Would-be nuclear fusion pioneer Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is shipping a pair of its specialized magnets to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the startup exclusively told TechCrunch.
The move comes years before CFS anticipates starting its demonstration reactor, SPARC. It’s the first such deal, though possibly not the last, suggesting that the fusion sector has matured to the point where it supports supply agreements in addition to research and development partnerships.
“We recognize that the magnets are useful for other things,” Bob Mumgaard, CEO of CFS, told TechCrunch. “If we’re going to build a ladder, let’s not kick the ladder down. If others are going to come up behind, how can we help them?”
Nuclear fusion is the reaction that powers the sun and other stars; most nuclear plants on earth today run on nuclear fission instead. The idea that fusion could someday provide cheap, nearly limitless power has been around for decades, but it’s proven incredibly challenging to control a reaction on earth. In recent years, however, scientists have begun to show some progress getting fusion reactions to positive output — that is, to produce more energy than it requires to kick them off — and venture money has been pouring into several startups in the space. CFS is one of the most notable, spun out of research done at MIT and with a war chest of over $2 billion in venture money (according to Pitchbook).
Mumgaard is perhaps understating the importance of Commowealth’s magnets. If it weren’t for them, the company probably wouldn’t exist. The startup worked with scientists at MIT to develop a new type of rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) magnet that produces an incredibly strong magnetic field.
Because the magnets are so strong, they can be made smaller and still confine the white-hot plasma within the reactor. Smaller magnets are cheaper, require less supporting material and equipment, and so on. Those savings cascade throughout the power plant, making a commercial version possible.
Given all those advantages, it’s no surprise that other parties would be interested in buying some of Commonwealth’s magnets. The company isn’t letting potential competitors in, at least not yet; not only is the project at UW-Madison a research experiment, it’s a different reactor design entirely. Known as WHAM, the reactor creates a tube of plasma instead of a doughnut like in Commonwealth’s tokamak.
The funds that the university is using come from the federal government’s ARPA-E program. (WHAM is also associated with another startup, Realta Fusion, which spun out from the experiment, though CFS and Realta aren’t partners themselves.)
As a part of the deal, Commonwealth is shipping completed magnets along with the necessary assemblies, cooling and control systems. The startup said its software will also control the magnets’ operations.
The deal isn’t entirely magnanimous, of course, since the university is paying Commonwealth for the magnets, though it didn’t disclose the sum. “The fact that we have these magnets, and that we spent a lot of money developing them. Well, that’s a good business for us,” Mumgaard said.
7 founders explain what fusion power needs to go mainstream
Serial entrepreneur Scott Painter’s plan to build an all-electric vehicle subscription company called Autonomy has not worked out. So he’s pivoting once again to what he calls the “hardest build” of his career.
While Autonomy will continue operating the small 1,000-car fleet it assembled over the last few years — far from the stated goal of 23,000 — Painter is spinning out a new company called Autonomy Data Services, or ADS, he tells TechCrunch in an exclusive interview.
That new company will provide a software platform and data to automakers who want to operate their own subscription services for electric, gas, new, or even used cars. Painter also says he’s in talks with car dealers, fleet operators, and even companies that sell construction and farm equipment but might want to offer subscriptions. He says an early version of the service is already generating revenue.
Painter says ADS is negotiating with multiple automakers, including three that have already run their own subscription service in the past. The company is partnering with Deloitte to run the service; ADS will get a revenue share as the software-as-a-service provider, while Deloitte will charge the automakers (or other customers) to customize the platform.
It’s yet another turnaround for Painter, who has had a rocky few years. After stepping down as CEO of auto retailer TrueCar in 2015 (a company he founded in 2005), he created car leasing startup Fair, which received over $300 million from SoftBank. That ended poorly, with early investors accusing SoftBank of driving the company into the ground and Painter ultimately stepping down as chairman in 2021.
His latest pivot didn’t come easy, either.
To make all this happen in the first place, Painter had to convince Autonomy’s investors, some of whom were underwater after the subscription service never took off as promised.
“Our lenders had what’s called senior secured status; they could have killed the company and tried to liquidate the fleet” to get some of their money back, he says. But he worked with them to convert $32 million worth of debt in Autonomy into equity in ADS.
He also says he had to “personally dig deep,” including selling a $6 million beach house on the Pacific Coast Highway, mortgaging another property, and “selling a bunch of assets that I didn’t want to sell.”
“It has been the hardest build I’ve ever had as an entrepreneur,” he says, describing the whole process as “hugging the cactus.”
A six-figure acquisition for data
Autonomy was already struggling last year when Elon Musk’s aggressive price-cutting destroyed the value of the small fleet, which was mostly Teslas. (Painter, who knows Musk personally, says he has tried “to impress upon Elon how important it is to be more predictable about discounting” to no avail.)
The problem this time around is that most every major automaker has already tried subscription services. And almost every single one of them walked away from the idea.
Painter says that happened because automakers “did not have the fidelity yet, or the understanding of how subscriptions would work.” Because all of those automaker subscription services were brand new, he says, they didn’t understand how customers would behave. Would they subscribe for just a few months? Or a few years?
