Successful companies often start with one strategy (lighthouse or land grab) but must evolve to deploy both as they mature, verticalizing to capture lighthouse accounts once social proof is established.
Andy explains that companies usually start with either lighthouse or land grab, but as they grow, they transition to the other strategy—often by verticalizing to target top accounts in specific sectors. ✦ AI generated
Andy · a16z Podcast · 2026-08-13 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 27:20
I I I I'll also say that you know every every small company wants to become a big company. I don't know too many very large successful companies that at some point in time haven't deployed both strategies. You might start off with land grab but then you mature and you have a lighthouse strategy or you start with lighthouse and then you get big enough that you can go broad you know into land grab... in both of the last companies that I worked for both Meraki and Samsara we started with land grab but as soon as we matured... then what do you do? Well you verticalize and all of the sudden like great who are the top five you know transportation companies... and then you want to go take those down and so you can morph into a land grab strategy.
verbatim transcript · starts at 27:20
27:04your customer. Go find someone and show them like here's you know I have an earned secret. This earned secret is that AI can help your business or technology can help your business in this way and you know work with us on that front. >> I I I I'll also say that you know every every small company wants to become a big company. I don't know too many very
27:20large successful companies that at some point in time haven't deployed both strategies. You might start off with land grab but then you mature and you have a lighthouse strategy or you start with lighthouse and then you get big enough that you can go broad you know into land grab. So I think for founders when I get this question early on do what makes the most sense for your
27:39business right now. What does that mean? Go out and talk to customers. Find out where the early earliest and easiest sales are and pursue that strategy. It doesn't mean you're completely you know punting on the other one. It just means come back to it. And in in both of the last companies that I worked for both Meraki and Samsara we started with land grab but as soon as we matured and
27:58started getting up in enterprise then what do you do? Well you verticalize and all of the sudden like great who are the top five you know transportation companies who are the top five warehousing companies who are the top five you know public sector and then you want to go take those down and so you can morph into a land grab strategy. You just want to do what's most efficient
28:17and most effective for the stage of the company you're at. >> Talk Can you talk a little bit about like one of those like key markets that you unlocked with like you went from land grab early to you know lighthouse in a given market? Like what did you how did you set up that team um or like was it just you were the founders that was going in this new market and then like
28:35you know maybe a little bit about some of those deals that you closed. I'm just curious how this played out with the sequencing. >> Well I I think I you know at both Meraki and um Samsara you know the the sort of earliest example of of uh lighthouse was when we verticalized. And in both those instances, it was basically in like public sector. At Meraki, we were going