25% of AWS Buyers Demand Free Trials + $1.8T Hyperscaler Growth

Hi, it's Roman - welcome back to the Partner Insight newsletter.

Here's what's reshaping cloud marketplaces: Hyperscalers added $1.8 trillion in market cap in 2024 - nearly equivalent to creating the entire value of 67 top public SaaS companies from scratch. We'll explore this seismic shift, plus AWS's latest data on why free trials are now critical for marketplace success, and insights from our special Cloud GTM Leaders gathering in San Francisco.

But before we dive in, two quick updates:

1. Join our Cloud GTM 2025 Acceleration Workshop on January 9th to learn foundational strategies from our marketplace course and key growth drivers in 2025.

2. If you're ready to master cloud marketplaces, Cohort 9 of our Cloud GTM Leader Course starts January 14th. 🎁 Holiday gift for you - sign up by Jan 6th and get a free 1-1 session with me. More on both below.

Now, let's explore how leading enterprises are growing their partner ecosystems

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2024 in a Glance: Cloud Leaders Added the Entire Value of Top SaaS Companies

Hyperscalers added a staggering $1.8 trillion in market cap this year - almost equal to creating the entire value of all 67 top public SaaS companies in the Emcloud Index from scratch.

This unprecedented wealth creation reveals a deepening divide in tech that's reshaping how software is built, bought, and sold.

Let's look at the numbers (2024 YTD):

The Big Three added $1.8T combined, showing combined market cap growth of 29%.

Amazon

• Market cap: $2.32T

• Growth: 49%

• Added YTD: $748B

Google

• Market cap: $2.32T

• Growth: 36%

• Added: $560B

Microsoft

• Market cap: $3.25T

• Growth: 18%

• Added: $457B

While hyperscalers soared, the BVP Emerging Cloud Index (EMCLOUD) - tracking top SaaS companies - grew just 14.3%. The contrast is stark but unsurprising.

As a reminder BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index (EMCLOUD) is calculated and maintained by Nasdaq and sponsored by Bessemer Venture Partners. It includes the weighted average of 67 top SaaS companies with >500M in market cap.

Among them are such iconic names in software as:

Adobe, Atlassian, Box, Cloudflare, Confluent, CrowdStrike, DigitalOcean, HubSpot, MongoDB, PayPal, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Shopify, Snowflake, Workday, Zoom, and Zscaler.

What's driving this divergence?

1. Hyperscalers are uniquely positioned to capture value from the AI revolution through:

2. Massive compute infrastructure powering AI workloads

3. Deep partner ecosystems accelerating AI adoption

4. Cloud marketplaces becoming the dominant distribution channel for software

This creates a powerful flywheel: As hyperscalers grow stronger, more software companies align their GTM with cloud marketplaces, further cementing hyperscalers' position.

To prove the point, two other tech giants riding the cloud and AI wave registered even more dramatic gains (all data as of Dec 19):

NVIDIA

• Market cap: $3.2T

• Growth: 162%

• Added YTD: $1.97T

NVIDIA single-handedly added more value than all three hyperscalers combined

Oracle

• Market cap: $472B

• Growth: 63%

• Added: $182B

Oracle showed highest growth among clouds after doubling down on cloud strategy and partnering with other hyperscalers. It's about to enter $500B club.

🕹️ Hyperscalers aren't just benefiting from the AI boom - they're orchestrating it

Their cloud marketplaces have become the key distribution channel for software, while their AI platforms and partners are becoming the foundation for next-gen applications.

The question for 2025: Will this concentration of power accelerate even further as AI moves from experimentation to widespread enterprise deployment?

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📅 Cloud Marketplace Growth Secrets: 2025 Acceleration Workshop on Jan 9th

Join me on Thursday, January 9th (9 a.m. PST) for an insight-packed free session where I'll break down the proven strategies driving marketplace success in 2025.

We'll cover foundational frameworks and insights from our Cloud GTM Leader course, making this session particularly valuable for teams exploring or expanding their marketplace presence.

You'll walk away with concrete tactics to accelerate

your marketplace growth, whether you're just starting out or looking to scale to the next level.

• Key trends reshaping Cloud GTM for ISVs and partners

• Cloud Marketplace Readiness Assessment to identify your key growth levers

• Behind-the-scenes insights from alliance leaders scaling $MM+ in marketplace revenue

• Frameworks for maximizing your share of enterprise cloud commits (now at $380B+!)

• Battle-tested tactics and success stories from our community of 150+ successful course alumni

This workshop kicks off our 2025 programming, leading into Cohort 9 of our comprehensive Cloud GTM Leader course starting January 14th.

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AWS's Latest: Free Trials Now Critical for Marketplace Success

25% of AWS Marketplace buyers won't even consider products without free trials. Free trials + PAYG show the highest conversion rate for customers and Marketplace. Yet most sellers still don't offer them…

Here's how and why use free trials to accelerate marketplace growth:

Amazon Web Services (AWS)'s latest customer analysis shows a simple truth: marketplace buyers now expect to try before they buy.

The most successful marketplace sellers are turning this shift into a competitive advantage.

