How To Compete When You're An Underdog

Forbes

15-07-2025

Christian Hyatt is the CEO and Cofounder of risk3sixty. As a cybersecurity expert, he has overseen more than 2000 engagements.
Running an independent, self-funded business means embracing a different kind of challenge. Without the backing of outside investors or deep-pocketed funding, success depends on making smart, deliberate choices—investing in growth sustainably, building a strong team and focusing on long-term value over short-term hype.
This kind of business model offers freedom—freedom to treat clients exceptionally well, to build a meaningful internal culture and to take risks based on values rather than investor expectations. It's part of what makes smaller, more agile firms stand out. But it also means operating as the underdog.
Underdogs don't have the luxury of massive marketing budgets or the ability to burn through cash to dominate visibility. Larger, heavily funded companies can flood the market, grab attention and expand aggressively—regardless of whether they're profitable. Competing with that kind of presence is daunting.
But while underdogs may never outspend the competition, they can outthink them.
So, how do smaller players thrive in an industry dominated by giants? By being scrappy, creative and relentlessly focused on what truly matters—delivering exceptional value, forging strong relationships and staying nimble enough to seize opportunities the big players miss.
3 Ways To Win As An Underdog
In 2020, we decided to start producing free content for cybersecurity and compliance experts. Our logic is that if we "give first," some of the folks enjoying our content will decide they want to do business with us one day.
Since then, we have produced hundreds of videos on YouTube, hosted webinars every month, published hundreds of free guides and templates, created complete courses, spoken at dozens of conferences and more.
It takes a lot of work to produce content consistently. Thousands of hours of effort. But we felt convinced that if we focused on serving the people in our community, we would eventually earn a few raving fans.
Over 1 million people have viewed our content, and many of our sales prospects refer to our content while engaging with or using our services during the sales process. We made the first move, and a few people decided to do business with us.
To be clear, I'm not saying that you need to start creating content. But you do need to think about how to give as much value as possible to the people you serve—and do it. Do it generously. With no strings attached. And eventually it will pay off.
Underdogs that give the most win.
The Cheesecake Factory has 47,500 employees and 213 locations. Their menu is a small book, they are located in prime locations and they have huge negotiation power with their suppliers. They have built a solid company.
However, in Atlanta, there is a little Barbecue restaurant called Heirloom Market Barbecue. It's a single location—a hole-in-the-wall joint. But I'll be darned if that place isn't the first Micheline Star restaurant in Atlanta.
So, what do they do that others can't?
People: The two chefs in the back. Yeah, that's the owners. They are there every day. Heirloom has an elite staff that makes it run like a finely tuned machine.
Process: Cooking process and recipes honed over a decade that result in a consistently great product.
Technology: Fresh ingredients, wood-fired smoker built by the expert chefs who work the grill every day.
They solve barbeque better than anyone.
That same lesson applies to all the underdogs out there. You do not have the luxury of being like The Cheesecake Factory. Instead, you have to niche down. You have to have a singular focus on a single problem better than anyone else in the world.
Niches are where underdogs win.
I recently read a biography of Warren Buffett. What resonated with me about Warren Buffett is his long-term "buy and hold" investment strategy. That mindset allows you to make prudent long-term value decisions that directly benefit our most important stakeholders: our clients and our team.
The funny thing is that kind of long-term thinking is out of style. It's almost old-school thinking. It flies in the face of all the headlines you see in the technology and SaaS space. All of the "Unicorns," the big rounds of investments and billion-dollar valuations we see in the tech space.
But then I remember what Buffett said: "Time loves a good business."
Now, don't get me wrong. I respect the founders out there who achieve "Unicorn" status. That is a fantastic accomplishment. However, I would encourage more of us to think of ourselves as an investment you "buy and hold." From my experience, the surest path to business success is doing the right thing consistently, for a really long time.
To endure.
The fact is that most folks aren't willing to do something that long and that consistently. Endurance and sustained discipline are hard. However, it all but guarantees success if you do.
For Underdogs, time is on our side. And, I'll repeat it: "Time loves a good business."
That's because, by necessity, we underdogs have finely tuned our business model for sustainability. It is in our DNA to run lean, serve our customers, serve our team members and earn a profit. Our culture tends to be genuine because it was forged over time, not purchased during the last round of funding. The result? Underdogs have the opportunity to be predictable, stable, value-based and consistent.
The long road is where Underdogs win.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?