How have you secured leadership buy-in to invest in market research to inform ambiguous strategic decisions, rather than going with opinions?

At startups I’ve worked for, leaders have resisted investing in research to validate pre-existing opinions or hunches on strategic direction, because they’ve felt there isn’t time to gather data or that we’ll just land in the same place

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3 Answers

Market Research

Chandra Patel

Salesforce Senior Director of Product Marketing • May 20

This is an important issue. Why leadership resists the request to do research is often twofold. One, they think it's going to slow them down too much, and two, they think it's going to cost a lot of money. So, there are two ways of working through that. First is to ensure speed. Build a plan, look at existing information, and consider how can you move quickly. Can you use AI to narrow your hypotheses? Can you quickly conduct a closed network search? Can you run an analysis on sales calls or reac ...Read More

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Kaitlyn Barnard

Apollo GraphQL Principal Product Marketing Manager • May 20

The most effective approach is framing research as a revenue opportunity, not a nice-to-have. Leadership moves faster when they can see a direct connection between what you learn and what it means for pipeline, deal size, or new market potential. The question isn't "can we afford to do this research." It's "what does it cost us not to know this." A few things that have worked for me: Get buy-in on the questions before you start. Write a short exec memo outlining what you're trying to learn, why ...Read More

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Kuber Sharma

UiPath Sr. Director of Product Marketing | Formerly Salesforce, Tableau, Microsoft • May 24

Chandra and Kaitlyn both hit the key moves: speed, hypothesis clarity, and connecting research to a dollar outcome. What I want to add is the specific framing I've used at Salesforce, Tableau, and UiPath to get buy-in when leadership was actively skeptical, not just cautious. The pattern I see most often in resistant leadership is what I'd call decision debt. They've already formed a strong opinion, and the research ask feels like a challenge to that opinion. The fastest way to lose that convers ...Read More

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