As Gain matures, it’s hit a bunch of important and visible milestones:
- Product-market fit
- Happy (and referenceable) customers
- Sales growth
- Expanding team
These are the metrics everyone follows and celebrates.
Behind the scenes, meanwhile, a similar story is playing out, albeit in ways that are far less interesting to the outside observer:
- Foundational product work to facilitate customer support, onboarding, and scaling
- Policy documentation and adherence to compliance-driven processes
- Corporate governance maturation
- IT and other initiatives to support sales efforts
As the name of the game is always future growth, progress is required on both dimensions. So, while investors and the public follow the pace and strength of sales wins, deeper in the organization there is a whole lot of effort expended to support the metrics of success.
An example of the dual track efforts can be found in the sales effort itself. When a prospect evaluates the value of Gain Compliance’s solution, this is by no means the end of the purchase decision process. Often, a sale is only possible after both legal and information security review of not just the product, but the company itself.
During due diligence, potential customers learn that, not only does Gain Compliance offer a great solution, but we also have the processes, practices, and infrastructure in place to respond properly to their risk and legal assessment.
In fact, now that Gain has extensive experience in the procurement process, we’ve improved our story. Similar to how we’ve crafted the product and honed messaging to communicate product-market fit, we’ve also refined our approach to handling the legal and information security reviews. For example, not only are we immediately responsive to inquiries with supporting documentation at the ready, we also crafted a pre-emptive “explainer” document we frequently share before the initial introductory meeting or delivery of the vendor risk questionnaire.
As with so much in the world of startups, there is more than meets the eye. And, the parts that aren’t as apparent are often just as important.
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