Presentation I gave at Heavybit Industries (www.heavybit.com), describing the optimal business model for a B2D (business-to-developer) company. For example, when is the right time to build a sales organization?

1. From Developer
Adoption to Enterprise
Dollars
Geva Perry
Presented @ Heavybit
June 4, 2013

2. @GevaPerry
ThinkingOutCloud.co
m

3. The Question:
What is the most effective
model for growing revenues
for developer-focused
companies?

4. About

5. The Problem:
There is an inherent conflict
between dev adoption and
enterprise sales

6. Historical Barriers to
Developer Adoption in the
Enterprise
• Access to Software
• Access to Hardware
• Cost / Pricing
• Setup, Config, Integration
• Proof-of-Concept
• Budget
• Politics

7. 1990s Early 2000s 2010s
Software for
developers becomes
mainstream category
Web
Top-Down,
High-Touch
Sale
High Friction
“Enterprise Software”
Friction Removal:
Downloads
Open Source
Move to Lower-Touch, Bottom-Up Sale
Friction Removal:
IaaS
PaaS
SaaS
Cloud
Late 2000s
Web 2.0
Friction Removal:
Freemium
Free Trial
Pay-as-you-go
Social Marketing
Marketing
Automation

8. The Buying Process
Status
Quo
Priority
Shift
Researc
h
Options
Validatio
n
Selection
Source: eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, Ardath Albee
Low/No-Touch High-Touch
Negotiat
e &
Purchas
e

9. Dev as Buyer
• Early in the lifecycle
• De facto decision on purchase
• Efficient, low-cost sales model

10. Barriers Removed,
the Pendulum Swings

11. But Reality Proved
More Complex
• Devs have limited budgets
• Devs have limited control

12. Founded: 1998
Year 6: $96m
Year 8: $309m
Year 10: $748m
Founded: 2008
Year 5: $40m
Year 6: $80m-$100m
2013 Employees: 270
Sales Org: 70
Founded: 2002
Year 8 (2009): $60m
Year 10 (2011): $102m
2011 Employees: 400
Sales Org: 0

13. A New Model
Emerges
Customer Development
and Low-Touch Sales
Triaged Sales

14. The New Model:
Early Phase
• Early phase:
• Inbound marketing
• Low Touch, Bottom-Up (self-service, credit
card, free trial, etc.)
• Emphasis on removing friction, e.g.:
• Marketing automation
• Product onboarding
• Measurement

15. The New Model:
Transition & Late
Phase
• Build sales org and processes
• Triage sales
• Gradually move to inside sales and field
sales

16. Why not transition
sooner?
• Sales people need a clear value prop
and a repetitive process
• Sales people influence product
development
• Sales people influence marketing
• Sales people distract from friction
removal

17. When to make the
transition?
• Self-selected queries about large deals
• Somewhere between $50K-100K MRR
• Year 2 from GA

18. When to make the
transition?
• We have a clear understanding of:
• Positioning
• Pricing / Usage Metrics
• What an “elephant” lead looks like
(how to triage)

19. Thanks