Analyst relations, event marketing, buyer relationships and the three mistakes that cost a $1B exit
Rami Essaid · Finmark
Published September 1, 2022Rami Essaid, current CEO of Finmark shares:
- 3 things he did wrong to lose the deal
- Why we didn’t sell for $1B
- How to ask investors for help
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Rami Essaid shares lessons from building and selling software companies, covering analyst relations, differentiated event marketing, fluid product-market fit, buyer relationships, company metrics, and sustainable founder practices.
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“facts are revenue um the thing that really hurts me is that our biggest competitor who we were ahead of two years before not just ahead of in terms of reviews and and um analyst uh coverage but we were ahead of in terms of revenue outpaced us and sold for a billion dollars that same year um so that that was a kind of a a painful piece right like we we actually invented the category we were the first to market”
“other thing that's really important about working with analysts is always follow up with them right they're in the business of talking about the market talking about the space understanding clients needs right and so what we would do is offer them to talk to a customer to understand the pain points directly from the horse's mouth we would give them research reports every single analyst meeting ended with an email that we would send out to say here's how we can make you doing your job easier same thing for press when you”
“they closed themselves now this didn't mean that i paid salespeople twice as much i just adjusted the commission plan so their ote was the same but i incentivized the behavior which led me allowed me to spend less on marketing or distribute those marketing leads across a a wider pool of people without having to um without having to invest as much right and so and i see too many people afraid to use commissions or to use that in their in their as a leverage as a”
“you may not be able to see it here i can't read it here off of the screen but the key number is when we went into 2017 we thought we were going to add 100 we're going to grow 100 on that year right we were going to add about 15 million dollars of new arr minus churn whatever it was going to get to be double um the the year prior in terms of uh entering arr four months later we had slashed that forecast for 20 um”
“here's an artifact at the end of every investor update or actually at the beginning of every investor update i put front and center and ask and i make it stupid simple for them to make introductions right here's a pdf here's the type of company that we're looking for please make introductions right just always always continue to beat that drum beat and ch i change up the ask right so that they don't have fatigue but i constantly i ask for referrals ask for connections all the time right um the last one”
“Distil (Now Imperva.com) Strategy and Revenue Growth”
“Year 1: Set up as many briefings as you can by yourself. Each briefing ask who else on the team would be interested in your company.”
“Incentivize the behavior you want”
“Things We Didn’t Even Think Of”
“Finmark is what I wish I had at Distil”
Video
Hiring Plan
How I Raised $60m Then Fumbled a $1b Exit - Slide Deck
Rami Essaid is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Finmark, a Venture Partner at IDEA Fund Partners, and an Extended Team Member of Ubiquity Ventures. He also serves as the SVP Product at Bill.com. He was the Co-Founder and Chairman of Distil. Rami helps enterprises embrace the cloud to improve their scalability and reliability while maintaining a high level of security. He attended North Carolina State University where he majored in computer engineering.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
28 passages
March 2022 March 2022 | Rami Essaid, CEO Finmark Rami Essaid CEO of Finmark, Exited Distil Networks How I Raised $60m Then Fumbled a $1b Exit … and how you can avoid the same thing.
Distil’s revenue rose from $0 in 2012 to $25,049,000 in 2019 as the company added capabilities over time. The timeline connects product launches and integrations with the accelerating revenue curve.
Distil (Now Imperva.com) Strategy and Revenue Growth 2007 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Org Charts Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, ReachOut Extension Enrich Launch, RainKing Integrated Corporate Hierarchy, Intent by Topic Combined Platform, Form Complete, Workflows
The slide positions Distil as a market leader through analyst and publication recognition. A quadrant graphic places Distil among the leaders, while the accompanying excerpts emphasize innovation and bot detection.
Forrester: Market Leader We worked hard for this ranking The only anti-bot solution to be included in Gartner’s Online Fraud Detection Market Guide two years in a Row Ovum puts Distil Networks On The Radar. “Clear innovation compared to similar services.” “Distil’s ability to analyze behavior provides the best chance of detecting and blocking bot-driven attacks.” 5 Stars across the board. “Verdict: For monitoring the impact of bots on a network this is the tool one needs.”
The chart shows Distil’s revenue climbing from $0 in 2012 to $20,178,000 in 2018, with especially steep growth after 2015. The timeline frames the scale reached before the 2019 acquisition.
Distil (Now Imperva.com) Strategy and Revenue Growth 2007 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Org Charts Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, ReachOut Extension Enrich Launch, RainKing Integrated Corporate Hierarchy, Intent by Topic Combined Platform, Form Complete, Workflows
The acquisition brought an exit of more than $100 million after $60 million had been raised. The slide frames the sale as a success while opening the question of what went wrong.
Distil (Now Imperva.com) Strategy and Revenue Growth 2007 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Org Charts Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, ReachOut Extension Enrich Launch, RainKing Integrated Corporate Hierarchy, Intent by Topic Combined Platform, Form Complete, Workflows We sold for $100m+ Exit … so what was the mistake? $60M RAISED EXIT TO PE OWNED IMPERVA 2019
The speaker links Distil’s missed $1 billion outcome with a competitor’s sale at that level. The comparison sets up a review of decisions that limited Distil’s exit.
Why we didn’t sell for $1B … and watched our competitor Shape Security do it instead
The summary sorts the experience into what went well, what went wrong, and what was overlooked. Thought leadership, aggressive sales growth, and culture sit beside weak marketing scale, product-market fit, and financial planning, while buyer pipeline, network, and work-life balance were neglected.
