From Demo Treadmill to Strategic Advisor: Why We Built Navattic Launchpad

Below is a note from our CEO and Co-founder, Neil McLean on how his time as an SE at Oracle inspired founding Navattic and eventually, Launchpad.

Launchpad origin story

When I was an SE at Oracle, my manager asked me to create a five-star demo of Oracle’s Analytics Cloud - one that covered the core features, included the “wow” moments of the product, and told a compelling story.

In digging through datasets, I found that there was a dataset around insurance claims after Hurricane Harvey made it’s way through Texas. While the subject matter was anything but light, it told a compelling story around how Oracle’s Analytics Cloud could help you sift through claims, make predictions with high accuracy, and most importantly, enable claims adjustors to take quick action to initiate payments after such a tragedy.

The demo was received well, though almost too well. Reps found out about it and looped me into early-stage calls. I ended up delivering that same Hurricane Harvey claims demo nearly every working day thereafter.

While it was exciting to start, it quickly became mundane to deliver the same canned demo over and over again. - it got to the point where I could recite the talk track in my sleep.

In connecting with other SEs, I wasn’t alone. SE’s like me were stuck doing rote, canned demos when there was so much more we could be doing. This came at a cost - enterprise deals, POCs, and other strategic efforts get squeezed as routine early‑stage demos dominate the calendar.

We thought to ourselves, “there has to be a better way.” What if AEs were equipped to share demos like these without always needing to coordinating a time for us as SEs to join a synchronous call?

Wouldn’t this be a win for all parties involved?

If AEs are enabled to share product demos early in the sales process, prospects could understand core product features sooner, and we as SEs could spend less time on early stage demos.

With our time freed up, we can act as trusted advisors for prospects - jump into strategic problem-solving, shorten time-to-value, and ultimately increase momentum toward closing deals.

While we observed this challenge back at Oracle, Launchpad was born from our Navattic customers. As teams built libraries of interactive demos, they started asking:

“Can our AEs use these, too?”

With Launchpad, the answer is a firm “Yes.”

It provides a centralized way to create, organize and share demos, so reps can send a relevant demo without needing to pull in an SE for every call.

With Launchpad, sales teams can:

Share Demos

1. Empower AEs to share demos, without SE support every time
2. Give prospects hands-on product access right when they’re most interested
3. Track buyer interest to inform smarter, more strategic follow-ups
4. Uncover new members of the buying circle when demos are shared internally
5. Reduce sales cycle time by skipping the wait for intro demos

Create & Present Sandbox Demos

1. Create a lightweight Sandbox that reps can use live on any call
2. Personalize demo data to specific prospects, accounts, or verticals
3. Present demos live with confidence in a stable, standardized environment with presenter notes and optional click guidance
4. Use demos offline at client on-sites or conferences to ensure your demo environment always works as expected

A better buying experience

Today’s B2B buyers want to do their own research. They want to click through the product, not sit through a pitch deck. And they definitely don’t want to wait two weeks just to see the basics.

Whether it’s sharing an interest-level demo with product tours and video content, or showing a sandbox built on Navattic on a live call, Launchpad provides reps greater autonomy to meet buyer demands and share the product.

In doing so, it frees up SEs to focus on high-impact work. Proof of concepts. Technical validation. The deep, nuanced conversations that close deals.

Everyone wins

Here’s what Launchpad unlocks:

• Prospects win: They get instant hands-on access to an informative interactive demo experience
• SEs win: They get back time and energy for meaningful, strategic work
• Companies win: Sales cycles move faster, and conversion rates improve

To me, the most energizing part of being an SE was building trust - showing up as a strategic partner, not just the technical lead that could deliver the demo. Launchpad helps teams do just that. It facilitates 101-level product education, so SEs can show up where they’re needed most.

If you’re tired of the same demo over and over, or if your SE team is buried under basic walkthroughs, Launchpad is here to help.

Let’s get SEs back to doing what they do best.