AWS’ cloud marketplace edge

The AWS everything store

AWS Marketplace debuted in 2012 with self-service Amazon Machine Images. Now, it’s the most mature cloud marketplace among the Big Three providers — and many software vendors see it as a crucial part of their go-to-market strategy, Protocol’s Donna Goodison writes.

• AWS Marketplace features more than 12,000 listings in more than 65 categories that are available in 25 regions.
• Some 325,000 customers transacted more than $1 billion in revenue through it last year.

The secret to the marketplace’s growth was a feature rolled out by AWS in 2017 called “private offers.” It allows SaaS companies to negotiate custom end-user licensing agreements, pricing, and payment schedules with individual customers.

• Before AWS introduced private offers, customers could take advantage of a self-service AWS Marketplace experience and buy prepackaged annual subscriptions on demand. But once they started using large amounts of software through the platform, customers wanted discounts on their purchases.
• Private offers brought them back to Marketplace, and it now facilitates six-, seven-, or even eight-figure transactions.

There's a huge benefit from the scale of AWS. Several software vendors told Donna that they’re happy to work within the constraints of the system — and tolerate the fees AWS charges — to tap into AWS’ vast customer base.

• Customers prefer the ease of billing through AWS Marketplace, according to software vendors interviewed by Protocol.
• It also helps speed transactions and the rate at which software vendors can cut through to customers’ procurement teams.
• Customers can take advantage of AWS Marketplace’s standard contracting terms governing software usage without having to independently vet software vendors whose products have already been subject to vulnerability scanning and useability tests by AWS..

If there's a concern, it’s probably discoverability. Some software vendors who spoke with Protocol haven’t had much luck landing new customers who’ve discovered their products through searches of AWS Marketplace.

• While there are category managers in areas such as security, networking, and storage, that can help software vendors better navigate the online store, not all software vendors get one.

Read more: AWS has a clear advantage among cloud enterprise marketplaces: It has the most customers

What’s next for Parler

Ye’s acquisition of Parler, the social media platform that’s popular with conservatives, could be completed by the end of the year, Parler COO Josh Levine told Protocol’s Hirsh Chitkara.

• “This transaction will get closed very quickly,” Levine told Protocol on Wednesday. “There’s nothing to stand in the way of that except that, you know, we just [have] to go through the process of assuring it’s done correctly.”.

The takeover may be a shot in the arm for Parler, which has been bleeding users. In the first half of 2022, Parler had an average of about 983,000 monthly active users globally, down from 6 million in the first half of 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported.

• But, in the three days since the news of the acquisition broke, Parler has seen four times more signups than in the month before, Levine said.

So what’s next? The plan is to continue expanding its user base by moving beyond politics and recruiting new users like musicians, athletes, and comedians to the platform, Levine told Hirsh.

• But the app may find its political image hard to shake, especially given the role it played in the Jan. 6 riots. The platform became a haven for right-wing extremism and was used for promotion of and recruitment for the insurrection.

• And Ye also seems to want to invite more politics onto the platform: After the deal went live, the rapper spoke to former President Donald Trump and invited him to join Parler, a move that he said he would reciprocate by joining Truth Social.

VC, but for the creator economy

Becoming financially independent as a creator is hard. But a VC-style approach could help creators get big without relying too heavily on other streams of income, Protocol’s Sarah Roach writes.

Spotter gives capital to creators. Think of the business like music licensing, only this company acquires the rights to a creator’s catalog of existing and future YouTube videos in exchange for cash.

• Spotter is growing quickly. It’s given $600 million to creators as of late September and hopes to eventually dole out $1 billion by the first half of next year. Internally, it’s building its first office and has more than doubled its workforce.
• At least right now, Spotter is just working with YouTube creators because they have a predictable cash flow stream through ad revenue. “If other platforms like TikTok started to share their revenue or reward their creators in a way that helped us provide capital to the creators, we would be there,” Spotter CEO Aaron DeBevoise told Sarah.

