Product & GTM
Channel Conflict
When a company's different sales or distribution channels compete with each other, cannibalizing revenue.
Channel conflict occurs when multiple go-to-market paths interfere with each other — for example, when a company's direct sales team competes with its partner/reseller channel for the same customers, or when a new self-serve product undercuts enterprise sales.
In Practice
The startup's new PLG motion was cannibalizing enterprise deals — prospects who would have signed $100K contracts were instead self-serving at $20K/year.
Why It Matters
Channel conflict can destroy unit economics and create internal friction. VCs evaluate how well companies manage multiple go-to-market motions.
VC Beast Take
Channel conflict is the growing pain of success. If you only have one channel, you don't have this problem — but you probably have bigger ones.
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