When most companies talk about expanding into new markets, the first instinct is to crank up performance marketing, localize the website, or spin up a regional sales team. But here’s the truth: you can’t scale what you don’t understand. you can’t scale what you don’t understand. In one of my most pivotal roles, we were tasked with launching into two new regions — without wasting months (or millions) on unvalidated assumptions. The twist? We didn't lead with marketing. We turned business development into our market discovery engine — and it changed how we scale forever. business development market discovery engine forever This article is about how we used BD to explore, test, and adapt before making any big bets. Think of it as a blueprint for market validation — one conversation, signal, and small partnership at a time. explore test adapt Step 1: Redefine the Role of BD — From Seller to Scout In most orgs, business development is tasked with creating pipeline or closing partnerships. But in an expansion scenario, we flipped the script. Instead of asking, “How can we sell here?” — we asked, “What can we learn here?” “What can we learn here?” We created a temporary role called Market Discovery BD. The KPIs weren’t revenue. They were: Market Discovery BD Number of qualitative conversations with ICPs
Signals about market pain, behavior, and maturity
Evidence of potential GTM fit (tools, processes, budget owners) Number of qualitative conversations with ICPs Signals about market pain, behavior, and maturity Evidence of potential GTM fit (tools, processes, budget owners) Our BD lead wasn’t armed with a pitch deck. They were armed with a discovery script, focused on learning: discovery script What local alternatives are already dominant?
How are buying decisions made?
What are the most urgent problems no one's solving? What local alternatives are already dominant? How are buying decisions made? What are the most urgent problems no one's solving? Within three weeks, we had 42 interviews across 3 verticals — and some assumptions completely unraveled. Step 2: Prototype Offers Through Conversational GTM Rather than launching a new pricing page or funnel, we started by prototyping offers directly through conversations. prototyping offers Here’s how it worked:In week 4, we began proposing lightweight pilots to high-signal accounts. Not via campaigns — via BD calls. lightweight pilots We’d say: “Based on what you shared, we can spin up a pilot focused just on [pain point X], using [feature Y]. Would you be open to trying that over 2 weeks?” “Based on what you shared, we can spin up a pilot focused just on [pain point X], using [feature Y]. Would you be open to trying that over 2 weeks?” The response rate? 60%+ interest. Why? Because the offer came after deep understanding — not before. This helped us answer: What positioning resonates most?
What objections are we hearing early?
What kind of results move the needle for these customers? What positioning resonates most? What objections are we hearing early? What kind of results move the needle for these customers? Instead of writing case studies months later, we were generating real outcomes during discovery — and feeding those insights into product and marketing in real time. real outcomes Step 3: Use BD Feedback Loops to Design Scalable GTM By week 6, we had real traction. A handful of customers had completed fast pilots, shared testimonials, and even introduced us to other local players. But more importantly, our BD team had collected first-hand, structured intelligence that shaped everything: first-hand, structured intelligence Messaging → We dropped “efficiency” in favor of “speed to ROI”
Objections → We created specific assets to answer local procurement issues
Ideal Customer Profile → We narrowed our focus to mid-sized tech teams with internal tooling challenges Messaging → We dropped “efficiency” in favor of “speed to ROI” Objections → We created specific assets to answer local procurement issues Ideal Customer Profile → We narrowed our focus to mid-sized tech teams with internal tooling challenges We fed all of this into a GTM readiness doc, co-created by BD, marketing, and product. It was clear: GTM readiness doc Where to focus
How to position
What was still missing Where to focus How to position What was still missing Only then did we greenlight regional ad spend, build local landing pages, and begin hiring. Conclusion Using BD as a market exploration tool — not just a channel — helped us move faster, de-risk expansion, and build real conviction before we scaled. In a world obsessed with automation and dashboards, it’s easy to forget the power of high-signal, human conversations. But if you treat business development as a learning engine, you get more than leads. You get clarity. market exploration tool So before you launch your next region, ask yourself: Are you ready to sell — or do you still need to listen? Are you ready to sell — or do you still need to listen?

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

Discovery

Evidence

Founder-Led Business Development: How to Sell Before You Scale

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

How to Scale Business Development with Smart Automation

157 Stories To Learn About Sales

3 reasons why the B2B buying journey is more emotional than B2C

3 Ways ChatGPT Has Dramatically Transformed Sales Processes in 2023

5 Tips for Business Leaders To Manage Their Remote Sales Teams Effectively

5 Tips to Build an Optimized Sales Process That Closes More Deals

How to Scale Business Development with Smart Automation

157 Stories To Learn About Sales

3 reasons why the B2B buying journey is more emotional than B2C

3 Ways ChatGPT Has Dramatically Transformed Sales Processes in 2023

5 Tips for Business Leaders To Manage Their Remote Sales Teams Effectively

5 Tips to Build an Optimized Sales Process That Closes More Deals

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Minty

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps