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Bridging the Gap: Engaging Industry Analysts to Propel Startup Success

Updated: May 9

Boost your startup's success with early analyst relations. Learn strategic insights from expert Chris Holcher.

What Is This About?

Bridging the gap between startups and industry analysts requires a strategic approach to engagement. This guide explains how founders can build relationships with Gartner, Forrester, and other analyst firms — turning analyst coverage into enterprise sales acceleration.

Bridging the gap between startups and industry analysts requires a strategic approach to engagement. This guide explains how founders can build relationships with Gartner, Forrester, and other analyst firms — turning analyst coverage into enterprise sales acceleration.



Boost your startup's success with early analyst relations. Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

This founder interview is part of our ongoing coverage of Scaleup Founder Interviews from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.


In this episode, Chris Holcher discusses the "State of Startup" research program, revealing that many European startups undervalue analyst exposure to buyers when it’s pivotal from early stages, like beta or prototypes. Engagements with industry analysts can significantly accelerate visibility and improve product-market fit. Chris emphasizes the need for specialist AR professionals, strategic early engagement, precise communication, and consistent briefings for success. Key benefits include increased credibility, valuable feedback, and attracting investment. He also highlights successful case studies and the importance of analyst relations across a startup’s lifecycle. Listeners are encouraged to participate in upcoming surveys.


Introduction

Welcome to another episode of Startuprad.io! I'm your host, Jörn "Joe" Menninger, and today we have a fascinating discussion lined up with our guest, Chris Holcher, an expert in analyst relations. Chris delves into the "State of Startup" research program, shedding light on key misconceptions and findings about startups' interaction with industry analysts. We'll discover why engaging with analysts early, even at the prototype stage, can accelerate a startup’s visibility by approximately four years. Chris also emphasizes the importance of managing analyst relations through specialized AR professionals and offers actionable advice on how to prepare and impress analysts, potentially transforming a startup's market trajectory. Stay tuned as we explore the strategic value of analyst relations, share real-world success stories, and learn how startups can leverage this powerful resource to validate their market position, attract investors, and ultimately achieve remarkable growth. Plus, don’t miss our special offer for listeners from our partners at moderniq's.com. Let's dive in!


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Interview Highlights

Questions Discussed in the Interview:

Certainly! Here are 10 discussion questions based on the episode "Chris Holscher Tech Analyst Relations" from Startuprad.io:


  1. Research Program Introduction: - How does the "State of Startup" research program differentiate itself from other industry analysis projects, and why is it essential for today's startups?

  2. Misconceptions About Analyst Exposure:- Why do you think so many European startups undervalue analyst exposure to buyers, despite 79% of analysts actively seeking out startups to recommend?

  3. Timing of Engagement:- What are the advantages of engaging with industry analysts during the beta or prototype stage instead of waiting for a broader product availability?

  4. Effective Analyst Relations Handling:- Why are specialist AR professionals more effective in handling analyst relations compared to marketing/PR agencies or VCs, and what skills set them apart?

  5. Future Research:- What questions would you like to include in the upcoming "State of Startup" survey set for 2024, particularly regarding startups' use of analyst relations?

  6. Benefits of Early Engagement:- Can you share any personal experiences or case studies that illustrate the benefits of engaging with analysts early in a startup’s lifecycle?

  7. Prepping for Analyst Briefings:- What are some critical differences between a startup's marketing/sales pitch and an effective analyst briefing presentation?

  8. Communication with Analysts:- How can startups ensure their communication with industry analysts is precise and effective, potentially setting them apart from the majority of their rivals?

  9. Importance of Analyst Relations:- In what ways can building strong analyst relations impact a startup’s ability to secure investment and talent, and how does this compare to traditional marketing efforts?

  10. Lessons from Case Studies:- Reflecting on the success stories shared by Chris Holscher, such as the communication company or CoreAI, what are the key takeaways for startups looking to effectively leverage analyst relations to drive growth and valuation?


1. Analyst Relations Research Program:

   - Chris Holscher introduced the ongoing, biannual "State of Startup" research program focusing on startups, VCs, accelerators, and industry analysts.

2. Key Research Findings:

   - Analyst Exposure Misconception:

      - 73% of European startups undervalue the significance of analyst exposure to buyers.

      - 79% of analysts actively seek out startups to recommend to buyers.   

   - Timing of Engagement:

      - Two-thirds of startups wrongly assume analysts engage only post-product launch.

      - Most analysts are interested even at prototype or beta stages.

      - Professional engagement can accelerate startup visibility by 4 years.

      - Effective Management of Analyst Relations:

      - Specialist AR professionals are significantly more effective than marketing/PR agencies or VCs.

