Revolutions are fast and exhilarating, but risky and unpredictable. Evolution is predictable and safe, but slow and boring. Combining these two concepts in one GTM strategy seems contradictory.

Market Revolution to become the thought leader

My two prior posts (Attacking with Thought Leadership and Achieving Thought Leadership) said that startups can become thought leaders by attacking conventional wisdoms as a revolutionary. That requires provocative, controversial and ideologically pure thought leadership. That means marketing revolution.

But, Selling Revolution is tough

As the leaders of the revolution, founders love selling revolution. Sometimes, they have difficulty selling anything less. Selling less is viewed as a betrayal of the revolution.

Some customers are true revolutionists. They, so believe in the New Way, that “they are willing to do whatever it takes to get us there. They … are willing to embrace risk and uncertainty. They aren’t afraid of speaking out, of making enemies, or of being alone on their side of the fight.” Megan Wong, Evolution vs Revolution: What is Your Role?:

Most customers (even if they are true believers) are not so revolutionary. They want support from the rest of the organization. They do not want to assume career risk and huge uncertainty. These customers, despite being a firm believer in the revolution, prefer an evolutionary approach.

Sell Evolution with a clear path to Revolution

Startups can help these customers by selling evolution, where each step delivers value to the customer to build confidence and overcome organizational resistance. This approach doesn’t place the champion at career risk.

Megan notes: “Evolutionary organizations and individuals tend to be pragmatic. They work within existing systems of power to make small lasting changes at large scale. They are masters at influencing others and packaging revolutionary content in evolutionary ways.”

Market Revolution, Sell Evolution — except for the few customers who want true revolution today.

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