20Growth: How Wiz Built a $30BN Brand in Enterprise | What Worked vs What Was a Mega Failure: Lessons Learned | Why Marketers Make the Worst CMOs & What To Look for in Growth with Raaz Herzberg
20Growth: How Wiz Built a $30BN Brand in Enterprise | What Worked vs What Was a Mega Failure: Lessons Learned | Why Marketers Make the Worst CMOs & What To Look for in Growth with Raaz Herzberg
20Growth: How Wiz Built a $30BN Brand in Enterprise | What Worked vs What Was a Mega Failure: Lessons Learned | Why Marketers Make the Worst CMOs & What To Look for in Growth with Raaz Herzberg
In this insightful conversation, Raaz Herzberg, CMO and VP of Product Strategy at Wiz, reflects on the mindset and strategies that fueled the company’s unprecedented growth in the cloud security space. From navigating early uncertainty to redefining enterprise sales and marketing, he shares lessons rooted in real-world execution rather than conventional wisdom.
Wiz's rapid ascent was driven by exceptional product-market fit, perfect timing at the pandemic's onset, and a culture shaped by imposter syndrome that fostered relentless execution. The company prioritized solving critical cloud security problems with fast-deploying solutions, enabling early revenue without a sales team. Their upmarket-first strategy, anchored by securing a Fortune 10 customer early, was powered by deep technical expertise and scalable architecture. Effective marketing emphasized authenticity over fear, using creative tactics like themed booths to generate engagement. Proof-of-concepts were streamlined to show value within an hour, aligning closely with customer needs. Leadership focused on equity distribution and a 'doer' culture, where ownership and adaptability were key. Remote operations during COVID allowed global talent access, while custom AI-powered tools like 'Marilyn' signaled the future of internal go-to-market systems—though most teams lack the engineering support to build them. True growth, Raaz argues, comes from timing, internal drive, and foundational engineering.
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Spent two years winning a customer after being devastated by an initial rejection
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Empowerment-based selling is more authentic than fear-based selling in cybersecurity.
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Winning enterprise customers early validates product at scale and enables down-market expansion.
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Building a successful enterprise company often requires a significant seed investment.
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Everyone at Wiz takes customer calls and must be hands-on.
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Pipeline numbers and attribution are a false best practice in SaaS marketing.
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Self-pressure is needed for extreme progress.
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One designer can now produce significantly more output thanks to AI-enabled tools.