      - PR agencies and VCs are rated negatively in AR effectiveness.

3. Future Research Focus:

   - Upcoming 2024 survey will study lifecycle analyst relations usage, preferred firms, and engagement timing.

4. Call to Action:

   - Encouraged listeners to participate in the next survey with links provided in show notes.

5. Analyst Relations as a Strategic Asset:

   - More than a marketing tool; AR aids in improving product-market fit, strategy, risk reduction, attracting investment, and talent retention.

6. Preparation for Analyst Engagement:

   - Determine if AR is relevant, typically for true innovators.

   - Start strategically and early, before significant revenue or customer references.

7. Timing for Analyst Engagement:

   - Analysts prefer involvement at beta or concept phase, earlier than VCs' recommended Series A funding or €1,000,000 ARR.

8. Benefits of Early Engagement:

   - Builds credibility and trust with analysts.

   - Free briefings offer valuable feedback.

9. Steps to Engage Analysts:

   - Identify the right analysts for your market.

   - Consider hiring specialists or consultants for navigation.

10. Preparing for Analyst Briefings:

   - Avoid generic marketing/sales pitches.

   - Use precise language, understand core terminology, and structure briefings effectively.

   - Ideal introductory briefing includes ten content slides and a Q&A session.

11. Chris Holcher on Effective Communication:

   - Precision in language is crucial.

   - Successful AR can differentiate a startup from 98% of peers.

   - A positive analyst response signifies relevance and future coverage possibilities.

12. Case Study Success Examples:

   - Communication Company: Achieved a 5x increase in leads and 4x revenue growth through effective AR.

   - Transformation Consultancy: Improved talent attraction by competing with established firms via AR.

   - IoT Company: Missed initial opportunities due to poor AR but saw a competitor reach 5x valuation through early strategic AR use.

13. Chris Holcher's Additional Work:

   - Conducts research on startup coverage disparities in high-profile publications.

   - Collaboration with the University of Edinburgh Business School.

14. Host Jörn Menninger’s Insights:

   - Emphasized the effort and strategy required for analyst report inclusion.

   - Analyst engagement is not automatic and requires meticulous planning.

15. Importance & Recommendations for Startups:

   - Validate your business via analyst mentions.

   - Gain deep market insights for strategic planning.

   - Boost marketing through third-party validations.

   - Increase investor interest and demonstrate market maturity.

   - Engage AR specialists and maintain consistent briefings.



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About the Guest


Our guest for this episode, Chris Holscher, brings a wealth of experience and expertise in analyst relations to the table. With a professional background steeped in innovation management, marketing, product marketing, and product development, Chris has seen the startup landscape from multiple vantage points. His notable contributions in previous roles, such as at BT Global Services, include spearheading campaigns that transitioned niche vendors to industry leaders within the prestigious Gartner Magic Quadrant. This achievement is a testament to his strategic prowess and deep understanding of the nuanced dynamics of analyst relations. Today, Chris focuses on empowering startups to navigate the intricate world of industry analysts, helping them to gain the visibility and credibility needed to accelerate their growth.

Chris’s current work involves conducting comprehensive surveys and building critical knowledge on the topic of analyst relations for startups. He collaborates with institutions like the University of Edinburgh Business School to research the disparity in mentions of European startups versus their US counterparts in high-profile analyst publications. His aim is to provide a deeper understanding of how analyst relations can be leveraged effectively throughout a startup's lifecycle. With his extensive background and ongoing contributions, Chris Holscher offers invaluable insights into how startups can strategically engage with industry analysts to optimize their market position and investor appeal.

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Automated Transcript

1 Hello, and welcome, everybody. This is Joe from startup rate dot 2 io. Welcome you to another episode 3 of start up rate dot io, the authority on German Swiss and 4 Austrian startups. Today, I do have Chris with my. And, 5 no, it's not my cofounder. It's Chris Holcher. Hey, Chris. How are you 6 doing? Hey, Joe. Good to be here. Thanks for 7 having me. Totally. My pleasure. 8 Today, we will be talking about analyst relations. 9 But before we get into that, a little message from our partner. 10 Did you know that on average, a blog post gets you way more traffic 11 than a social media post? We have a special deal with 12 moderniq's dotcom where startup rate dot a o listeners 13 can create 2 free SEO optimized blog posts per 14 month for eternity, in less 15 than a minute. You'll get 2 free posts for your blog each

