# Cloud infrastructure: DigitalOcean case study: 33% YoY growth at 37% lower CAC

Startup buyers saw a developer tool. Phi repositioned DigitalOcean for them and ran the SMB outbound motion that sold it across APAC.

DigitalOcean Cloud infrastructure

## Outcome: DigitalOcean results

Growth at a lower cost to acquire.

- 33% Year-over-year growth
- 37% Lower CAC, through precise outbound targeting
- Higher SMB win rates and SQL conversion

Pipeline velocity rose across startup segments. Cold email and call response rates jumped after the messaging overhaul, and more meetings got booked.

## Before Phi: The challenge at DigitalOcean

A developer brand, a startup opportunity.

1. **Developer-first brand**: Strong with developers, weak with startup buyers.
2. **Seen as a tool**: Founders saw DigitalOcean as a tool, not a growth platform.
3. **Untapped SMB demand**: Real demand in the underserved SMB cloud segment, left on the table.
4. **No outbound**: No targeted outreach, and developer messaging didn't land with founders.

## The work: What Phi did for DigitalOcean

Outbound rebuilt from the ground up by full-time lead gen specialists, partnership specialists and RevOps operators, embedded in DigitalOcean's commercial team and executing daily.

1. **Segment ICPs**: Different outreach for solo developers, SaaS startups and digital agencies.
2. **New positioning**: From developer tool to startup-ready cloud partner.
3. **Tested sequences**: Cold email and call copy built on founder pain points.
4. **CRM and reporting**: Workflows, dashboards, TAM maps and performance metrics.

## Testimonial: DigitalOcean, in their words

> “Phi helped us speak the language of startups. Their outbound team delivered pipeline that actually converted, and fast.”

Revenue ops team, DigitalOcean

## Related case studies

[All case studies](https://phi.consulting/proof)

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- **[DataTruck · Sales](https://phi.consulting/case-studies/datatruck-sales)**: $2.5M ARR and a $12M Series A.

## Talk to us: The same system, pointed at your number.

A 30-minute call on your market, your GTM and what is not working. We will tell you if Phi is the right fit.

[Talk to Phi](https://phi.consulting/meet)

Markdown copy of https://phi.consulting/case-studies/digitalocean-sales