with a 2% revenue share produces approximately INR 150,000/month effective average. At 50/50, the Certified Partner receives INR 75,000 gross. Net of the INR 15,000 platform fee: INR 60,000.