16 month only when you use the link in the show notes. This is 17 exclusive for our audience, and just click on link in the show 18 notes and use this to subscribe. If you go back and forth, 19 you won't get the 2 pieces. Sorry. That 20 done, Chris. We're talking about here analyst relations, 21 but I have a financial services background 22 and which I have been, what I've 23 been talk what I hadn't had in my 24 mind when when when, you started 25 approaching me with analyst relations with some investment analyst. 26 But that's not the case. We are talking about analyst 27 relations in big, companies like 28 Gartner or Forrester. But before we get into that, 29 how did you get this interesting and very unique job? 30 Well, get say I'll I'll try cut the long story short. So I I've always

31 played at the intersection between innovation management, marketing, 32 product marketing, product development. And, 33 roughly 15, 20 years ago, I was with a large company called BT Global 34 Services. I was a product manager there and a product marketing 35 manager, later. And I was approached to 36 run, a Gartner, Magic Quadrant 37 submission. I had no idea what that was. In short, Gartner is the 38 largest analyst firm in the world, and their Magic Quadrant is their flagship 39 product that is rating, vendors in 40 that specific market. So, I was asked to run that 41 submission for the entire company, so I did, and we did extremely well. 42 We went from a niche vendor to a leader in that Magic 43 Quadrant. So they asked me again and again and again, in the 44 following years, and we did, very well. It's, was a thing

45 that immediately clicked with me. And, at some point, 46 I made the switch to run their entire, analyst 47 relations, program for various parts parts of their portfolio. That was the 48 compute portfolio, but also their innovation portfolio. And, 49 one thing that I've heard over and over again from analysts was that they love 50 to speak to the real innovators in the market, which is very often 51 startup, but they cannot really afford spending all that much time with 52 startups because young companies very often have no conception of 53 analyst relations. And if they know about the term at all, they often have 54 misconceptions about it, which makes it not time well spent for an 55 analyst, to reach out to startup, sadly. 56 So at some point, I decided to make the switch, step out of 57 that mega player, and focus my knowledge and my

58 understanding entirely to the benefit of startups and bring that understanding 59 into the ecosystem that needs it really the most. And that 60 is how I got into analyst relations for startups. 61 Mhmm. Before we 62 get into how you could do that, can you tell 63 us a little bit of reasoning the benefits why startup 64 should do that? From our conversation before, 65 what I understood is it's especially important 66 for startup in b to b space because a lot of the people 67 who make purchase decisions, cover 68 cover themselves, cover the jobs, when they can say, 69 look, it's in this Forrester. It's in this Gartner analyzers. 70 It's in the metric quadrant, whatever. So basically, 71 they have external validation of their decision. 72 Is that one of the big points? That is absolutely true. Yes. 73 Well, maybe very quick introduction what analysts actually are.

74 So analysts, there are roughly 10,000 analysts in the world, 75 scattered around 700 different firms, of which Gartner is by far 76 the largest one. Then there's IDC and Forrester as the big three. 77 Then there's a medium section, also generalists, 78 like like, Omdia or GigaOm, RedMonk or so that 79 they that have, basically a broad spectrum of 80 areas that they cover, but they're medium sized firms. And then 81 there are a whole lot of specialists. Like, in Germany, we have Koppenger 82 Koehl, who are security specialists and identity, men 83 specialists, so very good at what they do, or IoT Analytics, also 84 a German company, very good at what they do, obviously, 85 Internet of Things related topics. But they're small. They're maybe, 86 like, 15, 20, or a 100 people, so very 87 specialized. So, also important to understand 88

the you know, why analyst relations is important. It's important to 89 understand what they're used for. And the first, 90 the first thing is, as you mentioned, buyers are using analysts to 91 protect them kind of from overly confident marketing. So, 92 you can win new customers through analysts, and that is, 93 because, in b to b tech, 3 and 4 94 CIOs say that analyst publications and their direct guidance, 95 on their purchasing challenges are, 96 our analysts, are are there are the number one impact in their short 97 listing and buying decisions. And that is, you know, just to 98 give you a dimension, a single analyst has 750 to 99 2000 interactions with buyers, and 100 and potential partners of yours, per year. That is a single 101 person. And you cannot just leave that, impact, 102 to your competition. Then there is a second reason.

