Breaking into the venture market is a major growth milestone for South African founders. However, bridging the gap between an agile business and a slow-moving corporate giant is often a complex journey.
Botha van der Vyver, Founder and CEO of JustSolve.
Merelda Wu, co-founder of Melio AI.
Tammy Ruschin, CEO of Style ID.
In this article, the first of the series Civitas is producing insights from its community of founders, three South African business leaders speak candidly about what it really takes to win (and retain) enterprise clients.
For Merelda Wu, co-founder of melio ai – An AI company building custom enterprise solutions and specialized SaaS products – The initial hurdle was realizing that smaller providers have more leverage than they think.
“The procurement processes are very confusing to understand, and in the beginning, I was too afraid to ask,” admits Wu. “I've since learned that these aren't the norm, and found the courage to ask questions. I've also learned that it's completely okay to hold back on a purchase. They chose you for a reason, and you have the power to make sure you're not bullied.”
The lack of process standardization means founders often have to educate the client's internal teams while protecting their own commercial runway.
Wu also points out the importance of securing named references quickly, rather than waiting for formal marketing sign-off until later. “It's almost impossible to get marketing permission for big logos later, so securing named references early on can help you build your credibility.”
Apart from procurement, a major hurdle for small businesses can be surviving the time it takes to close a deal. Enterprise sales cycles require immense patience and a healthy pipeline to keep going while waiting for signatures.
says Tammy Ruschin, CEO of style id“The sales cycle is much longer than I thought; expect at least six months,” says John Lewis, a creator and content integration agency that builds strategic creator ecosystems for big brands.
Botha van der Vyver, Founder and CEO just solveStrategic Advisory, an intelligent transformation partner specializing in custom software, data enablement, intelligent automation, and ethical AI, echoes this reality.
“The best case for a corporate sales cycle is six months, but typically it is nine months,” says Van der Vyver. “And I wish I knew how to quickly navigate the decision tree to identify an internal champion – someone who will actively run your case when you're not in the room.”
just be yourself
A common trap for many young companies is to change who they are to fit into the corporate structure, whether by adopting clichéd jargon or copying traditional enterprise behavior.
“In the beginning, we thought we needed to soften our personality as an agency to fit into the corporate world,” says Ruschin. “Then we realized that corporates were looking to us for brand new thinking, agility and cultural insight that they struggle with internally. Once we leaned into what makes us different instead of trying to fit in, our business started to grow significantly.”
Similarly, Wu found that trying to replicate traditional B2B networking strategies, like corporate golf days, is not necessary to win high-value contracts.
“We're a women-led company and I don't play golf, but when you see competitors hosting them, you think about learning,” Wu smiles. “When we started winning big bids over competitors hosting golf days we realized that wasn't necessary. We also don't limit our content. A lot of people think that if you share your secret sauce, others will copy it. But if it's that easy to replicate, you don't have a secret sauce.”
Instead of gathering knowledge, Melio focuses on building trust through attending meetups, speaking at events, and hosting insightful webinars, Wu says.
“Customers may not buy in initially, but when they see us consistently sharing good technical content, they know we can deliver on that,” she says.
long term partner potential
Ultimately, enterprise customers are looking for partners who can help them solve complex business problems, even if the collaboration may not be as seamless as a founder might initially hope.
“We learned that relationships matter just as much, if not more, than service offerings,” says Ruschin, “I thought the best creative ideas would automatically win over customers, but it's trust, consistency, and relationships that get you in the door.” Corporates want partners and strategic advisors – they don't want to be another number in an agency's portfolio.
“I thought that if you're really good at what you do, that would be enough,” Van der Vyver reflects. “I also assumed that people would disclose budget and information to help us collaboratively reach a viable solution. The reality is much less collaborative. Once you need to go beyond word-of-mouth and referrals, marketing to enterprise personalities is a constantly changing landscape. We had to change our position from exec to advising on high-level strategy and technical roadmaps to get in front of the right leaders.”
While the venture market remains a challenging space to navigate, the consensus among these founders is clear: success depends on commercial alignment, patience, and the authenticity to solve for real business outcomes without losing your distinct identity in the process.