This targets a big issue among creators: It’s hard to make a living off platforms alone without resorting to selling merchandise, working with brands, and exploring other potential revenue streams.

• Other companies are also offering solutions to this problem: Jellysmack and Karat Financial offer creators up-front capital to jumpstart their platforms, for instance.

And this type of funding could stick around, according to Investors and marketing experts.

• Scott Sanchez, who previously led global marketing at AWS and is now the chief marketing officer of software delivery firm Harness, said Spotter will exist as long as the creator community remains strong.

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People are talking

Jeff Bezos warned of tougher times ahead for the economy:

• “Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you batten down the hatches.”

But ASML's Peter Wennink said his company’s going to be fine in a recession:

• “What we've always seen in recession or downturn — that I've seen in the last 25 years — customers never cancel.”

The West could see an increased number of cyberattacks from China and especially Russia, said cybersecurity and geopolitics expert Dmitri Alperovitch:

• "[Vladimir Putin] is steadily losing territory, including territory that he has recently tried to annex. And that may mean that he's going to be much more willing to confront not just Ukraine, but also the West."

Tesla cut full-year growth expectations, but Elon Musk still expects Tesla to sell every car it makes for the foreseeable future:

• "The factories are running at full speed and we’re delivering every car we make.”

Making moves

Palantir is setting up a second U.K. headquarters, potentially in Leeds or Manchester, as it deepens its relationship with the NHS.

Leo Olebe is YouTube’s new head of gaming. Olebe held executive roles in Google Play’s games partnerships division.

Amit Sinha is the new CEO of DigiCert, a digital security company. He joins DigiCert from Zscaler, where he served as president.

Bento added several new execs: Cassie Jackson is its chief growth officer; Charlotte Ketelaar is chief of staff; and Marcus Davis is “advice evangelist” and business development representative.

Deliveroo is leaving the Netherlandsafter it concluded that achieving a big market share in the region would require a “disproportionate level of investment.”

It's not privacy vs. security anymore

In the last few years, the roles of privacy and security executives — and the budgets they control — have grown significantly as organizations have worked to stymie the growing threat of cyberattacks and navigate the ever-changing landscape of data regulation.

In this event we will explore how the chief privacy and chief information security officer roles will evolve and how each can support the other best when the company needs it most. Join us 11 a.m. PT Oct. 27. RSVP here.

In other news

Amazon's luxury devices come at a cost, The Atlantic writes. Surveillance is involved with all of these devices, which can deepen racial inequities and allow for troves of data collection.

Is the 9-to-5 really over? A new Slack survey found that employees with flexible schedules reported much higher productivity and ability to focus than people with set hours.

Women are leaving workplaces at higher rates than ever. Research shows they’re leaving for more than just a high paycheck at a different company, and want better workplace culture and DEI progress.

Waymo is expanding its robotaxis to LA, the company’s third city.

Major ISPs consistently offered slower base internet speeds in poor neighborhoods and communities of color when compared to more affluent, white neighborhoods, according to an investigation by The Markup and The Associated Press.

SpaceX is rolling out Starlink for private jets, offering customers a $150,000 airplane antenna to enable internet service.

Somewhat good news for the climate: Global carbon dioxide emissions are set to grow less than 1% this year, helped by the rise of renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Thanksgiving belongs to Amazon. It'll stream the first-ever Black Friday NFL game, in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving Day game, in 2023.

Does Netflix belong in theaters?

Inside Netflix, execs are divided on the best way to release a movie, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some want Netflix to experiment with a big theatrical release before allowing people to stream. Others stand by the current model, where movies might drop in just a handful of theaters for a short amount of time before becoming available on a streaming platform. There are pros and cons to both, but it all comes down to deciding whether the movie theater is going to buoy up or bring down streaming.

A MESSAGE FROM CIRCLE

USD Coin (USDC) is the institutional grade stablecoin. Monthly attestations show exactly what reserves back USDC, and businesses all over the world are using USDC to build the next generation of financial services and global payment applications.

Learn why institutions trust USDC at Circle’s Transparency & Stability Hub