103 So, of course, through all those interactions that an analyst has with a with a 104 buyer, they get really deep understanding 105 of the demand and of their motivations, of their architectures, 106 frankly, also of the the entire decision making context. So they 107 understand extremely deeply and extremely at a great breadth and 108 depth, they understand the market. So vendors 109 can use that, on an aggregate basis to 110 inform their portfolio decisions, their road map decisions, their go to 111 market, their messaging, what resonates, what kind of language works with 112 buyers and whatnot, at what point in time, and for what reasons and all 113 that. So you can make better informed decisions much quicker. 114 And we both know, and our audience probably as well, that, 115 especially with startup ups, it's all about making bolder decisions 116 faster than your rivals. So, that is what

117 analysts can, absolutely essential doing, 118 especially in the b to b tech world where where everything is so fast paced 119 and it's very unforgiving. And then, of course, you can get a quite a 120 marketing boost out of, analysts once you get mentioned in one of their 121 reports. And that doesn't have to be the magic quadrant. In fact, the MQ is 122 not not really designed for a starter. It can 123 be a 1000000 other types of reports like investor reports or, 124 innovation reports, technology reports, market reports, and so on. There's a 125 plethora. Emerging tech radar is is a thing or 126 Gartner hype cycle report. If you get mentioned in there as 127 one of a handful of example vendors for a specific, 128 technology, you can use that as third party validation of your 129 relevance and your your quality really as a vendor

130 to to people who may consider, buying your thing or 131 to, you know, have third party validation for your thought 132 leadership paper and things like this. So this can be very, very 133 impactful. And last but least, also investors, of course, do 134 inquire with with analysts to qualify innovation, to 135 qualify trends and demand. And they, you know, they they 136 want to see AR savvy startup because 137 it tells them that you are of a certain maturity in your management 138 and you understand this super important part of the playing field. 139 And, and, of course, that entirely changes their 140 their risk calculation and thereby impacts 141 your term sheet, if you are on the radars of the 142 most, influential analysts. So one thing that, you know, 143 the the the the hyper successful 144 startup of the last years, companies like CoreAI, for

145 example, they have been on the radar of, 146 analysts very, very early on. They've been a cool vendor with Gartner, 147 I don't know, 7 years ago or something. And just 2 years later, they made 148 it into one of their flagship reports, and now they are a multibillion dollar 149 company because of the enormous impact 150 of industry analysts. And, that's kind of the reason 151 why you want to be, in that game. 152 Sounds pretty much like a marketing boost 153 or a marketing shortcut, a marketing hack to to be 154 in there even though it's not as easy. Do step 155 x then do step y. It's a little bit more complicated. 156 But in general, you have a 157 few steps you can do to approach 158 an analyst. How would you 159 prepare as a startup to get there? 160

We may tell the audience that we are right now looking a little 161 bit at, a theoretical approach to 162 do an analyst briefing to one of those big analysts 163 and tell him or her what is so special about 164 your product, what's so special about your company, why he should include 165 you. Yes. Okay. Let me say one 166 thing just before I answer your question, to 167 to to handle the assumption that, analyst relations is predominantly 168 a marketing thing. Marketing is probably the most visible part 169 of it. But, I've done a lot of research myself together with 170 the University of Edinburgh Business School, and we may get to that later, 171 that the marketing section of analyst relations, the value that you're getting is 172 only a fraction of the actual business value that you're getting. It's the most 173

visible bit, but it's not the most strategic bit in many cases. 174 So the most strategic bit is actually sharpening your your product market 175 fit, sharpening your go to market, accelerating your road 176 map, making the right decisions, taking risk out of your out of your 177 journey, attracting better investment, and all that. So that's all non 178 marketing bits of value or even attracting, 179 and keeping the best talent in the world as you can demonstrate 180 in your in your hiring, conversations that you are working with the 181 best informed brains in the market, and that they maybe even have access 182 to all that research and all that all that data and and insight. 183 That can really set you apart from others, and it helps you attract and keep 184 the best talent in the world. So it has a plethora of different

185 values, and a good analyst relations specialist can help you, 186 get hold of all that value far beyond just the marketing bits of 187 it. Although, I agree the marketing bit is, of course, the most 188 visible one, I mean, by nature, of course. Now 189 to answer your question, so what should you do, as as a 190 step? Step 1 is you, should 191 make the, strategic decision, first of all, to 192 qualify, is this for me or not? So 193 analyst relations is not for everyone. Analyst relations 194 is only relevant for real innovators. 195 An innovator does not need necessarily need to be 196 just technology innovation. You can be an absolute 197 me too product, but you can be hyper innovative on the way how 198 you deliver it or on your pricing or on your service 199 or on your you know, you bring it to a new region in the world

200 where it's not been available so far. So that can be, an 201 innovator as well. So, but understand just 202 doing the same as everybody else in the same way as everybody 203 else, analyst relations will not be for you. And that is not to dismiss, 204 you know, that kind of business. It can be very profitable business. It's 205 just not of relevance for analysts. So you need to find out, are there 206 analysts covering my thing, and is what I'm doing in the way that I'm doing 207 it relevant enough for analysts to actually play with me? And 208 I can help, or people like me can help, 209 startup qualify this very quickly, really. 210 Now, step 2 would be to make the conscious decision to 211 start analyst relations as early and as strategically 212 as you can afford if you're in b to b tech because it is

