Leandro Grew Unity 3x in APAC within Two Years: Here is His Approach to GTM

Welcome to our latest edition! Today, we’re excited to feature Leandro Bark, a SaaS sales leader with 15+ years of experience, particularly in the APAC region. Renowned for crafting scalable go-to-market strategies, Leandro has held key roles at Unity, Westcon-Comstor and Perx Technologies, where he excelled in sales and channel management. Leandro brings a focus on collaboration, curiosity, and market insight. In this edition, explore his GTM approaches, APAC strategies, and how he helped to triple Unity’s revenue within 2 years.

Who is Leandro? 

Leandro Eric Bark is a seasoned SaaS sales leader with over 15 years of experience, specializing in technology domains within the APAC region. Known for architecting scalable go-to-market strategies, he excels in driving profitable growth and building high-performance teams. Previously, Leandro held leadership roles at Unity, Westcon-Comstor and Perx Technologies, where he demonstrated deep expertise in sales leadership and channel management. He is a certified Revenue Architect and GTM Leader is SaaS business. He is also the ambassador of 2 SaaS Power-Houses: Winning by Design and GTM Consortium, and the executive member of Pavilion. 

What GTM Means to Leandro

"GTM is not a one-time effort but a perpetual cycle of growth, optimization, and customer focus."

• GTM as an Ongoing Process:

  • Leandro views GTM as a continuous, iterative process, much like a flywheel that gains momentum over time. It requires constant refinement based on market feedback and data.

• Key Goals of GTM:

  • Drive Revenue Growth: Leandro prioritizes creating scalable, repeatable sales processes, as seen in his approach to the APAC market, ensuring consistent revenue growth with focus on delivering “Recurring Impact” to your customers.

  • Optimize Operational Costs: He focuses on reducing costs by refining the sales funnel, lowering customer acquisition costs while maximizing lifetime value.

  • Improve Product Quality: Ensuring recurring impact is crucial. Leandro stresses the importance of enhancing product offerings to boost customer satisfaction, retention and expansion, especially in SaaS models.

• Steps in Developing a GTM Strategy:

  • Business Strategy: Align GTM with the company’s unique strengths and value proposition.

  • Revenue Architecture: Understand the revenue model (e.g., SaaS) to shape acquisition and retention strategies.

  • Data Collection: Use a comprehensive data model to track conversions and post-sale metrics like retention and expansion.

  • Growth Formula: Leverage data to make small, impactful adjustments that drive exponential growth.

Challenges in Scaling Unity in APAC and How Leandro Solved Them

"An unified team with a localized strategy can turn regional challenges into unprecedented growth."

• Misaligned Go-To-Market Strategy

  • Issue: Unity’s APAC operations were underdeveloped compared to its global scale. The region followed go-to-market strategies designed for a mature market, which didn’t suit APAC’s unique needs.

  • Solution: Leandro conducted a thorough market analysis, identifying key discrepancies in Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP), contract values, and sales cycles. He then tailored a new go-to-market strategy, redefining the ICP and adjusting sales tactics to better align with the region's dynamics.

• Fragmented Leadership and Lack of Regional Autonomy

  • Issue: APAC’s teams for marketing, demand generation, and customer success were fragmented, reporting to different global leaders. This led to a misalignment of strategies and KPIs that didn’t fit the region’s specific needs.

  • Solution: Leandro engaged with each functional leader, advocating for the adaptation of global strategies to better serve the APAC market. He secured buy-in from these leaders and higher management, aligning all functions around a cohesive, region-specific strategy.

• Inadequate Local Market Understanding and Execution

  • Issue: Global strategies were primarily U.S. and Europe-centric, failing to consider APAC’s cultural differences, buying behaviors, and competitive landscape, leading to poor market penetration.

  • Solution: Leandro conducted extensive market research and localized sales and marketing efforts to better resonate with the APAC audience. He empowered local teams to make decisions based on their market knowledge, rather than solely following global directives.

• Outcome:

  • Through these efforts, Leandro successfully aligned fragmented teams and implemented a region-specific go-to-market strategy. This led to rapid growth in Unity’s APAC operations, nearly tripling revenue within two years, demonstrating the critical importance of regional customization and cross-functional alignment. He always says: “it’s better to be aligned, than right”

How Leandro Prioritizes Which Problems to Solve First

"The key to sustainable growth is prioritizing revenue-impacting issues; everything else comes second."

