Selling the Impossible
Frame was a cloud startup with a radical idea that we sublimated into an iconic hook: “Run Any Software in a Browser.” In 2014, that sounded impossible. But we didn’t stop at the hook, we decided to make the world experience it.
This became one of the most effective B2B marketing campaigns of its era. Although we had more that $20M of funding by Microsoft and Bain Capital, we spent zero dollars on paid ads. We used 100% strategy, earned PR and attention grabbing performances at tech events.
A call from Satya Nadella
In 2017, Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, personally invited us to a private meeting at Microsoft Ventures in San Francisco.
He saw Frame not just as another startup, but as a strategic match for Microsoft’s vision of the cloud, the idea that software should live anywhere, accessible to anyone, on any device.
That meeting led to Microsoft’s investment in Frame.
But how did we come to that point? Great product and clever marketing.
The Press: Turning Journalism into a Growth Engine
We knew our audience: decision-makers at the world’s biggest tech companies don’t click ads. They read TechCrunch. They trust Forbes. They remember exclusives.
So we built direct relationships with leading journalists in the cloud and enterprise space. Instead of sending press releases, we gave them private demos – a chance to be the first in the world to showcase Photoshop, AutoCAD, or SolidWorks running seamlessly inside a browser.
Each article became a revelation:
“What you thought required a supercomputer now runs in Chrome.”
Those features — in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and others — were unpaid, exclusive, and organic, front page, possibly worth millions of dollars in exposure and we got them without spending a cent.
They created genuine industry shockwaves, fueling credibility and curiosity at once.
In the months that followed, Frame’s name was echoing across global tech media, and inbound requests were coming from Adobe, Autodesk, HP, Siemens, and even the U.S. Government
Working with NVIDIA and Jensen Huang
We worked closely with NVIDIA, as their hardware became the invisible engine behind the magic – delivering real-time graphics performance that made our bold claim, “Run Any Software in a Browser,” actually possible.
Jensen Huang immediately saw the potential of Frame – a glimpse of how NVIDIA’s hardware could power the next generation of cloud computing, where performance and accessibility finally coexist.
This relationship also aligned perfectly with NVIDIA’s long-term vision – accelerated computing as the foundation of the next industrial revolution – and positioned Frame as one of the earliest companies to prove that vision in action.
The Events: Booth as Performance
While competitors filled expo halls with boring banners and buzzwords, we turned our booth into a live demo theater of our technology.
At AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, Microsoft Ignite in Florida, and other major tech events, our booth stood out with a single line, printed large and clear:
“Run Any Software in a Browser.”
When passersby stopped — usually skeptical — we’d pull out a $100 laptop, ask them what heavy software they used, and open it instantly in a browser tab.
That moment: seeing AutoCAD or Photoshop running on a cheap Chromebook, created shock, laughter, disbelief, and then:
“Can I get your contact?”
It worked every single time.
This wasn’t a booth. It was a live demo of the future.
From naming and packaging to store experience and launch strategy, every element aligns under a unified narrative architecture.
The Results
Without a cent spent on paid advertising, Frame became one of the most valuable cloud app startups in the world.
Our two-channel strategy — earned media + experiential storytelling — created viral trust, not viral noise.
By 2018, the brand’s influence and enterprise traction led to its acquisition by Nutanix for $165 million, positioning Frame as a global symbol of the new era of cloud computing.
Lesson Learned
Enterprise buyers don’t want ads. They want proof, but also emotion and the story behind the demo.
Frame proved that the best marketing doesn’t look like marketing. It looks like history happening in real time.