Before You Buy That Gartner Subscription: 3 Tests Every Startup Should Run
You're a Series B startup. Revenue's growing. You just hired a VP of Marketing who came from a bigger company. She's pushing for a Gartner subscription. "It's only $75K," she says.
Except it's not $75K. By the time you factor in:
2-3 seats to actually get the right people in front of the right analysts
Fully-loaded cost of the person managing it
Opportunity cost of what else you could do with that investment
You're looking at $150K+ in year one. For a Series B company, that's real money.
So before you write that check, run these three tests.
Test 1: The Briefing Request Test
What it is: Submit a briefing request to the relevant Gartner analysts before buying a subscription.
Why it matters: If analysts won't take a briefing from you, there's probably not enough organic market interest in your category for AR to be worthwhile yet. Analysts take briefings when:
Your category is hot enough they're fielding buyer inquiries
You're differentiated enough to be interesting
Your maturity level makes you coverage-worthy
How to do it:
Start here, with my How to Brief an Analyst post, which goes into detail about crafting and submitting a great briefing request
If you get responses: there's interest, proceed to Test 2
If you get ghosted or "we're not covering that space right now": stop here, don't buy the subscription
Caution! Don’t cheat and let a Gartner sales rep set this up for you! You’ll get the briefing, but lose all the richness of this signal.
What this tells you: Analysts are a leading indicator of buyer interest. If they're not interested in learning about you for free, they're definitely not going to recommend you to buyers they talk to.
Real life caution: I work with many startups whose eager Gartner reps are happy to set up these briefings directly for them. This may feel like an unlock, but it’s actually a trap! You’ll get the briefing, and write the $100K check, all before actually knowing whether these analysts have clients who would be organically interested to learn more about you and your business. The hard way is better - Book these yourself!
Test 2: The Personnel Readiness Test
What it is: Identify if you have ONE person who can maximize a Gartner subscription.
Why it matters: Gartner subscriptions give you inquiry rights - the ability to call analysts and ask strategic questions. But those inquiries are only valuable if you have someone who can:
Go deep on product/technology (technical credibility with analysts)
Think strategically about market positioning, competitive dynamics, roadmap
Synthesize analyst feedback into actionable insights for product, marketing, sales
Build relationships over time (not just transactional)
The persona: Typically this is a senior product marketing leader, chief strategy officer, or very strategic VP of Product. It's NOT:
A junior PMM who needs to ask permission before making strategic decisions
A founder/exec who's too busy to actually use the inquiries
An AR specialist who doesn't have product/strategic authority
How to test it: Ask yourself: "Do I have someone who could call a Gartner analyst TODAY and have a 30-minute strategic conversation about where our market is going, how we should position against competitors, and what capabilities matter most - without needing to loop in 3 other people?"
If the answer is no, you have three options:
Don't buy the subscription yet (use that $100K to hire the right person first)
Buy 2-3 seats so you can cover the gaps (product person + marketing person + strategic person)
Buy one seat, put the senior person who can handle these conversations in it, add a consultant like me to help them make the most of those conversations without a lot of prep.
What this tells you: Buying the seat and then putting the wrong people in it is also a waste of money. A big part of this buying decision is how to set yourselves up to get value out of your investment. Factor this into your $100K calculation. Which brings us to…
Test 3: The Goal Definition Test
What it is: Define specific, measurable goals for your AR investment and validate they're realistic for $100K.
Why it matters: "Analyst relations" is vague. "Get into the MQ" might take 3 years and require multiple seats. Be honest about what $100K in year one can actually accomplish.
Realistic Year 1 Goals for $100-150K Investment:
✅ Get covered by 2-3 key analysts (they know who you are, mention you in inquiries)
✅ Influence 5-10 active evaluations (buyers asking about you specifically)
✅ Validate product roadmap priorities (what capabilities matter for next MQ cycle)
✅ Improve competitive positioning (understand how to differentiate vs. leaders)
Unrealistic Year 1 Goals:
❌ Get into the Magic Quadrant (unless you're already in consideration set)
❌ "Become a leader" (this takes years, multiple evaluation cycles)
❌ Generate 50 influenced deals (you're not established enough yet)
❌ Replace demand gen (AR is influence, not lead gen)
How to define your goals:
What's the 2026 business objective? (e.g., "close 10 enterprise deals >$250K")
How does AR support that? (e.g., "validate we're a credible choice for enterprise buyers")
What's the measurable outcome? (e.g., "get mentioned by analysts in 8 buyer inquiries")
Is that worth $100K? (e.g., "if each influenced inquiry = 50% higher close rate on $250K deals, yes")
Red flags that you're not ready:
"We should do AR because our competitor does"
"It's only $75K" (it's not)
"We need to get into the MQ this year" (unrealistic timeline)
"Everyone at our stage has Gartner" (irrelevant to YOUR business)
Your Decision Framework
When You Should Buy (Despite the Tests)
There ARE situations where you should buy even if you don't "pass" all tests:
You anticipate being covered in Forrester Wave or Gartner MQ in next 12 months - It’s not that you have to subscribe to be included in these (you don’t), but your subscription will allow you critical access to put your best foot forward in these evaluations.
You're getting regular inbound from prospects asking about analyst coverage - If your buyer is pulling you toward the analyst firms, it’s very hard to avoid.
You're Series C+ with enterprise GTM motion - Analyst Relations is tablestakes at these types of companies…for now.
A major competitor just got positioned as leader and it's affecting deals - When prospects are asking "why aren't you a Leader" you need a response. That response usually requires some level of engagement with the analysts to understand their methodology and position yourself differently. (The alternative - trying to discredit the analyst firm - rarely works and can backfire spectacularly.)
One final thought…
I make money helping companies with analyst relations. I SHOULD be telling you to buy the subscription. But the reality is that $100K spent badly on AR is worse than $100K spent well on something else.
If you pass all three tests, Gartner can add tremendous value. If you don't, you're better off waiting until you do—or investing that budget in alternative influence strategies.
The best AR investment isn't the subscription. It's being honest about whether you're ready for it.
Up (and to the right!)
-Elena
