From Manual Spreadsheets to Operating System: How Customize Pivoted Their Product Story for Enterprise Buyers

From Manual Spreadsheets to Operating System: How Customize Pivoted Their Product Story for Enterprise Buyers

Managing a $40 million IT budget with spreadsheets teaches you something about enterprise software: what works for small teams breaks down spectacularly at scale. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Customize founder Stoyan Zulyamski shared how this insight shaped their evolution from cost-saving tool to enterprise platform.

The journey began at Bulgaria’s largest bank, where Stoyan managed IT operations. “When I was working for the bank, were managing like 40 million in IT operations. And I constantly had to take care of not overspending,” he explained. This hands-on experience with manual processes would later inform Customize’s product strategy.

The need for a better solution became clear during his time at a U.S. private equity fund. “That fund was buying companies each week between 550 and 500 million in terms of evaluation. And were migrating these companies into the different cloud providers,” Stoyan shared. The pattern was consistent: post-migration cloud costs spiraled, and management remained manual.

This observation led to a crucial insight: “Cloud doesn’t tolerate spreadsheets. It tolerates something which can keep up.” But translating this insight into effective enterprise messaging proved challenging.

Like many technical founders, Stoyan initially fell into the product-first trap. “My engineering background was thinking that having a great product will solve the marketing problem, which is totally wrong,” he admitted. The team learned that enterprise buyers needed more than feature lists and cost savings promises.

Their first messaging pivot moved away from pure cost savings. “Telling them that organizing their processes leading to efficiency would be a better statement than just saying that one product will give you 30% savings,” Stoyan explained. This shift from tactical benefits to strategic value resonated better with enterprise decision-makers.

The positioning evolved further as they recognized the complexity of enterprise buying cycles. They began targeting multiple stakeholders: “First of all, the CTO and the vice president of engineering… because these people are analyzing how costumes will be plugged into their ecosystem and help them.” But they also engaged finance and procurement teams who controlled cloud spending.

Their most significant pivot came in positioning Customize as an operating system for cloud optimization. This framework better captured their vision of becoming deeply integrated into enterprise cloud operations. As Stoyan described it, they wanted to create “a system which is keeping up with the pace of the developments.”

This positioning shift aligned with their expansion into cloud marketplaces. “Before were offering ourselves outside, but because customers are having commitments to these cloud providers, it’s easier for you to grow when you’re on the marketplace,” Stoyan explained. This move demonstrated their understanding of enterprise buying patterns.

Looking ahead, they’re positioning for the AI era. “Bear in mind that the hyper automation era which we are getting into, we require from every software to act as a digital agent worker, which executes different tasks and can be leveraged as part of other larger ecosystem,” Stoyan shared.

For B2B founders, Customize’s evolution offers valuable lessons in enterprise messaging. Technical excellence alone doesn’t win enterprise deals. Success comes from understanding how your solution fits into broader strategic initiatives and articulating that value to multiple stakeholders. Sometimes, the best product story isn’t about the product at all—it’s about the transformation it enables.