The partnership gives startups access to rigorous market research and go-to-market strategy in one coordinated motion — before they go to market on assumptions.

Five Four, the growth agency for B2B startups, today announced a strategic partnership with Midsail Research, naming the firm its exclusive preferred research partner. For early-stage founders working with Five Four, Midsail Research is now the first call when market research is needed.

The partnership closes a gap that derails many early-stage companies: going to market without knowing the market. According to Midsail's own research, nearly seven out of ten founders cited customer discovery or ICP definition as the primary reason early-stage go-to-market efforts struggle. Five Four and Midsail now operate as a coordinated team — the research informs the strategy, and the strategy shapes the research — without the friction of a separate vendor engagement.

"Research isn't a nice-to-have for early-stage companies. It's the foundation that everything else is built on," said Sara Croft, CEO of Five Four. "The more you know about who your buyer is, how they make decisions, and whether your product meets their specifications, the more successful your go-to-market strategy will be. And what if you could do it without feeling like it's slowing down your business? Now that's a win."

The Cost of Going to Market on Assumptions

Early-stage startups face enormous pressure to generate revenue fast. 64% cite go-to-market execution as a top concern, according to the High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report surveying more than 800 startups.

Founders who know their industry well are often tempted to skip research — but inherent biases can derail a product vision. Research firms are frequently too heavyweight for startups. And while LLMs are useful for early ideation, they cannot interview buyers or surface feedback that doesn't already exist online.

"Many founders I speak with worry that research will be too expensive, take too long, or simply deliver answers they could generate with AI. But the real value of qualitative and quantitative research isn't collecting more information, it's replacing assumptions with evidence," says Derek Fox, founder and chief research officer of Midsail Research. "When you're making decisions about your ICP, positioning, messaging, pricing, or product roadmap, being wrong is far more expensive than doing the research. Good research helps founders make fewer costly mistakes and move forward with greater confidence."

One Engagement, One Team

Five Four already understands the business, the product, and the strategic goals before Midsail is brought in. That context transfers directly — founders don't re-explain their company or manage a separate vendor relationship. Five Four's expertise in positioning and go-to-market execution means they can translate a founder's product vision on their behalf, so Midsail hits the ground running.

"What we can get from an interview with an actual buyer that you cannot get anywhere else is the unfiltered truth about how they think about the problem, how they evaluate solutions, and what would actually make them buy," says Fox. "That intelligence is what makes a go-to-market strategy work."

Research in Practice: Wraptor

Wraptor is a first-of-its-kind tapping safety blanket for PVC pipe, built to protect water and utility workers from pipe explosions during wet taps. Entering a market with no comparable product, the founders needed to validate not just who the buyer was, but whether the product would meet the specifications that market actually required.

Before engaging Five Four, Wraptor hired Midsail to conduct primary research into the construction and utilities market — talking to the contractors, safety managers, and procurement decision-makers who would buy the product. The research defined the buyer, validated product specifications against real-world requirements, and surfaced insights that would have taken months to learn through trial and error. When Wraptor arrived at Five Four with that research in hand, the go-to-market strategy came together faster and with more confidence.

For an early-stage company with limited runway and limited time, having that research at the start of the go-to-market engagement was the difference between launching with a strategy and launching with a plan.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260624367474/en/

"Research isn't a nice-to-have for early-stage companies. It's the foundation that everything else is built on," said Sara Croft, CEO of Five Four.