Prepared tackled the slow GovTech market by providing its initial product for free. This strategy bypassed cumbersome procurement, built a large user base, and established the credibility needed to overcome the authority of entrenched, larger competitors.

Zac Bookman argues that the high cost of sales, slower growth cycles, and customer preference for product suites make GovTech a better fit for private equity's long-term, operational focus than for venture capital's high-growth model.

The world of Fortune 500 executives is a small, interconnected community. Rather than casting a wide marketing net, focus all energy on securing one key 'lighthouse' customer. Over-deliver value for them, even if the deal isn't profitable. Their endorsement and introductions to peers are more effective than any marketing channel.

OpenGov's CEO advises against the conventional wisdom of hiring salespeople with deep government experience. Instead, his company seeks hungry, courageous, and disciplined individuals and trains them internally on domain specifics, finding this approach more effective.

After nearly failing, OpenGov adopted a frugal culture and discovered it grew faster. Less spending reduces system noise and inefficiency. A leaner, more focused sales team, for instance, can become more motivated and effective, leading to better results.

Instead of constantly chasing new leads, businesses can find immense growth by deepening existing relationships. A tech company ignored a referral partner for two years, but two follow-up meetings later generated $11.2 million, demonstrating the untapped potential within current networks.

A major software vendor pitched a $50M deal directly to the DOE Chief of Staff, assuming top-level access was a shortcut. The pitch failed because they hadn't validated the need or built internal champions. High-level meetings are useless without foundational sales work proving a real problem exists for the organization.

Marketing a defense company is fundamentally different from marketing a consumer product. Instead of a broad "one-to-all" campaign targeting millions of customers, defense marketing is a "one-to-few," hyper-targeted effort aimed at a small group of influential government decision-makers who could all fit in a single conference room.