By Will Morey, Business Director at Gamma Business
At Gammaverse, we didn’t just talk about products, platforms, and portals. We talked about pirates.
Sam Conniff, author of ‘Be More Pirate’, closed the morning session by challenging every one of us to rethink what it means to lead, compete, and grow in today’s uncertain waters.
His message? The rules we inherited aren’t always the rules we need to follow. True progress comes from those willing to challenge convention and rewrite the code.
Sam and I spoke after his session and painted a broader picture around the ‘Be More Pirate’ mindset. He doubled down on the importance of community and what steps businesses can take to ‘Be More Pirate.’ Challenge the norms and refuse to be stuck on ‘the tracks of success.’
There’s no better time to start charting your own course and reinventing the rules.
Rule breaking, rule making
For Gamma and our partners, this couldn’t be more relevant. The channel has always been at its best when it’s bold and cutting through the noise. Standing apart from the giants and proving that agility and creativity beats bureaucracy every time.
Sam reminded us that the original pirates weren’t outlaws for the sake of chaos. They were rebels with a cause.
They built new codes of conduct and practised their own form of radical democracy. These ‘outlaws’ created fairer systems than the seafaring empires they fought against.
He called piracy a ‘profoundly powerful idea’ at a time when SMB leaders need to find new margins and audiences. The very idea of rule breaking is appealing as we get frustrated about not being able to get work done. But it’s not a destructive idea; instead, ‘the journey of inviting someone to rule breaking is really an act of creative rule making.’
It’s a spirit that resonates with the Gamma Edge programme. We’re empowering partners by co-creating new models and refusing to settle for the status quo.
Community and piracy
The whole point of Gammaverse is to bring the community together, where we can discuss and think as one unit. For Sam, the truth is that ‘no matter the problem, the answer is always community.’
Sometimes, it’s easy to think you’re better off alone. But Sam could feel ‘the strength in community and in connection’ in the audience. Together, we understand that we’re all facing the same challenges, and can find new answers when coming together.
Connection is ‘the energy source.’ It enables us to overcome problems, which is where mine and Sam’s work overlaps. As Sam said, we ‘[bring] people together to find belief in themselves to find new answers.’
Time to ‘Be More Pirate’
According to Sam, Gamma already is acting more like a pirate. Rule breaking comes down to ‘setting new precedents [and] making small bets.’ It all starts with smaller explorations and being brave enough to test and collaborate.
The fear of failure besets most of us, but the ‘fear of success is almost more terrifying.’ Sam acknowledged the risk of being invited to Gammaverse and challenging our partners to rewrite the rules. Only then can it ‘lead to levels of collaboration and opportunities for adventure and rebelliousness.’
The response in the room said it all. Partners listened and leant in. They saw that, to win the future of UCaaS, AI, and connectivity, we need more than tools.
Sam saw that spirit of rewriting the rules with the launch of Webex for Gamma. Common flaws in communication around transcriptions and notes are being challenged through Webex for Gamma. It’s ‘rewriting the rules that we’re used to.’
We need a pirate mindset:
- To question outdated norms in our industry.
- To rewrite rules that don’t serve customers.
- To seize opportunities others overlook.
As Sam put it, ‘the pirate code is an invitation, not an instruction.’ At Gamma, alongside our partners, we’re ready to keep rewriting the rules together. Right now, we can either put up with the rules and start resenting them, ‘or we wholescale reinvent [them] from within.’
The future belongs not to those who blindly follow the map. It belongs to those who draw it anew.
To find out how to ‘Be More Pirate’, make sure to watch Will and Sam’s full conversation and learn how to navigate the ‘choppy waters’ ahead.
Will Morey is the Managing Director of Gamma Business and brings nearly 30 years of experience in the technology industry. A passionate channel leader and entrepreneur, Will co-founded and grew several successful businesses including The EnableX group including Pragma with a particular focus on UCaaS, cybersecurity, and SaaS. He previously held leadership roles at Crane and Westcon, and also spent time in central government working to attract foreign direct investment into the UK tech sector.
Will is deeply committed to unlocking the potential in people and partners. He is known for his collaborative leadership style and long-term approach to building trusted relationships—helping resellers grow and thrive in a fast-moving market. His career has been shaped by a belief in the power of technology and people to drive real impact.
Don’t forget to follow Will on LinkedIn.