Too many good quotes in one post! "Horizontal products are only as good as their best vertical use case" is a standout. Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, Jake 🙏
I worked 9 years in corporate and I founded and run a data company called dyvenia, we do well, but we are still mostly consulting revenue even though I am shifting some revenue to services and licenses. I basically started my data journey with Alteryx and Tableau. On Alteryx you forgot to say they grew a lot by siding with Tableau, they had their ICP well defined in that case: Tableau users that needed to do quick data modelling for their dashboards. Tableau Prep came a lot later and now PowerBI has its own modelling tool, so in fact I think Alteryx is in trouble now, less so 3 years ago. I likes your analysis, especially your insight on horizontal tools, I am in fact trying to go vertical myself now after trying to sell an horizontal tool for about 1 year. I would recommend to include in the team someone who has done enterprise work or sales next time, UI is never the problem with Enterprose tools, you need to fit in the internal narrative of the Enterprise buying committee, and they will always go for whatever they thing is “standard” or “best practice” at the moment.
You’re right, Alteryx was given a huge boost by selling alongside Tableau. That allowed AYX to deliver a sharp value prop to a specific audience even with a general-purpose tool. In my mind, any company that takes on AYX needs a value prop that’s just as sharp.
Great post and thoughts, thanks! It really shows how difficult it is to break a habit, and that 10x better product mantra can actually be a fact as being even "much better" may not be the reason for existing audience to switch. Thanks a bunch Jake and good luck in your next ventures!
""Those forces can be incredibly strong, working to ensure that inferior products can still win (have you ever used Bill.com, Concur, or even Salesforce?). ""
I would argue that the user experiences of those products is horrible, driven by years of bloat and underinvestment in streamlining. It’s pretty obvious that better products exist in each category, but the leaders continue to lead due to switching costs.
Thanks for a great read and shared experience. I'm glad I didn't read this before I started and sold a business LOL, but everyone considering a startup should read these great guidelines.
This is something everyone in sales should read and internalise. Excellent post, thank you Jake!
"Generally, teams think about switching costs as the amount of time and money needed to install one solution and remove another. But true switching costs are much more than that: they include the politics, emotions, career ambitions, esoteric business processes, competing priorities, and sheer laziness that all favor the existing solution."
Too many good quotes in one post! "Horizontal products are only as good as their best vertical use case" is a standout. Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, Jake 🙏
It’s a hard-won lesson! Appreciate the feedback 🙏
I worked 9 years in corporate and I founded and run a data company called dyvenia, we do well, but we are still mostly consulting revenue even though I am shifting some revenue to services and licenses. I basically started my data journey with Alteryx and Tableau. On Alteryx you forgot to say they grew a lot by siding with Tableau, they had their ICP well defined in that case: Tableau users that needed to do quick data modelling for their dashboards. Tableau Prep came a lot later and now PowerBI has its own modelling tool, so in fact I think Alteryx is in trouble now, less so 3 years ago. I likes your analysis, especially your insight on horizontal tools, I am in fact trying to go vertical myself now after trying to sell an horizontal tool for about 1 year. I would recommend to include in the team someone who has done enterprise work or sales next time, UI is never the problem with Enterprose tools, you need to fit in the internal narrative of the Enterprise buying committee, and they will always go for whatever they thing is “standard” or “best practice” at the moment.
You’re right, Alteryx was given a huge boost by selling alongside Tableau. That allowed AYX to deliver a sharp value prop to a specific audience even with a general-purpose tool. In my mind, any company that takes on AYX needs a value prop that’s just as sharp.
Appreciate the feedback!
Thanks for sharing a really great post. We have to be open to learning from failure as much as success.
Thanks Colin, glad it resonated 🙏
Great post and thoughts, thanks! It really shows how difficult it is to break a habit, and that 10x better product mantra can actually be a fact as being even "much better" may not be the reason for existing audience to switch. Thanks a bunch Jake and good luck in your next ventures!
100%. Thanks Greg!
We need more stories like this. As valuable as the successful ones. Thanks Lenny and Jake!
What does this mean?
""Those forces can be incredibly strong, working to ensure that inferior products can still win (have you ever used Bill.com, Concur, or even Salesforce?). ""
–– How do you rate this products and why?
I would argue that the user experiences of those products is horrible, driven by years of bloat and underinvestment in streamlining. It’s pretty obvious that better products exist in each category, but the leaders continue to lead due to switching costs.
Thx for the question!
Thanks for a great read and shared experience. I'm glad I didn't read this before I started and sold a business LOL, but everyone considering a startup should read these great guidelines.
Why are you glad you didn't read it beforehand?
So I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
This is something everyone in sales should read and internalise. Excellent post, thank you Jake!
"Generally, teams think about switching costs as the amount of time and money needed to install one solution and remove another. But true switching costs are much more than that: they include the politics, emotions, career ambitions, esoteric business processes, competing priorities, and sheer laziness that all favor the existing solution."