Solea: how a new name became a market leader in pest control software.

Where Solea started

Solea had just raised its seed round, and everything was happening at once: hiring, selling, and getting ready for a major customer launch. The question was what deserved the team's attention.

“We just needed to start to professionalize and structure things better.”

Chris looked at other coaches and decided against adding a board member, because he wanted someone he could be completely open with. He chose Noah because Noah had built and scaled a company himself, made mistakes along the way, and cared.

One problem at a time

Using a strategic scorecard, Solea put its problems in order and focused on the single most critical one, every month or two:

1. Getting the first customer fully live on Solea.

2. Bringing a large operator onto the platform in its peak season.

3. Building a product clearly 10x better than what the industry runs on.

4. Credibility.

The credibility problem

Pest control companies have run on the same software for 20 years. Switching their system of record is a big bet, and Solea was a new name. Most lost deals weren't lost on price. Buyers were afraid of the migration, or they heard “you're a new company” and stalled.

So credibility became the rallying cry. Solea published customer case studies, rebuilt its website, and hired its first marketer, and deals that used to stall started closing. This fall Solea signed its biggest customer to date in two weeks.