213 of enormous impact to the success of, 214 companies in that field. So Into terms of of a startup 215 up maturity, when you do have product market fit 216 around series a, when you're already, looking at around €1,000,000 217 annual recurring revenue, that would be the point when you would start 218 it? No. That that that is what most, 219 VCs tend to, where where they have 220 an action item of analyst relations on their on their checklist. 221 But in order to be able to tick that off, you need to engage 222 much much sooner. Because especially in the United States, for 223 example, doing analyst relations is a standard 224 much earlier in the process. And if you ask analysts, and I've done that with 225 the research that I've been doing, they are 226 startup much, much earlier even while you define your minimal viable

227 product, even when you're still in beta phase, even way 228 before you have your first, reference customers or so. 229 So startup always assume they need to have a certain revenue or they need to 230 have reference customers or they need to have a certain maturity. And analysts 231 typically say, no. No. No. No. No. We want to hear from you before 232 your pilot customers have started to mess with your ideas. Because we 233 want to understand your original thinking. Because we are 234 analysts. We're not, you know, we're not influencers. We don't have 235 an influencer proposition where you pay us money and then we say nice things 236 about you. We are here to analyze, to understand, and to 237 aggregate thinking. So, they want to speak with 238 you much, much sooner, and they're open to being reached out to 239

very, very early even in your concept phase. And you need that early 240 engagement to build up, to use the time, to build 241 credibility, to build their confidence in your 242 idea, in your delivery, in your completeness of vision, into your 243 ability to execute so that they can actually, at some point, be 244 sure that when they recommend you to inquiring 245 buyers or inquiring partners or investors, that 246 they are not recommending bullshit. So you need a 247 certain time to build that confidence, and 248 you should start that as early as possible. The cool thing 249 is doing briefings with analysts is always free. So 250 there's no reason, you know, to say you couldn't afford it, 251 because you can start doing briefings very, very early on 252 without spending a dollar or a euro on it or even a cent.

253 And although briefings are typically a one way street where 254 your information goes to the analyst, if you do them well, you can 255 even get some feedback for your for what you're telling them 256 about. And that can be enormously valuable. 257 One client of mine has has has received, 258 you know, recommendations to just alter their their propositions 259 slightly and target specific, 260 you know, personas at certain types of companies, and now 261 they're getting literally hundreds of projects requests from Amazon 262 Web Services. So it's done, you know and it's 263 an qualitative, support that you're get, and it it 264 is not always the same. It has a 1000000 different shapes, but it can be 265 life changing. So you should start very early and be very clear 266 about how you do it. Now once you've done that decision, the actual

267 first step would be to identify the right analyst to speak to because 268 they're all different. You know? As I said, there are 10,000 different analysts in the 269 world, industry analysts in the world. Some are focusing on technologies, 270 others are focusing on certain market segments, others are 271 focusing on functions like marketing or or, 272 or finance or what what have you. And most of them have a mix of 273 all of this, and all of them have their different backgrounds and histories and 274 and, research agendas. So you need to really figure out who 275 is best positioned, to be interested in what I do 276 and best positioned in terms of the companies that inquire 277 with that analyst to be relevant for me. So, 278 that is step number 1. Of course, that is quite difficult, and it's 279 quite hard for someone who is not a professional in analyst

280 relations to to figure out that fit. And, honestly, I wouldn't really 281 know how to do that if I if I, you know, weren't in that 282 space. So I would recommend go get yourself, 283 someone into your team who has an analyst relations background who can help you do 284 that or, hire an external specialist to help you through 285 that phase. And that doesn't take forever. It takes a few weeks or or 286 a couple of months, depending on how far you want to go, but 287 it's, time and money very well spent. Once you've done 288 this person also should help you to to actually prepare 289 and do the rebriefing. If you threw together 290 a a PowerPoint in last minute, just mix the few decks 291 and, the the the and, 292 don't really know what's on each slide, it won't

293 it's very likely you won't get a second preview with this analyst. That 294 is very, very true. Don't make the mistake 295 of just you repurposing your marketing slides or your your 296 sales pitch or your investor pitch. This is the wrong information 297 delivered in the wrong way, and it's typically, you 298 know, at the wrong depth and and and not in the language that 299 an analyst would require. So, 300 go get help, you know, structuring your briefing, focusing 301 your briefing, and also you need to be very, very precise in the 302 language that you're using. So a vision is not the same thing as a 303 mission. A purpose is not the same thing as a vision. A strategy is 304 not, I say, not a long term plan. A plan and a 305 and a startup are 2 very different things in nature.

