BoSUSA25 | Art Koenig | Land and Expand? Oh, Really Now

One of the lessons Art learned the hard way is that ‘Land and Expand’ generally has an implication of undue speed. Sometimes speed ist good, but sometimes a ‘Plant and Grow Slow’ strategy is a better one to adopt. In this Lightning Talk, you will learn about a different way.

1. Land and Expand? Not so Fast Art Koenig xGEL Data Systems Presented at Business of Software USA 2025

2. D-Day  6 June 1944 Public Domain National Archives Identifier:  195515 Where You Want to Go Where You Are Now

3. Innovators Early Majority Early Adopters Laggards Late Majority After Everett Rodgers (1962), Lee James and Warren Schirtzinger /Regis McKenna (RMI) (1989) , Geoffery Moore (1991) Technology Diffusion Theory 101 The People Who Adopt “Your Stuff”

4. The Chasm aka “The Moat of Despair ” aka “ The Valley of Death ” What’s a computer? Finance Capital Overlord Territory Wild West Black Ops Mad Professor True Believers Visionaries Mad Professor True Believers Mad Professor True Believers Visionaries Mad Professor True Believers Visionaries Mad Professor True Believers Innovators Early Majority Early Adopters Laggards Late Majority After Everett Rodgers (1962), Lee James and Warren Schirtzinger /Regis McKenna (RMI) (1989) , Geoffery Moore (1991), Art Koenig (2025) Technology Diffusion Theory 101 Big Money Territory Goat Ropers & Cat Herders Finance Capital The People Who Adopt “Your Stuff” 1

5. The Chasm aka “The Moat of Despair ” aka “ The Valley of Death ” What’s a computer? Finance Capital Overlord Territory Wild West Black Ops Mad Professor True Believers Visionaries Mad Professor True Believers Mad Professor True Believers Visionaries Mad Professor True Believers Visionaries Mad Professor True Believers Innovators Early Majority Early Adopters Laggards Late Majority After Everett Rodgers (1962), Lee James and Warren Schirtzinger /Regis McKenna (RMI) (1989) , Geoffery Moore (1991), Art Koenig (2025) Technology Diffusion Theory 101 Big Money Territory Goat Ropers & Cat Herders Finance Capital The People Who Adopt “Your Stuff” 2

6. The Early Adopter Psychographic Mgt. Close to Ground Ops Minimal IT Tail Lean Staffing Hungry Few Flagpoles/Silos Little Inertia Understand Value-Added Ecosystem Partnering They Write the Checks Very Willing to Change Process Short Pain Path/JTBD Struggling Moment Accept Primary Solutions/MVP (Minimum Viable Product) Wild West Black Ops Early Adopters Mad Professor/True Believer Territory Innovators

7. The MVP

8. They Don’t Talk to Others Mgt. Close to Ground Ops Minimal IT Tail Lean Staffing Hungry Few Flagpoles/Silos Accept Primary Solutions/MVP aka -Minimum Viable Product Little Inertia Understand Value-Added Ecosystem Partnering They Write the Checks Very Willing to Change Process Short Pain Path/JTBD Struggling Moment Wild West Black Ops Early Adopters Mad Professor/True Believer Territory Innovators The Early Adopter Psychographic

9. Wild West Cowboys The Software Team The Helper The Check Writer Vision, Business Process Architecture, Coding, Crowd Control, Brake Pumper, Stoked, Target Business Domain Knowledge Stress Relief – Dispute Resolution, Chill Just wants cat food Crowd Control, Coding, Data/DB Architecture, Business Domain & Process Architecture, Vision Control, Racehorse, Stoked Financial Overlord True Believers True Believer

10. Benefits and Drawbacks of Plant and Grow S L O W C O N T R O L - YOU Train the Market C O N T R O L - No Finance Capital Overlord(s) C O N T R O L – Fewer Goat Ropes Time to Think Time to Adjust Controls “Rush to Failure” ( Note this does not say “Eliminates”) Meetings are “In-the-Mirror” Reduces/Controls Burn You get to play in your own sandbox Can Get Lonely

11. This Texas Live Oak is about 100- 150 years old Photo Taken in the Texas Hill Country This tree is the result of Plant and Grow S l o w … And LUCK

12. Benefits and Drawbacks of Traditional “Land and Expand” Market Penetration Shade Casting/Segment Dominance (e.g. Sbks ) Attract Investment Capital Attract Investment Capital Potential Big Crash Landing Lots of Cool Meetings & Cat Herding Complexity on Steroids/Goat Roping/Puppy Frenzy

13. A fast-growing ready-to-die Arizona Ash (aka Arizona Trash) ~ 20 years old. Photo Taken Sept 2025 San Antonio Texas

14. Incipient Puppy Frenzy ~ aka Texas Goat Rope/Cat Herding

15. Land and Expand? or Plant and Grow Slow? Regardless … Don’t Be “That Guy”