Without that information, Painter argues, it’s really hard to figure out pricing, and so automakers charged a lot for their subscription services – something that scared away buyers.
That kind of information is one of the things he plans to offer with ADS. And it’s not just coming from the Autonomy customers. Painter quietly bought up the assets of bankrupt used car marketplace Shift Technologies earlier this year for less than a million dollars. In the years leading up to its collapse, Shift had bought Painter’s former car-leasing startup Fair, which itself had previously acquired Ford’s subscription service Canvas — bringing the remnants of his former business back under his ownership — and Uber’s leasing service Xchange.
The data from all of those companies can be used to predict “how long people stay in cars based on their customer cohort, what their FICO score is, how much income they have, so on and so forth,” Painter says. This is important not just because it offers certainty, but because the flexibility of subscription services is attractive to customers with lower credit scores.
In addition to the customer data, Painter says he got all the source code, patents, trademarks and compliance and legal “work product” from those defunct businesses, which he says should make it very easy for ADS to get up and running with customers in new markets.
In all, he says he got more than a terabyte, jokingly calling it an “astonishing avalanche of s—.”
“My IT guys were just like, what are you going to do with all this stuff? It just kept coming,” he says. But, he points out, the companies that generated all this data “spent almost a billion dollars collectively developing software” that he now owns and is using at ADS.
“I mean, when [SoftBank CEO] Masayoshi Son finds out that I was able to buy all of the Fair IP and assets for less than a million dollars, it’s just, I mean, it’s gonna just kill him,” he jokes.
And while he’s gathered $2.5 million to fund the effort, the work is not done. “We’ve done everything that we had to do to make [ADS] an investable business. Right now we’re just looking for an equity partner that will come in for somewhere between $5 [million] and $8 million,” he says. “That’ll give the company two years of runway to then continue to scale with Deloitte.”
Serial entrepreneur Scott Painter’s plan to build an all-electric vehicle subscription company called Autonomy has not worked out. So he’s pivoting once again to what he calls the “hardest build” of his career.
While Autonomy will continue operating the small 1,000-car fleet it assembled over the last few years — far from the stated goal of 23,000 — Painter is spinning out a new company called Autonomy Data Services, or ADS, he tells TechCrunch in an exclusive interview.
That new company will provide a software platform and data to automakers who want to operate their own subscription services for electric, gas, new, or even used cars. Painter also says he’s in talks with car dealers, fleet operators, and even companies that sell construction and farm equipment but might want to offer subscriptions. He says an early version of the service is already generating revenue.
Painter says ADS is negotiating with multiple automakers, including three that have already run their own subscription service in the past. The company is partnering with Deloitte to run the service; ADS will get a revenue share as the software-as-a-service provider, while Deloitte will charge the automakers (or other customers) to customize the platform.
It’s yet another turnaround for Painter, who has had a rocky few years. After stepping down as CEO of auto retailer TrueCar in 2015 (a company he founded in 2005), he created car leasing startup Fair, which received over $300 million from SoftBank. That ended poorly, with early investors accusing SoftBank of driving the company into the ground and Painter ultimately stepping down as chairman in 2021.
His latest pivot didn’t come easy, either.
To make all this happen in the first place, Painter had to convince Autonomy’s investors, some of whom were underwater after the subscription service never took off as promised.
“Our lenders had what’s called senior secured status; they could have killed the company and tried to liquidate the fleet” to get some of their money back, he says. But he worked with them to convert $32 million worth of debt in Autonomy into equity in ADS.
He also says he had to “personally dig deep,” including selling a $6 million beach house on the Pacific Coast Highway, mortgaging another property, and “selling a bunch of assets that I didn’t want to sell.”
“It has been the hardest build I’ve ever had as an entrepreneur,” he says, describing the whole process as “hugging the cactus.”
A six-figure acquisition for data
Autonomy was already struggling last year when Elon Musk’s aggressive price-cutting destroyed the value of the small fleet, which was mostly Teslas. (Painter, who knows Musk personally, says he has tried “to impress upon Elon how important it is to be more predictable about discounting” to no avail.)
The problem this time around is that most every major automaker has already tried subscription services. And almost every single one of them walked away from the idea.
Painter says that happened because automakers “did not have the fidelity yet, or the understanding of how subscriptions would work.” Because all of those automaker subscription services were brand new, he says, they didn’t understand how customers would behave. Would they subscribe for just a few months? Or a few years?
Without that information, Painter argues, it’s really hard to figure out pricing, and so automakers charged a lot for their subscription services – something that scared away buyers.
That kind of information is one of the things he plans to offer with ADS. And it’s not just coming from the Autonomy customers. Painter quietly bought up the assets of bankrupt used car marketplace Shift Technologies earlier this year for less than a million dollars. In the years leading up to its collapse, Shift had bought Painter’s former car-leasing startup Fair, which itself had previously acquired Ford’s subscription service Canvas — bringing the remnants of his former business back under his ownership — and Uber’s leasing service Xchange.
The data from all of those companies can be used to predict “how long people stay in cars based on their customer cohort, what their FICO score is, how much income they have, so on and so forth,” Painter says. This is important not just because it offers certainty, but because the flexibility of subscription services is attractive to customers with lower credit scores.
