The Angel VC

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Once a startup has released the first version of its product, raised some funding, started to get the word out and is getting some traction, the biggest challenge almost always becomes hiring. No matter how great the founders are and how much good advice they get from investors and advisors: You need people to get s**t things done. And before long, you need more people (AKA managers) to help other people get s**t things done, too.

Management 184

Management Leadership Startup Investment 184

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

SEPTEMBER 5, 2015

I'm guessing that at some point before you built your software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, you thought about who might need this kind of product. Maybe you figured it out through market research, your own personal experience and frustration, or a flash of inspiration. Whatever the methodology, either consciously or unconsciously you somehow answered a critical question: Who would need a solution like this?

Market Research 140

Market Research Marketing SaaS Software 140

Chaotic Flow

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

Finding product-market fit is a central, early stage challenge of every startup. SaaS startups, however, have unique advantages. Unlike consumer Internet products, SaaS products are essential business tools. SaaS customers take them very seriously. SaaS customers want to provide feedback and they want to see that feedback acted upon in a timely fashion.

Product Marketing 130

Product Marketing Marketing SaaS Software Development 130

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

One of the most powerful levers for SaaS companies to master is payback period. Payback period is the number of months a company requires to payback its cost of customer acquisition. The median SaaS startup has a payback period of 15 months on a gross margin basis. A short payback period confers two massive advantage to a startups: smaller working capital requirements and a consequent ability to grow much faster.

Startup 127

Startup Sales Hiring SaaS Payment Services 127

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Payment Solutions

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

If you think sales starts and ends with a pitch then I’ve got news for you: You’ve only just scratched the surface. Sales is not just about closing deals - it’s about becoming a student of the market, and letting the market show you opportunities to build a bigger, better business.

Sales 59

Sales Marketing Business 59

The Angel VC

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

[This article first appeared as a guest post on VentureBeat. Thank you for publishing it, VentureBeat. I'm re-posting it here with a few small edits.] Of all posts that I’ve written so far, the one in which I asked what kind of animals you’re hunting was one of the most popular ones. That begs the question: What kind of animals are we hunting? Paul Graham wants to farm black swans.

Investment 125

Investment Startup Finance Business Model 125

Aber Law Firm

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Software developers are really smart (I know, as I work with lots of them on their software development agreements , etc.), but there is one blind spot that I see way too often: they trust their customers too much, and then they take things into their own hands when they don’t get paid. Hey, getting frustrated (even angry) is only natural when someone does not pay what they owe, but not handling it the right way is not.

Software Development 52

Software Development Outsourced Development Software Review Development 52

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

SaaS Enabled Marketplaces benefit from a unique advantage in their go-to-market. They have a panoptic view of their market place, which over time provides them an unassailable competitive advantage. SEMs provide software to suppliers and consumers, and then make a market between them. The first SEMs flourished in advertising. Google manages one of the world’s largest advertising market places.

Marketplace as a Service 110

Marketplace as a Service Data Advertising SaaS 110

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

Vertical SaaS requires a different go-to-market than horizontal SaaS companies. Vertical software companies, a recent important trend in SaaS startups, pursue customers only in a particular industry. They trade a more narrow customer base and consequent reduction in market size for a competitive advantage in that market segment. The most salient example, Veeva, sells software to the largest life sciences companies, which are subject to a unique regulatory regime in their sales processes.

Startup 102

Startup SaaS Underperforming Technical Team Marketing 102

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ClinicSense is a SaaS platform that supports over 7,000 massage therapists who use it for appointment management, payments, scheduling, marketing activities and more. Despite having a relatively low payment failure rate, the company discovered that the failures disrupted the customer experience. This often led to churn as customers decided to cancel or abandon their account, preventing ClinicSense from realizing the full lifetime value (LTV) of its users.

Payments

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

“What is the one equation that describes our business?” asked Scott, our new director at Google, during one of our first meetings. I had been there only for a few quarters, so I was startled when he asked. I had never viewed our business this way, but after he asked the question, I wondered why I hadn’t. It seemed obvious in retrospect.

Startup 100

Startup Advertising Acquisition Interviewing 100

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Today, 70% of startups in the US that raise a Series A have raised a seed round. That’s up from 50% ten years ago. In the same period, the amount of seed capital invested in the US has increased about 10x from $200M per year to $2B. What does this imply for early stage founders? First, it implies greater competition at the Series A. Larger seed rounds enable a seed stage company to achieve more - more growth, more revenue, more hiring.

Startup 100

Startup Investment Revenue Data 100

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

In 1977, a British polymath named Christopher Alexander , who studied Math and Architecture at Cambridge and was awarded Harvard’s first PhD in architecture, published a book titled A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. This book would transform the architecture world, and more surprisingly, forever influence the way computer scientists write software.

Data 100

Data Construction Software Engineering Engineering 100

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

When writing the post Vertical SaaS Startups Require Different Go To Market Than Horizontal SaaS Companies , I realized that there is a perception on my part and perhaps more broadly that vertical SaaS companies enjoy greater sales efficiencies than horizontal SaaS companies. After all, vertical SaaS companies target a smaller number of potential buyers.

Sales 100

Sales SaaS Market Segmentation Startup 100

Speaker: David Warren and Kevin O’Neill Stoll

Transitioning to a usage-based business model offers powerful growth opportunities but comes with unique challenges. How do you validate strategies, reduce risks, and ensure alignment with customer value? Join us for a deep dive into designing effective pilots that test the waters and drive success in usage-based revenue. Discover how to develop a pilot that captures real customer feedback, aligns internal teams with usage metrics, and rethinks sales incentives to prioritize lasting customer eng

Revenue

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

What do you do when you’re a certain personality type - e.g. high energy, fast and enthusiastic - and your prospect is the exact opposite: deliberate, reserved, quiet. It’s common knowledge in sales that you should pace or mirror your prospect to build rapport. But should you really?

