As the cloud journey continues to gain steam, emerging issues include cost efficiency.

With startups having to scrutinize return on investment if they take the cloud route, the Amazon Web Services Inc. Marketplace is emerging as a stepping stone toward entering this space, according to Jerry Chen (pictured), partner at Greylock Partners.

“The Marketplace is becoming the channel for startups,” Chen stated. “A lot of large customers have deals with Amazon through the Marketplace. So startups can sell through the marketplace to customers. A lot of CFOs are doing no new vendors. It’s getting harder to get approved as a startup. So the Marketplace becomes a bigger, bigger deal.”

Chen spoke with theCUBE industry analyst John Furrier at AWS re:Invent, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed emerging AWS trends and what should be the key focus going forward. (* Disclosure below.)

Creativity should be at its best

Creativity is the key for existing ecosystem partners at AWS, according to Chen, who said that deals have diminished and are taking longer to close. Startups should also watch velocity of new venture creation, he explained.

“Focus on the hard ROI, be OK with the smaller land and just expand in ’23, ’24 … so just get kind of creative on how you work with customers,” he noted. “I think the more focused wedge you have as a startup and how you can land and deliver value — land the very, very sharp wedge, expand over time, but just be very specific how you land.”

Since AWS is customer-centric, Chen believes the market might be headed to next-generation cloud services. This is based on customer demand.

“I think you talked about your interview with Adam Selipsky is the solutions and what you call the next-gen cloud; these high-level services,” he said. “So they lead the way by kind of following where the customer’s going and if, when Selipsky and AWS are doing these solutions, supply chain, etc., that tells you kind of where the market’s headed.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent:

(* Disclosure: This is an unsponsored editorial segment. However, theCUBE is a paid media partner for AWS re:Invent. AWS and other sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE