Creating a New Product Category with Todd Olson, the CEO of Pendo

Every company wants to grow their market. But in order to expand into another region, one corner of the market has to be secured first. Only from this position of utility and stability can a business secure other territories. Todd Olson, the CEO of Pendo, explains his strategy.

Main Takeaways

• Creating a New Product Market: Many companies disrupt a current market. It’s another category altogether to create a new product market. Although it’s a great problem to have with a ton of upside, one area of focus must be on educating prospective buyers. Of course, having an effective product that’s easy to implement is the best pitch. Pendo was able to provide its software product to businesses easily and without involving developers. This helped give Pendo a foot in the door to prove what it could do.
• Strategizing for Future Growth: Pendo’s plans for growth are educative. One side of the approach is to continue to sell current products to new markets; both nationally and internationally. The other side is to develop new products that will further benefit existing customers. Furthermore, it’s intriguing how Pendo’s product has moved from SaaS B2B clients to other arenas as those individuals who’ve used the product have moved into different industries and brought Pendo with them.
• Representing Raleigh: Finding and retaining top talent is a concern for many businesses today. Pendo has an interesting angle because it is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. In Raleigh, there’s natural beauty, a low cost of living, and also access to the talent coming out of many of the colleges and universities in the region. Although Pendo is based in Raleigh, it has offices in New York and San Francisco to utilize the talent in those areas as well.

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