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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 Steve Pomfret, CEO & Founder at Cygnetise, a signatory management platform that has raised $8 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Background in Operational Change: Steve spent 20 years working with large banks not as a banker but as a process expert, which laid the foundational skills for starting Cygnetise, designed to optimize signatory management processes.
- Transition to Entrepreneurship: The confidence to start Cygnetise emerged from Steve’s experience as a freelance consultant, which bridged his transition from an operational expert to an entrepreneur.
- Strategic Use of Blockchain: Rather than focusing on blockchain as a buzzword, Cygnetise leverages the technology for its immutability and efficiency, addressing specific operational inefficiencies in signatory management.
- Category Creation and Education: Steve emphasizes the ongoing evolution and challenge of establishing a new category in the market, highlighting the crucial role of education and adapting marketing strategies.
- Scaling Through Partnerships: Looking ahead, Cygnetise plans to accelerate growth by forming channel partnerships with large financial institutions and tech companies to expand its market reach dramatically.
- Vision for the Future: Steve envisions Cygnetise becoming a dominant player in the market through strategic partnerships and expanding its customer base across diverse geographies and industries.
Actionable
Takeaways
Leverage Past Experience for New Ventures:
Use your background and expertise in related fields to address inefficiencies in your industry, much like Steve used his operational change experience in banking to identify and solve signatory management inefficiencies with Cygnetise.
Validate the Market with a Stepping Stone Approach:
Transitioning to entrepreneurship doesn't have to be abrupt. Consider starting as a consultant or in a related freelance role to gain confidence, understand market needs better, and gradually build your business model.
Focus on Target Markets That Can Quickly Adopt Innovations:
When introducing new technologies, target smaller markets or regions that can make quick decisions and are more open to new solutions, like Cygnetise did with financial entities in the Channel Islands.
Educate Your Market to Help Define the Category: Educate Your Market to Help Define the Category:
Continuous education and communication are essential when creating a new market category. Adjust and refine your marketing strategies based on customer feedback and changing market dynamics to better position your product.
Use Strategic Partnerships to Scale:
Explore partnerships with larger entities that can bring your solution to a broader audience quickly. These partnerships can provide the necessary market penetration and credibility to accelerate growth.
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