306 So analysts are very, because they are they are all about 307 telling things startup. So they need to understand very precisely what 308 you're about and what you're not about. So you need to use very accurate 309 language. And, if you're getting that right, 310 it sets you apart from, you know, 98% of your of 311 your rivals already. And by the way, it's also very helpful to understand your 312 own business in that very accurate language and and make these 313 decisions. So, yeah, design, 314 a winning analyst, introductory briefing. And 315 to give you an idea, the 316 the structure that I've developed, for for myself 317 is is around 10 slides or so, 10 content slides. You typically 318 get 30 minutes. Of those 30 minutes, you want to 319 reserve at least 5 to 10 minutes for q and a at the end. That

320 gives you a maximum of, like, you know, 20 or 321 so minutes you can actually present. And in those 20 322 minutes, you need to thoroughly thoroughly explain 323 your business workings. And, 324 and that takes some experience. So, if 325 I can I would recommend get yourself, an author relations specialist 326 who can, help you design that? 327 Once you've gotten the feedback from from the from the analyst, 328 ideally, a feedback not like, thank you very much. Don't call us. 329 We call you. That would that would mean that would 330 mean you haven't made the cut. But if you get a feedback, like, that 331 was very interesting. I would love to stay in touch. I would 332 love to get a follow-up on this particular aspect. I would love 333 to speak to one of your pilot customers or one of your, you know,

334 gartner, or could we do an extra session on this particular aspect? 335 That tells you the analyst has made the decision to let you 336 into their, world of thinking. So that means you are in 337 fact relevant to their end customers who are inquiring 338 about the thing that you're offering. So that tells you 339 it's a very thorough, a very reliable way 340 of proving product market fit because that 341 analyst is so in-depth, connected to 342 your target audience and to the wider market in all sorts of 343 way because they do nothing else every day. So, 344 that means you're in. So you're now on the radar of that analyst. The next 345 challenge is to get from the radar onto the map if you to stay in 346 that picture. So you want the analyst to actually put you 347

into one of their reports, into their, you know, publications 348 of whichever shape or form, and, that 349 you will need to work on. The the 350 big dimensions are complete your completeness of vision and your 351 ability to execute, and you need to demonstrate both, 352 over time through repeated briefings and through repeated 353 interactions with that analyst and proving to the analyst that you're 354 working along your road map and, you know, you're following up on your on your 355 promises and you you slowly, gradually build 356 their confidence in your product, in your ability to 357 deliver, in your strategy, in your ability to follow through and do the 358 things that you you know, to execute the things that are in your startup, 359 and to build that confidence that at some point, he or she is confident 360 to recommend you, not just in direct conversations to

361 to people inquiring about the type of product that you bring to market, but 362 also to put you into their, innovation reports 363 or their, their, 364 yeah, their their bigger thinking about market trends and and predictions and and 365 things like that. So that would be the next phase, which then 366 consists of, a 100 different actions that you will need 367 to take and and and build this confidence. 368 But I have to admit, with now around 369 20 20 plus minutes in recording, I 370 do believe we have made already a 371 pretty big, uh-huh, moment for many 372 founders out there. Just to have in mind 373 that not magically some of those companies 374 will have you appear in the report, but it's actually 375 pretty tough work to get in there. You likely need a 376 specialist. You likely need quite some time

377 in order to get this done. 378 It does cost some money. Do do you have a pretty rough 379 idea what happened to few of your clients, what they are 380 doing? I know it's it's not a one on one relation very likely. I can 381 give you a couple of, examples. So, 382 most impressively, maybe, when I worked with a company in 383 the communication space, doing analyst relations, 384 right, so to say, to cut it short, suddenly 385 led to 5 times more more leads that they generated. 386 At the same time, with the leads that follow through, 387 they had a a much better win rate and, the the deals 388 that they were able to win suddenly went from pretty 389 operational types of deals to far more 390 strategic levels of conversations and far more strategic, 391 deals that they were able to close. So the individual value of the,

392 of the individual deal was much bigger and which led to 393 a a I'm not I hope I don't get this 394 wrong. So they I've they have 5 times the leads and 4 times the 395 revenue that they generated compared to previously. Now that is, of 396 course, not not something that I can, you know, promise for everyone. That was, 397 you know, this company being particularly successful 398 with how we were able to make analyst relations work for them 399 in the challenges that they had. So I'll give you another 400 example. We had, I was 401 working with a, with a transformation, consultancy, 402 and they were able in this very difficult market environment, 403 they were able, through their analyst relations, work, 404 attract much more, talent that they were 405 able to attract previously just because they were, they were

