We only take on 4 clients per month. Join our October cohort. 1 spot left.
Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Unicorn Builders. In this episode, we’re joined by Milin Desai, CEO of Sentry, a developer-first application monitoring platform that has raised over $200 Million in funding.
-
Sentry’s mission to help developers quickly resolve issues in production by providing real-time alerts and context down to the line of code and committer
-
The evolution of Sentry’s market category from error monitoring to a broader focus on observability and developer-centric solutions
-
Sentry’s bottoms-up, community-led growth model and the importance of being authentic, present, and helpful to the developer community
-
The company’s thought leadership strategy, which emphasizes building a great product, contributing to open source, and enabling the community through initiatives like the Syntax FM acquisition
-
Sentry’s focus on solving for the developer persona and the role of a strong team culture in driving the company’s success
-
The vision for Sentry to become an indispensable assistant to developers, enhancing their day-to-day work and solving intricate problems they face
Actionable
Takeaways
Prioritize Product-Market Fit at Scale:
Sentry's growth can be attributed to achieving what Milin calls "at-scale product-market fit," where the company becomes the go-to solution for a specific problem (in their case, error monitoring for developers). B2B founders should focus on iterating until they reach this level of market recognition and pull from their target audience.
Embrace a Bottoms-Up, Community-Led Growth Model:
Sentry's success stems from its deep understanding and engagement with the developer community. By being authentic, present, and helpful to their target users, the company has built trust and advocacy that fuels its growth. B2B founders should consider how they can foster a strong community around their product and leverage that as a growth engine.
Invest in Your Ecosystem's Success:
Sentry's acquisition of Syntax FM demonstrates the value of supporting and enabling the broader ecosystem in which your company operates. B2B founders should look for opportunities to elevate their industry through initiatives like sponsoring events, funding research and education, or acquiring respected media properties. The key is to prioritize authenticity, independence, and alignment with your mission to create long-term value for your target audience
Stay Focused on Your Target Persona:
Despite the temptation to expand into adjacent markets or customer segments, Sentry has remained laser-focused on solving for the developer persona. This focus has allowed them to build a best-in-class product and establish a strong market position. B2B founders should resist the urge to be everything to everyone and instead double down on serving their core target audience exceptionally well.
Future-Proof Your Company by Focusing on Essential Tools:
Looking forward, Sentry aims to be as integral to developers as Git. For founders, consider how your product can become an essential tool in your customers’ daily lives. This involves deep integration into existing workflows and continuous innovation to stay relevant and indispensable.
Redefine Your Category as You Grow:
Sentry began by dominating the specific domain of error monitoring but recognized the opportunity to expand into a broader category of observability and developer-centric solutions. As they grew, they redefined their category to better align with their evolving product offerings and the changing needs of their target audience. B2B founders should be proactive in assessing their market category as they scale and be willing to redefine it to capture new opportunities and better serve their customers.