3 Things I Did Wrong Thought Leadership … and you should avoid Aggressively scale Sales Winning culture Marketing didn’t scale No product market fit Bad financial planning Maintain “Acquirer-er” Pipeline Leverage network Work life balance WENT WELL DID WRONG DIDN’T CONSIDER
This section covers the choices that worked, beginning with thought leadership and low-cost ways to build market visibility.
What Went Well
The plan builds thought leadership in stages: arrange briefings directly in year one, develop a sales-rep relationship in year two, use conference meetings around year two and a half, then consider basic membership in years three to four. The sequence aims to build credibility before paying for broader access.
Year 1: Set up as many briefings as you can by yourself. Each briefing ask who else on the team would be interested in your company. Year 2: Establish a relationship with a sales rep. Give them a target milestone when you will buy the basic subscription 6-18 months out. Work with the sales rep to book meetings with analysts. Year 2.5: Buy individual tickets to Gartner conferences and work with sales rep to schedule as many f2f meetings as possible. Year 3-4: Buy basic membership and continue to meet with analysts with established credibility. Established Thought Leadership on a Budget Leverage research consulting firms
The example email follows an analyst conversation with useful references and a plan to continue the relationship. It demonstrates how prepared follow-up can support new thought leadership opportunities.
Email Copy Landing new thought leadership opportunities
The slide presents event activity as a way to build analyst and market visibility on a budget. It pairs a hosted networking event with conference appearances and a sponsored SXSW lounge.
Established Thought Leadership on a Budget Conferences
A hiring spreadsheet models how the team would grow over time, with roles, locations, hire dates, and end dates feeding a monthly headcount plan. The example shows how detailed staffing assumptions can support a rapid ramp.
Distil (Now Imperva.com) Strategy and Revenue Growth 2007 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Org Charts Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, ReachOut Extension Enrich Launch, RainKing Integrated Corporate Hierarchy, Intent by Topic Combined Platform, Form Complete, Workflows Hiring Plan … how we ramped fast 2017
The table shows sales staffing rising to 44 reps and 10 BDRs at the 2017 peak, then falling to 20 reps and no BDRs after layoffs. The sequence illustrates the cost of scaling sales aggressively before reducing the team.
Distil (Now Imperva.com) Strategy and Revenue Growth 2007 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Org Charts Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, ReachOut Extension Enrich Launch, RainKing Integrated Corporate Hierarchy, Intent by Topic Combined Platform, Form Complete, Workflows Aggressive Sales Growth … then layoffs 2017
The comparison shows how a commission plan tied to sales-initiated deals changes the split of deal counts and revenue between Marketing and Sales. Under the flat plan, Marketing accounts for a larger share of both measures, which highlights how incentives shape behavior.
Winning Culture Incentivize the behavior you want
This section turns from the positive outcomes to the mistakes, starting with sales coverage and incentives.
What Went Wrong
The table compares high-value leads with sales representatives, showing lead volume per rep dropping as the team expanded and later rising after layoffs. The imbalance suggests the sales team was not receiving enough qualified demand.
Didn’t feed the reps Incentivize the behavior you want
The Finmark interface shows an expense being added to a financial model, including department, recurrence, amount, and timing. It illustrates the kind of planning workflow the founder wished Distil had used.
Building Finmark to Fix This! Easy financial planning
This sales funnel tracks opportunities from initial interest through deal, with counts declining at each stage and a 50% win rate for opportunities closed in the past 12 months. The stage-by-stage view makes conversion losses visible.
PMF Issues Incentivize the behavior you want
This build adds a different funnel snapshot, with a 31% win rate and fewer opportunities reaching the deal stage. The changed stage counts underline why teams should track conversion through the full pipeline.
PMF Issues Incentivize the behavior you want
The January and April 2017 income statement comparison shows movements across ARR, revenue, expenses, and losses. The detailed model illustrates how planning assumptions can diverge from actual results and need close review.
Poor Financial Planning (2017) January April
This section covers risks the team did not consider, including buyer relationships, network support, and personal balance.
Things We Didn’t Even Think Of
The funnel narrows from 24 potential partners contacted to 16 introductory calls, then 8 meetings and one remaining party. The company logos beside each stage show how a broad acquirer pipeline can develop into a focused conversation.
Pipeline: “They Could Buy Us” Keep an “acquirer” pipeline
The paired charts contrast two lead-source mixes; referrals account for 12.3% in one and 32.7% in the other, while Marketing represents 59.0% and 21.8%, respectively. The comparison highlights the potential contribution of network-sourced leads.
Didn't leverage our network
The example asks investors to introduce Finmark to portfolio SaaS companies with $5M-$25M in revenue that might try the product. It turns investor relationships into a specific, actionable request.
How to ask investors for help …should have done this more
The image contrasts blocks spelling work and life on a balance, reinforcing that a founder’s personal time needs deliberate attention. The slide identifies work-life balance as an overlooked part of building a company.
Did Not Create a Work Life Balance
The recap again groups lessons into what went well, what went wrong, and what was not considered. It brings the audience back to weak marketing scale, product-market fit, financial planning, buyer pipeline, network, and work-life balance.
3 Things I Did Wrong Thought Leadership … and you should avoid Aggressively scale Sales Winning culture Marketing didn’t scale No product market fit Bad financial planning Maintain “Acquirer-er” Pipeline Leverage network Work life balance WENT WELL DID WRONG DIDN’T CONSIDER
The founder presents Finmark as the planning tool he wishes he had while running Distil. A product interface provides a concrete example of the SaaS dashboard he invites the audience to explore.
Finmark is what I wish I had at Distil Come by our booth to see our SaaS dashboard
Rami closes by thanking the audience and identifying Finmark as the company he is building after Distil.
March 2022 | Rami Essaid, CEO of Finmark Rami Essaid CEO of Finmark, Exited Distil Networks
