The Great MarTech Debate

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Build or Buy? A question as old as time. And one that modern orgs continually ask when it comes to Martech. Over the course of my early career, I've helped architect the MarTech stacks behind some of the largest US digital brands... My thoughts on "Build vs Buy" in a 🧵

1. Answering Build vs. Buy is a Balancing Act. There are pros and cons to both sides of the argument that you must take into account to determine what's best for your organization.

2. At the end of the day though, "Build or Buy?" isn't the question you should be asking. What you should be asking is "What gets us to where we need to be?" To answer that question, you need to take into account 4 key considerations...

3. First, Martech's Law. Technology Changes at an Exponential Rate. MarTech innovation specifically moves at a rapid clip and it’s incredibly hard for organizations to keep up.

4. Yes, agile organizations move quicker than the majority. But they likely still aren't at the forefront of technological change.

5. Adopting new technologies enables organizations to reset their trajectory to get them to where they need to be. From there, they can build on top of those leading technologies and continue on a new trajectory.

6. Second, only Build when you can Create Valuable Differentiation. Don't reinvent the wheel - speed to market is critical and building technology that is readily available on the market will only hold you back.

7. Third, Opportunity Cost is Expensive. Your people are your most important resource. Having those resources reinvent the wheel for minute gains = lost opportunity to create NEW value elsewhere.

8. Lastly, the MarTech Landscape is Mature. We are late to a (never-ending) game. The features you are looking for are likely* already entire companies with 100+ engineers working on them daily.

9. So what should you do? I can't tell you exactly what that answer is. But I can tell you the stance I take 9/10 times. License World-Class Products, Build Differentiated Capabilities on top of them and Invest in the Connective Tissues.

10. Licensing World-Class Products allows you to leverage the best-in-class capabilities of market leading products - without wasting resources on undifferentiated builds. ex. You don't need to build an ESP from scratch (see @braze or @hubspot)

11. Building Differentiated Capabilities on top enables your team to create experiences that allow you to stand out from the crowd. ex. Proprietary product recommendation engines can be fed into your stack to drive omnichannel personalization.

12. Investing in the connective tissue allows you to create a seamlessly integrated Martech stack that remains as agile as your organization. ex. Data activation platforms allow you to send your customer data anywhere it needs to go in minutes (see @HightouchData)

Huge s/o to @chiefmartec whose content I referenced in some of the tweets as guiding principals. Want to challenge my thinking or jam out on Martech in general? My DMs are always open.