Original research

Mason research

What real buyers did before they bought, and what we got wrong finding out.

Mason / Research

We publish what our own research finds, including the parts that did not work. Each report is built from real purchases we studied for B2B companies, with the method, the denominators and the limits on the page. Names are removed. Every number keeps its denominator.

Reports

Latest research

Original research · 4 markets · 89 purchases

What actually comes before a B2B purchase?

We checked 89 real B2B purchases in four markets against each buyer's own year before. Most popular buying signals were just as common a year earlier.

By Shreyan Rajesh · 9 November 2026

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89: real purchases across 4 markets
5 of 20: brands added a finance or inventory system in the buying year, against 1 of 20 the year before
0 of 11: in one market

Original research · 67 B2B sellers · 320 hypotheses

We tested 67 pitched signals for a buying signal benchmark. One held as worded.

29 more held once we narrowed them on the evidence, and 16 did not hold. The five moves that changed them, and the four reasons the rest failed.

By Shreyan Rajesh · 9 November 2026

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1: held as first worded, of 46 with a verdict
29: held once narrowed on the evidence
16: did not hold

Field guide · 15 free records · UK, US and global

Which free public records date a buying event to the day?

15 registers and filings from our own research, what each one dates, and what it actually gave us. With the full atlas as a download.

By Shreyan Rajesh · 9 November 2026

15: free records, each used in a real run
116,732: reports in one register, 6 companies shown
$0: to read each one

Market research · 54,968 job ads · August 2026

What do GTM engineer jobs actually ask for?

530 GTM engineering roles filtered from 54,968 job ads: the tools they name, the titles they hide behind, and how often the team already exists.

By Shreyan Rajesh · 9 November 2026

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530: GTM engineering roles at 380 companies
106 of 293: ads read in full named Clay
53 of 66: hiring companies already had people doing it

Market research · 47,985 ads · 658 advertisers

We searched 30 days of the LinkedIn Ad Library. Who works the leads?

A sweep of LinkedIn ads, then a check of each small advertiser's staff. Thin teams were a minority only at 51 to 100 staff.

By Shreyan Rajesh · 9 November 2026

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465 of 658: small advertisers had no sales team or a small one
178 of 187: at 11 to 25 staff
52 of 183: at 51 to 100 staff

Field guide · 4 markets · 1,300+ named relationships

How to find your competitors' customers, and how many you can date

Where competitors publish their customers, what dated those deals, the traps, and a deal-ledger template to download.

By Shreyan Rajesh · 9 November 2026

1,300+: named relationships with competitors' customers
About a third: of 317 deals in one market carried a date
2 of 338: named customers in another were clearly new wins

How we publish

Evidence first, then the story

01

Real purchases.

Every study starts from deals that happened, dated by a record. It is the same research method we use for clients.

02

Every denominator.

"12 of 18", not "67%". Small samples stay small on the page.

03

What failed, too.

Signals that did not hold up are a result. We say which ones and why.

Want this run on your own deals?

We find the companies in your market that are about to buy, with the evidence for each one.

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