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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Marc Minor, CEO & Co-Founder of Higharc, a home building cloud platform that’s raised over $80 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Building a CAD System for Home Builders: Higharc’s platform is designed to revolutionize homebuilding by enabling builders to design homes in 3D, estimate materials, and generate blueprints—all from one system, reducing inefficiencies and modernizing a traditionally outdated industry.
- Origin Story Rooted in Personal Frustration: Marc’s personal struggles while building his own home exposed the inefficiencies in the industry, leading him to apply his background in 3D printing and digital manufacturing to homebuilding, creating a platform that brings data-driven insights into the construction process.
- A Unique Co-Founding Team: Marc didn’t know his co-founders before launching Higharc. Instead, he recruited top experts from fields like CAD systems, architecture, and video gaming, building a strong and diverse team to tackle the complex challenges of homebuilding software.
- Creating the Home Building Cloud Category: Higharc aims to roll up various point solutions used in homebuilding into a comprehensive platform, replacing outdated systems like AutoCAD and transforming the fragmented industry with a vertical SaaS approach.
- Go-to-Market Strategy Centered on Customer Trust: Higharc’s GTM strategy focuses on building deep trust with customers through successful implementations and long-term support. This creates organic demand rather than relying on top-down sales or marketing blitzes.
- ABM and Personalization in Marketing: Higharc’s marketing team uses an aggressive account-based marketing approach, personalizing landing pages and software demonstrations for individual prospects, providing them with a hands-on experience of how Higharc can solve their specific business problems.
Actionable
Takeaways
Leverage Industry-Specific Pain Points for Category Creation:
Higharc capitalized on the deep, existing pain points in homebuilding by developing a solution that directly addresses inefficiencies, such as outdated design tools and disconnected processes. For founders looking to create new categories, understanding and addressing a significant industry problem can help establish demand and credibility right from the start.
Recruit Co-Founders Based on Complementary Expertise, Not Familiarity:
Instead of partnering with people he knew, Marc proactively recruited co-founders who had specific skills critical to the business, such as CAD system design and video game-based procedural content generation. This approach highlights the importance of seeking out complementary expertise to tackle complex challenges in a startup.
Focus on Long-Term Customer Success for Sustainable Growth:
Higharc's GTM strategy prioritizes customer success through hands-on onboarding, implementation, and support. This approach, though slower than typical PLG or SaaS sales models, helps build deep trust and long-term relationships with clients, which can drive sustainable business growth. Founders should consider investing early in customer success to reduce churn and increase lifetime value.
Innovate Marketing with ABM and Extreme Personalization:
By adopting an aggressive account-based marketing (ABM) strategy and personalizing landing pages with client-specific data, Higharc creates tailored experiences for potential customers. Founders can apply this method by combining ABM tactics with personalized product demos to show exactly how their solution fits their target customers' needs.
Recognize When Traditional Sales and Marketing Tactics Won’t Work:
Marc discussed how traditional outbound tactics, like cold outreach and LinkedIn ads, failed to generate leads for Higharc due to the specific nature of their customer base. For startups in niche or traditional industries, founders need to experiment with creative approaches, such as direct mail or personalized video content, to break through to decision-makers.
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