Getting listed on AWS Marketplace feels like a milestone. You went through the compliance review, set up your seller account, submitted your listing, and got approved. That took weeks, maybe months.

Then nothing happens.

No inbound leads. No transactions. No AWS reps referring you to their customers. Just a listing sitting quietly in a catalog of tens of thousands of other products.

This is not an edge case. Based on Awssome's experience onboarding 100+ ISVs onto AWS Marketplace, the majority of companies that successfully list never reach their first transaction. They are stuck. And most of them do not know why.

This post breaks down exactly why that happens and what the ISVs who do succeed are doing differently.

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TL;DR

• Listing on AWS Marketplace does not automatically generate sales or referrals

• Most ISVs stall at the Activated stage because they treat listing as a destination, not a starting point

• The ISVs who transact have three things in common: co-sell readiness, an active AWS rep relationship, and operational completeness

• Fixing this requires both product setup and a change in how you engage with AWS

• You do not have to figure this out alone

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The Listing Trap

AWS Marketplace has over 300,000 customers and processes billions in annual transactions. Those numbers make listing feel like an automatic growth move.

It is not.

AWS Marketplace is a distribution channel, not a demand generation engine. Customers do not browse it the way they browse the App Store. Enterprise buyers do not randomly discover your SaaS listing and decide to purchase. They land on your listing because someone, usually an AWS rep or a partner, sent them there.

If no one is sending customers to your listing, your listing does nothing.

Most ISVs do not understand this until after they have spent six months listed with zero transactions.

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What Is Actually Blocking Most ISVs

After working through the onboarding journey with over 100 software companies, the same blockers show up repeatedly. They fall into three categories.

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1. They are not co-sell ready

Co-selling means your product is set up to be actively referred and sold by AWS account managers. This requires more than a published listing.

To be co-sell ready, you need:

• An active ACE (APN Customer Engagement) pipeline in Partner Central

• A completed Foundational Technical Review (FTR)

• A Partner Central profile that AWS reps can actually use to evaluate your product

• Submitted co-sell opportunities so AWS reps can start engaging

Most ISVs skip these steps because they were never told they were required. The listing approval process does not surface them. AWS sends a congratulations email and the rest is on you.

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2. They have no AWS rep relationship

90% of deals that close through AWS Marketplace involve an AWS account manager or partner development manager. These reps have quotas tied to Marketplace transactions. When they find an ISV whose product is a fit for one of their customer accounts, they want to refer it.

But they will only refer ISVs they know and trust.

Building that relationship means proactively reaching out to the AWS reps covering your target verticals and geographies. It means sharing customer wins. It means showing up in their world before you need something from them.

ISVs who wait for AWS to come to them wait a long time.

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3. Their listing is operationally incomplete

This is the most underrated blocker. Even ISVs who are co-sell ready and have AWS relationships can stall if the operational side of their listing is broken.

Common issues:

• Pricing not configured correctly for the deal types AWS reps are trying to run (private offers, CPPO, renewal pricing)

• No end-customer support documentation linked from the listing

• Product description that does not speak to AWS buyers or map to AWS use cases

• No metering integration if the product uses consumption-based pricing

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When an AWS rep tries to run a deal and hits friction on your listing, they move to the next ISV on their list. They have 50 other accounts to manage.

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What the ISVs Who Succeed Do Differently

The ISVs who reach their first transaction within 90 days of listing share a pattern.

They treat listing as the starting line, not the finish line.

Specifically, they do four things:

They complete co-sell activation immediately. Within the first 30 days of listing, they have submitted their first ACE opportunity, completed FTR, and enrolled in ISV Accelerate. They do not wait to see if organic sales come first.

They identify and contact the AWS reps covering their accounts. They do not wait for an introduction. They find the AWS account managers and partner development managers relevant to their geography and vertical and start a conversation. They share their ICP, their top customer wins, and ask how they can support joint opportunities.

They keep their listing operationally clean. Pricing is complete. Private offer setup is tested. Support documentation is live. Every time an AWS rep opens their listing, it works.

They share evidence. Customer case studies, ROI numbers, before-and-after stories. AWS reps want to know if your product actually works for the kinds of customers they manage. The ISVs who win give them that evidence upfront.

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The Uncomfortable Truth About AWS Marketplace

AWS Marketplace rewards ISVs who meet AWS reps halfway.

The program is designed for co-selling. The incentives, the pipeline visibility, the revenue acceleration features: all of it assumes you are actively engaged with the AWS sales motion, not waiting on the sidelines with a published listing.

ISVs who understand this dynamic get to their first transaction faster. ISVs who treat listing as a passive move spend months wondering why the channel is not working.

The gap between a listed ISV and a transacting ISV is almost never about product quality. It is almost always about co-sell readiness and relationship.

How Awssome Helps

This is exactly the problem Awssome was built to solve.

We work with ISVs who are listed or close to listing and help them close the gap between activation and transaction. That means getting co-sell ready, building the AWS rep relationships that drive referrals, and keeping the operational side of the listing in shape.

If your listing has been live for more than 60 days with no transactions, something in this chain is broken. We can help you find it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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How long does it take to get a first transaction on AWS Marketplace?

ISVs who complete co-sell activation and engage AWS reps proactively typically see their first transaction within 60 to 90 days. ISVs who do not take these steps can go 6 to 12 months without a transaction despite having an active listing.

What is co-sell activation on AWS Marketplace?

Co-sell activation is the process of setting up your product to be actively referred and sold by AWS account managers. It includes completing the Foundational Technical Review (FTR), submitting ACE opportunities in Partner Central, and enrolling in the AWS ISV Accelerate program.

Does AWS Marketplace generate inbound leads automatically?

No. AWS Marketplace is a transaction and distribution channel, not a lead generation platform. Customers find your listing through AWS rep referrals, partner channels, or targeted marketing efforts, not through organic browsing.

What is the AWS ISV Accelerate program?

AWS ISV Accelerate is a co-sell program for AWS Partners that offer software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. Enrolled ISVs get access to co-sell support from AWS sales teams and incentives tied to Marketplace transactions.

What does Awssome do?

Awssome helps ISVs navigate AWS Marketplace onboarding, co-sell activation, and the AWS partner ecosystem. We work with companies that are listed or preparing to list and help them get from activation to their first transaction faster.

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