From Google Sheets to Category Leader: 5 GTM Lessons from Figures’ European Expansion

Starting with a Google Sheet and €400 subscriptions might seem like an unlikely path to category leadership, but Figures’ journey offers a masterclass in European B2B SaaS expansion. In a recent Category Visionaries episode, CEO Virgile Raingeard shared crucial insights about building a compensation intelligence platform across Europe’s fragmented markets.

1. Start With a Minimum Sellable Product Before sophisticated data visualization or enterprise features, Figures began as a simple spreadsheet. “I created the first version of Figures was just a Google Sheet,” Virgile recalls. “You give me your own data, you pay, and I give you a one year subscription to this Google Sheet and I will update it monthly.” This modest beginning validated market demand without requiring significant technical investment.
2. Don’t Fear Underpricing Early Initial pricing mistakes can actually accelerate market validation. Virgile admits charging just “€400 per year for the smaller scale startups to €2500” was “ridiculous” and “one of the biggest mistake[s].” However, this low barrier to entry helped rapidly build their initial dataset. When they later tripled prices, their win rate remained unchanged, proving they’d established clear value proposition.
3. Turn Geographic Fragmentation Into Competitive Advantage While many see Europe’s market fragmentation as a challenge, Figures leverages it as protection against U.S. competitors. “Europe is like a very fragmented geographical area,” Virgile explains. “Entering Spain is no different than selling into France, entering to Germany, especially when it comes to compensation, because there’s a lot of data privacy topics that comes into play.”
4. Learn From Competitors’ Success Instead of viewing U.S. competitors as threats, Figures uses them for market validation and product inspiration. “Competition is a great thing,” Virgile notes. “It’s impacting us greatly because it’s showing that the space is there to stay.” They openly study successful U.S. players: “We are looking at their product videos and being like, that seems a good idea, that seems like a good idea.”
5. Build Trust Through Brand Personality Despite handling sensitive compensation data, Figures maintains a distinctly human brand voice. “One of our value is like why so serious?” Virgile shares. This approach might seem counterintuitive for a company handling sensitive data, but it’s helped them stand out in a traditionally staid industry. Their April Fools’ joke featuring “composition market data per zodiac sign” exemplifies how they balance professionalism with personality.

The key lesson threading through Figures’ journey is the importance of adapting proven strategies to local market conditions. Rather than trying to beat U.S. competitors at their own game, they’ve created a uniquely European approach to category building.

For founders expanding into Europe, Figures’ experience suggests success comes not from treating Europe as a single market, but from embracing its complexity. As Virgile observes about their U.S. competitors, “None of those are coming to Europe.” By turning potential barriers into strategic advantages, Figures has carved out category leadership in one of tech’s most challenging markets.

This strategic approach to European expansion offers a blueprint for founders looking to build category-defining companies outside Silicon Valley. It’s not about being first to market – it’s about being first to truly understand and adapt to local market dynamics.