The challenge

When dbt Labs approached us in early 2022, they faced a distinctive challenge. Despite an engaged community of power users and a reputation as an innovator among innovators, they were struggling to tap into the enterprise market.

The company needed to break out of the start-up category and position themselves alongside the industry heavyweights — ideally in time for their upcoming series D funding round. We knew that it was going to take something special to overcome the white noise of tech startup stories that seemed to come and go daily. 

That something special turned out to be dbt Labs founder: Tristan Handy. 

The solution

Unlike so many other ultra-ambitious, chrome-plated tech entrepreneurs, Tristan wasn’t looking for big ideas to sell. He already had a big idea — all he needed was for the world to lean in and listen.

We knew that trumpeting the big idea on its own wouldn’t be enough. But we quickly realized that Tristan had something else other founders didn’t have: his charisma.

Beginning with an exclusive Forbes story, we developed a targeted PR approach that positioned Tristan Handy as a different kind of founder, with a totally unique point of view on the tech industry.

The impact

With fresh takes on industry topics like the future of AI, “founder mode,” and the death of the Modern Data Stack, we secured Tristan features and thought leadership pieces across top-tier publications — including Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Business Insider, TechCrunch and VentureBeat.

dbt Labs was catapulted into the industry spotlight and shifted from a community tool to an enterprise essential. Business Insider described dbt Labs as “the startup that’s quietly become a big-data juggernaut,” and Forbes recognized the company as “a crucial component of the cloud data workflow.“

With a sustained media strategy, we helped dbt Labs translate this momentum into tangible long-term recognition, earning spots on the Cloud 100 list, The Information’s inaugural Enterprise Tech Power List, and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.