\\ 23 “For big enterprise platform wins, you have to be prepared for sales cycles to be very long and complex, especially if your buyer and your user are not the same. These enterprises are making a strategic commitment and the level of upfront vetting is commensurate with that. Unlike higher velocity, land-and- expand strategies where the commitment on both sides is lower and the user base is initially limited, in these deals, the plan is to invest upfront, establish a common toolchain and rollout broadly. Highly regulated enterprises will require that you pass detailed architecture review, security and financial audits, in addition to completing use case focused pilots with multiple groups of end users. Then, and only then, will you get into the contractual process…eventually the initial deal is signed, you get a pricing schedule, you have an executive sponsor, and things move much faster. Now you have the opportunity to foster significant adoption. You’ve built the bridge, but you need to work together with your exec sponsor to get more and more people to drive over it. Once you get through to the other side, it can be transformative to your business, not just financially, but the learning is tremendous.” —Adam Wilson, CEO of Trifacta Startups Serving The Enterprise