Origin story
Before founding Aspen GTM, we spent years successfully leading strategic SaaS deals—well before the 2021 peak and through the "SaaS crash" that followed. We watched as B2B buyers across all segments quietly shifted toward requiring every major purchase to be a high-performing investment. And it was happening everywhere—from medium to large enterprise, and from SLED to FED. The crash happened because the legacy GTM motion, methods, and mindset were built for software selling, not investment leadership.
We were extremely lucky to have continued success with our deals despite the crash because 1) we happened to double down on what we now call "investment leadership" well before 2021, and 2) we were in the unique position where
we had the right leaders and peers who supported our disruptive idea of no more "software selling," and no more "value theater."
We challenged ourselves to not just align with buyer expectations, but deeply interlock with the customer across people, process, tech, and finance. We forced ourselves to not just sell software, but lead investments. We didn’t just pitch, we partnered. And it worked: increased executive buy-in, close rate, initial deal size, expansion size, and customer advocacy—regardless of the economic environment.