ProductLed Podcast

How Cobalt Transitioned from Sales-Led to Product-Led

Aug 14, 2024

Esben Friis-Jensen, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Userflow and Adviser at Cobalt, shares insights on transitioning from a sales-led to a product-led approach. He discusses the challenges they faced during this shift, including organizational resistance and the importance of gaining team buy-in. Esben highlights the benefits of innovative strategies in the pentesting industry and offers valuable advice on nurturing collaboration between sales and product teams. He emphasizes the need for a positive mindset and iterative learning in this transformative journey.

40:41

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Episode guests

Esben Friis-Jensen

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Quick takeaways

Transitioning from a sales-led to a product-led model requires strong leadership buy-in and clear communication across departments.

Implementing iterative changes and focusing on specific customer segments allows companies to gradually adapt their sales processes for product-led growth.

Deep dives

Transitioning from Sales-Led to Product-Led

Transitioning from a sales-led model to a product-led approach can be challenging for many companies. While a successful sales strategy has delivered growth, it is essential to explore how a product-led model can further enhance customer acquisition and retention. Companies often face obstacles during this shift, including an ingrained need for trust-building in high-touch sales processes, especially in sectors like cybersecurity. Understanding the nuances of the market and customer base is crucial, as firms must balance the immediate benefits of traditional sales efforts with the potential long-term gains from a product-focused strategy.

Intro

2min

From Sales-Led to Product-Led: A Transformation Journey

7min

Shifting Strategies: From Sales-Led to Product-Led

17min

Transitioning from Sales-Led to Product-Led: A Strategic Approach

3min

Transitioning to a Product-Led Strategy

12min

Esben Friis-Jensen is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Userflow, the fastest way for user onboarding for modern SaaS businesses. He is also the Co-Founder and Adviser at Cobalt, a modern application security platform enabling businesses to run on-demand Penetration Testing and vulnerability assessments - Pentest as a Service. The goal of this episode is to accelerate learning while transitioning from sales-led to product-led. Esben will talk about the whole transition: What other leaders are doing in this transition and what mistakes they make to avoid doing it again.

Show Notes

[01:09] A brief background about Esben

[03:38] His thoughts when they started the product-led movement

[07:11] Reasons why they started out as more sales-led

[11:15] The challenges they experienced along the way

[15:40] How they fostered organizational change

[18:55] The process they went through to get the rest of the team onboard

[23:32] How they got buy-in from the teams in the process of transitioning

[28:49] First quick wins they had in testing the unknowns

[34:50] More advice on iteration from Esben

[37:42] The next thing for him at Userflow

[39:47] Where to find Esben

About Esben Friis-Jensen

Esben Friis-Jensen is originally from Denmark but has lived in the United States for the last eight years. Aside from Userflow and Cobalt, he has also worked as a consultant in the SAP division of Accenture, responsible for managing the test and deployment of global large-scale SAP implementations.

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Profiles

Userflow

Cobalt