GTM Unleashed: David vs. Goliath: How to Kick the Ass of Your Mammoth Competitors

Listen up, underdogs and rebels. I love to win.  I hate to lose.  Just ask anyone who knows me.  I was sitting in a global sales meeting in 1992 when I was an entry-level salesperson after winning Sales Person of the Year for securing the company’s largest ever government contract by forcing the deselection of a major competitor after they had won the contract.  The competitor snagged defeat from the jaws of victory.  The CEO of the company when announcing the recognition of my efforts said to a large audience if there was one person in the world ho he’d hate to compete against it would be me.  I compete with integrity and honor.   My training taught me to go deep to understand every one of a competitor’s weaknesses and exploit them into a strengths that delivers the outcome the customer desires. One dirty trick I would employ was to recommend headhunters to my top competitors.  Nothing like finding the person who is a thorn in your side another good job!  Many are friends to this day.

Alas, I digress!  You think you don’t stand a chance against the big leagues? That’s what they want you to believe. Those corporate giants, strutting around with their billion-dollar budgets and legions of soulless employees, want you quaking in your boots. Well, it’s time to stop playing by their rules and write your own playbook, one where you outperform the behemoths by being anything but like them.

Forget the “more is better” narrative. It’s an illusion. More often than not, those massive resources are an albatross around their necks. Huge teams? That’s a cumbersome bureaucracy you don’t need. Boatloads of cash? That’s a crutch that often leads to sloppy decision-making. Remember, when they zig, you zag. They’re wielding a sledgehammer; you’re brandishing a scalpel. Precision, agility, and ingenuity are your true north.

The real trick is to do more with less. A lot more. Use your constraints as creative fuel. You’re small? Good, you can adapt faster. You’re underfunded? Even better, you’ll think twice before diving into harebrained schemes. You don’t need a dozen board meetings to pivot your strategy; a gut instinct and a team huddle should suffice. Make your limitations your secret weapons.

Your most potent asset, though, is passion. Trust me, it’s in desperately short supply in those sprawling corporate labyrinths. Passion creates connection, fosters loyalty, and trumps even the slickest, most expensive marketing campaign. When you give a damn, truly and transparently, people can sense it. And they’ll root for you. They’ll choose your product over the sterile alternative offered by your monstrous competitor.

Don’t believe me? Consider the words of Mark Twain: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” So, ask yourself, how big is your fight? How burning is your desire to disrupt, to upend, to win? If you want it bad enough, those “massive resources” won’t mean a damn thing. Time to show those Goliaths what you’re made of.