Blog
February 5, 2025
Cracking the Code: How We Built Our Success Formula
Tali Hirsh
VP Product & Strategy
Solid's VP of Product, Tali Hirsh, reveals the formula that helped transform Solid's go-to-market strategy into a scalable success story.
The Challenge Before the Formula
Solid is an AI-powered analytics workflow assistant designed to boost analysts' productivity by helping them find the right data faster, maintain consistency across teams, and eliminate redundant work.
Every startup hits a moment where they realize their strategy isn’t working as well as they thought. For Solid, that moment came after dozens of sales calls, product iterations, and a bit of soul-searching. We had built something valuable, but the market wasn’t biting as we expected.
We were hearing the same feedback over and over:
- Why is this a priority right now?
- This sounds interesting, but it’s overwhelming.
- We love AI, but do you really need all these features?
- Yet another tool? Do we really need this?
Sound familiar? If you’ve built a product and tried to sell it, you’ve probably run into similar roadblocks. That’s when we knew we had to simplify, focus, and create a structured way to ensure success. So, we did what any logical product team would do: we built a formula :)
The Formula for Success
We needed a way to understand why some prospects were excited about Solid while others were hesitant. After analyzing our sales calls, market positioning, and product experience, we came up with:
Success = 5VU² - 2C - T
Let’s break it down:
- V (Value): Does our product provide undeniable value to analysts and their managers? If the pain we solve isn’t big enough, customers won’t care.
- U (Urgency): Do they need it right now? Urgency is the most critical factor, which is why it’s squared. If there’s no pressure to act, the deal will drag forever.
- C (Complexity): Is the solution too overwhelming? If it’s too complex to adopt, people won’t engage. We needed to simplify how we presented our product.
- T (Time commitment): How much effort does the customer need to invest before seeing value? The more time we required upfront, the harder it was to close deals.
This formula became our guiding light. We needed high value and urgency, while keeping complexity and time commitment as low as possible.
Applying the Formula to Our GTM Strategy
1. Making It Easy to Say Yes (Reducing T)
Originally, we asked design partners to commit to weekly calls, deep engagement, and detailed feedback. Unsurprisingly, they hesitated. So, we flipped the script. Instead of an 11-page document detailing their responsibilities, we cut it down to two simple pages. Our ask? “Almost nothing.” Just a quick 20-minute Zoom call and two check-ins per month.
The result? A much easier "yes."
2. Showcasing Our Value (Maximizing V)
At first, we were pitching our entire analytics workflow management solution, which sounded impressive, but also overwhelming. Instead, we distilled our product into three core use cases (which are very much connected) and demonstrated their value to the analysts:
- Visibility: Helping analysts instantly find the right data sources for their analysis. Today, analysts in data-rich environments spend 50-60% of their analysis time just searching for the right data sources, whether it's similar reports, past tasks, SQL queries, relevant tables, or key metrics. This process is not only frustrating but also significantly slows down their time to insight.
- Consistency: Preventing teams from duplicating work or using outdated or unused assets in their analyses.
- Productivity: Accelerating insights with AI-driven suggestions by recommending existing reports, providing pre-written SQL snippets to start with, and more.. eliminating the need to start from scratch.
Now, instead of an overloaded pitch, we could let prospects pick the most relevant pain point and focus on that.
Additionally, we focused on demonstrating immediate impact: right after customers share their data, without requiring any user actions. We clearly showcased the value they would receive immediately —> after one month —> and after three months.
The response? “Let’s give it a try.”
3. Simplify The Users’ Adoption (Reducing C)
One of the things we heard repeatedly in sales calls was that analysts were hesitant to adopt yet another tool since they were already juggling too many.
Our solution? Meet analysts where they already work. Instead of requiring them to use Solid as a standalone tool, we integrated our value directly into the platforms they already rely on: Snowflake, Databricks, and even Slack. This way, they could experience the benefits of Solid without having to change their workflow.
4. Creating Urgency (Maximizing U²)
Without urgency, deals stall. We needed to show customers why they couldn’t wait 3-6 months. Companies prioritize initiatives that drive immediate value and align with strategic goals. The main factors influencing urgency include:
- AI Adoption – Organizations are investing in AI (especially LLMs), driven by executives and Chief Data & Analytics Officers (CDAOs).
- Data Quality – Ensuring accurate, reliable data to prevent errors like incorrect metrics, missing data, or outdated dashboards. We decided to focus on this by ensuring more consistent results when using Solid.
- Governance – A broad category covering data cataloging, policies, lineage, and quality, often aligned with existing frameworks like DAMA-DMBOK and COBIT.
- Self-Service & Democratization – Empowering business teams to access and utilize data independently, reducing reliance on analysts.
- Traditional Data & Analytics (D&A) Infrastructure – Includes databases, data lakes, and integrations, typically a major budget focus for engineering teams.
For a product to tap into urgency, it should align with experimental AI budgets, governance initiatives, or direct business impact. However, the biggest pull is towards AI-driven automation, where companies are actively investing.
If our pitch didn’t tie directly to one of these priorities, the deal would get delayed. So, we started aligning our conversations around these themes, making sure Solid fit into their right-now priorities.
The Results
Did it work? Absolutely.
By simplifying our onboarding, message, and pitch while creating urgency, we saw our design partnerships grow consistently each month. Customers were no longer confused about our offering, and prospects left meetings knowing exactly what pain we solved.
More importantly, we had a structured way to evaluate and refine our go-to-market strategy. Instead of guessing why deals were stuck, we could look at the formula and pinpoint where the issue was.
Key Takeaways for Your Business
- Make it easy to say yes. Reduce friction by lowering the upfront commitment required.
- Simplify your message. Focus on a few core pain points instead of overwhelming prospects with features.
- Deliver instant value. Show customers why they need your product today, not next quarter.
- Tie your pitch to urgent priorities. Find out what’s top of mind for customers and align with it.
The formula helped us get from confusion to clarity, and from stalled deals to conversions. If you’re facing similar challenges in your GTM journey, try breaking down your approach into value, urgency, complexity, and time commitment.
You might just crack your own formula for success.
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