Recommended Founder
Interviews
Abhay Parasnis
Founder and CEO of Typeface
Abhay Parasnis: the Story of Typeface ($1 Billion Valuation)
Philip Cutler
CEO and Founder of Paper
Philip Cutler: The GTM Story of Paper ($1.5B Valuation)
Jean Paul Chauvet
CEO of Lightspeed
Jean Paul Chauvet: the Story of Lightspeed ($2+ Billion Valuation)
Hari Ravichandran
CEO & Founder of Aura
Hari Ravichandran: the Story of Aura ($2.5 Billion Valuation)
Spike Lipkin
CEO and Co-founder of Newfront
Spike Lipkin: the GTM Story of Newfront ($2.2 Billion Valuation)
Jason Zintak
CEO of 6sense
Jason Zintak: The GTM Story of 6sense ($5.2 Billion Valuation)
Dave Wessinger
CEO and Co-Founder of PointClickCare
Dave Wessinger: the Story of PointClickCare ($5 Billion Valuation)
Arif Nathoo
CEO and Co-Founder of Komodo Health
Arif Nathoo: the Story of Komodo Health ($3 Billion Valuation)
Jerome Ternynck
Founder and CEO of SmartRecruiters
Jerome Ternynck: the Story of SmartRecruiter ($1.5 Billion Valuation)
Michael Witte
CEO & Co-founder of Workrise
Michael Witte: Workrise: the GTM Story of Workrise ($3 Billion Valuation)
Joseph DeSimone
Chairman and Co-Founder of Carbon
Joseph DeSimone: the Story of Carbon ($2.5 Billion Valuation)
Steffen Tjerrild
Co-Founder, CFO & COO of Synthesia
Steffen Tjerrild: The Story of Synthesia ($1 Billion Valuation)
Marc-Alexander Christ
Co-Founder of SumUp
Marc-Alexander Christ: the Story of SumUp ($8.5 Billion Valuation)
Martin Mao
CEO of Chronosphere
Martin Mao: The Story of Chronosphere ($1.6 Billion Valuation))
Raj De Datta
CEO & Co-founder of Bloomreach
Raj De Datta: the GTM Story of Bloomreach ($2.2 Billion Valuation)
Gary Hoberman
CEO & Founder of Unqork
Gary Hoberman: the GTM Story of Unqork ($2B+ Valuation)
Doug Winter
CEO and Co-Founder of Seismic
Doug Winter: The GTM Story of Seismic ($3 Billion Valuation)
Harrison Rose
Co-Founder of Paddle
Harrison Rose: the Story of Paddle ($1.4 Billion Valuation)
Tom Jermoluk
CEO of Beyond Identity
Tom “TJ” Jermoluk: The GTM Storyteller of Beyond Identity ($1.1 Billion Valuation)
Jeremy Johnson
CEO & Co-Founder of Andela
Jeremy Johnson: the Story of Andela ($1.5 Billion Valuation)
Barr Moses
Co-Founder & CEO of Monte Carlo
Barr Moses: the GTM Story of Monte Carlo ($1.6 Billion Valuation)
Marcelo Lebre
President of Remote
Marcelo Lebre: the Story of Remote ($3 Billion+ Valuation)
Rodrigo Liang
Co-Founder and CEO of SambaNova
Rodrigo Liang: the Story of SambaNova ($5+ Billion Valuation)
Kevin Busque
CEO and Founder of Guideline
Kevin Busque: the Story of Guideline ($1.1B+ Valuation)
Henrique Dubugras
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brex
Henrique Dubugras: the Story of Brex ($12 Billion+ Valuation)
Sean Duffy
Co-Founder & CEO of Omada Health
Sean Duffy: the Story of Omada Health ($1+ Billion Valuation)
Karl Siebrecht
Co-Founder & CEO of Flexe
Karl Siebrecht: the Story of Flexe (1+ Billion Valuation)
Michel Tricot
Co-Founder & CEO of Airbyte
Michel Tricot: the Story of Airbyte ($1.5 Billion Valuation)
Doron Myersdorf
CEO of StoreDot
Doron Myersdorf: the Story of StoreDot ($1.2 Billion Valuation)
Justin Borgman
CEO and Co-Founder of Starburst
Justin Borgman: the Story of Starburst ($3+ Billion Valuation)
Johanna Småros
Co-Founder & Chief Sustainability Officer of RELEX Solutions
Johanna Småros: the Story of RELEX Solutions ($5.7 Billion Valuation)
Kyle Clark
Team Member of Beta Technologies
Kyle Clark: the Story of Beta ($1.2 Billion Valuation)
Ajay Kulkarni
CEO of Timescale
Ajay Kulkarni: the Story of Timescale ($1+ Billion Valuation)
Henry Kim
CEO & Co-Founder of Swiftly
Henry Kim: The GTM Story of Swiftly ($1B+ Valuation)
Jeff Denworth
Co-Founder of VAST Data
Jeff Denworth: The Story of VAST Data ($9.1 Billion Valuation)
Federico Larsen
CTO and Co-Founder of Copado
Federico Larsen: the Story of Copado ($1.2 Billion Valuation)