In addition to the customer data, Painter says he got all the source code, patents, trademarks and compliance and legal “work product” from those defunct businesses, which he says should make it very easy for ADS to get up and running with customers in new markets.
In all, he says he got more than a terabyte, jokingly calling it an “astonishing avalanche of s—.”
“My IT guys were just like, what are you going to do with all this stuff? It just kept coming,” he says. But, he points out, the companies that generated all this data “spent almost a billion dollars collectively developing software” that he now owns and is using at ADS.
“I mean, when [SoftBank CEO] Masayoshi Son finds out that I was able to buy all of the Fair IP and assets for less than a million dollars, it’s just, I mean, it’s gonna just kill him,” he jokes.
And while he’s gathered $2.5 million to fund the effort, the work is not done. “We’ve done everything that we had to do to make [ADS] an investable business. Right now we’re just looking for an equity partner that will come in for somewhere between $5 [million] and $8 million,” he says. “That’ll give the company two years of runway to then continue to scale with Deloitte.”
Would-be nuclear fusion pioneer Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is shipping a pair of its specialized magnets to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the startup exclusively told TechCrunch.
The move comes years before CFS anticipates starting its demonstration reactor, SPARC. It’s the first such deal, though possibly not the last, suggesting that the fusion sector has matured to the point where it supports supply agreements in addition to research and development partnerships.
“We recognize that the magnets are useful for other things,” Bob Mumgaard, CEO of CFS, told TechCrunch. “If we’re going to build a ladder, let’s not kick the ladder down. If others are going to come up behind, how can we help them?”
Nuclear fusion is the reaction that powers the sun and other stars; most nuclear plants on earth today run on nuclear fission instead. The idea that fusion could someday provide cheap, nearly limitless power has been around for decades, but it’s proven incredibly challenging to control a reaction on earth. In recent years, however, scientists have begun to show some progress getting fusion reactions to positive output — that is, to produce more energy than it requires to kick them off — and venture money has been pouring into several startups in the space. CFS is one of the most notable, spun out of research done at MIT and with a war chest of over $2 billion in venture money (according to Pitchbook).
Mumgaard is perhaps understating the importance of Commowealth’s magnets. If it weren’t for them, the company probably wouldn’t exist. The startup worked with scientists at MIT to develop a new type of rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) magnet that produces an incredibly strong magnetic field.
Because the magnets are so strong, they can be made smaller and still confine the white-hot plasma within the reactor. Smaller magnets are cheaper, require less supporting material and equipment, and so on. Those savings cascade throughout the power plant, making a commercial version possible.
Given all those advantages, it’s no surprise that other parties would be interested in buying some of Commonwealth’s magnets. The company isn’t letting potential competitors in, at least not yet; not only is the project at UW-Madison a research experiment, it’s a different reactor design entirely. Known as WHAM, the reactor creates a tube of plasma instead of a doughnut like in Commonwealth’s tokamak.
The funds that the university is using come from the federal government’s ARPA-E program. (WHAM is also associated with another startup, Realta Fusion, which spun out from the experiment, though CFS and Realta aren’t partners themselves.)
As a part of the deal, Commonwealth is shipping completed magnets along with the necessary assemblies, cooling and control systems. The startup said its software will also control the magnets’ operations.
The deal isn’t entirely magnanimous, of course, since the university is paying Commonwealth for the magnets, though it didn’t disclose the sum. “The fact that we have these magnets, and that we spent a lot of money developing them. Well, that’s a good business for us,” Mumgaard said.
7 founders explain what fusion power needs to go mainstream
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has banned the data broker X-Mode Social from sharing or selling users’ sensitive location data, the federal regulator said Tuesday.
The first of its kind settlement prohibits X-Mode, now known as Outlogic, from sharing and selling users’ sensitive information to others. The settlement will also require the data broker to delete or destroy all the location data it previously collected, along with any products produced from this data, unless the company obtains consumer consent or ensures the data has been de-identified.
X-Mode buys and sells access to the location data collected from ordinary phone apps. While just one of many organizations in the multibillion-dollar data broker industry, X-Mode faced scrutiny for selling access to the commercial location data of Americans’ past movements to the U.S. government and military contractors.
Soon after, Apple and Google told developers to remove X-Mode from their apps or face a ban from the app stores.
The FTC alleged that X-Mode sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to sensitive locations, such as medical and reproductive health clinics, places of religious worship and domestic abuse shelters.
The regulator also alleged that the data broker failed to remove the sensitive locations from the raw location data it sold to third-parties and did not implement “reasonable or appropriate safeguards” against downstream use of this precise location data. For at least one of its contracts, the FTC said that X-Mode provided an unnamed private clinical research company with information about consumers who had visited certain medical facilities, pharmacies or specialty infusion centers within a geographic area across Columbus, Ohio.
X-Mode also failed to ensure that users of its own apps — Drunk Mode and Walk Against Humanity — were fully informed about how their precise location data would be used, the FTC said.
“The information revealed through the location data that X-Mode/Outlogic sold not only violated consumers’ privacy but also exposed them to potential discrimination, physical violence, emotional distress, and other harms,” the FTC said in a statement.
