Direct
Direct Enterprise Sales
Best fit
Complex / high-ACV / strategic categories where the buyer needs to evaluate architecture and the seller needs to control the narrative.
GTM reality
Requires category clarity and board-level value. Long cycles, named accounts, real AEs, real SEs. Wins on relationship + technical depth + business case.
Deal economics
Highest gross margin per deal but lowest leverage per AE. Pipeline is operator-built, not partner-fed.
Common mistake
Treating direct as a stage to grow out of rather than the motion that funds everything else. SMB direct rarely pays for itself.
Fits category types
- CNAPP
- CTEM
- SIEM / SecOps
- Identity governance
- OT security
- Enterprise GRC