Knowledge has change into extra than simply an operational device; it’s now central to how B2B firms drive development and enhance income. As companies collect information from numerous sources—advertising and marketing, product, and gross sales—the true problem isn’t simply accumulating data however making sense of it. With out a clear strategy, insights can stay fragmented, groups may fit in isolation, and techniques won’t attain their full potential. Constructing a unified, data-driven technique that aligns each perform is vital to making a clean go-to-market plan.
To discover this subject additional, we spoke with Lars Grønnegaard, CEO and Co-founder of Dreamdata. Having served because the Senior Vice President of Product at Trustpilot, Lars skilled firsthand the frustrations of disconnected information. He based Dreamdata to handle this downside, making a platform designed to attach every bit of knowledge on to income, serving to groups make knowledgeable selections and drive actual development. On this interview, Lars shares his journey, insights on in the present day’s information challenges, his recommendation for B2B firms desirous to create a robust, data-driven basis, and far more. Let’s dive into it
Are you able to share a bit about your background and the way your journey within the tech and information area started?
I began my profession with a robust basis in product administration and UX design, working initially as a marketing consultant. Later, I joined Trustpilot, the place I took on the function of Senior Vice President of Product. At Trustpilot, I discovered the significance of constructing customer-centric SaaS merchandise, particularly as we expanded into B2B gross sales.
The defining second for me was realizing how disconnected our information was. We had beneficial insights unfold throughout advertising and marketing, product, and gross sales, but tying all of it collectively to know its impression on income was almost unimaginable. This expertise ignited my fascination with data-driven development, finally resulting in the founding of Dreamdata as an answer to this concern.
What impressed you to maneuver from a Senior Vice President of Product function to turning into the co-founder and CEO of Dreamdata
It got here all the way down to addressing a ache level I noticed up shut at Trustpilot. We had information from all instructions—advertising and marketing, product utilization, gross sales—however no unified method to join all of it to income. Everybody was working onerous, however we have been working with out full visibility into what actually drove gross sales.
My co-founders and I spotted this wasn’t a novel downside to Trustpilot; it was a problem dealing with many B2B firms. We wished to alter that, which motivated me to step away from my function and co-found Dreamdata. Our mission turned clear: to create a platform that connects advertising and marketing efforts on to income outcomes, serving to B2B firms with the clear attribution they should scale successfully.
Reflecting in your early profession, was there a defining second that made you notice the significance of aligning advertising and marketing, product, gross sales, and buyer success?
Completely. At Trustpilot, it usually felt like every crew—advertising and marketing, product, gross sales—believed they have been the first driver of income. However if you mixed everybody’s claims, the numbers merely didn’t add up. That was a turning level for me: it highlighted the necessity for alignment throughout these capabilities, not simply in execution however in measurement. With out a unified metric tied again to income, silos and inefficiencies emerge. That’s once I turned severely enthusiastic about attribution, discovering methods to attach the dots between product initiatives, advertising and marketing campaigns, and gross sales outcomes.
What are a number of the largest shifts you’ve noticed within the B2B advertising and marketing and information panorama through the years, and the way have these adjustments influenced your strategy to enterprise?
One of many largest shifts has been the complexity of the client’s journey. It’s not led solely by gross sales; consumers are conducting their analysis independently, and infrequently 70-80% of the journey occurs earlier than they even interact with you. This places loads of strain on advertising and marketing to drive early engagement. Alongside this, the quantity of obtainable information has exploded, and plenty of firms are overwhelmed by it, struggling to derive helpful insights.
These shifts have formed my strategy at Dreamdata, the place we’re targeted on serving to firms streamline their information and switch it into actionable insights. Immediately’s B2B panorama requires shifting away from gut-feel choices to totally data-driven development—a philosophy that we stay and breathe at Dreamdata.
Wanting forward, how do you suppose information and expertise will reshape the B2B advertising and marketing area within the subsequent 5-10 years? Are there any rising developments that you just’re notably enthusiastic about?
B2B advertising and marketing will change into much more data-driven and automatic. AI and machine studying will convey predictive analytics to the forefront, enabling entrepreneurs not solely to investigate previous efficiency however to anticipate future developments. One other main pattern is deeper personalization at scale. As information turns into more and more accessible, firms could have the flexibility to craft hyper-targeted messages for the correct viewers on the excellent second. This heightened precision will improve advertising and marketing effectiveness, making each funding extra accountable and impactful.
For firms attempting to undertake a data-driven strategy, what do you see as the most important challenges or misconceptions, and the way can they greatest overcome these hurdles?
One of many largest misconceptions is that turning into data-driven merely means gathering extra information. In actuality, most firms have already got an abundance of knowledge; the problem lies in connecting it and making sense of it. Stitching collectively information from numerous methods—CRM, advertising and marketing platforms, gross sales information—is complicated, and it’s simple to get misplaced with no cohesive technique. My recommendation is to start out with alignment. Get advertising and marketing, gross sales, and product groups talking the identical language and searching on the similar information. Solely then are you able to make choices primarily based on an entire, actionable image.
What are your high three ideas for startups trying to create a go-to-market technique that’s actually data-driven and results-oriented?
- Begin with clear, unified information: Your choices can solely be as correct as the information you base them on. Consolidate all related information right into a single platform to make sure consistency.
- Align groups from day one: Get advertising and marketing, gross sales, and product on the identical web page early. Siloed groups result in fragmented methods that lack full optimisation.
- Iterate shortly: Don’t look forward to excellent information to start out. Implement a technique, analyze the outcomes, and iterate. The sooner you may undergo this cycle, the earlier you’ll uncover an efficient technique.
Each founder faces powerful occasions—whether or not it’s a missed fundraising aim, difficult retention charges, or a partnership falling by way of. Are you able to share an expertise the place issues didn’t go as deliberate and the way you moved previous it?
After all. Early on at Dreamdata, we tried an outbound gross sales technique that fully flopped. We assumed hiring salespeople would naturally herald clients, however our target market—B2B advertising and marketing and operations leaders—didn’t reply nicely to chilly outreach. We shortly needed to pivot and lean right into a extra genuine strategy. That’s after we doubled down on LinkedIn, sharing our experience and constructing a group presence. It wasn’t an on the spot success, but it surely turned one in all our most respected development channels over time.
Lastly, for entrepreneurs and enterprise leaders studying this, what’s one unconventional piece of recommendation or lesson that’s been key to your success, however won’t be apparent to others?
Don’t be afraid to be a bit contrarian. If everybody goes in a single course, typically it pays to go the opposite means. Early on, we selected a marketing-led go-to-market technique whereas many B2B firms have been nonetheless targeted on sales-led approaches. It felt dangerous, but it surely turned one in all our greatest choices. Belief your instincts, and don’t be afraid to carve your personal path.