Pax8 CEO: Legacy Distribution ‘Asleep at the Wheel’

PAX8 BEYOND EMEA — If there is one thing Scott Chasin wants to you to know in the strongest possible terms, it’s that Pax8 is not a distributor.

“The distribution model is a legacy model. We’re not distribution. We’re a marketplace, and we’re very serious about educating the world to what a marketplace really is. It’s not distribution,” said the CEO.

Furthermore, those legacy distributors seeking to carve out a share of the booming cloud marketplace business are “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to innovation, according to the CEO.

Chasin was speaking to Channel Futures at Pax8 Beyond EMEA in Berlin, Germany, on Monday. He was responding to a question about analyst Canalys’ downbeat take on the European channel. For those comments, read Chasin’s Q&A with Channel Futures, where he also talks about the speed by which AI is disrupting businesses, alongside teasing both a new partner program and extra rewards for partners.

CEO Scott Chasin on stage at Pax8 Beyond 2024, Berlin, Oct. 13.

We've edited the conversation for clarity and brevity.

Channel Futures: This is Pax8’s inaugural partner event in Europe. How’s it going so far?

Scott Chasin: The concern was, ‘could we replicate the energy from our US flagship show – which we’ve done twice now – and successfully deploy that energy here? And I think by that measurement, which is a vibe, it’s not a real measurement, it’s a success. And that’s one of the hardest things to replicate at shows and events like this, is the energy.

Channel Futures TV's Craig Galbraith catches up with Pax8's Joe Heddy at the 2024 MSP Summit in Atlanta.

This market is ready for Pax8, and that’s something that obviously has inspired us to be here. We came here more than a few years ago now with an opportunity to take this model that we created, that we now call a marketplace, and deploy it here. And it’s been fantastic.

See the rest our Q&A with Chasin, including his thoughts on AI and a new partner program, in the slideshow above.