What's broken Readiness quiz About Engagements FAQ Book a call →
AWS Co-Sell Advisory · Calgary, AB

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

Kahpoch builds the co-sell motion AWS field teams actually respond to, designed by a former AWS PDM. Not external ecosystem learning.

60-second self-check

Where does your motion actually break?

Six dimensions, scored the way an AWS PDM scores them. No email required. You'll see your readiness band the moment you finish.

01 / 06 GTM Narrative
AWS Partner Network
ACE Pipeline Hygiene
ISV Accelerate
Co-Sell Motion Design
PDM Engagement Cadence
Joint Business Plans
MAP Funding Strategy
Solution Brief Authoring
AWS Partner Network
ACE Pipeline Hygiene
ISV Accelerate
Co-Sell Motion Design
PDM Engagement Cadence
Joint Business Plans
MAP Funding Strategy
Solution Brief Authoring
The truth AWS won’t tell you

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

You’re in the program with wins and have done what AWS asked, yet they’re not engaging as expected. The issue isn’t product quality or relationship depth. It’s a fixable motion problem.

Most partners struggle not from confusion about technology but from uncertainty about why relationships aren’t working despite compliance. The root cause isn’t effort. It’s sequence and signal.

ACE feels like a void

Opportunities submitted yield no PSM engagement, co-sell activity, or feedback.

Select tier: now what?

AWS provides congratulations but silence. No explanation of what changes at this tier.

Marketplace sits there

ISV Accelerate enrollment complete. Listing built. Pipeline unchanged. The listing exists without conversion.

PSM meetings plateau

Initial calls go well, then silence. Lack of cadence prevents relationship conversion to co-sell.

The pattern

A small partner slice captures most AWS co-sell investment by doing the right things in the right sequence and making it easy for AWS sellers to say yes.

Six triggers

You’re in the right place if…

If one of these moments reads as the current quarter, the cost of waiting compounds. Each is a window when the motion can be set up cleanly, or set up wrong for the next year.

01

Just hit Select tier

Uncertainty about AWS expectations beyond the checklist that got you here.

02

First alliances hire

Need fast ramp and immediate AWS field credibility.

03

No PDM assigned yet

Unsure what actions build the case; don’t want wasted quarters.

04

Azure or GCP background

Co-sell knowledge exists, but AWS motion feels like a different language.

05

Significant AWS bet coming

Planning serious AWS partnership investment; want correct foundation first.

06

Co-sell tried, didn’t convert

ACE submissions felt ineffective. Opportunities submitted with no response.

From the AWS side of the table

Built from the inside.

Peter, Founder of Kahpoch
Peter
Founder, Kahpoch
Former role AWS PDM & PSM
Tenure inside AWS ~6 years
Now based Calgary, AB
I watched hundreds of partner interactions from that seat. It was never the product. It was never the relationship. It was always the motion.

Nearly six years inside AWS as a Partner Development Manager and Partner Sales Manager. I was the person deciding which partners got field attention, which programs got prioritized, and which co-sell opportunities were worth pursuing.

I could read a partner’s ACE pipeline and know within minutes whether they would get traction or get quietly deprioritized. The distinguishing factor was rarely product quality or relationship warmth.

The pattern I saw repeatedly: partners who struggled were not doing too little. They were doing too much of the wrong things, in the wrong order, for the wrong audience. One partner I worked with had been active in the ecosystem for over a year, had real AWS experience on their team, and still could not get field engagement. Not because they lacked capability. Because they were optimizing for the wrong signals. We sequenced their priorities and program attainment around what AWS field sellers actually needed to see, and within a quarter they had consistent PSM engagement and active co-sell conversations.

Inside visibility reveals the right sequence. Not just the right activities.
The honest comparison

Most common alternative to Kahpoch: a full-time hire.

Here’s the actual decision landscape.

Full-Time Hire Kahpoch
Time to productivity 3 to 6 months minimum Day one
Annual cost $150K to $250K+ salary, benefits, equity Fixed engagement fee, no ongoing commitment
AWS insider knowledge Depends entirely on who you hire Nearly six years as the AWS PDM on the other side of your relationship
Knows what your PDM prioritizes Whatever your PDM tells them What PDMs actually prioritize, from inside the role
PDM credibility on day one Starts from zero Motion built to signal credibility from the first interaction
Risk if it doesn’t work Severance, rehiring costs, lost quarters Engagement ends, every asset stays with you
What you own at the end An employee A fully documented co-sell motion your team runs independently
“One AWS-influenced close typically covers the engagement entirely. A mis-hire costs a year.
Engagements

Three engagements. One through-line.

We build the motion with you, so your team can run it without us.

Ready when you are

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.

Direct conversation with someone who sat on the other side of the AWS table.

Scope stays small. Unclean execution prompts redesign.

RESPONSE TIME
Within 1 business day
PRIVACY POLICY APPLIES