5 Game-Changing Go-to-Market Lessons from Tropic’s Journey to Product-Market Fit

Discover key go-to-market insights from Tropic’s founder David Campbell on building in crowded markets, brand differentiation, and scaling B2B SaaS in 2024’s challenging environment.

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5 Game-Changing Go-to-Market Lessons from Tropic’s Journey to Product-Market Fit

5 Game-Changing Go-to-Market Lessons from Tropic’s Journey to Product-Market Fit

The most valuable GTM insights often come from founders who’ve had to completely reimagine their approach in response to market challenges. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Tropic founder David Campbell shared how his company navigated a rapidly crowding market while building a distinctive brand in enterprise software.

  1. Find Opportunity in Market Saturation

When Tropic’s market suddenly became crowded with competitors, Campbell saw an advantage where others might have seen threat. “We had one competitor we’ve linked. We have like 30 now,” he explains. “There’s actually an upside to having a crowded market and an upside to having lots and lots of competitors if you’re the one that is willing to lean in extremely aggressively and kind of address that challenge head on.”

This aggressive approach shaped their product strategy. Rather than chasing competitors’ features, they focused on building their own vision. As David notes, “I don’t care almost whatsoever what any of our competitors product roadmap is because I believe that ours is better… as soon as I get distracted from that gut instinct that I think CEOs really have to listen to and I start chasing somebody else’s features, I’m basically signing up for being one to two months behind forever.”

  1. Challenge Enterprise Software Conventions

Tropic took a contrarian approach to enterprise branding. “I didn’t want a company that ends in Ly or ify,” Campbell shares. “I didn’t want a brand that sounds enterprise… Every CFO literally 100% of the CFOs that I’ve sold to at Tropic are millennials… And this generation, millennials in particular, like me, like these CFOs that I work with, are extremely skeptical of what came before.”

  1. Align Revenue Model with Customer Trust

In an industry where marketplace commissions are standard, Tropic chose a zero-commission model. “The only reason it was easy for us is because we got crystal clear on our vision at the beginning of launching Tropic,” Campbell explains. “Our vision is purchasing paradise… and that means that we’re 100% aligned to one side of the equation. We’re 100% aligned to empowering the buyer.”

  1. Build Marketing Around Brand First, Demand Gen Second

Tropic took an unconventional approach to marketing investment. “We have how big is it today? I think a six person marketing team… Everything that marketing did before that was brand,” David shares. “It was PR strategy, which were able to cultivate organically to get some placements. It was me writing a bunch of crazy s*** on LinkedIn all the time and building brand that way, which I think is actually a better alternative to paying for PR nowadays.”

  1. Let Crisis Mode Drive Innovation

Rather than trying to minimize crisis, Campbell used it as a catalyst for innovation. “Wartime for me is not about violence or anger. It’s about really fast paced decision making in the absence of data and with lots and lots of ambiguity and with an eye towards meeting the challenge head on.”

This approach shaped their culture: “If there’s one thing that we’ve done right at Tropic, I do think it’s the culture,” he reflects. “The culture that we have is one that I think is really rallied around the vision and really excited to go to war, in a manner of speaking. And if you don’t have that wartime backdrop, you don’t have that galvanization.”

These lessons challenge conventional enterprise software GTM wisdom. Instead of following the standard enterprise playbook – conservative branding, marketplace fees, heavy demand gen investment – Tropic found success by taking the opposite approach. Their experience suggests that in today’s crowded markets, differentiation might come not from following best practices, but from having the courage to challenge them.

For founders building in competitive markets, Campbell’s experience offers a compelling alternative: embrace crisis as a strategic advantage, align your revenue model with customer trust, and don’t be afraid to challenge industry conventions. Sometimes the best way to stand out is to be willing to stand alone.

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