The OneLayer Strategy: Building Multi-Stakeholder Value Propositions in Enterprise Sales

Enterprise deals rarely fail because of product capabilities. They fail because vendors can’t articulate value to all the stakeholders involved in the buying decision. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, OneLayer founder Dave Mor revealed how his team builds value propositions that resonate across the enterprise, turning potential blockers into active champions.

Understanding the Enterprise Landscape

OneLayer’s approach to stakeholder engagement begins with understanding how enterprise technology needs have evolved. As Dave explains: “Until 2000 ISh organization had only one type of enterprise network which we call all it. But then it split it to critical environment and regular it. And that’s been called as OT operational technology.” This evolution created distinct stakeholder groups with different priorities and concerns.

Mapping Stakeholder Pain Points

Through extensive market analysis, OneLayer identified a critical pattern in enterprise technology adoption. “Security taken as an afterthought at the beginning of the pilot stage,” Dave notes. “And then the it team want to connect this amazing network to the rest of the organization network and the CISO or other security teams say, stop, you cannot connect that to my network. Where is the security stack?”

This insight revealed three key stakeholder groups with distinct needs:

1. IT Teams: Need simplified management and integration with existing systems
2. Security Teams: Require visibility and control without becoming cellular experts
3. Innovation Teams: Want to deploy new technologies without security friction

Creating Multi-Stakeholder Value

Rather than trying to sell to each group separately, OneLayer developed an integrated approach. As Dave describes: “We have the it that we simplify their life. We have the digital and innovation team that have the eager to push this domain forward and we have the economic buyer that really sees the value in the cost reduction once the product is being deployed.”

The Integration Strategy

A key element of OneLayer’s stakeholder strategy is their focus on integration with existing tools and processes. “If their solution is already working, if they put the policy, if they have the visibility tools on the it side, we integrate with those tools and translate that to the cellular language,” Dave explains. This approach creates immediate value for IT teams while respecting existing security investments.

Building on Existing Practices

Instead of requiring stakeholders to adopt entirely new methodologies, OneLayer builds bridges to established practices. “We work very hard not to invent the wheel,” Dave notes. Their approach starts by examining “how enterprise protects the IoT today, how the stack is built. Now let’s take that and try to install it as is in the private cellular and let’s see the gap.”

The Power of Transparent Communication

OneLayer’s approach to stakeholder communication emphasizes transparency about both capabilities and limitations. “A lot of founders that I meet see in my ecosystem and also ask questions the past, try to highlight the upside, the positive side and ignore or reduce the downside of the risks and try to do the opposite,” Dave shares.

This transparency builds credibility: “If investors really see that allocating attention to your gaps and this is your mitigation plan, this is how you are not ignoring the risks, you are looking them straightforward… you are building a much more balanced company and not just have a great dream of a pink future.”

Framework for Multi-Stakeholder Value Creation

From OneLayer’s experience, we can extract several key principles for building multi-stakeholder value propositions:

1. Map the Ecosystem: Understand how different stakeholders interact and influence decisions.
2. Bridge Don’t Build: Look for ways to extend existing practices rather than requiring new ones.
3. Create Connected Value: Develop benefits that cascade across stakeholder groups.
4. Focus on Integration: Make your solution work within existing environments.
5. Practice Transparent Communication: Address concerns directly and provide clear mitigation strategies.

The effectiveness of this approach is evident in OneLayer’s market traction. Even as an early-stage company, they face “a challenge of over demand… because the domain is so defined, because IoT problems in enterprise domain is very clear.”

For B2B tech founders navigating complex enterprise sales, OneLayer’s experience offers a crucial lesson: success comes not from selling to individual stakeholders, but from creating an integrated value proposition that makes every stakeholder successful. By understanding departmental needs and building bridges between them, teams can transform potential blockers into active champions of their solution.