406 able to be to offer a highly valuable 407 proposition to the people that would be working for them through their access 408 to top notch, industry analyst knowledge and and 409 data and all that. And that was very attractive to people who would otherwise maybe 410 have been working for Accenture or for McKinsey or someone, which also 411 would have had analyst relations contracts, but not in the 412 same way executed as this small firm was able 413 to give them direct access into those, bits of research, 414 because they understood how to handle it in a productive 415 way. I can give you a third example, and that was, a 416 company that I've worked with in the IoT space. They actually 417 became a cool vendor, you know, highlighted by Gartner in one of their 418 reports. And at the time, they didn't really know what to do with it. So

419 they just put it on their website and nothing really more happened. A year 420 later, one of their competitors from the United States, 421 pretty much offering the same thing, did, was 422 also highlighted as a cool vendor in the Gartner report. 423 And, they knew what to do with analyst relations. So 424 they actively worked with that, with 425 that, visibility and with the insight that they could gain from 426 it, through the analyst. And, 427 and, just, 2 years later, when, the 428 the first company had hired me, because they had difficulties 429 in getting investor money and stuff, And we did briefings, and we 430 did inquiries and and things. And I got them into a 431 Gartner investor report as one of just 5 other example 432 vendors in that particular field, which 433 highlighted them to the market and got them a few months

434 later, got them a serious, series a 435 investment, at at a at a certain valuation. 436 Now through that report, we were able to spot that other vendor 437 in the US who appeared 1 year later, but now was 438 mentioned in that same investor report. And they had already 439 surpassed the the German company that I was working now 440 with surpassed them because they engaged in analyst relations 441 earlier in their maturity cycle. They were now at a 442 valuation that was 5 times as large as the German company 443 just because they started their analyst relations journey 444 earlier, knew what to do, and played it 445 more thoroughly, more strategically. So the German company was in the 446 market a year earlier, was highlighted earlier, didn't know what to do 447 with it, started analyst relations later, 448 and got outplayed by 5 times the valuation within just a

449 few years. So it's very different 450 for every for each company, and it depends very much on your 451 market situation, on your product, on your priorities that you have. 452 But it can have an absolutely substantial impact on 453 everything that you do. I see. 454 And, that is actually not the only, piece 455 of content we're doing together because you are not 456 only advising startup how to get into 457 those reports, but you're also, 458 building knowledge? You you're doing surveys? 459 Yes. Yes. When I, made the decision to switch from the dark 460 side, the large mega players, to this to the bright side, to the start 461 ups, I, quickly found out that there is very little research on 462 the matter. I, had done 463 early research myself where I just found out that, 464 European startups were mentioned, a

465 lot less in, you know, in high profile 466 analyst publications compared to United States headquartered 467 vendors. So a comparison, 468 5 US companies versus 1 one European, 469 company that was quite stark. And that led me into 470 looking so how is this with, startup? And there was 471 very little research. So I approached the University of Edinburgh 472 Business School and, professor Neil Pollock there, who 473 leads their innovation, research, was quickly on board 474 to say, yes. Let's let's examine this. And we set 475 up, the what we call the state of startup with industry 476 analyst research. We immediately set it up as a research program that would 477 go forever. So we do this every 2 years. 478 We examine, the situation from 3 different 479 angles. So startup, of course, we are startups. How do you work 480 with analysts? Why? And what's what are the outcomes?

481 We asked investors, so 482 venture capital firms, but also their, the accelerator ecosystem. 483 So what is your engagement, with startup and industry analysts? 484 And what are your experiences? What are the outcomes that you see? And we 485 also ask the into, industry analysts themselves in how 486 do you work with startup ups from your end, and what are you recommending? 487 What is working? What is not working? And, what are the outcomes? 488 So we approach it from all three angles to get a 3 60 degree of 489 the of the matter. And we didn't only ask startup and 490 and, and, VCs and so who already knew about analyst 491 relations. We specifically also asked those players who had 492 no conception at all about analyst relations. So we really get the 3 493 60 degrees, of insight. And we had a couple

494 of, phenomenal findings there. So first of 495 all, European startup have no idea of the type of value that they 496 get. 73% of them 497 think that analysts' exposure to buyer 498 to buyers is rather low, where in reality, 499 79% of analysts, speak to startup ups 500 specifically to identify innovators that they can recommend to inquiring buyers. 501 And I told you earlier that, you know, a single analyst has a 1000 to 502 2000 buyer interactions every every year. So that's 503 huge. So 73% of startup think 504 that the the ability to get exposures to buyers is low, 505 but almost 8 in 10 analysts speak to start ups specifically 506 to identify innovators that they can recommend to inquiring buyers. 507 So massive mismatch tells you knowing about 508 this can get you a a leap ahead 509 of a huge portion of your rivals. Mhmm.

