Cloud partnership strategy · MTB vertical

From APN pilot purgatory to first co-sell in six months.

A focused, no-deck engagement for Media, Tech, and Broadcast ISVs, CPs, and GSIs who joined AWS Partner Network and never got to a closed deal. Built by a twenty-year MTB practitioner who has run this motion from the inside.

// Built for MTB leaders
  • OTT platformsstreaming · CTV · FAST
  • Linear broadcastersnews · sports · entertainment
  • Media SaaSworkflows · MAM · rights
  • Content AI toolinggen-AI · dubbing · search
  • Live sports techgraphics · betting · OTT
  • CDN & video infradelivery · encoding · QoE
A live sprint dashboard — what you'd open Monday morning.
sprint · MTB ISV live
Registered deals
0
↑ from 0 · 4 mo
Influenced pipeline
$0M
↑ $1.8M QoQ
AWS credits active
$0K
3 programs
Partner-sourced MRR
$0K
↑ 6× MoM
// Co-sell funnel · live
Registered7
Qualified5
Co-sell active4
Closed-won0
Partner-influenced revenue · last 26 weeks
↳ 12 named partners · 8 active updated 4 min ago
trusted across media · technology · broadcast
OTT platforms Linear broadcasters Media SaaS Content AI tooling Live sports tech CDN & video infra
OTT platforms Linear broadcasters Media SaaS Content AI tooling Live sports tech CDN & video infra
0+
// Years MTB
$0M+
// Partner value
0+
// ISVs served
0mo
// Zero-to-hero
0
// Hyperscalers
// What six months of disciplined co-sell looks like
$0K / mo
↑ partner-sourced MRR by month 6
month 0 month 6
M0M1M2M3M4M5M6
// Pipeline funnel

Every stage visible.

The co-sell pipeline reported weekly, with stage conversion rates so you know exactly where deals stall. No "40 opportunities in flight" without a number behind each one.

// Co-sell pipeline · week 18
0 deals total 43% close rate $2.4M pipeline
Registered
100%
0
↑ 2 this week
Qualified
71%
0
71% conv
Co-sell active
57%
0
80% conv
Negotiation
43%
0
75% conv
Closed-won
43%
0/ 7
100% conv
// Partner register

Ten rows. Real names. Named owners.

The CRM your team actually opens. Every target AWS partner archetype with a contact, an owner, a status, and a heat score that updates weekly.

#
Partner
Archetype
Owner
Status
Heat
i
AWS North America ISV BD
Hyperscaler · APN PM
Morsy (lead)
Active
5/5
ii
AWS EMEA GSI Lead
Hyperscaler · GSI
Morsy · Sarah (AE)
Active
4/5
iii
Azure MACC Partner Lead
Hyperscaler · Microsoft
Morsy · James (PM)
Active
4/5
iv
Google Cloud Partner Advantage
Hyperscaler · GCP
Morsy
Warm
3/5
v
Anthropic Commercial Partnerships
Frontier AI · FM
Morsy · Priya (BD)
Active
4/5
vi
OpenAI Solutions Engineering
Frontier AI · FM
Morsy · Daniel (PM)
Warm
3/5
vii
NVIDIA Inception Program
Frontier AI · Infra
Morsy
Active
5/5
viii
Accenture AWS Business Group
GSI · Tier-1
Morsy · Lin (BD lead)
Warm
2/5
ix
Deloitte Cloud Engineering
GSI · Tier-1
Morsy · Ahmed (PM)
Cold
1/5
x
Slalom Cloud Practice
GSI · Tier-2
Morsy
Warm
3/5
10 rows · 6 active · 3 warm · 1 cold $2.4M influenced pipeline · last 30d
// How it works

Four phases. One outcome.

Every month has a measurable deliverable. Every phase ends with a working artifact — never a slide deck. Six months later, you have a partner motion that pays for itself.

If we don't get there, we don't earn a phase two.

i
Month 1–2

Audit & narrative

APN tier-readiness diagnostic. Top-three AWS use cases with named evidence. A one-page partner value prop that an AWS rep can read in thirty seconds.

Co-sell brief + use-case map
ii
Month 2–3

Foundation

Map ten named AWS partner archetypes with contact owner per row. Brief two reference customers who will take AWS partner calls. Lock the partner register.

Partner register + 2 reference briefs
iii
Month 3–5

Activation

Run the first five co-sell planning conversations with named partner reps. Submit the updated APN application. Register the first two opportunities in Partner Central.

First 2 registered deals
iv
Month 5–6

Proof & phase-two

Convert at least one registered opportunity to a partner-sourced meeting. Stand up the thirty-day partner pipeline report. Lock phase two against a number, not a goal.

Closed deal + phase-two decision

Every phase, checked off.

A real Gantt — phases completed, phases in progress, phases queued. The same artifact we share in the weekly readout.

