Sixteen Ventures

AUGUST 14, 2022

NRR is often referred to as the “North Star” metric for SaaS and Subscription companies as, simply put, higher NRR = higher company valuation. If you start falling into the trap of, “we’re only here to make customers happy” or just to “serve customers” or “CSMs shouldn’t be commercial,” you’ll end-up misaligned with your leadership.

Customer Success 97

Customer Success Investment Sales Hiring Retention 97

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 20, 2021

As a result, much of the evaluation, investment, and rollout of virtual training technology in 2020 was rushed, limited in scope, and poorly planned. Businesses must take a step back, evaluate their software investments, and rework their implementations. How to maximize customer training investment. Today, not much has changed.

Investment 94

Investment Technical Review Underperforming Technical Team Scale 94

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2023

If you treat them well on the way out and trust they’re making decisions that are good for their business, and if you have a great product, they’ll likely come back in a few years or refer others to you over time. People come back or refer people if they’re treated well. The Lesson: End every relationship in a human-first way.

Scale 206

Scale Leadership Scaling Customer Success 206

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

In leadership, there’s a great expression that “to those who much is given, much is expected.” Failure #4: Not Investing In Systems This is a big mistake many make in the beginning, and it can be challenging to recover from. Invest in back-office systems early. What are the things that matter to you the most?

Scale 227

Scale Sales Hiring SaaS Scaling 227

SaaStr

DECEMBER 3, 2021

Aydin Senkut’s firm, Felicis Ventures, takes this so seriously that they started an initiative called the Founder’s Development pledge, a program that offers founders executive coaching, therapy, leadership training courses, etc. Senkut refers to this dynamic as a “trust battery” that needs replenishment for the most productive partnerships.

Development 225

Development Entrepreneurship Company Culture Leadership 225

SaaStr

JUNE 3, 2022

The “who” refers to all the individuals connected to your company. Community is an investment. Align community goals with top-level business goals and get everyone in leadership on board. That’s where they’ll see the value, and that’s where you’ll get the most value.”. No, not the band. Trust is everything.

Enterprise 207

Enterprise Leadership Customer Success Startup 207

SaaStr

APRIL 20, 2022

This period, often referred to as The Great Resignation, shows us how important it is to take measures to retain our employees. Invest in your team’s development. ” One of the best ways to do culture-build is to invest time in making genuine connections with your people.

Sales Hiring 203

Sales Hiring Scale Retention Sales 203

SaaStr

JULY 7, 2021

If your prior investors aren’t 100% positive, or at least, 90% positive on the investment … usually … the Next Round guys simply won’t invest. They will almost instantly smell the lack of commitment, and see it as a sign not to invest. You can game this. If you are struggling, and ask for more money, you may get it.

Banking 351

Banking Venture Capital Finance Investment 351

SaaStr

JULY 13, 2022

When hiring, do the reference checks yourself. Not having exemplary sales leadership: The sales lead should not just manage the dashboard efficiently. you’re invested in their growth as much as yours. Recognize that every product is different. You could even try a mock role-play over a call to test their sales skills.

Scale 211

Scale Sales Hiring Revenue Marketplace as a Service 211

SaaStr

MAY 6, 2021

Just note, you’ll need a strong balance sheet and stable investments — it takes money to make money. Market: products that aligned with her experience but that she was emotionally invested in and excited about. People’s past accomplishments and references tell you more than their interview. What are the tricky things?

Sales Hiring 227

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 227

Intercom, Inc.

JULY 13, 2021

It may sound like a lot of time to invest at the outset, but it saved us time in the end. Solution: We added many new competencies, including leadership, commercial thinking, research, prototyping, and more. These are all essential to designers’ success, but previously we didn’t reference them in our job levels.

Interviewing 271

Interviewing Leadership Engineering Communication 271

Sales Hacker

MAY 31, 2023

Where to find them : LinkedIn Key Insights Building Strong Teams through Thought Leadership. In the episode, there was an extensive discussion around the importance of fostering thought leadership within a sales team. The Role of Community in Sales Success.

Sales 85

Sales Leadership Development Engagement 85

Intercom, Inc.

MAY 20, 2019

The other path, the one I’ll focus on in this post, continues along the journey of individual contributor : to mastery of the craft of design, to leadership without the need to manage, to above all else shipping great work. Another dimension on which behaviors can be assessed is whether you are demonstrating leadership in your role.

Development 223

Development Leadership AI Search Communication 223

SaaStr

MARCH 30, 2021

We invest outsized amounts in “customer success” — in our existing customers to get the best referrals and other customers from them. Nurture those VCs over time , so when the time comes to raise another round, some of the prospects are pretty far down the path of wanting to invest; and. Danger, Will Robinson.

