The Story of Channel99: Building the Source of Truth for B2B Marketing

Sometimes the most impactful business ideas are just too early for the market. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Chris Golec shared how his latest venture, Channel99, actually began as the original vision for Demandbase back in 2007—but the market wasn’t ready. Now, fifteen years later, he’s building the platform that could fundamentally change how B2B companies measure marketing effectiveness.

From Chemical Engineering to B2B Innovation

Chris’s journey didn’t start in marketing technology. “I was a chemical engineer in Detroit, which is a recipe for a really boring career,” he recalls. But his path led him to the east coast, where he worked for DuPont and GE before launching his first software company in 1996.

That first venture, Supply Base, was ahead of its time in the B2B space. “Back then, in 1996, people didn’t even know what B2B was. You had to define it.” The company found success and good timing, selling “the day the market peaked on March 13, 2000.”

The Birth of Account-Based Marketing

After Supply Base, Chris noticed a significant gap in the market. “I was frustrated as a B2B person that there was no marketing technologies out there.” This frustration led to the founding of Demandbase, which would go on to pioneer the account-based marketing (ABM) category.

The journey wasn’t quick or easy. As Chris notes, “The account based marketing category was born, and it took years to really get off the ground.” Under his leadership, Demandbase introduced numerous B2B marketing innovations, “from B2B advertising to personalization. We were the first at a lot of things.”

Transitioning to New Challenges

After building Demandbase into a market leader, Chris faced a pivotal decision. The company had reached significant scale, and the role of CEO was evolving. “We got to that 1st 100 million. Our CRO, Gabe, who just did an amazing job, kind of building out the sales team, the efficiency, incredibly good in operations. He was ready to do the CEO gig, and I was kind of getting a little squirmy around, wanting to innovate faster.”

This transition led Chris back to his original vision—helping B2B marketers measure what’s actually working. “It was the original vision of Demandbase, believe it or not, in 2007. It was just way too early. The market wasn’t ready for it.”

Building Channel99

Now with Channel99, Chris is tackling the fundamental problems of B2B marketing measurement. The company started by offering immediate value through a free product that helps companies understand their marketing effectiveness. “People can come to our website, they can sign up for a service where they set up their total addressable market… within the next day they can start seeing their traffic, where it’s coming from and the quality of that traffic by channel and then how it compares to industry average.”

This approach represents a significant shift from traditional B2B marketing platforms, focusing on real business outcomes rather than vanity metrics. The company is tackling what Chris calls the “dark funnel” problem—the inability to accurately track and measure marketing effectiveness across channels.

The Vision for the Future

Looking ahead, Chris sees Channel99 becoming “the must have platform in the marketing staff so that you can measure what’s working, what’s not, and you can compare different vendors or channels.” His ultimate goal? To become “the Adobe for B2B when it comes to measurement and analytics.”

This vision represents more than just another marketing platform—it’s about fundamentally changing how B2B companies understand and optimize their marketing investments. By focusing on business outcomes and dollar efficiency, Channel99 aims to bring unprecedented transparency to B2B marketing spend.

The company’s journey reflects a broader shift in B2B marketing, moving away from vanity metrics and towards real business impact. As marketing technology continues to evolve, Channel99’s focus on measurement and efficiency could help shape the future of how B2B companies approach their marketing investments.