A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen
articleprincipleThe mid-market briar patch
18 August 2024Profit
Source excerpt
About A Smart BearMid-sized companies: Small enough to have small budgets, big enough for bureaucratic nightmares.
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Apollo layer
What a founder can learn
Founder takeaway
Don’t assume the mid-market is an easy bridge between SMB and enterprise. Customers may bring enterprise-like procurement and service complexity without budgets large enough to support that cost-to-serve.
Why it matters
A segment can look attractive by company size yet produce weak margins and slow growth if bureaucracy lengthens sales cycles and raises operating costs. Segment choice should reflect buying complexity and unit economics, not headcount alone.
Put it to work
For your target mid-market customer, compare expected contract value with the full burden of selling, onboarding, customization, compliance, support, and renewal. Does the segment still offer attractive economics?
Private notes