Target enterprise customers first when solving complexity problems only large companies face
If your product solves problems that only appear at scale or in complex environments, targeting enterprises from day one forces you to build for real complexity. Starting with SMBs means you'll architect for simpler use cases and miss the depth of enterprise challenges like legacy systems, fragmented data, and mainframe integrations.
When to use
When your product addresses infrastructure, data, security, or integration challenges that only manifest at enterprise scale. When SMB customers won't reveal the true depth of the problem.
Don't do this
Starting with SMBs and planning to 'move upmarket later'—you'll build the wrong architecture and struggle to handle enterprise requirements when you try to scale up.
1 Founder Who Did This
Targeted Fortune 500 enterprises (Instacart, LinkedIn, DoorDash) from day one instead of SMBs because data fragmentation is more severe at enterprise scale—they run mainframes and have dozens of legacy systems