Episode 72: 4 things Datadobi did to create a new market with Michael Jack
15/11/2021
0:00
35:28
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4 things Datadobi did differently to **create a new market**.
(+ 5 indicators that the strategy is working).
🤯
Datadobi pulled off one of the most difficult, expensive, and risky go-to-market strategies: category creation.
And they did it WITHOUT external funding.
Here is how:
**1. Piggybacked on an existing platform**
If your team has experience with a major technology platform, you might be able to turn it into a unique advantage:
- Access to qualified prospects (the platform customers)
- Potential partnerships (e.g. integrators specialized in platform implementation)
- Potential for acquisition
The trick is to identify common deployment and use-case challenges for which no software has been built yet.
That's exactly what the Datadobi team has done, I learned during a podcast interview with Michael Jack, Datadobi's co-founder and chief revenue officer.
It turned out that the problem they solved for a data storage platform was a much larger problem in the market.
2**. Leveraged strategic go-to-market partners**
Instead of casting a wide net, Datadobi focused on a few key strategic partners.
And since they solve a common problem with storage platforms, storage vendors became the obvious choice.
Because it makes their sales easier and removes friction from deployment.
3**. Laser-focused education**
Here's a simple truth about market creation:
If the market doesn't exist, your buyers won't have the budget for you.
You can try to educate the market, but that requires really deep pockets.
What should a bootstrapped company do?
Datadobi focused on:
- Educating their *partners*
- Leveraging the partners to find accounts with a "bleeding neck" pain
- Educating qualified accounts, so they foresee the budget in the next year
Again, instead of casting a wide net, they educated the key market players — while getting to revenue quickly (essential for a bootstrapped business).
4**. Focused on the largest market from the very start**
European companies often start by selling in their home country, and gradually expand, region by region.
Datadobi did something different: they focused on the US from the get-go.
Why?
Making 70% of the global storage market, the US was the place to be if you wanted to create a new category (and fund it with revenue).
Interestingly, they kept their product development in Europe, while growing their revenue teams in the US.
Five indicators that the strategy is working:
1. Repeat partner sales
2. Retention
3. Self-preferencing, i.e. getting traction from a few specific verticals. While Datadobi is a horizontal product, they're selling to a few specific verticals very strongly
4. Partners willing to invest in co-marketing
5. Competition: once Datadobi started seeing competitors appear, they were sure the market was created.
Tune in to listen to the complete interview.
RESOURCES:
Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjackpmp/
On-Demand B2B Marketing Courses: https://fullfunnel.io/b2b-marketing-c
Full-Funnel Insider - A Marketing Newsletter For B2B Marketers: https://fullfunnel.io/marketing-newsl
Join our community for B2B marketers - The Trenches: https://sendfox.com/trenches
Upcoming events: https://lu.ma/fullfunnel/events
Full-Funnel Marketing Content Hub: https://fullfunnel.io/blog
4 things Datadobi did differently to **create a new market**.
(+ 5 indicators that the strategy is working).
🤯
Datadobi pulled off one of the most difficult, expensive, and risky go-to-market strategies: category creation.
And they did it WITHOUT external funding.
Here is how:
**1. Piggybacked on an existing platform**
If your team has experience with a major technology platform, you might be able to turn it into a unique advantage:
- Access to qualified prospects (the platform customers)
- Potential partnerships (e.g. integrators specialized in platform implementation)
- Potential for acquisition
The trick is to identify common deployment and use-case challenges for which no software has been built yet.
That's exactly what the Datadobi team has done, I learned during a podcast interview with Michael Jack, Datadobi's co-founder and chief revenue officer.
It turned out that the problem they solved for a data storage platform was a much larger problem in the market.
2**. Leveraged strategic go-to-market partners**
Instead of casting a wide net, Datadobi focused on a few key strategic partners.
And since they solve a common problem with storage platforms, storage vendors became the obvious choice.
Because it makes their sales easier and removes friction from deployment.
3**. Laser-focused education**
Here's a simple truth about market creation:
If the market doesn't exist, your buyers won't have the budget for you.
You can try to educate the market, but that requires really deep pockets.
What should a bootstrapped company do?
Datadobi focused on:
- Educating their *partners*
- Leveraging the partners to find accounts with a "bleeding neck" pain
- Educating qualified accounts, so they foresee the budget in the next year
Again, instead of casting a wide net, they educated the key market players — while getting to revenue quickly (essential for a bootstrapped business).
4**. Focused on the largest market from the very start**
European companies often start by selling in their home country, and gradually expand, region by region.
Datadobi did something different: they focused on the US from the get-go.
Why?
Making 70% of the global storage market, the US was the place to be if you wanted to create a new category (and fund it with revenue).
Interestingly, they kept their product development in Europe, while growing their revenue teams in the US.
Five indicators that the strategy is working:
1. Repeat partner sales
2. Retention
3. Self-preferencing, i.e. getting traction from a few specific verticals. While Datadobi is a horizontal product, they're selling to a few specific verticals very strongly
4. Partners willing to invest in co-marketing
5. Competition: once Datadobi started seeing competitors appear, they were sure the market was created.
Tune in to listen to the complete interview.
RESOURCES:
Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjackpmp/
On-Demand B2B Marketing Courses: https://fullfunnel.io/b2b-marketing-c
Full-Funnel Insider - A Marketing Newsletter For B2B Marketers: https://fullfunnel.io/marketing-newsl
Join our community for B2B marketers - The Trenches: https://sendfox.com/trenches
Upcoming events: https://lu.ma/fullfunnel/events
Full-Funnel Marketing Content Hub: https://fullfunnel.io/blog
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