We only take on 4 clients per month. Join our October cohort. 1 spot left.
Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Unicorn Builders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Satyen Sangani, CEO & Co-Founder of Alation, a data intelligence platform that has raised over $340 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Category Creation Challenges: Alation’s journey involved building a brand-new category from scratch, which took nearly five years to be recognized. The process was long and required articulating a problem customers didn’t realize they had — data understanding and accessibility.
- The Search for Product-Market Fit: Early on, the company focused on user interviews and trials, identifying that customers struggled more with writing SQL queries than data discovery. This discovery led to the development of their first product.
- Resisting Temptations to Fit into Existing Categories: Although Satyen considered repositioning Alation under the emerging “data governance” category, the team chose to stick to their vision, focused on enabling data consumption, which paid off in the long run.
- Building the Go-to-Market Motion: In the early days, marketing drove 90% of the company’s leads, while sales focused on enterprise deals. This inbound-heavy approach allowed them to grow without significant outbound efforts initially.
- The Evolution of Data Intelligence: Alation’s positioning evolved from a data catalog to “data intelligence” as competitors emerged and the need for a broader vision became apparent. This shift helped the company compete at a higher level.
- Fundraising as a Storytelling Exercise: Satyen emphasizes the importance of balancing the proof of success with the dream during investor pitches. Storytelling and the articulation of the long-term vision have been key to securing over $340 million in funding.
Actionable
Takeaways
Category Creation Requires Time and Persistence:
Building a new category takes patience. Satyen and his team at Alation spent nearly five years defining and evangelizing their category before it gained recognition. Founders looking to create a category should prepare for a long journey and be ready to articulate a clear problem customers may not even realize they have.
Listen to Users to Shape Product Market Fit:
In the early days, Alation’s product vision shifted based on customer feedback. Initially focused on data catalogs, the team discovered through user interviews that many struggled more with SQL queries, prompting them to build a query tool that complemented their catalog. Don’t be afraid to pivot based on real user needs.
Resist the Urge to Fit into Existing Categories:
During the company’s early days, Satyen was tempted to reposition Alation into the emerging "data governance" space to secure more deals. However, staying true to their unique vision around data consumption eventually paid off. Founders should avoid repositioning their products into predefined categories if it doesn’t align with the company’s long-term vision.
Leverage Marketing for Early GTM Success:
In Alation’s early go-to-market strategy, 90% of leads came from marketing efforts, particularly through events and customer storytelling. A strong marketing presence can drive early growth without the need for heavy outbound efforts. Focus on sharing impactful customer success stories to generate inbound interest.
Fundraising is About Selling the Dream, Not Just the Present:
When pitching to investors, it’s crucial to balance what you’ve proven with a clear vision of the long-term dream. Satyen explains that investors are often more interested in the bigger picture and the potential for massive scale, so founders should spend time articulating their long-term vision to secure larger investments.
Recommended Founder
Interviews
Oren Kaniel
CEO & Co-Founder of AppsFlyer
Oren Kaniel: The GTM Story of AppsFlyer ($2 Billion Valuation)
Jerome Ternynck
Founder and CEO of SmartRecruiters