M1
M2
M3
M4
M5
M6
Audit + narrative
done
done
Foundation
done
done
Activation
done
active
Proof + phase-2
queued
queued
4 phases · 2 completed · 1 active · 1 queued 87% on schedule · 2 days ahead of plan

What we engineer, end to end.

Six practice areas, each tied to a revenue artifact. No abstract frameworks, no "thought leadership" without a number behind it.

01
Hyperscaler · core

AWS APN activation

Take you from APN-signed-up to first co-sell closed. Tier-readiness, use-case mapping, partner archetype targeting, deal registration cadence, reference activation.

→ Output
1 closed deal · 30-day pipeline report
02
Hyperscaler · extend

Azure & GCP

Co-sell ready on MACC, ready on Google Cloud Partner Advantage. Mirror the AWS motion across hyperscalers.

Multi-cloud pipeline
03
Frontier AI

Foundation models

Commercial terms with Anthropic, OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Meta aligned with your roadmap and unit economics.

Signed FM partnership
04
Transformation

AI business transformation

Re-architect workflows and product integrations around business KPIs — retention, conversion, ARPU.

KPI-mapped roadmap
05
Acceleration

Credits you don't claim

Cloud vendors allocate budgets most partners never claim. We identify, apply, and activate every eligible program.

$200K–$500K activated
06
Proof-of-capability

RCS X — built agentically

Our first production app, built 100% through agentic workflows. The model we sell is the one we run.

Live validation
// What you walk away with

Six artifacts a CRO or CFO can defend internally.

Each tied to a metric that survives a board review. No vague "strategic alignment." No narrative decks.

// Reported weekly, on the same call
Partner-influenced pipeline
$0M
↑ $1.8M QoQ
Deals registered
0
↑ 2 this week
Partner coverage ratio
0%
10 archetypes · 8 active
Avg time-to-first-deal
0d
↓ from 240d baseline
Credits activated
$0K
3 programs live
Close rate
0%
3 of 7 closed

Three shapes, one outcome.

Fixed scope, fixed price, fixed deliverables. No hourly billing, no retainer creep.

Sprint
$ 25K / 6 mo
For ISVs who need the six-month program and nothing else.
Start sprint →
  • 6-month structured engagement
  • 1-on-1 weekly working session
  • All six core deliverables
  • Partner register + co-sell brief
  • Deal registration cadence
  • Multi-cloud expansion
  • Foundation-model partnerships
  • Credits activation workstream
Fractional Partner Lead
$ 9.5K / mo
For companies that need a fractional Head of Partnerships, not a project.
Start fractional →
  • Fractional Head of Partnerships
  • Two weekly working sessions
  • Quarterly business reviews
  • Partner narrative ownership
  • APN PM relationship ownership
  • Pipeline reporting + forecasting
  • Phase-two / renewal framework
  • Multi-cloud expansion
"

The thing that finally unblocked us wasn't a strategy doc — it was the partner register. Suddenly every APN conversation had a name, an owner, and a date attached.

VP Partnerships, MTB ISV // Closed first APN co-sell deal in month five
R

The agentic partnership model — running live.

RCS X is our first production app. Built 100% through agentic workflows using Amazon Kiro and Q for Developers — no developers touched the code. The partnership model we sell is the one we run.

Try RCS X free
// FAQ

Honest answers, no hedging.

The questions a CFO, a CRO, and an AWS rep would each ask in the first twenty-five minutes.

Is this another "thought leadership" engagement?
No. The deliverable is a closed partner-sourced deal inside six months, not a strategy doc. If we don't get there, we don't earn a phase two.
Do you replace our internal partnerships team?
No. We work alongside your AE, your partnerships lead, or your founder. Sprint works whether you have one person or ten. Fractional Partner Lead is for when you need an interim operator, not a project.
What if we're not on AWS yet?
Sprint + Cloud covers Azure and Google Cloud Partner Advantage in parallel. If you're pre-hyperscaler, the Foundation Model Partnerships pillar is usually the better starting point — talk to us about it on the first call.
How is this different from a Big Four partnership practice?
Big Four practices sell frameworks and twelve-week discovery engagements. We sell outcomes — closed deals, registered pipeline, activated credits. Fixed scope, fixed price, no retainer.
Do you take equity instead of cash?
For ClimateTech startups and underrepresented founders, yes — through our philanthropy track. For everyone else, no. We charge cash because cash keeps the engagement honest.
What's the ROI on a $25K–$48K sprint?
If we hit the six-month outcome, you've unlocked $200K–$500K in AWS credits plus the first co-sell pipeline, which compounds. The sprint pays for itself by month four in most cases.

Stop measuring APN in tier status.
Start measuring it in closed deals.

Twenty-five minutes. No pitch deck. No slide carousel. We work through whether your team is in scope for the sprint, and if it isn't, we tell you that too.

// Reply within 24h · No NDA required · Working call, not a sales call