“Geolocation data can reveal not just where a person lives and whom they spend time with but also, for example, which medical treatments they seek and where they worship,” said FTC chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s action against X-Mode makes clear that businesses do not have free license to market and sell Americans’ sensitive location data.”
“By securing a first-ever ban on the use and sale of sensitive location data, the FTC is continuing its critical work to protect Americans from intrusive data brokers and unchecked corporate surveillance,” said Khan.
As per the FTC’s order, X-Mode must also implement procedures to ensure that recipients of its location data do not associate the data with locations that provide services to LGBTQIA+ people, provide a simple way for consumers to withdraw their consent for the collection and use of their location data and establish and implement a comprehensive privacy program that protects the privacy of consumers’ personal information.
A statement given to TechCrunch by public relations firm Broadsheet, which represents Outlogic, reads: “We disagree with the implications of the FTC press release. After a lengthy investigation, the FTC found no instance of misuse of any data and made no such allegation. Since its inception, X-Mode has imposed strict contractual terms on all data customers prohibiting them from associating its data with sensitive locations such as healthcare facilities. Adherence to the FTC’s newly introduced policy will be ensured by implementing additional technical processes and will not require any significant changes to business or products.”
Sen. Ron Wyden, whose office first revealed that X-Mode had sold location data to U.S. military contractors, said in response to the FTC’s findings: “I commend the FTC for taking tough action to hold this shady location data broker responsible for its sale of Americans’ location data.”
Updated with comment from Outlogic and Ron Wyden’s office.
Location broker X-Mode continues to track users despite app store bans
Tesla is now selling the revamped version of its Model 3 sedan in the United States, just four months after it debuted in China and Europe.
It’s the first real overhaul of the electric vehicle that brought Tesla to a true mass market. And it comes at a time when the company has been aggressive with its pricing strategy, as it spent much of 2023 offering discounts both here and abroad to beat back competition and keep up with its own growth targets.
The big changes in the new-look Model 3 are mostly on the inside. There’s a small ambient light bar that wraps around the cabin, a new touchscreen display and another one for rear-seat passengers, better sound dampening and upgraded materials. Tesla has also removed the stalks from the steering column, meaning — like its other refreshed models — the gear selection now happens automatically, or on the touchscreen. The outside of the sedan features new headlights and taillights, and a less-bulbous front nose.
The upgraded Model 3 comes in two variants. The rear-wheel drive version starts at $38,990, and Tesla claims it offers the same range of roughly 272 miles as its predecessor. The Long Range version starts at $45,990 and can travel around 341 miles — up from the claimed 333-mile range of the previous Long Range Model 3.
Tesla seems to have found success with the refreshed Model 3 overseas, especially in China, as it notched its best quarter ever to round out 2023, in large part thanks to sales in the country. With the rollout finally coming stateside, Tesla has now revamped three of its four core models, after it started selling new versions of its Model S and Model X in 2021.
ContributorChaitra Vedullapalli is the co-founder and CMO of Meylah and the president of Women in Cloud. With tech and leadership experience spanning over 26 years, Chaitra has led ecosystem growth and optimization to drive billion-dollar expansions for both Microsoft and Oracle.
When it comes to maintaining the health of your technology startup and/or services business, especially in times of uncertainty, there is no lifeline more powerful than qualified leads. To fill that pipeline, buyers need to feel certain that your solution, application, or product is the best, most trustworthy choice, and this is where things tend to fall apart. How can a startup establish the level of trust needed for a new audience to commit when they’re just starting?
This is where Meylah’s “Better Together” co-sell GTM strategy comes into play.
With a staggering 17% of the $13 trillion B2B (business-to-business) spending dedicated to it, “co-sell” dominated cloud marketplaces in 2023. With this seismic shift, the doors have swung wide open to reveal new customer segments and untapped revenue streams, setting the stage for an enticing business opportunity. Before going into the details of the “Better Together” GTM co-sell strategy, I want to lay the groundwork for what “co-selling” means.
Co-selling is a collaborative GTM partnership between SaaS (software as a service) companies and large cloud hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and others. This partnership involves a joint effort to build, market and sell joint technology solutions and services to customers. At its core, co-selling is joining forces with cloud hyperscalers to jointly develop solutions, attract customers, and leverage the partner’s sales and/or customer success team to drive value for existing customers.
Since July 2023, co-selling with cloud marketplaces has become the new gold standard, as they are intricately intertwined and essential for forging prosperous partnerships with cloud services that ultimately enrich your business, your buyers, and your partners.
In the cloud co-sell model, the transformation happens at three levels simultaneously. The growth on the first level is product-led, which means the product is built on a hyperscaler’s cloud infrastructure. On the second level, the joint solution is usage-based monthly recurring revenue (MRR), which looks like billed revenue or cloud consumption revenue. Lastly, on the third level, the growth happens when the solution-based offer becomes available on cloud marketplaces to help customers transact and onboard to a trust-based buying engine in order to meet their cloud demand and budget constraints.
