Yesterday, I spoke at the Churn Zero Big Ryg customer success conference in a session titled, “When customer success is a second-class citizen”. Throughout my time as an entrepreneur and working in startups, I’ve always been responsible for customer-facing functions—sales, support, and customer success. And now, as an outside advisor to growing startups, I am […]
Can Professional Services and SaaS Coexist?
My SaaS and startup DNA includes a lot of experience in running professional services organizations. But knowing how professional services revenue is valued in the market (not as much as you would think), and how hard it can be to maintain high margins, I can never recommend a SaaS launch a professional service offering. But […]
How and Why to do Quarterly Reviews
If you know me, you know I really dislike annual performance reviews. I think everyone dislikes them actually. No surprise there. And yet, formalized time to discuss employee performance, goals, and growth is important. I think a quarterly cadence is the right frequency that fits with the rhythms of modern work. Here are some tips […]
Sales Motions for a Product-Led Company
A reoccurring theme of conversations I’ve had lately is what types of sales-motions fit best at a product-led company, and how to get an inside sales machine set up to complement product-led growth. Many product-led companies start out purely product-led. There may be some light sales assistance, but the bulk of new customer acquisition comes […]
How to Roll Out OKRs for the First Time
Many companies struggle to roll out OKRs for the 1st time. It takes a few OKR cycles to feel like you really hit your stride. So, it’s probably not going to go perfectly when you are just getting started with OKRs, and that’s OK. Here are a few tips to help smooth the path and […]
My (Real) Advice for Handling all the Post-Acquisition Feelings
SaaS acquisitions have been “frothy” (to say the least) over the past 5+ years. And while valuations may push lower given the current climate, the M&A market for SaaS is probably going to increase as more companies explore financing options in the Coronavirus era. This is not an article about how to get acquired. It’s […]
Who owns SaaS customer revenue?
In the past, I’ve shared some perspective about whether sales or customer success should own SaaS customer expansion and renewals, and the answer was a resounding, “it depends”. “It depends” is one of my least favorite responses to a question. But in this case, it’s true. Ultimately both sales and customer success can be equally […]
A Straightforward Approach to Strategic Planning for Startups
Strategic planning is an area that many startup leadership teams struggle with. It’s often something companies want to do but don’t make time for. Or when they do it, it doesn’t really fit their business operating system and it ends up being outdated and forgotten as soon as planning is over. Until you have gone […]
How to Bring New Leadership into Your Startup
Someone asked me recently what the best way to introduce a new sales leader to a team is, and it reminded me of an answer I posted on Quora a couple of years ago about introducing new leaders into a startup. Sorry for the rhyme, but bringing any new leader into a startup environment is […]
5 Startup Roles That Help you Grow Faster
When you are growing fast you end up spending a lot of time getting the right people into the roles in the right structure to help efficiency, communication, quality, and results. Much of that work ends up being focused on departments, work to be done, and reporting lines. It’s neat and tidy. But, I’ve found […]
