Breaking The Boundaries of Hypergrowth : 5 Strategies From Vanta’s CEO and Founder
In today's competitive SaaS landscape, achieving hypergrowth is the ultimate goal for startups. However, the path to hypergrowth is fraught with challenges, and many businesses struggle to defy the odds. One shining example of success in this arena is Vanta, a software tool that empowers security companies to achieve compliance and manage risk. With a multi-billion dollar valuation and a trajectory to double growth annually, Vanta has cracked the code to hypergrowth. In this article, we'll dissect Vanta's remarkable journey and the strategies they've employed to overcome the constraints of a capital-restricted environment. We'll uncover valuable insights and lessons that can help your SaaS business chart a course towards hypergrowth.
Hypergrowth in today’s fiercely competitive and budget-constrained SaaS landscape may be less common, but Vanta, the software tool empowering security companies to achieve compliance and manage risk, has defied the odds. With a multi-billion dollar valuation and a trajectory to double growth annually, Vanta is firmly in the spotlight.
In this session, CEO and Founder Christina Cacioppo, along with GM of EMEA Andrew Foley, unveil the strategies that have propelled Vanta’s remarkable scaling success despite the constraints of a capital-restricted environment.
Secret #1: ‘Build it, and customers will come in' is not a great approach
Early in Cacioppo’s career, she developed multiple products with little to no user insights. Despite her confidence in their brilliance, most of these products failed to garner user attention.
“Most of us can’t pull off a Zuckerberg, walk into a dorm room, and build a product that millions of people use.”
Cacioppo took a different route when building Vanta—testing the idea before building, engaging with potential users along the way, and showcasing elements of the tool during development. This shift in the building process has been pivotal to Vanta's success. Cacioppo now firmly believes that the myth of “customers will follow if you just build something” doesn't hold.
Secret #2: Love spending time with your customers
One of Cacioppo’s early conversations was with a member of the product security team at Dropbox. She discovered that the most enjoyable part of their work was collaborating with product teams to enhance security.
Conversely, the least favored aspect of their week was compiling reports for customers, auditors, or the board, demonstrating system security improvements or bug fixes. Recognizing the aversion to reporting is an invaluable user insight, particularly if you're developing a security tool.
As a template, you could ask a potential customer, “Look at your work calendar from last week. What were your favorite (and least favorite) parts of the week?” This approach helps identify pain points and fosters empathy with your customers.
Secret #3: Solve your biggest challenges with customers, not cash
When launching a startup, whether you have two, 20, or 200 team members, you'll inevitably encounter numerous challenges and opportunities. It's crucial to realize that not all problems can be solved with more money. For example, the primary reason startups fail is due to a lack of market demand, and funding can't generate customer demand.
“Cash is not always king. Be clear about which problems cash can and can't solve.”
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In its early stages, Vanta relied heavily on word-of-mouth marketing, reducing the need for substantial spending on Google ads—an area where cash typically matters for startups. Instead of seeking capital at an inflated valuation in late 2021, Vanta pursued an adjusted-to-market valuation in mid-2022.
However, Vanta faced the challenge of not onboarding customers quickly enough because they hadn't invested in customer success early on. While additional funding could have expedited customer onboarding, addressing the fundamental issue—customer experience—required understanding the customers being served, not just more cash.
If you're navigating a similar growth stage, focusing on the post-sale process with an emphasis on customer experience can be transformative. Once you've resolved the customer experience aspect (which may not necessitate additional funding), you can concentrate on increasing leads and customers.
Secret #4: Your customer today is (hopefully) not the customer you have tomorrow
If your business caters to startups, remember that your customers are evolving. A group of founders you served a few years ago may now be expanding significantly.
“Think not just about serving today's customers but building for tomorrow and beyond.”
While your startup audience remains essential, acknowledge their business growth over time and ensure your product development team adapts to meet their changing needs and attract larger players in the market.
Secret #5: Turn trust into your competitive advantage
Trust is the ultimate competitive edge—whether it involves nurturing vendor relationships or securing new deals.
“Do what it says on the tin. Imagine a cookie tin. Do what you say you’re going to do.“
By elucidating how they maintain product security, Vanta's security teams establish trust with larger companies, demonstrating their commitment and seriousness about safeguarding customer data.
In other sectors as well, customers delegate tasks or processes with the expectation that you'll uphold a chain of trust. If you do so effectively, the trust you gain can open new markets and facilitate new deals.
Key Takeaways
Achieving hypergrowth necessitates strategic planning and unwavering execution. It's attainable by adhering to some fundamental principles when building a SaaS business. Here's a summary of Vanta's five essentials for achieving hypergrowth:
- Avoid building in isolation, hoping customers will find you.
- Evolve your ideas through customer conversations.
- Prioritize solving customer problems over cash-related challenges.
- Develop with the future needs of your customers in mind.
- Transform trust into a catalyst for growth.
Relevant Quotes:
- “Most of us can’t pull off a Zuckerberg, walk into a dorm room, and build a product that millions of people use.” — Christina Cacioppo, CEO and Founder of Vanta.
- “Cash is not always king. Be clear about which problems cash can and can't solve.” — Strategic insight from Vanta's growth journey.
- “Think not just about serving today's customers but building for tomorrow and beyond.” — A forward-looking strategy embraced by Vanta.
- “Do what it says on the tin. Imagine a cookie tin. Do what you say you’re going to do.” — The power of trust as highlighted by Vanta's approach to security and customer relations.