The basis of the co-sell GTM strategy is built on intimately understanding the problem and debunking the most common myths of the partner experience. The problems that most partners are currently experiencing are poor alignment, hitting annual recurring revenue (ARR) goals, driving GTM efficiency, opening new routes to market, improving sales productivity and lack of understanding complex investment planning and return on investment (ROI), which results in poor measurements and ineffective tracking.
Meylah played a critical role in supporting Microsoft’s launch of the #buildfor2030 initiative, honing in on what startups need to become “co-sell ready” with cloud marketplaces.
When crafting your co-sell GTM strategy, adhere to these five guiding principles:
Alignment is key: Successful partnerships require alignment not just in goals, but also in mindset and philosophies. When both parties share a common vision and approach to business, the partnership is more likely to flourish.Expect 5x ROI: To justify investments and partnerships, it’s crucial to set high expectations for ROI. A 5x ROI minimum ensures that resources are allocated efficiently and that the partnership brings tangible benefits.Streamline your GTM plan: Funding should come from multiple sources, which means a streamlined and focused GTM plan ensures that efforts are concentrated on key objectives. Additionally, funding from multiple sources diversifies support and minimizes dependency on a single entity.Transactable via marketplaces: In an increasingly digital world, the ability to transact through online marketplaces is essential. Making your joint customer offer accessible in this manner enhances convenience and scalability.Invest strategically: This can be the catalyst for capturing the attention of hyperscalers. These investments not only demonstrate commitment, but also showcase your company’s potential for growth and innovation.
After you’ve identified your co-sell partner, there are four essential documents that every prospective partner must have in place when engaging with hyperscalers: the co-sell GTM assessment, the #BetterTogether company information evaluation, the co-sell solution-offer information breakdown, and the GTM plays and investment model. The following sections cover what each document is and why it is essential.
Co-sell GTM assessment
The co-sell GTM assessment is the cornerstone of building a thriving co-sell partnership with cloud hyperscalers. The GTM assessment provides a comprehensive evaluation by encompassing six core areas and 31 fundamental activities that are essential for fostering a successful partnership.
This free assessment is more than just a questionnaire; it’s a dynamic process that culminates in a five-page report and a roadmap for your company’s strategic direction. The assessment process isn’t a solitary endeavor. It’s strongly recommended that two to three key individuals within your company participate.
This collaborative approach helps establish a common vision and understanding of your company’s goals and aspirations in the context of co-selling with hyperscalers. It ensures that everyone is on the same page, aligning their perspectives and expectations. The assessment isn’t just about assessing your current state; it’s about charting a path forward. The roadmap that emerges from the assessment process identifies the “big bets” your company should consider taking. These are strategic moves and investments that have the potential to propel your co-sell partnership with hyperscalers to new heights.
Image Credits: MeylahImage Credits: Meylah
#BetterTogether company information evaluation
The #BetterTogether company information evaluation is your opportunity to present your company’s credentials in a concise and impactful way. It offers an at-a-glance view for the hyperscaler to understand your company’s background, mission, values, and unique selling points. This is where first impressions are made, so it’s crucial to make this count. Here is an example of a completed #BetterTogether company information evaluation document for reference:
Image Credits: MeylahImage Credits: Meylah
Once your company information evaluation is completed, this is how it will translate into a transactable listing on the Microsoft cloud marketplace:
Image Credits: MeylahImage Credits: Meylah
The co-sell solution-offer information breakdown
The co-sell solution-offer information breakdown is where the substance lies. To effectively capture the attention of hyperscalers and ensure the success of your partnership, it’s crucial to provide clear and comprehensive information about your solution offer. The solution offer must clearly articulate joint value proposition and benefits, define a qualified audience in a specific industry, determine pricing, and detail the hyperscaler’s product integration.
To set yourself apart when building your solution offer, focus on including the following requirements:
Differentiation: This is your offer’s ability to address a specific industry challenge.SaaS ready: Your solution offer can be built on the hyperscaler’s cloud services stack and functions as a SaaS solution.Transactability: Your offer is listed as a transactable solution in the hyperscaler’s marketplace.Repeatability: Being able to implement and sell your solution offer in a repeatable manner.Co-sell GTM: Ensure that your solution offer possesses critical co-sell GTM assets and an execution plan to drive demand generation and sales plays.
Invest the time it will take to ensure that your co-sell solution offer aligns with these requirements to maximize your partnership’s potential. Refer to the completed Solution Offer Information document below for reference.
Image Credits: MeylahImage Credits: Meylah
The GTM plays and investment model
The GTM plays and investment model is the final and integral piece. Hyperscalers want to know that you not only have a well-thought-out go-to-market strategy, but also the capability to execute it. The GTM plays and investment model gives you the space to outline your marketing and sales plays by quarter and the investment required to execute it. There are four cutting-edge GTM strategies that are dominating right now and help businesses gain access to GTM investments from hyperscalers: research-based strategy, event-based strategy, community-based strategy, and partnership-based strategy.
Research-based strategy
This strategy is rooted in comprehensive market analysis, customer insights, and competitor intelligence. According to a report by Forrester, businesses that prioritize market research are 2.2x times more likely to achieve revenue growth than their counterparts. The average cost of developing the questionnaire, running the marketing campaign, organizing the data, developing reports, and publishing the reports can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000.
