AWS Co-Sell Advisory · Calgary, AB

Your AWS partnership
isn't stuck.Your motion is.

You're in the program. You've got wins. You've done the things they asked for. AWS still isn't engaging the way you expected. It's not your product. It's not your relationship. It's a motion problem, and it's fixable. Kahpoch builds the co-sell motion AWS field teams actually respond to.

Partner Readiness Snapshot, illustrative

AWS Partner Readiness AssessmentDiagnostic
GTM Narrative
2.2
Program Alignment
5.5
ACE Maturity
3.0
Marketplace
1.8
Seller Enablement
2.5
AWS Field Reach
1.5
This is what most Select partners look like.We fix this →
Assessment
10 days
Sprint
6 weeks
Advisory
90 days
Result
Co-sell
Cost of waiting
1 year+
To rebuild PSM credibility once deprioritized.
Time to Motion
10–90 days
From your first assessment to a fully operational co-sell motion your team runs without us.
The Difference
Inside out.
Built by a former AWS PDM. Not someone who learned the ecosystem from the outside looking in.

What's broken

AWS doesn't scale partner-building.
It scales partners already built.

THE TRUTH AWS WON'T TELL YOU

Most partners aren't confused about the technology. They're confused about why the relationship isn't working despite doing everything AWS told them to do. The problem isn't effort. It's sequence and signal.

ACE feels like a void

You submit opportunities. Nothing comes back. No PSM engagement, no co-sell activity, no signal.

Select tier: now what?

AWS says congratulations and goes quiet. No one explains what actually changes at this tier.

Marketplace sits there

Listing built. ISV Accelerate enrolled. Pipeline hasn't moved. The listing exists but doesn't convert.

PDM meetings plateau

Good initial calls, then silence. No cadence means no compounding, so the relationship never converts to co-sell.

The pattern we see constantly:A small slice of the partner base captures most of the AWS co-sell investment. Those partners didn't get there by doing more things. They got there by doing the right things in the right order, in a way that made it easy for AWS sellers to say yes.

You're in the right place if

Six triggers that signal
it's time to fix the motion.

Just hit Select tierYou don't know what AWS actually expects now, beyond the checklist that got you here.
First alliances hireNeed them to ramp fast and look credible to AWS field teams immediately.
No PDM assigned yetNot sure what actions build the case, and you don't want to waste the quarter finding out.
Azure or GCP backgroundYou know co-sell. The AWS motion feels like a completely different language.
Significant AWS bet comingAbout to invest seriously in AWS partnership. Want to get the foundation right the first time.
Co-sell tried, didn't convertACE felt like shouting into a void. Submissions went in. Nothing came back.
Built from the inside
“I watched hundreds of partner interactions from that seat. It was never the product. It was never the relationship. It was always the motion.”
Peter, Founder of Kahpoch
Peter · Founder, Kahpoch
Former AWS PDM / PSM
  • 5.5 years inside AWS as a Partner Development Manager and Partner Sales Manager, building co-sell motions with partners directly from the AWS side. That means I was the person deciding which partners got field attention, which programs got prioritized, and which co-sell opportunities were worth pursuing.

  • Reviewed ACE activity and shaped partner narratives for AWS field sellers. Assessed which partnerships had real co-sell potential, from the inside of every decision. I knew within minutes of reading a partner's ACE pipeline whether they'd get traction or get deprioritized, and exactly why.

  • Saw both sides of every interaction. Knew which partners got co-sell support and which got politely managed at arm's length, and exactly what made the difference. It was never product quality or relationship warmth. It was always whether the motion was built in a way that made it easy for a seller to say yes.

  • That knowledge isn't available anywhere else. You can't hire it. You can't learn it from a blog post. You can't get it from someone who learned about AWS from the outside. You get it by sitting in those rooms. I did.

How a working motion is structured

What Kahpoch actually builds for you.

Inputs
Partner StateAWS ReadinessField IntelProgram Map
Build

Kahpoch Co-Sell Sprint, or 90-Day Advisory

Outputs
Motion NarrativeACE ProtocolSeller KitProgram Roadmap
Co-sell

Engagements

Three engagements. One through-line:
make you the partner AWS sellers want to work with.

Entry Point
Partner Readiness Assessment
10 business days

See your partnership the way an AWS PDM actually sees it, scored across six dimensions, with a prioritized plan that works backwards from the field behaviors you want to drive.

  • Scored assessment across 6 dimensions
  • 90-day working-backwards plan
  • "What not to do" list: 5–10 de-prioritizations
  • 60-min readout call with direct Q&A
Recommended
Build
Co-Sell Motion Sprint
6 weeks

You have clarity. Now we build the motion. One fully structured, AWS-ready co-sell system. Not a strategy document. A working motion your team runs from week one.

  • Co-sell motion narrative + solution brief
  • ACE protocol with hygiene standards
  • Seller enablement kit: talk tracks, objections
  • Close-out: next 4–8 AWS interactions mapped
Full Engagement
90-Day Advisory
90 days

Not a retainer. Not a set number of hours. A 90-day operating partnership. No scope padding. Work is determined by what will actually move the needle at your stage.

  • Full AWS operating model your team owns
  • Programs, funding + co-sell aligned to stage
  • JBP, MDF strategy, SCA prep
  • Independence. Always the goal.
What we build

Assets your team owns
and runs independently.

If it can't run without us in the room, we redesign it.

01 / MOTION NARRATIVE
The co-sell story

Problem framing, joint value prop, entry criteria, roles, and weekly operating rhythm. The document your PDM asks to see in the first meeting.

02 / SOLUTION BRIEF
Field-ready one-pager

Survives an AWS seller forwarding it internally. Clear buyer story, proof points, architecture context, and a CTA that actually lands.

03 / ACE PROTOCOL
Hygiene that builds credibility

Submission triggers, internal ownership, hygiene standards, and ready-to-run templates. Eliminates the guesswork that costs you PSM credibility every quarter.

04 / ENABLEMENT KIT
Everything a seller needs

Talk tracks, email snippets, objection handling, and co-sell packaging. Everything an AWS seller needs to bring you into a deal with confidence.

05 / PROGRAM ROADMAP
Sequenced by your stage

ISV Accelerate, MAP, MDF, and competencies, prioritized by your revenue stage and actual readiness. Not by what AWS is currently promoting.

06 / JOINT BUSINESS PLAN
Internal AWS credibility

Builds the structured case for deeper field investment. For partners serious about AWS as a managed relationship, not a transactional one.


The math
“We don't ask you to take the ROI on faith. Here's how partners typically think about it.”

A working co-sell motion with two active PSM relationships typically generates 3–5× the pipeline of a partner without one. At most deal sizes, one AWS-influenced close covers this engagement entirely.

AWS doesn't send a signal when you've been deprioritized. It just gets quieter. The partners who wait tend to wait for a long time.

Pipeline lift
3–5×

Active co-sell motion vs. no motion

Break-even
1 close

One AWS-influenced deal covers the engagement

Marketplace boost
+10%

Close rate improvement on available deals

Cost of waiting
1 yr+

To rebuild PSM credibility once deprioritized

Ready to diagnose what's stuck?

30 minutes. You'll leave knowing exactly what's blocking your traction.

No pitch. No proposal on the first call. Just a direct conversation with someone who's sat on the other side of the AWS table and knows what the field team sees when they look at your profile.

Scope stays small. If it cannot be executed cleanly, we redesign it.

WE RESPOND WITHIN 1 BUSINESS DAY · PRIVACY POLICY APPLIES