Lessons from AppExchange and AgentExchange
By Rimon Hanna, founder of Cerebro
The morning after Dreamforce '26, Andre van Kampen hosted a conversation in the ISV Forum about building a business on the Salesforce ecosystem. Agentforce, Headless Salesforce and Slack came up as topics. I shared what I have learned on the road to AppExchange and AgentExchange, and this is the longer version of that conversation.
It is my own experience, told in the first person. Your market and your product will differ, so take what is useful and leave the rest.
Build a product, not a project
A project is shaped around one customer. A product is shaped around a problem that many customers share. Every request has to pass one test: would a second and a third customer want this? If the answer is no, it belongs in a services engagement and not in the roadmap.
Publishing on AppExchange makes this discipline visible. A listing has to install cleanly, behave the same for everyone and be understood without you in the room.
Pick one ICP
It is tempting to say the product serves every Salesforce customer. In practice that means your message speaks to nobody. Choose one ideal customer profile, write for that buyer and say no to the rest for now.
A narrow focus makes everything easier: the listing copy, the demo, the pricing conversation and the questions you ask on a first call.
Treat your first customers as partners
Your first customers decide whether the product is real. Work with them closely, listen more than you pitch, and be honest about what is not built yet.
The goal is to end up with about three customers who are happy to be referenced. Their word carries more weight than any page you write yourself.
Run three go-to-market motions
No single channel was enough for us. We ended up running three motions side by side.
- Direct. You find the buyer, tell the story and sell the product yourself.
- Marketplace. The listing helps buyers discover you and gives them a trusted way to install and try the product.
- Partners. Consultancies and implementation teams who already work in the customer's org can bring you in.
Each motion feeds the others. A partner introduction becomes a listing review, and a marketplace visit becomes a direct conversation.
Work with Salesforce and with account executives
Salesforce account executives carry their own targets and know their customers well. They care about what helps their customer succeed on the platform. Be clear about the problem you solve, make it easy for them to explain in a sentence, and never ask them to take a risk on your behalf.
Build these relationships early and with patience. Trust grows from small, honest interactions that go well, one account at a time.
Expanding internationally
Regions work on their own. Keep one product across all of them, and adapt pricing and contracting.
Where AskCerebro stands
AskCerebro has passed the AppExchange security review. Its AgentExchange listing is coming soon.
If you want to see what we built, book a demo.