7 Unconventional Go-to-Market Lessons From Building a $50M+ Enterprise Software Company

Most enterprise software playbooks will tell you to outsource everything from SDRs to marketing. But in a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Certa founder Jag Lamba shared why that conventional wisdom might be precisely what’s holding companies back.

Here are seven critical GTM lessons from Certa’s journey that challenge standard B2B practices:

1. Build Deep Before Going Broad When most startups rush to market with a minimum viable product, Certa took the opposite approach. “We really invested in building a great deep product, so we didn’t go to market too early with something shallow,” Jag explains. This strategy paid off: “We’ve been able to successfully deploy Certa at every single client we’ve sold Certa to.” This perfect deployment record became a powerful differentiator in enterprise sales conversations.
2. Own Your Core Functions Contrary to popular startup advice, Jag believes in building internal capabilities rather than outsourcing. “I’m always opposed to outsourcing things,” he states. “I think a firm needs to own these capabilities and that’s the only sustainable way.” He likens agencies to lasers: “They can come in, they can help for a project, but they’re not going to be the one who will sustain you, spreading your message and sharing your message.”
3. Focus on Education Over Branding For B2B marketing, Jag advocates an education-first approach: “For B2B SaaS, I really think that’s the best and the only way to look at marketing. It’s not about branding, if you will, it’s all about education. It’s about raising awareness.” This philosophy shapes everything from content strategy to sales enablement.
4. Rethink Analyst Relations While most enterprise companies focus solely on traditional analyst firms, Jag noticed a shift in influence: “Similar to what’s happening in social media, it’s also happening with analysts… there are individual independent analysts who have become pretty widely followed by our clients.” This observation led to a more diversified analyst relations strategy that includes independent voices.
5. Build Investor Relationships Early Rather than treating fundraising as a transactional event, Jag emphasizes ongoing relationship building: “Fundraising works well if you can stay in touch with a few investors, maybe quarterly, et cetera, who might be interested in your space and enable them to track you.” This approach helped Certa raise capital even in challenging market conditions.
6. Embrace Extreme Focus Instead of trying to serve everyone, Certa chose to focus exclusively on enterprise customers. “We’re lucky that we focus on the largest enterprises only, which means it’s classic account-based marketing. So that’s what makes it easier for us to not be spammy.” This focus enabled them to build deeper relationships and more targeted marketing campaigns.
7. Make Your Story Relatable When pitching complex enterprise software, Jag found success in using relatable analogies: “Certa is like the workday, but for companies instead of people.” This simple comparison helped investors and customers quickly grasp the value proposition without getting lost in technical details.

The thread connecting these lessons is a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom. While most B2B companies try to grow through outsourcing and broad market appeal, Certa found success by doing the opposite: building internal capabilities and maintaining laser focus on their target market.

Looking ahead, Jag’s vision remains focused on simplifying enterprise relationships: “Companies will be able to onboard and work with each other with one click.” This vision of making business relationships as simple as “accepting a LinkedIn connection” while maintaining necessary compliance demonstrates how strategic focus can enable ambitious innovation.

For B2B founders navigating their own go-to-market decisions, these lessons offer a compelling alternative to the standard playbook. Success in enterprise software might not come from following conventional wisdom, but from having the courage to take the road less traveled when it aligns with your company’s strengths and vision.