Even against other "Excel-based" FP&A tools, Datarails won deals by letting customers connect their existing spreadsheets without rebuilding them. This dramatically lowered the adoption barrier and made the learning curve immediate for finance teams with complex legacy models, creating a powerful competitive edge.
Didi Gurfinkel explains that the long, pre-PMF period was spent building a deep, robust platform connecting Excel to databases. When they finally pivoted to FP&A, this over-engineered platform became a massive competitive advantage that newer, niche-focused competitors couldn't replicate.
To get the fastest possible signal on their FP&A pivot, Datarails removed all sales friction. They priced their tool at just $790/month with no long-term contract, allowing customers to just swipe a credit card. This accelerated learning and validated their direction by prioritizing feedback speed over immediate revenue.
While most business users view Excel as a necessary evil, Datarails found finance professionals are different. They see Excel proficiency as a core skill and part of their professional identity. By offering a solution that supercharges their existing Excel workflows instead of replacing them, Datarails found its product-market fit.
Due to a language barrier, Datarails' founder couldn't lead initial sales calls. Instead, he trained a former retail employee to be the first account executive. This person closed four deals in one week, validating product-market fit, while founders listened in and provided real-time feedback.
Instead of using data providers like ZoomInfo, Datarails built its early GTM engine on manual LinkedIn outreach. The founders personally identified and contacted target CFOs, scaling this "unscalable" motion to generate enough high-quality leads to fuel growth to over $15M ARR before adding inbound marketing.
Starting his company at 42, Datarails' founder felt he couldn't afford to fail like a younger founder might. This belief that he "cannot fail" created the deep conviction needed to persevere through a 5-year search for product-market fit and repeatedly convince investors to provide more funding.