As someone who has spent over 30 years building security and infrastructure products both in large companies and small, I’ve seen one pattern repeat itself far too often: a great product gets sold to an enterprise, only to end up sitting on a shelf, untouched and unloved. For every company that successfully deploys their product and becomes a cornerstone of their customer’s operations, there are countless others that fall victim to this fate.

The difference? It’s rarely about the technology itself. Instead, it’s about understanding how to navigate the human dynamics of enterprise sales and deployment—helping your champions and economic buyers not just buy your product, but deploy it, show value, and win over the organization. The startups that succeed here often share a surprising trait: they get people promoted.

Here’s how I think about this challenge and the advice I give to the companies I advise.

Know Your Allies: The Champion and the Economic Buyer

In any enterprise sale, there are two critical players: the champion and the economic buyer. Your champion is the person who feels the pain your product solves most acutely. They’re your advocate inside the organization, the one who wants you to succeed because it solves their problem.

The economic buyer, on the other hand, is the one with the budget and the organizational perspective. They’re not as close to the day-to-day pain, but they’re thinking about alignment with company priorities, ROI, and risk.

If you want your product to avoid becoming shelfware, you need to understand what it takes for both of these people to succeed—not just in deploying your product, but in navigating the bureaucracy of their organization.

Empowering Your Champion: The Keys to Advocacy

Your champion is on your side, but they’re likely not equipped to sell your product internally without help. They need:

• Clear, tangible wins: How can they deploy your product incrementally, showing immediate value without asking the organization to take on too much risk or disruption upfront?
• Compelling talking points: You know your product better than anyone. Equip your champion with narratives that resonate with their stakeholders. For example:
  • “This solution aligns with our zero-trust initiative and reduces risks highlighted in the Verizon DBIR report.”
• Materials for buy-in: Provide them with decks, case studies, and ROI calculators tailored to their audience—whether it’s IT, security, or the C-suite.

Startups that succeed make it easy for champions to tell a compelling story, removing the burden of figuring it out themselves.

Winning Over the Economic Buyer: Speak Their Language

The economic buyer is focused on the bigger picture: strategic alignment, ROI, and risk management. They’ll ask questions like:

• How does this product support our organizational goals?
• What’s the ROI? How does this reduce costs or avoid risks?
• Will this disrupt our existing systems or processes?

To win them over:

• Frame the product as part of their strategy: Don’t sell a feature—sell a solution to their larger problems.
• Provide financial justification: Show them how your product saves money, reduces risks, or increases efficiency.
• Mitigate risk: Give them confidence that deploying your product won’t be a gamble.

This isn’t just about convincing them to buy—it’s about giving them the confidence to champion your product as it rolls out.

Navigating Bureaucracy: Guiding the Path Forward

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: in large organizations, success often depends more on navigating bureaucracy than on the quality of the technology. Startups that win deployment understand this and partner with their buyers to:

• Break down deployments into milestones: Start small, deliver quick wins, and build momentum over time.
• Anticipate bottlenecks: Security reviews, procurement delays, and committee approvals are inevitable. Help your buyer prepare for and address these hurdles.
• Guide advocacy efforts: Provide step-by-step playbooks to help champions and economic buyers build internal support and overcome resistance.

Think of it as being not just a vendor, but a partner in internal change management.

Selling More Than Software: The Roadmap as a Vision

One of the most overlooked strategies in enterprise sales is this: sell your roadmap.

A roadmap isn’t just a future wish list; it’s a way to help champions and buyers plot their own narratives for how your product will grow with their organization. By aligning your roadmap with their goals, you’re not just selling what your product does today—you’re selling the promise of what it can enable tomorrow.

Successful startups make buyers feel like they’re investing in something bigger than a single tool. They’re investing in a vision.

Helping Customers Win—and Get Promoted

Here’s the heart of it: successful startups help their customers succeed personally.

• For champions, this might mean solving a thorny problem and becoming the hero of their team.
• For economic buyers, it might mean delivering measurable results that align with company priorities, demonstrating strategic leadership.

Startups that win understand that their product is a means to an end. The real goal is to make the people buying and deploying your product look good—and in some cases, get promoted. This is a mindset shift, but it’s critical. If your customers succeed, your product succeeds.

Building Partnerships, Not Just Products

The startups I see succeed don’t try to bulldoze their way into organizations. They’re humble, practical, and focused on helping their customers navigate the messy, human reality of enterprise deployment.

They make it easy for champions to win arguments. They help economic buyers frame deployments as strategic wins. And they sell not just their product, but a roadmap that makes their customers look like visionaries.

In the end, that’s the secret: make your customer’s success the core of your strategy. If you do that, you’re not just selling a product—you’re building a partnership that drives real results. And that’s how you avoid the shelfware graveyard.