Event-based strategy
This strategy involves partnering with other businesses to co-host events, generate leads, and create valuable content. B2B businesses that leverage event marketing report a 20% conversion rate, highlighting its potential for lead generation.
The average cost to develop a co-sell GTM event that is driven by content and joint offers ranges anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000. A major factor in this is whether the event is held online or in person. To make a co-sell event successful, it’s essential to establish a system that is predictable and adaptable.
Community-based strategy
This is by far the most accessible opportunity for every company focused on brand building and demand generation. This strategy involves direct interaction with your customers by gathering feedback and nurturing a sense of belonging. The average cost of developing a community-led GTM is driven by programs, scholarships, and events. Pricing for these initiatives typically starts around $10,000.
Partnership-based strategy
While this is accepted as the most impactful B2B GTM strategy, it is also typically the most expensive. This strategy rests on establishing a co-sell event-based system. This is the fastest way to gain immediate attention from hyperscalers, as it helps with both brand building and generating qualified marketing leads. It’s not just about what you offer, but also how you plan to bring it to market effectively. Statistics reveal that B2B companies engaging in partnerships experience a 35% increase in customer retention. The average cost of developing a joint and integrated campaign, whether it is content driven, offer driven, or sales driven, ranges anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000.
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Next steps
Co-sell relationships are multifaceted and require a lot of upfront work. From building a joint solution offer, to marketing, and eventually to selling together. After you finish these four documents, the next step is to publish your transactable offer and execute your first quarterly GTM plays in the market for visibility and demand generation.
If you’re looking to create a solid GTM co-sell plan, investing in the full spectrum of GTM plays, both in marketing and sales, is the key to unlocking your true potential for co-selling with cloud hyperscalers. While there are more activities in your co-sell journey, these guiding key principles and essential documents will give you an excellent base to approach hyperscalers with confidence.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has banned the data broker X-Mode Social from sharing or selling users’ sensitive location data, the federal regulator said Tuesday.
The first of its kind settlement prohibits X-Mode, now known as Outlogic, from sharing and selling users’ sensitive information to others. The settlement will also require the data broker to delete or destroy all the location data it previously collected, along with any products produced from this data, unless the company obtains consumer consent or ensures the data has been de-identified.
X-Mode buys and sells access to the location data collected from ordinary phone apps. While just one of many organizations in the multibillion-dollar data broker industry, X-Mode faced scrutiny for selling access to the commercial location data of Americans’ past movements to the U.S. government and military contractors.
Soon after, Apple and Google told developers to remove X-Mode from their apps or face a ban from the app stores.
The FTC alleged that X-Mode sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to sensitive locations, such as medical and reproductive health clinics, places of religious worship and domestic abuse shelters.
The regulator also alleged that the data broker failed to remove the sensitive locations from the raw location data it sold to third-parties and did not implement “reasonable or appropriate safeguards” against downstream use of this precise location data. For at least one of its contracts, the FTC said that X-Mode provided an unnamed private clinical research company with information about consumers who had visited certain medical facilities, pharmacies or specialty infusion centers within a geographic area across Columbus, Ohio.
X-Mode also failed to ensure that users of its own apps — Drunk Mode and Walk Against Humanity — were fully informed about how their precise location data would be used, the FTC said.
“The information revealed through the location data that X-Mode/Outlogic sold not only violated consumers’ privacy but also exposed them to potential discrimination, physical violence, emotional distress, and other harms,” the FTC said in a statement.
“Geolocation data can reveal not just where a person lives and whom they spend time with but also, for example, which medical treatments they seek and where they worship,” said FTC chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s action against X-Mode makes clear that businesses do not have free license to market and sell Americans’ sensitive location data.”
“By securing a first-ever ban on the use and sale of sensitive location data, the FTC is continuing its critical work to protect Americans from intrusive data brokers and unchecked corporate surveillance,” said Khan.
As per the FTC’s order, X-Mode must also implement procedures to ensure that recipients of its location data do not associate the data with locations that provide services to LGBTQIA+ people, provide a simple way for consumers to withdraw their consent for the collection and use of their location data and establish and implement a comprehensive privacy program that protects the privacy of consumers’ personal information.
A statement given to TechCrunch by public relations firm Broadsheet, which represents Outlogic, reads: “We disagree with the implications of the FTC press release. After a lengthy investigation, the FTC found no instance of misuse of any data and made no such allegation. Since its inception, X-Mode has imposed strict contractual terms on all data customers prohibiting them from associating its data with sensitive locations such as healthcare facilities. Adherence to the FTC’s newly introduced policy will be ensured by implementing additional technical processes and will not require any significant changes to business or products.”
Sen. Ron Wyden, whose office first revealed that X-Mode had sold location data to U.S. military contractors, said in response to the FTC’s findings: “I commend the FTC for taking tough action to hold this shady location data broker responsible for its sale of Americans’ location data.”
Updated with comment from Outlogic and Ron Wyden’s office.
Location broker X-Mode continues to track users despite app store bans
Tesla is now selling the revamped version of its Model 3 sedan in the United States, just four months after it debuted in China and Europe.