• Identify Critical Issues Impacting Revenue:

  • Reason for Prioritization: Leandro prioritized solving problems that had the most significant impact on revenue generation and business performance. He recognized that without addressing these core issues, any attempts at growth would be undermined.

  • Example: The first problem he tackled was the misalignment of revenue functions (sales, marketing, product, customer success) because this issue directly affected the company’s ability to execute its go-to-market strategy effectively. Without alignment, the entire business operation would be disjointed, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.

• Focus on Customer Retention Over Acquisition:

  • Reason for Prioritization: Leandro understood that retaining existing customers and expanding their usage was more cost-effective and critical for sustainable growth than constantly acquiring new customers. This approach also directly impacted the company's long-term revenue stability. Example: He prioritized improving customer retention and expansion by ensuring that the value promised during the sales process was consistently delivered. This focus on recurring impact was crucial for increasing customer lifetime value and reducing churn.And this is one of the core principles of Revenue Architecture.

• Ensure Predictable Revenue Forecasting:

  • Reason for Prioritization: Accurate forecasting was essential for strategic planning and resource allocation. Leandro recognized that without reliable predictions, the company could not effectively plan for future growth or manage its finances.

  • Example: He prioritized building a robust forecasting process tied to a bewly created deal qualification process, implementing a strict sales operating rhythm, and ensuring that deals were only forecasted when they met specific criteria. This helped create a more predictable and stable revenue stream, which was essential for scaling the business.

Leandro’s Views on Product-Market Fit and Growth for Early-Stage Founders

"Before you chase growth, master your mission, vision, and what truly sets you apart."

• Define Mission and Vision:

  • Common Mistake: Founders often fail to spend enough time understanding who they are and what they want to achieve, leading to unclear direction.

  • Example: Leandro emphasizes the importance of clearly defining your mission and vision to guide all strategic decisions and avoid misalignment.

• Identify Core Competency and Value Proposition:

  • Common Mistake: Many founders neglect to develop a strong, unique value proposition, resulting in a product that doesn’t stand out in the market.

  • Example: Leandro highlights the need to identify what you do best and ensure your value proposition is both better and different from competitors, which is crucial for positioning your product effectively.

• Target the Right Market:

  • Common Mistake: A frequent error is targeting too broad a market without narrowing down to the most relevant segment, leading to wasted resources.

  • Example: Leandro advocates using a "beachhead market" strategy, focusing on a specific segment to gain traction before expanding, ensuring more efficient resource allocation.

• Achieve Problem-Market Fit First:

  • Common Mistake: Founders often rush to product-market fit without first ensuring they’ve solved a real problem better than competitors, which can lead to poor market reception.

  • Example: Leandro stresses that before reaching product-market fit, founders must first achieve problem-market fit by identifying unique solutions to their target market’s pain points, such as through innovative distribution or sales strategies.

• Master Current Sales Motions:

  • Common Mistake: Founders might try to expand into new markets or product lines too early without mastering their initial go-to-market strategy, leading to diluted efforts.

  • Example: Leandro advises that founders should excel at their current sales motions (e.g., inbound marketing or PLG) and deeply understand their ICP before considering expansion, as this can lead to significant growth without adding new products.

Leandro’s Secret Sauce for Being a Successful GTM Leader

"GTM is a team sport—success comes from collaboration across all revenue functions."

• View GTM as a Team Sport:

  • Example: Leandro emphasizes that GTM touches all revenue functions—sales, marketing, customer success, and more. Successful leaders collaborate across all these functions.

• Master One Function First:

  • Example: Early in your career, focus on excelling in one area, like sales or marketing. Leandro suggests becoming an expert in one function before expanding your knowledge.

• Cultivate Curiosity:

  • Example: Leandro advises attending sales calls, QBRs, and understanding the challenges other teams face. This curiosity helps you grasp the broader customer journey.

• Gain Diverse Experience:

  • Example: Work in different sectors—startups, multinationals, vendors, and distributors. This variety gives you a comprehensive view of GTM from multiple perspectives, enhancing your adaptability and execution skills.

We hope Leandro’s insights into go-to-market strategies and sales leadership have deepened your understanding of how collaboration, curiosity, and tailored approaches drive success in today’s markets. His experience in the APAC region and focus on mastering core functions before expansion highlight the importance of strategic alignment and customer focus for sustainable growth. Whether you’re an early-stage founder or a seasoned leader, Leandro’s journey offers valuable lessons on adaptability and execution. Stay tuned and subscribe HERE for more strategies and stories from leaders shaping the future of business.