The Proven Three-Step Framework:

1️⃣ Start with Free Trials

• Remove signup friction

• Make trials instantly available

• Focus on core product value

2️⃣ Add Pay-As-You-Go Options (if available)

• Enable gradual usage expansion

• Let customers control spending

• Build trust through transparency

3️⃣ Scale to Enterprise Contracts

• Convert proven value to commitments

• Leverage usage data in negotiations

• Maintain flexibility in contract terms

Why This Works:

AWS data shows that conversion from Free Trial to PAYG is 3X higher than to Contract. The reason is simple: it matches how modern tech buyers actually want to purchase software.

As Salvador Lopez Beneyto, Sr. Product Manager, highlighted at AWS re:Invent: "Today, majority of decision makers are millennials who ideally don't want to interact with a salesperson through the funnel."

He emphasized that this evolution - from free trial to pay-as-you-go to contract - shows "the highest conversion rate for customers and Marketplace."

Important note: Even without pay-as-you-go capabilities, free trials remain valuable in driving conversion.

💡 The Critical Question:

With AWS confirming "94% of customers have told us that free trials are important" and a quarter essentially disqualifying products without trials, can you afford to ignore this shift in buying behavior?

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Insights from our Special Cloud GTM Leaders Gathering in San Francisco

What happens when you gather dozens of Cloud GTM leaders in San Francisco, sharing space with BlackRock's leadership meeting next door?

Our first in-person Partner Insight event in SF set a 🏆 very high bar for future gatherings.

Here's what we learned about the future of cloud partnerships:

Vineet Anshuman from Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace revealed why "Buy with AWS" is transformational: it streamlines purchasing directly on partner websites while maintaining AWS's marketplace simplicity and stringent security standards.

This could significantly accelerate billion dollars of transactions already flowing through marketplaces.

Neeti Gupta made a compelling parallel - big tech ecosystems are essentially operating at the scale of top global economies.

She also shared an essential process map for companies to navigate these massive commercial environments effectively.

A fascinating insight from Rolf Heimes who scaled partner revenue to $100M+ multiple times: don't wait for traditional enterprise sellers to "get it." Instead, identify and empower emerging talent who inherently understand the cloud GTM motion, then amplify their success internally.

Trunal Bhanse, CEO of Clazar highlighted that the shift in AWS co-sell incentives signals a pivotal moment - sellers can now retire quota by co-selling with any ISV Accelerate Partners.

This structural change can reshape how AWS's massive field force engages with partners in 2025.

🤝 A huge thank you to our incredible speakers for sharing their deep expertise and making this evening truly special.

And thank you to all the Cloud GTM Leader alumni and guests who joined us - your engagement and insights made this first SF gathering unforgettable.

Special thank you to Clazar for helping to bring this free event to you. Check their Cloud Sales Acceleration Platform for GTM teams to scale revenue on AWS, Azure, and Google cloud marketplaces.

💡 The evening's unexpected metaphor?

Perhaps sharing venue space with BlackRock's leadership wasn't just coincidence - it's a sign that marketplace strategies are becoming central to how enterprises across all sectors think about procurement and partnerships.

Are we about to reach an inflection point where cloud marketplaces become the default enterprise software procurement channel?

Until the next time...

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🎁 Enroll in Cloud GTM Leader Course Cohort 9 & Get a Free Session with Roman

What a journey it's been in 2024! Our Cloud GTM Leader course has grown into the industry leading program for cloud marketplace mastery, with ~200 alums from GitLab, Citrix, Darktrace, and beyond.

But here's what truly excites me - the wins our alumni are achieving:

"We went from 0 to millions on Marketplaces. Definitely have more buy-in now across the org." - one of our alumni shared at re:Invent.

This doesn't happen by accident. The playbook to unlock Cloud marketplaces isn't obvious. That's why we've worked with 50+ exceptional speakers and mentors who’re sharing their actual battle-tested strategies in our courses.

💡 Why join Cohort 9?

• Learn directly from VPs of Partner of the Year winners and hyperscaler experts

• Master co-sell tactics that drive real pipeline ($0 to $200K+ in 8 weeks for one alumni)

• Get practical frameworks to align your org and accelerate cloud GTM

• Join a growing community of 200 cloud alliance leaders

But don't just take my word for it:

"10 out of 10, I recommend the Cloud GTM Leadership Course to anyone looking to level up. The speakers were spot on and the community a gem." - Yeva Roberts, VP Strategic Alliances, AllCloud.

"The concept of 'marketplace maturity' has significantly influenced my approach... the hyperscaler activation strategy has been invaluable." - Svetlana Grill, ML/AI Google Cloud Practice Lead, EPAM Systems

🎯 Ready to master cloud marketplaces and accelerate your growth in 2025?

Cohort 9 kicks off January 14th - don't miss out on your chance to join this transformative program recognized by Canalys as a Top Education Program for Channel & Partnership professionals.

🎁 Enroll by January 6th and get a free 1-1 session with Roman (use referral code: WinCloudGTM_Jan25)

Questions? Reach out at courses@partnerinsight.io

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P.S. If you find these insights valuable, please share this newsletter with your network - it’s free.

And if there are topics you'd like us to explore in future editions, just hit reply - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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