Pendo's CPO explains that while vertical products (e.g., for banking) can gain deep insights from a small user group, horizontal platforms must develop discovery processes that can handle immense complexity and scale across diverse industries and maturity levels.

A successful platform strategy focuses on leverage. It provides building blocks that reduce internal effort to launch new products, while delivering a seamless, integrated experience that creates lock-in for customers. This leverage is the platform's core value proposition.

When moving beyond your initial niche, target adjacent verticals. For example, a company serving realtors should target mortgage brokers next, not an unrelated field like lawn maintenance. This strategy maximizes the transfer of product features, market knowledge, and potential word-of-mouth.

When deciding between deepening a vertical, adding adjacent ones, or going horizontal, analyze two key factors: the extent of product modification needed and your ability to market and sell to the new audience. This framework simplifies a complex strategic choice.

A key lesson from Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is to first dominate a core market (music), then strategically "ladder" into adjacent areas (podcasts, audiobooks) that leverage the existing user base and interface. This methodical expansion builds on a position of strength rather than starting from scratch.

Large enterprises don't buy point solutions; they invest in a long-term platform vision. To succeed, build an extensible platform from day one, but lead with a specific, high-value use case as the entry point. This foundational architecture cannot be retrofitted later.

Palo Alto Networks insisted on calling its product a "next-gen firewall" despite sales team fears. This forced conversations about replacing incumbents, preventing them from being relegated to a secondary "helper" category and ensuring long-term market leadership.

Arista successfully challenged the dominant Cisco not by direct confrontation, but by serving specific, high-demand use cases like high-frequency trading and massively scaled cloud data centers. These were 'white spaces' that the incumbent either didn't understand or didn't prioritize, allowing Arista to establish a strong foothold.

Unlike consumer or enterprise software, the defense industry has a single major customer per country. This structure favors consolidation. The path to success is not to be a niche SaaS tool but to build a platform that becomes a "national champion," deeply integrated with the nation's defense strategy.