partners + products...and ecosystem growth strategies judy loehr march 1, 2017. ... for soho and smb...
TRANSCRIPT
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
Confidential and Proprietary4
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
Confidential and Proprietary6
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
Confidential and Proprietary8
TWO-WAY DATAINTEGRATION
GREAT IN-APP USER EXPERIENCE
EASY WAY TO DEMO THE INTEGRATION
SELF-SERVICE SETUP AND ACTIVATION
Confidential and Proprietary9
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