Knowledge has turn into extra than simply an operational device; it’s now central to how B2B firms drive development and enhance income. As companies collect knowledge from numerous sources—advertising and marketing, product, and gross sales—the actual problem isn’t simply accumulating data however making sense of it. With out a clear method, insights can stay fragmented, groups may go in isolation, and methods won’t attain their full potential. Constructing a unified, data-driven technique that aligns each operate is essential to making a clean go-to-market plan.
To discover this matter 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 knowledge. 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 decisions and drive actual development. On this interview, Lars shares his journey, insights on immediately’s knowledge challenges, his recommendation for B2B firms desirous to create a robust, data-driven basis, and rather 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 knowledge house 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 knowledge was. We had precious insights unfold throughout advertising and marketing, product, and gross sales, but tying all of it collectively to grasp its affect on income was almost not possible. 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 right down to addressing a ache level I noticed up shut at Trustpilot. We had knowledge from all instructions—advertising and marketing, product utilization, gross sales—however no unified solution to join all of it to income. Everybody was working arduous, however we had been working with out full visibility into what actually drove gross sales.
My co-founders and I noticed this wasn’t a novel downside to Trustpilot; it was a problem going through many B2B firms. We wished to vary 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 group—advertising and marketing, product, gross sales—believed they had been the first driver of income. However once 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 significantly excited about attribution, discovering methods to attach the dots between product initiatives, advertising and marketing campaigns, and gross sales outcomes.
What are among the largest shifts you’ve noticed within the B2B advertising and marketing and knowledge panorama over time, and the way have these adjustments influenced your method to enterprise?
One of many largest shifts has been the complexity of the client’s journey. It’s now not led solely by gross sales; patrons are conducting their analysis independently, and sometimes 70-80% of the journey occurs earlier than they even have interaction with you. This places quite a lot of stress on advertising and marketing to drive early engagement. Alongside this, the quantity of accessible knowledge has exploded, and plenty of firms are overwhelmed by it, struggling to derive helpful insights.
These shifts have formed my method at Dreamdata, the place we’re targeted on serving to firms streamline their knowledge and switch it into actionable insights. Right this moment’s B2B panorama requires transferring away from gut-feel choices to completely data-driven development—a philosophy that we dwell and breathe at Dreamdata.
Wanting forward, how do you suppose knowledge and expertise will reshape the B2B advertising and marketing house within the subsequent 5-10 years? Are there any rising traits that you just’re notably enthusiastic about?
B2B advertising and marketing will turn into much more data-driven and automatic. AI and machine studying will deliver predictive analytics to the forefront, enabling entrepreneurs not solely to investigate previous efficiency however to anticipate future traits. One other main development is deeper personalization at scale. As knowledge 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 method, what do you see as the largest challenges or misconceptions, and the way can they finest overcome these hurdles?
One of many largest misconceptions is that turning into data-driven merely means gathering extra knowledge. In actuality, most firms have already got an abundance of knowledge; the problem lies in connecting it and making sense of it. Stitching collectively knowledge from numerous methods—CRM, advertising and marketing platforms, gross sales knowledge—is complicated, and it’s straightforward to get misplaced with out a cohesive technique. My recommendation is to begin with alignment. Get advertising and marketing, gross sales, and product groups talking the identical language and looking out on the identical knowledge. 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 knowledge: Your choices can solely be as correct as the info you base them on. Consolidate all related knowledge 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 rapidly: Don’t await excellent knowledge to begin. Implement a method, analyze the outcomes, and iterate. The sooner you may undergo this cycle, the earlier you’ll uncover an efficient technique.
Each founder faces robust occasions—whether or not it’s a missed fundraising purpose, 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?
In fact. Early on at Dreamdata, we tried an outbound gross sales technique that fully flopped. We assumed hiring salespeople would naturally herald prospects, however our target market—B2B advertising and marketing and operations leaders—didn’t reply effectively to chilly outreach. We rapidly needed to pivot and lean right into a extra genuine method. That’s once we doubled down on LinkedIn, sharing our experience and constructing a neighborhood presence. It wasn’t an on the spot success, but it surely turned one in every of our most dear 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 had been nonetheless targeted on sales-led approaches. It felt dangerous, but it surely turned one in every of our greatest choices. Belief your instincts, and don’t be afraid to carve your individual path.