Episode 72: 4 things Datadobi did to create a new market with Michael Jack

Sign up to all live workshops and podcasts here: https://lu.ma/fullfunnel4 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 yearAgain, 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 strongly4. 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-cFull-Funnel Insider - A Marketing Newsletter For B2B Marketers: https://fullfunnel.io/marketing-newslJoin our community for B2B marketers -...