Crafting Categories: Why AgTech Startups Need a Fresh Go-to-Market Blueprint
Shifting From Conventional Tactics to Authentic Market Leadership
Too much go-to-market advice for agtech startups stinks. It’s rooted in flawed thinking.
Many companies get advice that assumes: If you build it, they will come.
But customers almost never grasp your product's essence or why they should part with their cash for it.
You need to reshape their perspective.
Traditional go-to-market tactics? They're tailored for established markets. They assume you're:
- Vying for market share.
- In a known category.
- Offering an incrementally better product.
But here are some questions to ponder:
❓ In 1870, what did market research say about tractors?
❓ Was there a competitive breakdown on Roundup Ready beans in the 80’s?
❓ What were opinions on auto-steer in the 90’s?
Traditional tactics falter when crafting a never-before-seen concept. They can't help when there’s no budget allocated for your innovation, nor can they redefine the problem you solve for customers.
And research tells us that in technology categories, the category king normally takes about 76% of the market capitalization.
Because no one remembers the also-ran, they only remember the winner.
So if your go-to-market is not built to design a new category of your own - one you are uniquely qualified to define and dominate - then you’ll be letting someone else set the conditions for the way you communicate with your customers.
And that's a bad plan for success.
Instead, you need to build your go-to-market to have the conversation with your customer on the terms you establish
You need to move the thinking in the industry from where it is today to where you want it to be.
This should impact the way you price your product, the way you promote your company, and the methods you use to place your solution in front of the target customer.
- Stop robbing your future valuation in the name of scaling the distribution of users. Upselling later is harder than it looks today.
- Stop softening your market differentiation by selling through an existing distribution network. The channel usually won’t save you unless there is market pull for your product downstream.
- Stop hiring salespeople and expecting that they’ll be ready to “just sell.” Early sales depend on organizational learning and renaissance team members who are willing to take the time to educate the customer.
Remember, almost nothing is more important to the future value of your company than the way you build your go-to-market today.
Start investing in your story as if it matters. Start designing your category.
Make something different. Make people care. Make fans, not followers.