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Strategic Communications Advisory For Visionary Founders
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.
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