Unlock Cloud GTM Season 2, Episode 7 Key Takeaways
When bot attacks evolve faster than defenses, speed matters. For Kasada, a disruptor in bot mitigation, that speed came not only from better tech, but from building a smarter path to market—one that gets its solution into customers’ hands faster.
In season 2, episode 7 of Unlock Cloud GTM, Kasada’s Mike Romans, Head of Global Partnerships and Sales, and Nick Rieniets, Field CTO, joined the show to unpack how they built a powerful Cloud GTM motion and how marketplace became a key pillar of that strategy.
Spoiler: It didn’t happen overnight.
Starting with AWS made business sense—and sales sense
Kasada knew early on that AWS was the right place to build their product. The functionality, global reach, and infrastructure were unmatched. But the real draw was where its target customers were already operating.
“They had the customers that we wanted to solve the problems for,” said Mike. “So it was actually a key alignment not only on where we built but how we went to market, who we went to market with, and who our joint customers were.”
Working with AWS became more than a hosting decision. It was a partnership—one that unlocked new efficiencies in both customer acquisition and geographic expansion.
“In certain areas where we are well staffed up and have a big presence, working with AWS can help us accelerate deals,” said Mike. “In other geographies, it acts as an extension of our sales teams.”
Getting marketplace-ready took a mindset shift
Even with all that alignment, Kasada didn’t rush into listing on marketplace.
“We looked at marketplace early on and thought, well, it’s something we want to do, but it seems too hard,” said Nick. “The perception was that it was going to be an engineering effort to lift and shift into marketplace.”
Turns out, that perception was wrong. With support from Tackle, the actual effort was minimal.
“It ended up being one of the easier things we’ve done and is a significant contributor now in terms of reducing the friction of procurement,” Nick added.
Mike agreed, noting how Tackle helped get them over the hump. “Without the help of Tackle, I think it might’ve been another six to twelve months. No doubt in my mind, Tackle helped us accelerate our movement into this partnership.”
Timing matters and so does product-market fit
If you’re wondering when to go all-in on marketplace, Nick and Mike both stressed the importance of having the basics in place first.
“You’ve got to be ready to add customers at scale before you try and grow through the channel,” said Nick. “When you’re still chasing product-market fit, you probably want to hold off.”The turning point for Kasada? Landing early enterprise customers like realestate.com.au and Hyatt Hotels. Once they had that signal, they knew it was time to expand, both geographically and through AWS.
Marketplace changed how Kasada does business
Once they made the leap, Kasada quickly saw marketplace benefits that went far beyond procurement. “From a billing perspective, our accounts receivable folks aren’t chasing after customers for payments,” Mike shared. “The bills get paid on time, every time. That becomes real easy.”
Private offers also turned out to be key. “We had this perception that when you went to marketplace, you had to publish your price list,” Nick said. “Private offers have been critical to us being able to do what we do through marketplace.”
And the benefits compounded. Listing through the marketplace helps customers meet their AWS spend commitments. That builds more value into the relationship, strengthens co-sell motions, and helps AWS reps bring Kasada into the right conversations at the right time.
Marketplace isn’t the end, it’s the beginning
For Kasada, marketplace didn’t just simplify procurement. It opened new doors with AWS sellers and solution architects. Those relationships have helped drive expansion into new regions,align with vertical teams, and unlock more co-selling opportunities.
“Marketplace sits at the nucleus of all that,” Mike said. “If marketplace isn’t there, none of that works. Full stop.”
Even AWS having a competing product didn’t slow them down.
“We’ve chosen to really align and get closer to them,” said Nick. “Marketplace enables the AWS sales team to see us as a peer to their own internal product. So when a customer needs something beyond what the core product offers, we’re there.”
Advice for other ISVs
Mike’s elevator pitch to any ISV still weighing marketplace? Don’t overthink it.
“Our story was we thought it was complicated and it would take a lot of time, but it doesn’t have to be—as long as you use Tackle,” he said. “If you’re willing to bring in a third party to help you, it’s not going to be a lift.”
And for other CTOs?
“Partnering and getting into marketplace is a super easy thing to do,” Nick said. “It reduced effort on our side, increased revenue, and made the lives of our sales team, our partners, and our customers significantly easier.”
Listen to the full episode of Unlock Cloud GTM for more insights from Mike, Nick, and other Cloud GTM leaders.
