Hyperproof’s Contrarian Approach to Analyst Relations: Why They’re Skipping Traditional Paths to Enterprise Credibility

Conventional wisdom says enterprise startups need major analyst firm coverage to succeed. Pay for the subscriptions, get in the reports, win the deals. But Hyperproof, growing “at least two x a year for a number of years” with “hundreds of customers,” is taking a dramatically different approach.

In a recent Category Visionaries episode, CEO Craig Unger shared how they’re building enterprise credibility without playing the traditional analyst relations game. Their strategy offers valuable lessons for startups looking to break into enterprise markets without breaking the bank.

The Traditional Path Problem Craig acknowledges the challenge startups face with major analyst firms: “Analyst relations, we put a little effort in. It’s a little tough when you’re small because a lot of that tends to be more pay for play where you end up buying a subscription to the analyst reports and then you end up getting coverage that way.”

For a fiscally conservative startup trying to pioneer a new category in compliance operations, this presented a strategic dilemma. But rather than viewing it as a limitation, Hyperproof turned it into an opportunity.

The Independent Analyst Advantage Instead of pursuing expensive relationships with major firms, Hyperproof built relationships with independent analysts. As Craig explains, “When you’re a smaller company, it’s more beneficial to build relationships with smaller analysts, folks who work individually, they tend to have more unique viewpoints and they can kind of bring you into more unique situations.”

This approach aligned perfectly with their category creation strategy. As they worked to establish “compliance operations” as a distinct category from traditional GRC, these independent voices could help shape the narrative without the constraints of established market definitions.

Events Over Reports Rather than spending their analyst budget on subscriptions, Hyperproof focused on high-impact events. “What we tend to do with our analyst dollars instead is go to events because some of the events for B2B could be super helpful. I mean, I’ll call out the Gartner Conference, we go there, it’s actually real helpful.”

This strategy allowed them to build direct relationships with potential customers while still maintaining visibility with major firms. It also provided a platform to educate the market about their new approach to compliance.

Building Alternative Credibility Hyperproof complemented their analyst strategy by focusing on operational excellence. As Craig notes, they’ve achieved strong “CSAT folks, love the product” and are “doing a significant amount of expansion in our customer base every year.”

This customer-first approach has helped them maintain their ambitious growth targets: “We entered on this kind of can we do the kind of triple, double, double type of idea. And we’ve been pretty much sticking to that.”

Market Education Over Market Validation Rather than seeking analyst validation of their existing approach, Hyperproof focused on market education. They saw compliance following “the historical track of security” and positioned themselves ahead of this evolution, rather than within existing market definitions.

This allowed them to tell a bigger story about trust and transparency. As Craig explains, “The compliance and security world hasn’t really adjusted to that. In other words, they’re still laboring under the belief that in order to do well in the market, everybody that they serve needs to be convinced that they’re perfect and they don’t make mistakes.”

For B2B founders, Hyperproof’s approach offers an important lesson: analyst relations doesn’t have to follow the traditional playbook. By focusing on independent voices, high-impact events, and direct customer relationships, startups can build enterprise credibility without the traditional overhead of major analyst relationships.

Sometimes the most effective path to market leadership isn’t through established channels, but through creating your own narrative and finding the voices that can help tell that story authentically.