Behind the Category

Creating the Identity Governance Category with Kari Hanson

Kari Hanson, currently CMO of Robin, shares the inside story of how she helped create and dominate the Identity Governance category during her tenure at SailPoint. In this episode, we explore the strategic decisions, market dynamics, and execution tactics that transformed SailPoint from a startup competing in the provisioning space to becoming the defining leader of an entirely new enterprise software category.
Topics Discussed:
The evolution from provisioning to identity governance
Working with industry analysts to validate and define the category
Using PR and thought leadership to establish market leadership
Leveraging competitor moves to strengthen category positioning
The role of customer evidence in category creation
Transitioning from creating a category to owning it
 
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
Timing matters more than terminology: Kari emphasizes that their success wasn't about insisting on specific category terminology, but rather about timing the market need correctly. She explains, "I think if we had gone a couple of years early or we had waited too long, we would have missed the boat." B2B founders should focus more on identifying the right market moment than perfecting category naming.
Use analyst relationships strategically: Instead of viewing analyst relations as transactional, Kari's team maximized value by treating analysts as strategic advisors. She shares, "We would do monthly inquiries... we would find out what they're hearing." She recommends founders "pick their brain until they tell you can't ask them any more questions." The key is using analyst insights to inform strategy, not just seeking inclusion in reports.
True thought leadership transcends product: Kari defines authentic thought leadership as being able to "get through the entire conversation and never mention your product." She explains that real thought leadership focuses on "here's where the market's going, here's how it's going to affect you" rather than product features. B2B founders should separate vision-oriented content from product marketing.
Build category definition through customer evidence: Rather than simply declaring a new category, SailPoint built credibility by showcasing customer adoption. Kari notes how they would get early customers to speak at trade shows about "why this new approach was so compelling." B2B founders should leverage customer proof points to validate category creation efforts.
Maintain definition control while being flexible on terms: While competitors and analysts used varying terminology, SailPoint stayed focused on controlling the category definition. Kari explains, "We didn't fight on the term because no one really cares. At the end of the day, it was really the definition of what this category includes." B2B founders should focus more on owning the problem definition than specific terminology.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. 
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Creating the Identity Orchestration Category with Strata Identity's Eric Olden

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Category — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're talking with Eric Olden, CEO and Founder of Strata Identity, an identity orchestration platform that has successfully raised over $42 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
The Genesis at Berkeley: Eric reflects on starting his entrepreneurial journey in 1995, amidst the burgeoning internet era, identifying security as the web's most critical missing ingredient.
The Dot-com Bubble: Eric provides an insider's view of Silicon Valley during the dot-com bubble, highlighting the rapid rise and fall of many startups, including his own brush with an IPO before the market crash.
Creating Categories: Eric talks about his experience in creating new market categories, emphasizing the importance of solving substantial problems and distinguishing between category creation and product innovation.
The Importance of Analyst Relations: Eric underlines the role of analyst and media relations in building and defining new categories, stressing the necessity for founders to invest time and resources in this area.
Identity Orchestration: Eric explains how Strata Identity is pioneering the category of identity orchestration, addressing the challenges of managing identity across multiple cloud environments.
Content and Thought Leadership: Highlighting strategies for building authority and generating interest in a new category, Eric shares insights into producing valuable content and engaging with thought leaders to amplify their market presence.

Creating the Go to Market Security Category with CHEQ's Guy Tytunovich

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Category, where we explore the stories of founders who have successfully created and dominated new market categories. In today's episode, we're joined by Guy Tytunovich, CEO and Co-Founder of CHEQ, a go-to-market security platform that has raised an impressive $183 million in funding.
From Military Intelligence to Tech Entrepreneurship: Guy shares his unique journey from serving in Israeli defense intelligence to founding CHEQ, highlighting how his military experience has influenced his approach to business and category creation.
The Birth of Go-to-Market Security: Discover the strategic vision behind CHEQ and how Guy and his team identified the need for a new niche in cybersecurity, focusing on safeguarding businesses' go-to-market operations.
Evangelizing and Educating the Market: Gain insights into CHEQ's efforts to educate the market, overcome initial skepticism, and achieve widespread acceptance through strategic communication and thought leadership.
Timing is Everything: Guy reflects on the serendipitous timing of CHEQ's launch, aligning with emerging market needs and trends, and emphasizes the crucial role of timing in achieving category success.
Convincing Customers to Invest in a New Category: Learn about the strategies CHEQ employs to persuade customers of the need for go-to-market security and overcome the challenge of establishing budget allocations for a new category.
The Importance of Sales Enablement and Operational Excellence: Understand how CHEQ's focus on sales enablement and operational excellence has been pivotal in scaling the business and solidifying the go-to-market security category.

Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law

Bryan Law is the Chief Marketing Officer at ZoomInfo, the go-to-market platform that has transformed the way businesses approach market engagement and strategy. Before his tenure at ZoomInfo, Bryan's career spanned a variety of roles where he focused on merging strategic planning with actionable data insights to drive growth. His extensive background in consulting emphasized go-to-market strategies, analytics, and the integration of marketing processes to maximize organizational efficiency. This experience paved the way for his success at ZoomInfo, where he plays a pivotal role in steering the company's marketing direction.
In our conversation, we discuss:
The evolution of ZoomInfo from a B2B contact database to a leading sales intelligence platform, emphasizing B2B data, including contact databases, company information, intent data, and technographics.
The decision-making process behind formally transitioning ZoomInfo's category to a go-to-market platform, informed by extensive market research and feedback from sales and marketing leaders.
The crucial role of thought leadership in category creation efforts, leveraging insights from ZoomInfo Labs and partnering with major customers to refine and share innovative go-to-market strategies.
The significance of founder-led growth, highlighting ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck's active engagement in promoting the company and its new category through authentic interactions and thought leadership.
Future directions for ZoomInfo and the go-to-market category, focusing on the integration of sales, marketing, and customer experience around a unified data strategy and the potential of generative AI to enhance go-to-market efforts.

Creating the Data Privacy Management Category with DataGrail’s Daniel Barber

In today's episode of Behind the Category, we speak with Daniel Barber, CEO and Co-Founder of DataGrail, a data privacy management company that's raised more than $84 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Daniel’s international background, and why he chooses to live in San Francisco
How DataGrail aims to give control back to businesses, so they can provide the data transparency and control their customers want
Challenges: creating a new product category, educating one’s market, and aligning the company around the same narrative
Whether analyst firms have an important role in the creation of a new category
The future of data privacy

Creating the Interview Intelligence Category with BrightHire’s Benjamin Sesser

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Ben Sesser, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightHire, an interview intelligence platform that's raised $36 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Ben’s career background in HR, and what it taught him about the central importance of the people who make up a business
Challenges and shortcomings in the current hiring strategies most businesses use, and how it inspired BrightHire’s founding
The typical BrightHire client profile - talent-forward organizations that treat hiring itself as a discipline
Why creating a category might mean more than just being a disruptor, and when working within an established space might actually work
How data becomes a key tool to educate a potential market, training customers to understand the value a business brings
 
Favorite book: 
The Lean Startup  

Creating the In-Game Creation Category with Uri Marchand

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Uri Marchand, CEO and Co-Founder of Overwolf, an in-game creation platform that has raised over $150 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Uri’s childhood as a gamer and the lessons learned from his time in the Israeli Air Force
What category Overwolf is in and why it’s not what people think at first
The figures of Overwolf’s success, and how Uri defines and measures success
How category creation can be challenging, and useful strategies to go about it
Uri’s vision for Overwolf in the next 10 years

Creating the LearningOps Category with Cognota’s Ryan Austin

In today’s episode of Behind the Category, we speak with Ryan Austin, CEO and Founder of Cognota, a learning ops platform that’s raised over $7 Million in funding, about why knowledge and capacity building will always be the key to making business better, and the impact insights can have on tangible outcomes. With a functional solution targeting almost every aspect of your daily business needs, and an ROI calculator to report impacts in real time, Cognota is a decision-maker’s new best friend.
We also speak about Ryan’s first company, founded in his dorm room at university, eventually transitioning from service-orientated to venture-backed tech startup, the power of learning and development to drive innovation, and where Cognota sees itself in the forefront of the industry in years to come.
Topics Discussed:
How Ryan ended up founding his first business on the floor of his university dorm room
Why the learning and development industry remains critically underserved by tools that empower its potential impact
Insights into the challenges of transitioning from a services-oriented business to a venture-backed technology company
Cognota’s vision for the next three to five years, expanding the platform, developing more workflows, global expansion, and certification
Becoming a leading player in the learning field, driving innovation and positive change

Creating the MarketingOS Category with Metadata’s Gil Allouche

In today's episode of Behind the Category, we speak with Gil Allouche, CEO of Metadata, pioneers of the marketingOS category.
Topics Discussed:
- Lessons Gil learned from hosting 20+ episodes of B2B Category Creators
- Introduction to the MarketingOS category
- Behind the scenes look at the work done to define the category
- Lessons learned from the MarketingOS category launch
- The role B2B influencers play in category creation
- Why Metadata didn't explore category creation until after their Series A
- The role analyst firms play in category creation
- How Metadata slowly introduced category messaging into the website
- Gil's #1 piece of advice for aspiring category creators 

Creating the Sending Management Category with Sendoso’s Kris Rudeegraap

In today's episode of Behind the Category, we speak with Kris Rudeegraap, CEO and Co-Founder of Sendoso, the leading sending management platform that's raised over $150 Million in funding, about why it’s time for a better way of corporate gifting, and what ROI on each ‘send’ could mean for your company. With curated, customizable gifts for every occasion, comprehensive customer support and global logistical support, Sendoso makes every gift really count, more than just the thought.
We also speak about Kris’ background for over a decade in software sales and his personal experience with the pain point of email oversaturation, the trials and challenges of building a new market category to differentiate yourself from the competition, the role of AI in delivering the perfect gift, and why keeping in contact with customers will keep your strategy flexible regardless of how circumstances change.
Topics Discussed:
Kris’ background working for over a decade in the software sales space, and the strategies the industry relies on to get their message out
Personal experience with the pain point of email oversaturation, and the need to build a better way of engaging with potential customers
Sendoso’s category creation strategy, and the stumbling blocks along the way which brought them to where they are today
Why plucking a brand new term out of nowhere might not be the best way to make a mark on your marketplace
Staying flexible and never being afraid to pivot as circumstances change, including in terms of your market category
The role of AI in gift fulfillment for the new digital economy