Sales 59

Sales 59

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

Here's the recording of a webinar we did on the seven deadly sins of fundraising. This was my 40 minute webinar, followed by a Q&A. This webinar is more than 1 hour long, so you can either set aside some time to watch it or download our 1-page the fast-action guide.

Startup 52

Startup Sales 52

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

The one thing most beginning salespeople lack more than anything is the ability to sell with confidence. Being able to confidently deliver your pitch and answer the prospect's objections is one of the most important skills to master on your way to becoming a sales pro.

Sales 52

Sales 52

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

In case you’ve missed them or are in serious need of sales motivation quotes, here are all 31 videos we published this month. Theoretically, since each video is less than a minute long, you could watch them in half an hour. Although we can’t guarantee what will happen to you if you do!

Sales 52

Sales 52

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Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

Enterprise

CloseSaaS

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

For Business of Software 2015 (BoS 15) Boston, I recently had the honor of speaking there and giving a sales workshop.

Software 52

Software Business Sales SaaS 52

ReSci

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

There has recently been a lot of hype about marketing automation and predictive analytics. But no tool on the market has been able to deliver on its promises.…. The post Adaptive Lifecycle: Why We Built It [RS Labs] appeared first on ReSci.

Marketing 40

Marketing 40

ReSci

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

Cortex is the industry’s first marketing platform powered by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). It makes decisions based on our deep predictions about where a customer is in their journey, the types of items he or she likes, and the most appropriate discounts for that user. The post The Science Behind Cortex: Prediction-Powered Marketing Automation [RS Labs] appeared first on ReSci.

Artificial Intelligence 40

Artificial Intelligence Marketing 40

ReSci

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

Marketing Automation has been a buzzword for some time now, and it’s easy to see why. Every day, millions of people engage with their favorite brands online, and each user comes with their own stack of behavioral quirks: a wide variety of browsing habits, shopping preferences, and…. The post Marketing Automation’s Fatal Flaw appeared first on ReSci.

Marketing 40

Marketing Branding Engagement 40

Speaker: Jay Allardyce, Deepak Vittal, and Terrence Sheflin

As we look ahead to 2025, business intelligence and data analytics are set to play pivotal roles in shaping success. Organizations are already starting to face a host of transformative trends as the year comes to a close, including the integration of AI in data analytics, an increased emphasis on real-time data insights, and the growing importance of user experience in BI solutions.

Trends

ReSci

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Research has shown that when it comes to customer engagement, email still reigns supreme. Email marketing generated the highest ROI for B2C companies in 2014; 91% of Americans report liking…. The post 5 Email Marketing Tips to Improve Customer Retention appeared first on ReSci.

Retention 40

Retention B2C Marketing Engagement 40

Aber Law Firm

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Software developers are really smart (I know, as I work with lots of them on their software development agreements , etc.), but there is one blind spot that I see way too often: they trust their customers too much, and then they take things into their own hands when they don’t get paid. Hey, getting frustrated (even angry) is only natural when someone does not pay what they owe, but not handling it the right way is not.

Software Development 52

Software Development Outsourced Development Software Review Development 52

Aber Law Firm

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Software developers are really smart (I know, as I work with lots of them on their software development agreements , etc.), but there is one blind spot that I see way too often: they trust their customers too much, and then they take things into their own hands when they don’t get paid. Hey, getting frustrated (even angry) is only natural when someone does not pay what they owe, but not handling it the right way is not.

Software Development 40

Software Development Outsourced Development Software Review Development 40

Aber Law Firm

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Software developers are really smart (I know, as I work with lots of them on their software development agreements , etc.), but there is one blind spot that I see way too often: they trust their customers too much, and then they take things into their own hands when they don’t get paid. Hey, getting frustrated (even angry) is only natural when someone does not pay what they owe, but not handling it the right way is not.

Software Development 40

Software Development Outsourced Development Software Review Development 40

Speaker: Christophe Louvion, Chief Product & Technology Officer of NRC Health and Tony Karrer, CTO at Aggregage

Christophe Louvion, Chief Product & Technology Officer of NRC Health, is here to take us through how he guided his company's recent experience of getting from concept to launch and sales of products within 90 days. In this exclusive webinar, Christophe will cover key aspects of his journey, including: LLM Development & Quick Wins 🤖 Understand how LLMs differ from traditional software, identifying opportunities for rapid development and deployment.

Artificial Intelligence

Aber Law Firm

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Software developers are really smart (I know, as I work with lots of them on their software development agreements , etc.), but there is one blind spot that I see way too often: they trust their customers too much, and then they take things into their own hands when they don’t get paid. Hey, getting frustrated (even angry) is only natural when someone does not pay what they owe, but not handling it the right way is not.

Software Development 40

Software Development Software Review Development Software 40

ReSci

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

As marketers, we know that trends are often fleeting, and that buzz doesn't equal longevity. While this is true for consumer culture, this statement is equally true for marketers. When it comes to marketing trends, buzzwords gain so much traction that it becomes difficult to gauge the concept's true. The post 3 Marketing Trends Worth the Hype — and 1 That Falls Short appeared first on ReSci.

Trends 40

Trends Marketing 40

Aber Law Firm

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Software developers are really smart (I know, as I work with lots of them on their software development agreements , etc.), but there is one blind spot that I see way too often: they trust their customers too much, and then they take things into their own hands when they don’t get paid. Hey, getting frustrated (even angry) is only natural when someone does not pay what they owe, but not handling it the right way is not.

Software Development 40

Software Development Software Review Development Software 40