Jerome Ternynck: the Story of SmartRecruiter ($1.5 Billion Valuation)
Johanna Småros
Co-Founder & Chief Sustainability Officer of RELEX Solutions
Johanna Småros: the Story of RELEX Solutions ($5.7 Billion Valuation)
Rodrigo Liang
Co-Founder and CEO of SambaNova
Rodrigo Liang: the Story of SambaNova ($5+ Billion Valuation)
Spike Lipkin
CEO and Co-founder of Newfront
Spike Lipkin: the GTM Story of Newfront ($2.2 Billion Valuation)
Tom Jermoluk
CEO of Beyond Identity
Tom “TJ” Jermoluk: The GTM Storyteller of Beyond Identity ($1.1 Billion Valuation)
Joseph DeSimone
Chairman and Co-Founder of Carbon
Joseph DeSimone: the Story of Carbon ($2.5 Billion Valuation)
Jean Paul Chauvet
CEO of Lightspeed
Jean Paul Chauvet: the Story of Lightspeed ($2+ Billion Valuation)
Kevin Busque
CEO and Founder of Guideline
Kevin Busque: the Story of Guideline ($1.1B+ Valuation)
Harrison Rose
Co-Founder of Paddle
Harrison Rose: the Story of Paddle ($1.4 Billion Valuation)
Michael Witte
CEO & Co-founder of Workrise
Michael Witte: Workrise: the GTM Story of Workrise ($3 Billion Valuation)
Ajay Kulkarni
CEO of Timescale
Ajay Kulkarni: the Story of Timescale ($1+ Billion Valuation)
Henry Kim
CEO & Co-Founder of Swiftly
Henry Kim: The GTM Story of Swiftly ($1B+ Valuation)
Raj De Datta
CEO & Co-founder of Bloomreach
Raj De Datta: the GTM Story of Bloomreach ($2.2 Billion Valuation)
Marc-Alexander Christ
Co-Founder of SumUp
Marc-Alexander Christ: the Story of SumUp ($8.5 Billion Valuation)
Marcelo Lebre
President of Remote
Marcelo Lebre: the Story of Remote ($3 Billion+ Valuation)
Hari Ravichandran
CEO & Founder of Aura
Hari Ravichandran: the Story of Aura ($2.5 Billion Valuation)
Michel Tricot
Co-Founder & CEO of Airbyte
Michel Tricot: the Story of Airbyte ($1.5 Billion Valuation)
Dimitri Sirota
CEO & Co-Founder of BigID
Dimitri Sirota: The GTM Story of BigID ($1.25 Billion Valuation)
Dave Wessinger
CEO and Co-Founder of PointClickCare
Dave Wessinger: the Story of PointClickCare ($5 Billion Valuation)
Federico Larsen
CTO and Co-Founder of Copado
Federico Larsen: the Story of Copado ($1.2 Billion Valuation)
Gary Hoberman
CEO & Founder of Unqork
Gary Hoberman: the GTM Story of Unqork ($2B+ Valuation)
Doron Myersdorf
CEO of StoreDot
Doron Myersdorf: the Story of StoreDot ($1.2 Billion Valuation)
Jason Zintak
CEO of 6sense
Jason Zintak: The GTM Story of 6sense ($5.2 Billion Valuation)
Doug Winter
CEO and Co-Founder of Seismic
Doug Winter: The GTM Story of Seismic ($3 Billion Valuation)
Abhay Parasnis
Founder and CEO of Typeface
Abhay Parasnis: the Story of Typeface ($1 Billion Valuation)
Kyle Clark
Team Member of Beta Technologies
Kyle Clark: the Story of Beta ($1.2 Billion Valuation)
Karl Siebrecht
Co-Founder & CEO of Flexe
Karl Siebrecht: the Story of Flexe (1+ Billion Valuation)
Jeff Denworth
Co-Founder of VAST Data
Jeff Denworth: The Story of VAST Data ($9.1 Billion Valuation)
John Kim
CEO & Co-Founder of Sendbird
John Kim: The GTM Story of Sendbird ($1+ Billion Valuation)
Arif Nathoo
CEO and Co-Founder of Komodo Health
Arif Nathoo: the Story of Komodo Health ($3 Billion Valuation)
Sean Duffy
Co-Founder & CEO of Omada Health
Sean Duffy: the Story of Omada Health ($1+ Billion Valuation)
Philip Cutler
CEO and Founder of Paper
Philip Cutler: The GTM Story of Paper ($1.5B Valuation)
Barr Moses
Co-Founder & CEO of Monte Carlo
Barr Moses: the GTM Story of Monte Carlo ($1.6 Billion Valuation)
Justin Borgman
CEO and Co-Founder of Starburst
Justin Borgman: the Story of Starburst ($3+ Billion Valuation)
Jeremy Johnson
CEO & Co-Founder of Andela
Jeremy Johnson: the Story of Andela ($1.5 Billion Valuation)
Steffen Tjerrild
Co-Founder, CFO & COO of Synthesia
Steffen Tjerrild: The Story of Synthesia ($1 Billion Valuation)
Henrique Dubugras
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brex
Henrique Dubugras: the Story of Brex ($12 Billion+ Valuation)
Martin Mao
CEO of Chronosphere
Martin Mao: The Story of Chronosphere ($1.6 Billion Valuation))