From Strategy to Scale: Emma Davidson on Helping Partners Win in the Marketplace Era

In this episode of the Investible Partnerships™ Podcast, host Des Russell sits down with Emma Davidson, VP of Cloud at NEXTGEN, to explore how marketplaces are reshaping the way partners, distributors, and vendors drive growth.

Emma shares her journey from agency life to leading one of the fastest-growing cloud businesses in ANZ — and why she believes marketplaces aren’t just a new channel, but a complete reinvention of how technology is sold and scaled.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
-Why marketplaces are more than a procurement mechanism — they’re a new go-to-market model.
-The biggest challenges partners face when adopting marketplace strategies (and how to overcome them).
-The 3-step playbook for partners to get marketplace-ready: strategy, listing, and seller enablement.
-What “operationalising” marketplace success really looks like.
-The leadership mindset needed to guide teams through change in a digital-first ecosystem.

Emma also reveals how NEXTGEN is helping partners bridge the gap between ambition and execution , building capability, accelerating CPPO enablement, and creating demand through smarter go-to-market motion.

If you’re a vendor, distributor, or partner leader trying to make sense of the marketplace opportunity, this conversation gives you both the strategy and the steps to take action.

Listen now to learn how to move from strategy to scale in the marketplace era.