Partners + Products: Secrets to Business Application Marketplaces and Ecosystem Growth Strategies

Judy LoehrMarch 1, 2017

Confidential and Proprietary2

Market focus: invest in early-stage cloud business application companies

Classic Series A: Lead $3 – 6M Classic Series A financings

Complementary to later-stage venture firms

Combine deep operating and investing experience in the cloud business application market

Confidential and Proprietary3

Sixteen years SaaS go-to-market experience

GO TO MARKETINVESTING BUSINESS APP MARKETPLACES

Agenda

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01 The fast answer

02 The foundation: great product integrations

03 The opportunity: natural customer alignment

04 Ecosystem check #1: typical user profiles

05 The impact: go-to-market opportunities

06 A partner’s perspective: early history of the AppExchange

07 The evolution of business app marketplaces

08 Tips for standing out within an ecosystem

09 Nailing your partner + product strategy

The answer: great product + picking the right partner

Confidential and Proprietary5

High joint customer benefit

Customer Alignment

Outsized benefits of integrated product

Product Opportunity

A viable way to reach new customers

GTMopportunity

1 + 1 = 3$$$ marketplaces

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Is your product genuinely valuable

to them?

Is it a top 5 priority for them?

How many customers do they

have?

Who are their users?

And how do they map to your target

customer?

CUSTOMER ALIGNMENT

How many competitors are integrated already?

Any entrenched favorites?

How likely are they to pay for your

product?

RULES EVERYTHING

Typical user profiles across business app ecosystems

Confidential and Proprietary7

for Google AppsGmail, Google Spreadsheets

Sales, service & marketing teams.

With specific nuances and interests

for SOHO and SMB companies

SMB IT admins CRM users Marketing users

Accountants & Finance IT Operationsfor SOHO and SMB companies

DevelopersBoth ISVs and IT departments

Great product integrations are the foundation for successful marketplace and partnership opportunities

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TWO-WAY DATAINTEGRATION

GREAT IN-APP USER EXPERIENCE

EASY WAY TO DEMO THE INTEGRATION

SELF-SERVICE SETUP AND ACTIVATION

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Do you have an internal champion?

Do they actively promote partners to

their users?

Do their customers know about their

marketplace?

Do they have a marketplace?

How many apps has the average

customer installed?

Any other co-marketing

opportunities?

“BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME”

IS NOT A GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

Partner perspective: an early history of the AppExchange

Confidential and Proprietary10

~2004 2006-2007 TODAY

“Invisible” integrations weren’t credible

Partner integrations made customers

more sticky

First business app marketplace.

Launched 2005

Full stack from day one

Customer education and co-marketing

opportunities

AppExchange makes Salesforce the center

of the business apps universe

4 million app installs

2005

The evolution of business app marketplaces

Confidential and Proprietary11

Curated list of partners

Various levels of app reviews & endorsements

Customer reviews

Pre-integrated solutions

Ability to install apps or plug-ins directly

App Directory

ONLINE DIRECTORIES

FULL-STACK BUSINESS APP MARKETPLACES

Confidential and Proprietary12

Tips for standing out within an ecosystem

YOUR WEBSITEPartnership pageProduct integrations

CUSTOMER REVIEWSLaunch with reviewsProactive ongoing effort to grow customer reviews

GREAT LISTINGFill in completelyDon’t scrimp on content

GET FOUND

REINFORCEJOINT VALUE

GIVE CUSTOMERSCONFIDENCE

Confidential and Proprietary13

PRODUCTCUSTOMER ALIGNMENT

GTMMARKET-

PLACEHOLISTIC

APPROACH

Great joint solution

gives customers a

1 + 1 = 3 valueWhat do they need,

value, and what will

they pay for?

Does the company

have a large base of

customers and viable

ways to reach them?

Do the marketplace

capabilities fit with

your goals? Ex: self-

service integration

and setup.

Is this a company

priority that involves

bus dev, product and

marketing resources?

Nailing your marketplace and ecosystem strategy

Q&A JUDY LOEHR

@cloudappsvc@judyloehr

www.cloudappscapital.com