That was one clear takeaway from our workshop with leaders from AWS, Qlik and Clazar, who have driven billions in marketplace traction.

CEO: Growth and Market Positioning

CEOs need to see why marketplaces can be a major route to enterprise buyers, unlock cloud budgets and joint GTM with hyperscalers.

CEO pitch must answer:

• Will this grow total revenue?

• Will this improve strategic distribution?

• Will this make us more relevant to cloud partners?

But first, correct the misconceptions:

Many leaders still assume marketplace works like Amazon.com: list the product, buyers discover it, revenue follows. In reality, the largest marketplace deals are still enterprise-sales-led and private-offer-driven.

Another CEO concern is channel shift. Our data proves that the marketplace done right grows the pie, not just moves it.

CRO: Sales acceleration

For CROs, marketplace matters only if it helps sellers win. Introducing it as a new tool/workflow is the fastest way to lose them.

So the CRO pitch: bigger deals, faster closes, higher seller productivity and co-sell leverage.

When the CRO is on board, co-sell and growth accelerate much faster.

Michael Levy from AWS highlighted that sales alignment is the single most important factor in ISV marketplace success.

Comp neutral used to be the goal. ISVs now run comp positive SPIFs to kickstart the motion. Once reps see bigger deals and faster closes, the behavior sustains.

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CFO: Dollar impact, not partnership stories

CFOs do not fund “strategic relationships.” They need measurable impact.

Drew Zurek recommends using Marketplace Impact Analysis: compare marketplace vs. direct deals on velocity, win rate, deal size and realized revenue impact.

In usage-based SaaS, closing a $1M deal on January 15 vs. March 31 can mean $200K more revenue.

Trunal Bhanse from Clazar added a powerful reframe: position marketplace as helping buyers retire committed cloud spend before it expires.

That shifts the conversation from “why pay a listing fee?” to “we help customers use budget they already allocated.”

CPO: Product architecture as distribution

Product leaders should see marketplaces as part of discovery, packaging and buying experience.

AWS is pushing this direction with AI-assisted discovery, Express Private Offers, multi-product solutions, agents, etc.

CPO questions become:

• Is our product easy to discover?

• Is our packaging marketplace-ready?

• Can we support free trials, PLG, and bundled partner solutions?

For alliance leaders:

To win buy-in, translate marketplace into C-suite language:

• CEO: show market leverage

• CRO: higher sales velocity

• CFO: financial impact

• CPO: product distribution