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March 24, 2025

Crafting a scalable and adaptive marketplace strategy

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About the Speaker

Andre King

Director of Sales, Rootly

Andre King is the Director of Sales at Rootly, where he has played a pivotal role in taking Rootly to market since early 2022. Andre comes to Rootly after successful sales stints at AWS and Salesforce, where he was even ranked the #1 salesperson in Canada for fiscal year 2020.

Table of Contents

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About the Speaker

Andre King

Director of Sales, Rootly

Summary

The podcast touches on Rootly's marketplace strategy, emphasizing its role in scaling sales and enhancing customer reach. Here are the key takeaways:

Key Takeaways

Early Commitment to Marketplaces: Rootly identified the marketplace as a significant channel early on, aligning internal teams around its importance. This strategic commitment accelerated their marketplace presence.‍
Sales Team Buy-In: One major tipping point was when the sales team recognized the marketplace's value. Instead of viewing it as an obligation, they saw it as a competitive advantage and a faster route to closing deals.‍
Event Leverage: Attending industry conferences like AWS re:Invent was instrumental. These events provide access to a concentrated audience of ideal customers who are already inclined to transact through the marketplace.‍
Co-Selling and Partnerships: Rootly emphasized collaboration with AWS, leveraging marketplace co-sell opportunities and building deeper partnerships. This approach expanded their market presence and streamlined deal cycles.‍
Automation and Consistency: Implementing marketplace automation improved deal consistency and operational efficiency. Automation ensured smoother transactions and reduced friction in the sales process.‍
Scaling to Mid-Market: Beyond enterprise customers, Rootly effectively used the marketplace to engage startups and mid-market businesses more efficiently, reducing the complexities of traditional sales.

Welcome to the Clazar Podcast with your host Brian Lawrence! In this episode, Brian speaks with Andre King from Rootly about their marketplace strategy, growth journey, and insights on leveraging AWS Marketplace for success.

00:00:00
Brian Lawrence: Hey there. This is Brian Lawrence, your host for the Clazar podcast. Today, I'm with my good friend Andre King from Rootly. Andre, how are you doing?

00:00:07
Andre King: Doing well, Brian. How are you?

00:00:10
Brian Lawrence: I'm great. Thank you for joining us. Rootly is doing incredibly well. I know you grew 400% in 2023 and nearly another 400% in 2024. Absolutely on fire! Tell the audience a little about Rootly and your background.

00:00:31
Andre King: Thanks for having me, Brian. Rootly is an AI-powered incident response platform. We work with companies like Nvidia, Canva, and Squarespace, helping them automate incident response, learn from incidents, and respond effectively. I was previously at AWS and Salesforce for almost six years, focusing on sales and growth.

00:01:33
Brian Lawrence: It's one thing to grow 400% once, but doing it two years in a row is remarkable. What’s been working on the GTM front to drive this growth?

00:01:47
Andre King: It comes down to our team’s ability to meet customer needs. We have a strong product-market fit, helping companies move from legacy platforms to modern AI-based solutions. AI investments often introduce reliability challenges, and we address those with Rootly.

00:02:58
Brian Lawrence: Let’s talk about your marketplace strategy. Rootly has done really well on AWS Marketplace. What made you decide to go big on that channel?

00:03:10
Andre King: At AWS, I saw firsthand the power of the marketplace. It provides access to a massive ecosystem. After joining Rootly, we moved quickly to explore it. Using Clazar, we automated and optimized our marketplace operations, making it a key part of our strategy.

00:04:30
Brian Lawrence: One of the tipping points is getting the sales team genuinely excited about co-selling and using the marketplace. How did you achieve that?

00:04:45
Andre King: We automated a lot using Clazar, embedding the marketplace into our forecasting and sales processes. We emphasized the value for sales reps — easier deal registration, faster approvals, and bigger wins.

00:05:45
Brian Lawrence: AWS re:Invent is a massive event. How did you make the most of it for marketplace growth?

00:06:00
Andre King: It’s the best opportunity to meet with customers, partners, and AWS teams. We focused on booking meetings, hosting dinners, and connecting with as many people as possible. Events like these are critical for pipeline growth.

00:07:30
Brian Lawrence: Enterprise Discount Programs (EDPs) can be a huge advantage. How have they played a role in your strategy?

00:07:45
Andre King: EDPs have been massive. Many of our customers already have large AWS contracts, so transacting through the marketplace is a natural fit. It makes procurement easier and accelerates deal cycles.

00:09:00
Brian Lawrence: Any final thoughts for companies considering a marketplace-first strategy?

00:09:15
Andre King: Start early, build strong relationships with AWS, and automate wherever possible. When your sales team sees the marketplace as a growth accelerator, the results will follow.

Thanks for listening to the Clazar Podcast! Stay tuned for more conversations on growth strategies and marketplace success.

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