510 2nd finding was that, 2 thirds of 511 startup think they must have broad availability before industry analysts 512 are even open to these conversations as as we discussed earlier. But 513 the majority of analysts want to speak to you at beta or 514 even into a mobile product, stage. So enormous shift 515 there as well. So you can start much earlier. The interesting thing about that 516 is that, we found that professional analyst 517 relations, handling of analyst relations can pull 518 forward this qualified visibility through their market 519 reports or through direct recommendations to buyers 520 by as much as 4 years. 521 So the average the the mean age of, startups being mentioned in 522 reports was around 7 years in business. And if you do analyst 523 relations professionally and do it well, those 524 companies were able to pull that forward by as much as 3,

525 4 years. So they got mentioned in the 1st 3 years in 526 business. And that is, as you know, in in startup world, that is 527 literally a lifetime for many start ups, sadly. Mhmm. So that's 528 quite a that's quite a pull effect. 529 Now, then we also, you know, another example of 530 the research findings was that we asked analysts, so what type of 531 analyst relations handling, what type of organization, 532 makes analyst relations most effective in in your work with startup 533 ups. So if you work through marketing agency or if you have 534 analyst relations handled through your venture capital firm or, you 535 know, however, or through your strategy department or through your 536 marketing department or what. And, the finding there 537 was, it's, of course, best handled through AR specialist. 538 And, I'm not just saying this because I am a specialist, but because the difference

539 was so stark. Because analyst relation specialists were 540 were rated 50 points better 541 than if it was handled through a marketing agency or PR agency or 542 through your VC. In fact, PR agencies and VCs 543 had a net negative rating through the eyes 544 of, of the actual industry analysts who were supposed to 545 be, you know, addressed by these briefings. And they had a 546 net negative rating in terms of effectiveness. So 547 understanding that, again, gets you a leap 548 forward, in comparison, for for competitors who may 549 handle it intuitively and differently. 550 I I also have at the back of my mind that you will 551 share in the next episode a few more of your 552 learnings there, plus there is or there will be soon 553 another survey going on? Yes. Absolutely. So, we 554 as I said, we are we're doing this on a biannual basis, and the results

555 that I just shared were from the 2022 survey. And 556 we're, just, we've just launched a couple of weeks ago the 557 24 version of the same, research. We're not asking the exact same 558 questions again because we are adding puzzle piece by puzzle piece to our, 559 you know, comprehensive understanding of the matter. So 560 this year, it'll be all about how startup use analyst 561 relations, throughout, the organizations, different use cases, 562 which analyst firms are most used by startup and and which 563 are best rated as well. And then when in 564 your, maturity cycle do you best do what? When do you 565 start briefings, when you start inquiries, when you start to do 566 document reviews, when do you start to participate in events, and and 567 all those kinds of things. So when in your journey should you do what?

568 So a couple of really interesting puzzle pieces to our holistic understanding 569 of the matter. And we can we can by the way, we we 570 should put, links in the show notes for for people 571 to to contribute because, again, it does not matter whether you 572 have or have no understanding of analyst relations because, again, 573 we want into, collect the entire understanding from 574 all angles. And it only takes, like, 15 minutes. 575 Sounds pretty good. Everybody who'd like to learn more, you can go down 576 here in the show notes. There's link to your LinkedIn profile as 577 well as a link to the survey that you'll hopefully 578 show me after this recording. Definitely. 579 Definitely. Great. Chris, was a pleasure talking to you. Thank 580 you very much. Thanks for the opportunity. Thanks for the time. Thanks 581 for your all of your listeners tuning in. Thanks. Looking forward to have you

582 back. Bye bye. Speak soon. Bye.

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What are the key facts about Bridging Gap: Engaging Industry Analysts?

Boost your startup's success with early analyst relations. Learn strategic insights from expert Chris Holcher.

How does this affect the German startup ecosystem?

In this episode, Chris Holcher discusses the "State of Startup" research program, revealing that many European startups undervalue analyst exposure to buyers when it’s pivotal from early stages, like beta or prototypes.

What are the latest startup funding trends in the DACH region?

Startuprad.io tracks venture capital and startup funding across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Explore our pillar coverage pages for the latest data.

About the Host

Joern "Joe" Menninger is the host of the Startuprad.io podcast and covers founders, investors, and policy developments across the DACH startup ecosystem. Through more than 1,300 interviews and nearly a decade of reporting, he documents the evolution of the European startup landscape. Follow Joern on LinkedIn.

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