HighTouch

How Hightouch Became a $600M Data Activation Leader in 4 Years

Founded By

Tejas Manohar

Monthly Revenue

$50K

Founders

Monthly Traffic

Profitable

Yes

Year Started

2019

Customer

B2B

Revenue Per Visitor

$Inf

Founded By
Tejas Manohar: Monthly Revenue
$50K: Founders
3

Monthly Traffic
0: Profitable
Yes: Year Started
2019

Customer
B2B: Revenue Per Visitor
$Inf

Who is Tejas Manohar?

Tejas Manohar, co-founder of Hightouch, began his career by interning at HubSpot at 15 and later worked as an engineer at Segment at 16; originally from Tennessee, he developed a passion for software engineering and entrepreneurship, ultimately leading to the founding of Hightouch.

What problem does HighTouch solve?

HighTouch solves the problem of data accessibility for businesses by effortlessly syncing valuable customer data with key marketing and CRM tools, making sure companies can easily use their data to enhance marketing, sales, and customer support activities without needing technical expertise.

A Snapshot of the Hightouch homepage

How did Tejas come up with the idea for HighTouch?

Tejas Manohar's journey to the idea behind HighTouch began with his fascination for data and its potential to transform business functions. During his tenure at Segment, he was immersed in the intricacies of data integration and warehouse dynamics. This immersion sparked the realization that while data warehouses could store vast amounts of information, businesses often struggled to utilize this data effectively across various tools such as CRMs and marketing platforms.

When the pandemic hit, it provided an unexpected pivot opportunity. Tejas and his team were exploring various concepts, but feedback from potential users pointed towards a recurring issue: the gap between data housed in warehouses and its practical application. By continuously engaging with early users and paying close attention to their pain points, the team identified a clear demand for a solution that could seamlessly sync data to enhance business operations and decision-making.

Through iterations and user feedback, they refined the concept of "data activation," leading to the development of HighTouch. The challenges they faced early on included ensuring the product was user-friendly enough for non-technical users while maintaining robust capabilities. The lesson they gleaned was the importance of staying open to pivoting based on user insights and environmental changes, allowing them to creatively repurpose their technical background into solving a significant business challenge.

How did Tejas build the initial version of HighTouch?

Tejas Manohar and his team built Hightouch by efficiently focusing on developing a data activation platform to leverage existing technical infrastructures such as data warehouses. Initially, they capitalized on the extensive knowledge and engineering background gained from previous experiences at Segment, a company renowned for integrating customer data across platforms. Recognizing the burgeoning importance of data warehouses like Snowflake as central data repositories, they worked diligently to create a tool that could easily sync this data to various business applications without requiring advanced technical know-how.

The development process involved closely interacting with potential users to understand their needs, iteratively refining the product based on feedback from early adopters across different industries. They used their engineering prowess to ensure the platform integrated with over 200 systems, making it versatile for different business needs. The journey wasn’t without challenges—grappling with the technical intricacies of creating a seamless data flow and building user trust in connecting sensitive data were significant hurdles. It took roughly a year from inception in late 2019 to launch a functional product as the team balanced speed of execution with the robustness of their software design.

What was the growth strategy for HighTouch and how did they scale?

Community Engagement and Partner Marketing

Hightouch effectively leveraged community engagement and partner marketing to grow its user base. Early on, the founders identified Slack communities and forums focused on data engineering, such as DBT’s Slack community, where potential users actively sought solutions like theirs. By participating in these communities and providing helpful content or resources, they tapped into an existing network of data practitioners who might be interested in their product.

Why it worked: Engaging in established communities where target users already gather allowed Hightouch to connect directly with potential customers without having to build an audience from scratch. By offering value in these communities, they were able to naturally introduce their product and gain credibility.

Partner marketing played a crucial role as well, with Hightouch collaborating with well-known companies like Fivetran and DBT to co-author blog posts. This strategy not only boosted Hightouch's visibility but also elevated its legitimacy via associations with these bigger players.

Why it worked: Leveraging the existing audiences of established industry peers provided Hightouch with significant brand exposure. By publishing co-branded content, they gained access to a wider audience segment that was already primed to seek solutions related to data activation.

Podcasts

Hightouch also utilized podcasts as a means of reaching a wide audience within the tech and data community. By participating in software engineering and data-focused podcasts, they could explain their product's value proposition to a listenership already interested in these technical subjects.

Why it worked: Podcasts offer a platform to dive into detailed discussions and reach a targeted audience that’s interested in software solutions and innovations. By participating in podcasts, Hightouch could share insights and case studies that demonstrated their product’s practical benefits, which helped in building trust and interest from listeners.

Product-led Growth

Another vital channel for Hightouch was focusing on product-led growth. They offered a self-service model where potential customers could sign up and try Hightouch's product on their own. This strategy not only served as a way to capture intent but also reduced barriers to entry for prospects wanting to see the product in action without having to commit initially.

Why it worked: Allowing prospective customers to experience the product firsthand made it easier for them to understand its value and how it could integrate into their existing workflows. This experiential approach helps convert trial users into paid customers as they see the immediate benefits Hightouch brings to their data operations.

Overall, Hightouch's diverse and strategic use of community engagement, partnerships, podcasts, and product-focused strategies created a powerful engine for growth, connecting them with potential customers across multiple touchpoints.

What's the pricing strategy for HighTouch?

HighTouch employs a pricing strategy with an entry-level self-serve model starting at $100 monthly, advancing to custom pricing for enterprise needs, emphasizing seamless transitions from trial to paid subscription.

A Snapshot of Hightouch App Pricing

What were the biggest lessons learned from building HighTouch?

Embrace Adaptability: HighTouch pivoted from a travel focus during COVID to become a data activation leader, emphasizing the importance of adaptability in changing markets.
Leverage Existing Communities: The team succeeded early on by tapping into existing audiences through partner marketing and Slack communities, rather than building their own from scratch.
Focus on Real Customer Needs: By listening to customer feedback, HighTouch identified a universal need for data activation, leading to product-market fit across diverse industries.
Build a Versatile Team: Founders with complementary skills who can adapt to different roles in the company enable dynamic growth and resilience.
Seek and Utilize Feedback: Direct and proactive feedback from team members was key to refining processes and improving leadership effectiveness.

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