How do you go from a scrappy B2B SaaS with early traction… to a repeatable, scalable growth machine?

In this episode, we sit down with EVP’s Allen Zhu — founder-turned-PM-turned-investor — to unpack the go-to-market playbook for scaling from 1 to 10. We dive into how top SaaS companies segment their market, fund sales and marketing early, and build moats that compound.

Allen shares real examples from EVP’s portfolio (including Nexl) and explains how segmentation, workflow-driven expansion, and smart early investment helped them scale fast without burning cash.

Tune in and learn:

+ How segmentation drives efficiency — and the Nexl case that proves it

+ The “self-funding” model for early sales & marketing investment

+ Product expansion frameworks: follow the workflow, then follow the money

+ How to build switching-cost moats and pre-board ROI for enterprise deals

This is a must-watch for any B2B marketer or founder navigating the jump from early traction to scalable growth.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

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📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 The counter-intuitive truth: Sales & marketing can be self-funding

01:00 Meet Allen Zhu (EVP): founder → PM → investor

03:00 Early ventures, lessons from agency → apps → D2C

06:30 From Citi to Freelancer to EVP: why B2B SaaS

09:30 What EVP does at Series A (and how they partner)

12:00 The #1 scaling mistake: skipping segmentation

15:10 Case study: Nexl’s segmentation unlock (who, where, and why)

19:40 Why SDR “spray & pray” fails in small total addressable lists

22:10 Invest in S&M early: the “self-funding” window explained

24:30 Measuring what matters when attribution gets messy

29:30 Product expansion playbook: follow the workflow, follow the money

33:30 Moats 101 for SaaS: switching costs, data, and process power

37:30 Selling enterprise: pre-boarding ROI to win the room

42:30 Timing outreach with public contract intel (governments)

46:30 Customer advocacy flywheel: advisory boards & reference power

53:00 Leading vs lagging: how EVP reads GTM progress

56:30 What “active partner” really means at Series A

58:30 Final takeaway: segmentation first, everything else follows

59:30 Where to find Allen & EVP

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E200 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #b2bsaas #gotomarket #seriesA #evpventures #demandgeneration