It’s the first real overhaul of the electric vehicle that brought Tesla to a true mass market. And it comes at a time when the company has been aggressive with its pricing strategy, as it spent much of 2023 offering discounts both here and abroad to beat back competition and keep up with its own growth targets.
The big changes in the new-look Model 3 are mostly on the inside. There’s a small ambient light bar that wraps around the cabin, a new touchscreen display and another one for rear-seat passengers, better sound dampening and upgraded materials. Tesla has also removed the stalks from the steering column, meaning — like its other refreshed models — the gear selection now happens automatically, or on the touchscreen. The outside of the sedan features new headlights and taillights, and a less-bulbous front nose.
The upgraded Model 3 comes in two variants. The rear-wheel drive version starts at $38,990, and Tesla claims it offers the same range of roughly 272 miles as its predecessor. The Long Range version starts at $45,990 and can travel around 341 miles — up from the claimed 333-mile range of the previous Long Range Model 3.
Tesla seems to have found success with the refreshed Model 3 overseas, especially in China, as it notched its best quarter ever to round out 2023, in large part thanks to sales in the country. With the rollout finally coming stateside, Tesla has now revamped three of its four core models, after it started selling new versions of its Model S and Model X in 2021.
Chaitra Vedullapalli is the co-founder and CMO of Meylah and the president of Women in Cloud. With tech and leadership experience spanning over 26 years, Chaitra has led ecosystem growth and optimization to drive billion-dollar expansions for both Microsoft and Oracle.
When it comes to maintaining the health of your technology startup and/or services business, especially in times of uncertainty, there is no lifeline more powerful than qualified leads. To fill that pipeline, buyers need to feel certain that your solution, application, or product is the best, most trustworthy choice, and this is where things tend to fall apart. How can a startup establish the level of trust needed for a new audience to commit when they’re just starting?
This is where Meylah’s “Better Together” co-sell GTM strategy comes into play.
With a staggering 17% of the $13 trillion B2B (business-to-business) spending dedicated to it, “co-sell” dominated cloud marketplaces in 2023. With this seismic shift, the doors have swung wide open to reveal new customer segments and untapped revenue streams, setting the stage for an enticing business opportunity. Before going into the details of the “Better Together” GTM co-sell strategy, I want to lay the groundwork for what “co-selling” means.
Co-selling is a collaborative GTM partnership between SaaS (software as a service) companies and large cloud hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and others. This partnership involves a joint effort to build, market and sell joint technology solutions and services to customers. At its core, co-selling is joining forces with cloud hyperscalers to jointly develop solutions, attract customers, and leverage the partner’s sales and/or customer success team to drive value for existing customers.
Since July 2023, co-selling with cloud marketplaces has become the new gold standard, as they are intricately intertwined and essential for forging prosperous partnerships with cloud services that ultimately enrich your business, your buyers, and your partners.
In the cloud co-sell model, the transformation happens at three levels simultaneously. The growth on the first level is product-led, which means the product is built on a hyperscaler’s cloud infrastructure. On the second level, the joint solution is usage-based monthly recurring revenue (MRR), which looks like billed revenue or cloud consumption revenue. Lastly, on the third level, the growth happens when the solution-based offer becomes available on cloud marketplaces to help customers transact and onboard to a trust-based buying engine in order to meet their cloud demand and budget constraints.
The basis of the co-sell GTM strategy is built on intimately understanding the problem and debunking the most common myths of the partner experience. The problems that most partners are currently experiencing are poor alignment, hitting annual recurring revenue (ARR) goals, driving GTM efficiency, opening new routes to market, improving sales productivity and lack of understanding complex investment planning and return on investment (ROI), which results in poor measurements and ineffective tracking.
Meylah played a critical role in supporting Microsoft’s launch of the #buildfor2030 initiative, honing in on what startups need to become “co-sell ready” with cloud marketplaces.
When crafting your co-sell GTM strategy, adhere to these five guiding principles:
Alignment is key: Successful partnerships require alignment not just in goals, but also in mindset and philosophies. When both parties share a common vision and approach to business, the partnership is more likely to flourish.Expect 5x ROI: To justify investments and partnerships, it’s crucial to set high expectations for ROI. A 5x ROI minimum ensures that resources are allocated efficiently and that the partnership brings tangible benefits.Streamline your GTM plan: Funding should come from multiple sources, which means a streamlined and focused GTM plan ensures that efforts are concentrated on key objectives. Additionally, funding from multiple sources diversifies support and minimizes dependency on a single entity.Transactable via marketplaces: In an increasingly digital world, the ability to transact through online marketplaces is essential. Making your joint customer offer accessible in this manner enhances convenience and scalability.Invest strategically: This can be the catalyst for capturing the attention of hyperscalers. These investments not only demonstrate commitment, but also showcase your company’s potential for growth and innovation.
After you’ve identified your co-sell partner, there are four essential documents that every prospective partner must have in place when engaging with hyperscalers: the co-sell GTM assessment, the #BetterTogether company information evaluation, the co-sell solution-offer information breakdown, and the GTM plays and investment model. The following sections cover what each document is and why it is essential.
Co-sell GTM assessment
The co-sell GTM assessment is the cornerstone of building a thriving co-sell partnership with cloud hyperscalers. The GTM assessment provides a comprehensive evaluation by encompassing six core areas and 31 fundamental activities that are essential for fostering a successful partnership.
This free assessment is more than just a questionnaire; it’s a dynamic process that culminates in a five-page report and a roadmap for your company’s strategic direction. The assessment process isn’t a solitary endeavor. It’s strongly recommended that two to three key individuals within your company participate.
This collaborative approach helps establish a common vision and understanding of your company’s goals and aspirations in the context of co-selling with hyperscalers. It ensures that everyone is on the same page, aligning their perspectives and expectations. The assessment isn’t just about assessing your current state; it’s about charting a path forward. The roadmap that emerges from the assessment process identifies the “big bets” your company should consider taking. These are strategic moves and investments that have the potential to propel your co-sell partnership with hyperscalers to new heights.
Image Credits: Meylah
#BetterTogether company information evaluation
The #BetterTogether company information evaluation is your opportunity to present your company’s credentials in a concise and impactful way. It offers an at-a-glance view for the hyperscaler to understand your company’s background, mission, values, and unique selling points. This is where first impressions are made, so it’s crucial to make this count. Here is an example of a completed #BetterTogether company information evaluation document for reference:
Image Credits: Meylah
Once your company information evaluation is completed, this is how it will translate into a transactable listing on the Microsoft cloud marketplace:
Image Credits: Meylah
The co-sell solution-offer information breakdown
The co-sell solution-offer information breakdown is where the substance lies. To effectively capture the attention of hyperscalers and ensure the success of your partnership, it’s crucial to provide clear and comprehensive information about your solution offer. The solution offer must clearly articulate joint value proposition and benefits, define a qualified audience in a specific industry, determine pricing, and detail the hyperscaler’s product integration.
To set yourself apart when building your solution offer, focus on including the following requirements:
Differentiation: This is your offer’s ability to address a specific industry challenge.SaaS ready: Your solution offer can be built on the hyperscaler’s cloud services stack and functions as a SaaS solution.Transactability: Your offer is listed as a transactable solution in the hyperscaler’s marketplace.Repeatability: Being able to implement and sell your solution offer in a repeatable manner.Co-sell GTM: Ensure that your solution offer possesses critical co-sell GTM assets and an execution plan to drive demand generation and sales plays.
Invest the time it will take to ensure that your co-sell solution offer aligns with these requirements to maximize your partnership’s potential. Refer to the completed Solution Offer Information document below for reference.
Image Credits: Meylah
The GTM plays and investment model
The GTM plays and investment model is the final and integral piece. Hyperscalers want to know that you not only have a well-thought-out go-to-market strategy, but also the capability to execute it. The GTM plays and investment model gives you the space to outline your marketing and sales plays by quarter and the investment required to execute it. There are four cutting-edge GTM strategies that are dominating right now and help businesses gain access to GTM investments from hyperscalers: research-based strategy, event-based strategy, community-based strategy, and partnership-based strategy.
Research-based strategy
This strategy is rooted in comprehensive market analysis, customer insights, and competitor intelligence. According to a report by Forrester, businesses that prioritize market research are 2.2x times more likely to achieve revenue growth than their counterparts. The average cost of developing the questionnaire, running the marketing campaign, organizing the data, developing reports, and publishing the reports can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000.
Event-based strategy
This strategy involves partnering with other businesses to co-host events, generate leads, and create valuable content. B2B businesses that leverage event marketing report a 20% conversion rate, highlighting its potential for lead generation.
The average cost to develop a co-sell GTM event that is driven by content and joint offers ranges anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000. A major factor in this is whether the event is held online or in person. To make a co-sell event successful, it’s essential to establish a system that is predictable and adaptable.
Community-based strategy
This is by far the most accessible opportunity for every company focused on brand building and demand generation. This strategy involves direct interaction with your customers by gathering feedback and nurturing a sense of belonging. The average cost of developing a community-led GTM is driven by programs, scholarships, and events. Pricing for these initiatives typically starts around $10,000.
Partnership-based strategy
While this is accepted as the most impactful B2B GTM strategy, it is also typically the most expensive. This strategy rests on establishing a co-sell event-based system. This is the fastest way to gain immediate attention from hyperscalers, as it helps with both brand building and generating qualified marketing leads. It’s not just about what you offer, but also how you plan to bring it to market effectively. Statistics reveal that B2B companies engaging in partnerships experience a 35% increase in customer retention. The average cost of developing a joint and integrated campaign, whether it is content driven, offer driven, or sales driven, ranges anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000.
Image Credits: Meylah
Next steps
Co-sell relationships are multifaceted and require a lot of upfront work. From building a joint solution offer, to marketing, and eventually to selling together. After you finish these four documents, the next step is to publish your transactable offer and execute your first quarterly GTM plays in the market for visibility and demand generation.
If you’re looking to create a solid GTM co-sell plan, investing in the full spectrum of GTM plays, both in marketing and sales, is the key to unlocking your true potential for co-selling with cloud hyperscalers. While there are more activities in your co-sell journey, these guiding key principles and essential documents will give you an excellent base to approach hyperscalers with confidence.
