From: myfirstmillionpod
Vanta, a company with a valuation of $2.45 billion, was founded with a focus on addressing a specific gap in the security market [0:01:07]. The founder’s journey highlights insights into market opportunity, early-stage validation, and effective growth strategies for security startups.
Origin of Vanta: Identifying a Market Need
The idea for Vanta stemmed from the observation that while security was a “huge Market,” no one was effectively focused on serving startups [0:18:46]. Startups often didn’t use existing security tools [0:18:50].
A pivotal moment came while working at Dropbox on a product called “Paper” (a collaboration tool akin to Google Docs) [0:29:14]. The product faced a significant hurdle: it couldn’t launch or be used by customers because it lacked SOC 2 compliance [0:29:25]. This experience, learning about the process and what it would take, highlighted a critical, unmet need among growing companies [0:30:23].
Unlike previous projects where the founder focused on personal interests [0:16:09], Vanta prioritized a “deep lack of any commercials” [0:27:31], meaning the business model was integrated from the start [0:27:42].
Market Validation and Early Growth
To validate the Vanta idea, the founder consciously avoided immediately building a product with code [0:29:57]. Instead, the concept was tested using an Excel spreadsheet [0:30:00], demonstrating a practical approach to [[researching_companies_and_market_demand | market research]].
Validating an Idea
Any response that is not “can you do this for me now, tomorrow, next week” is a “no” [0:31:30]. People are often kind and want to be helpful, so responses like “maybe next quarter” or “my friend might need it” are effectively rejections [0:31:39].
The strategy for finding early customers and validating the idea was to talk to “anyone who would talk” [0:31:51], starting with co-workers and former co-workers, and then expanding the network by asking for introductions [0:31:55]. It was crucial to “make it easy for them” to refer others by providing customizable email templates [0:32:19].
When talking to potential customers, it’s important to ask about their problems rather than proposing solutions, as people can articulate their problems but not necessarily the ideal solution [0:32:47]. Avoiding yes/no questions and maintaining rapport by adopting their terminology were also key [0:33:02].
Growth Strategies
Vanta’s early growth involved a combination of strategies:
- Outbound outreach: Sending “cold outbound” emails to Y Combinator companies, disguised as requests for feedback, but with the intent of converting them into customers [0:34:01].
- Word-of-mouth: Strategically fostering a “call response” dynamic in founder and VC Slack channels, where a mention of “SOC 2” would lead to a recommendation for Vanta [0:34:40]. This built a strong brand association. This demonstrates
[[innovative_marketing_strategies for startup growth | innovative marketing strategies for startup growth]]. - Podcast advertising: Initially viewed with skepticism, podcast advertising “really worked” and proved to be an effective
[[innovative_marketing_strategies for startup growth | marketing channel]]for Vanta [0:35:28].
Insights for Future Startup Founders
When considering new [[startup_ideas_and_opportunities | startup ideas]], the founder suggests two approaches:
- Solve a personal problem: If there’s something “personally meaningful,” pursue it [0:17:51].
- Understand others’ problems: If not, “find someone else with the problem and deeply, deeply understand them” [0:17:58]. This approach involves talking to many people about their daily lives, problems, and developing a “mental model of the space” [0:28:54].
The founder advises that rather than trying to “shut your eyes, imagine the future, what’s it look like, build that” [0:18:03], it’s more effective to understand current pain points, especially since generating “reasonable startup ideas” through pure imagination can be difficult [0:18:13].
One significant [[startup_ideas_and_opportunities | startup idea]] mentioned is fixing the “go to market tooling stack” in B2B SaaS, as current tools are often disjointed and inefficient [0:28:26]. This highlights a specific area within [[insights_on_various_business_models_and_industries | B2B SaaS]] ripe for disruption.