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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