The Esri OEM Line: Zero to $2.9M in Under Two Years
" I proposed a business line that didn't exist yet. Then I had to prove it before anyone else would believe in it. "
Situation : I'd just come off leading Geoloqi through its acquisition by Esri, and within a few weeks of joining, I saw something the company hadn't addressed yet: our mapping and GIS capability could be licensed directly into the business software people were already using - BI tools, CRMs - instead of only being sold as a standalone product.
Problem : There was no OEM or developer channel inside Esri to build this on. No internal playbook, no dedicated team, no existing revenue line. Before I could build anything, I had to make the case that the opportunity was real.
What I Did :
I pitched it directly to the CEO and VP of Global Sales, and they gave me free rein to go after it.
I picked my first targets by asking which customer bases actually needed geospatial capability - not just which platforms had the biggest name.
I built the commercial terms and packaging from nothing, then closed the first deal. That's what made the second and third conversations easier.
I built and led a team of 17 across our startup program, developer evangelism, industry marketing, and strategic partnerships.
Result : In under two years, we took the line from zero to $2.9M in revenue and landed four of the top six business intelligence platform companies as clients. The MicroStrategy and Information Builders alliances went far enough that Esri maps became the default map inside their products - Analytics Desktop and WebFOCUS.
Lesson
What I took from it : Who you land first determines who follows. The first deal in a new line isn't just revenue - it's the proof the second and third buyers need before they'll say yes.