Product-led growth strategy

PLG and enterprise sales, SaaS pricing strategy, OPT options • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 21, 2022Posted in cloud infrastructure, EC roundup, immigration law, Product-led growth strategy, Startups, TechCrunch Disrupt 2022, VentureNo Comments

After staging our first ZebethMedia Disrupt in San Francisco in three years, Slack is much quieter than usual this morning. My colleagues are flying home to cities as far flung as Taipei, Paris and London; I just took a streetcar home, which should keep my expense report simple. Moscone Center did not look like we’re experiencing a downturn in tech: the Expo Hall and demo booths were buzzing, and attendees were networking with enthusiasm in the hallways (are business cards making a comeback?). Full ZebethMedia+ articles are only available to membersUse discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription Next week, I’ll share a recap of the panel I moderated, “Taking the BS out of your TAM.” In a conversation with Kara Nortman (Upfront Ventures), Aydin Senkut (Felicis Ventures) and Deena Shakir (Lux Capital), we explored the many mistakes first-time founders make when calculating the size of their market, and pinned down the information investors are actually looking for. Everyone had actionable insights to share, and more than one attendee stopped me in the hallways afterwards to let me know how much they appreciated our frank discussion. If you don’t want to wait for my recap, you can watch a video of the panel right now. Thanks again to everyone who participated! Walter ThompsonEditorial Manager, ZebethMedia+@yourprotagonist 2023 VC predictions: Finding an exit from the ‘messy middle’ Eric Tarczynski, managing partner and founder of Contrary Capital, says we are entering a “messy middle” era for venture capital: “Companies can no longer raise $5 million to $10 million seed rounds with nothing but a deck and the assumption that revenue multiples will skyrocket beyond historical norms,” he writes in a TC+ guest post. Looking ahead to 2023, Tarczynski foresees an environment where “the VC landscape has started to bifurcate,” as “slow M&A activity and no IPOs” and “good companies in ‘safe’ industries” temper investor expectations. Read this before you reprice your SaaS product because of the downturn Image Credits: Richard Drury (opens in a new window) / Getty Images Many startups are lowering their prices in an attempt to retain customers and reduce churn during the downturn. “But is that actually helpful advice for SaaS founders?” asks Torben Friehe, CEO and co-founder of Wingback. “As far as I can see, it isn’t for most.” Instead of being reactive, Friehe says SaaS startups should instead revisit their ideal customer profile and revise their messaging. “This adverse economic climate may actually be a time when you have more leverage and can demand higher prices for your product.” Dear Sophie: How can I launch a startup while on OPT? Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/ZebethMedia Dear Sophie, I’m an international student in the U.S. in F-1 status. I will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science this May and plan to apply for OPT. I want to launch a startup. Can I do that with OPT? What options would I have after OPT to continue growing my company? — Forward-Looking Founder The Great Migration and the next 10-year cycle in cloud Image Credits: Tim Robberts (opens in a new window) / Getty Images Now that the public cloud market has undergone a correction after years of growth, will seasoned workers look for greener pastures at smaller companies? According to Andy Stinnes, general partner at Cloud Apps Capital Partners, we’re entering a decade-long cycle that will spark a Great Migration of talent. “The answer is clear once you think about it,” he says. “Companies are extending cash runways, and cloud leaders are feeling that pain as they lay off parts of their teams and face even more work and pressure.” How to combine PLG and enterprise sales to improve the funnel and drive bottom-line growth Image Credits: Richard Drury (opens in a new window) / Getty Images Products and services that sell themselves sound great, but product-led growth (PLG) startups still launch marketing campaigns and hire sales teams. Combining PLG with traditional sales-led growth efforts can raise retention and acquisition to the next level, says Kate Ahlering, chief revenue officer at Calendly. In this TC+ guest post, Ahlering lays out multiple strategies that will help teams implement a “hybrid GTM strategy,” which includes suggestions for leveraging PLG data and optimizing success metrics.

How to go from popular to profitable during a downturn • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 12, 2022Posted in Column, EC Column, EC How To, product led sales, Product-led growth strategy, profitability, StartupsNo Comments

Nick Mills is a go-to-market leader with more than 20 years of experience building tech companies, including roles at Stripe, Facebook and CircleCI, and supporting early-stage startups as an investor and adviser. He is currently president at Pitch. As a tougher funding climate starts to bite, it’s time to ditch the past decade’s “growth-at-all-costs” mantra. Telling investors about your viral user growth is no longer enough — they want to know how it translates to revenue, resilience and runway. The ongoing market uncertainty is a particularly loud wake-up call for founders pursuing product-led growth. The go-to-market motion pioneered by the likes of Slack and Dropbox revolutionized how teams adopt and purchase software. However, even the best PLG products don’t propel their own viral popularity forever, and all companies eventually face a similar challenge: To keep growing, sales teams must be hired and a pipeline must be built. As VC funding dries up, a particularly perilous path lies ahead for PLG startups. Those on the path to revenue growth have no margin for error, and founders face a series of tough calls: which teams to layer in, when to do so and how to set them up for success. These decisions will dictate whether a PLG-driven startup will sink or swim. I’ve spent more than two decades building, scaling and advising teams tasked with bringing software products to market. While it’s true that every business is different, there are a few commonalities in every go-to-market journey I’ve been a part of. Don’t fear the demand plateau — plan for it. Here’s a roadmap founders can use to build on their PLG strategy and plot a route from product-led popularity to sustainable profitability. Size up the piece of the pie you can win now The serviceable addressable market (SAM) is where the go-to-market journey really begins. The little sibling of the total addressable market (TAM), a figure often thrown about during fundraising, the SAM is the piece of that pie you can win right now. It’s vital to understand which market segments your product can address and your go-to-market team can tackle. To gain that understanding, here are a few questions you should be asking: Which qualities do our existing customers share? What problems do they currently face? How do they approach adopting and buying software? Invest the time to establish the criteria that define your ideal customer profile. Searching for your SAM is a continuous process, especially as the capabilities of your team and product expand, but arriving at a clear understanding of your initial SAM is milestone No. 1 in your go-to-market journey. Qualify your best leads Your search for the SAM should have given you a sense of the sign-ups you’re trying to drive, and with any luck, you’ve won some active users. With your acquisition channels up and running, the next milestone in your go-to-market journey is defining a product-qualified lead (PQL).