Unicorn Builders How Gusto scaled to 400,000+ customers without traditional sales: The consumer-first B2B playbook ($9.5B Valuation)
Gusto has taken a radically different approach to B2B software for small businesses. While most companies serving SMBs treat them as a stepping stone to enterprise markets, Gusto has made small businesses their forever home. Founded in 2012 as ZenPayroll, the company now serves over 400,000 customers with a valuation exceeding $9 billion. In this episode of Unicorn Builders, Tomer London, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Gusto, reveals the unconventional go-to-market playbook that built one of the most beloved software companies in the SMB space.
Topics Discussed:
- Gusto's consumer-first approach to B2B software design and marketing
- The evolution from invite-only beta to 300,000+ customers
- Building customer obsession through emotional journey mapping
- Scaling customer feedback loops from 10 to 2,000+ employees
- The strategic decision to stay focused on SMBs instead of moving upmarket
- Multi-phase go-to-market strategy from word-of-mouth to paid channels
- Brand development focused on personality over positioning
- The launch of Gusto Embedded for platform partnerships
- Future expansion into compliance automation for small businesses
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
- Treat SMBs like consumers, not enterprises: Tomer's most important insight was recognizing that small businesses make purchasing decisions more like consumers than enterprises. Instead of deploying traditional B2B tactics like cold calling and enterprise sales processes, Gusto focused on building a product people love, measuring success through NPS, and relying on word-of-mouth growth. This consumer-oriented approach enabled them to scale to hundreds of thousands of customers without heavy reliance on human-driven sales processes.
- Map the emotional journey of every user interaction: Gusto institutionalized customer empathy through design critiques that plot the emotional ups and downs of user experiences. They ask: "Where can we make the highs higher and help lift people from emotional lows?" For example, they celebrate moments like getting paid while providing extra support during difficult tasks like layoffs. B2B founders should systematically examine every customer touchpoint and design experiences that acknowledge the human emotions involved in business processes.
- Create listening posts throughout your organization: Early on, Gusto's entire team heard every customer support call in their shared workspace. As they scaled to 2,000+ employees, they built systematic "listening posts" - Slack channels that automatically funnel customer feedback from NPS surveys, social media, and in-app interactions to the entire building team. This ensures great ideas come from everywhere and keeps the entire organization connected to customer voices.
- Focus relentlessly on where customers are happiest: Rather than trying to serve all SMBs equally, Gusto measured where they had the highest NPS scores, strongest referrals, and most organic growth. They doubled down on these segments and industries for several years until reaching $10 million ARR. B2B founders should resist the temptation to expand too broadly and instead identify their happiest customer segments and go deep with them first.
- Phase your go-to-market strategy deliberately: Gusto's GTM evolved through distinct phases: (1) Invite-only with 20-50 design partners focused on product development, (2) Opening the funnel while testing different channels with one person, (3) Going all-in on what worked (PR, content, social media), (4) Adding paid channels years later, and (5) Building strategic partnerships with accountants. Each phase had clear success metrics and graduation criteria before moving to the next.
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