Sales Funnel 363

Sales Funnel Investment Metrics Customer Success 363

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2021

If you have options, if more than one VC wants to invest in you — do reference checks. It’s not your company anymore at that point. Pick VCs on your board, especially early stage VCs, that you trust. This will go a long way. On the individual partner, not just the firm. Look at the track record of the Series A-B-C VCs you bring in.

Finance 346

Finance Investment Marketing Leadership 346

ChurnZero

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

Having this sort of information in your back pocket means you have it at your fingertips to quickly reference on customer calls, such as your Quarterly Business Reviews. . Share news that could be affecting their business or their goals, discuss possible impacts of new leadership, or any possible changes to their priorities.

Customer Success 98

Customer Success Technical Review Leadership Technology 98

User Pilot

NOVEMBER 23, 2023

That’s what Dave Martin , a product leadership coach, has talked about in his talk at this year’s Product Drive Summit hosted by Userpilot. Leadership and investors often challenge them because they can’t see anything tangible that they’re paying for. How is the outcome-based roadmap different from regular roadmaps? Product vision.

Scale 101

Scale Underperforming Technical Team Sales Recruiting Software Review 101

Mucker Capital

APRIL 2, 2024

Buyers may also struggle to justify investments in new purchases and to convince their leadership team of the worth. Hard Cost This refers to money spent outside the company on materials, software, technology, etc. Four Main Categories Where Pain Can change to Value.

Sales Recruiting 52

Sales Recruiting Technical Review Enterprise Cybersecurity 52

SaaStr

JULY 7, 2023

I remember I first started to see this with one company I invested in where some folks described it as “Gong for XYZ”.

Marketing 218

Marketing Sales Interviewing Enterprise 218

Andreessen Horowitz

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

We spend time looking at their org savvy, their leadership skills. And then I also think with references, founders are typically showing up with their 5 to 7 reference questions. What are the tips that you have for reference processing both on the front door and the back channel references?

Sales Recruiting 79

Sales Recruiting Technical Advisors Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team 79

Buffer Resources

AUGUST 16, 2023

Invest in technology Clients expect agencies to be at the forefront of technological advancements. We recognized this early on and invested in cutting-edge tools and software that streamlined our internal processes and efficiency. We encouraged our clients to refer us to potential customers, significantly boosting our business growth.

Scale 81

Scale Scaling Strategy Social Media 81

Tom Tunguz

MAY 8, 2018

The company leadership set corporate OKRs. OKRs demand an investment and a commitment to the process. Doerr refers to OKRs as the first gift he gave Google. There are many goal management techniques, each with positives and negatives. I found OKRs effective for two reasons because of the way Google deployed them.

Scale 162

Scale Construction Leadership Startup 162

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 24, 2023

It’s critical we re-invest in it. Build alignment Generate clarity and excitement with teams and leadership. Validation The vision was a big bet, with a large investment required. This deck helped leadership understand and buy into the work. Our major virtual launch event, New at Intercom, was six months away at the time.

Leadership 118

Leadership Branding Engagement Interviewing 118

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 8, 2019

The other path, the one I’ll focus on in this post, continues along the journey of individual contributor : to mastery of the craft of design, to leadership without the need to manage, to above all else shipping great work. Another dimension on which behaviors can be assessed is whether you are demonstrating leadership in your role.

Leadership 152

Leadership AI Search Communication Engineering 152

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

It’s hard enough to position your own company and product, let alone create a cognitive reference for an entire industry. A signal of success in time will be recognizing that you’re not the only one screaming your category name into a void, but rather others in the marketplace are starting to refer to it accurately as well.

Scale 108

Scale Sales Recruiting Marketplace as a Service Forecasting 108

Totango

JUNE 28, 2022

But during an economic downturn , when companies are cutting costs and putting a halt on investing in new products, the CMO’s focus has to switch from facilitating growth through new customers to promoting growth via the company’s current customer base. . Maximize Your Return on Investments.

Scale 73

Scale Headcount Systems Review Communication 73

Sales Enablement, SaaS and Growth

MARCH 23, 2020

Customer > Team > Individual During my time at HubSpot, the leadership team shared this mental model to help with decision-making. The lesson here is to view your products in terms of S Curves and ensure you’re investing in your next greatest hit. Sharing knowledge and ideas demonstrates true leadership and confidence.

Underperforming Technical Team 213

Underperforming Technical Team Scale Sales Hiring Marketplace as a Service 213

SaaStr

MARCH 17, 2020

Learn from Talkdesk SVP of Client Services how to build a Customer Reference Program. Without considerations and principles Customer Reference Programs can falter. Customer reference program went from something that was nice to have and important to absolutely critical to our new business sales cycle. It was a category leader.

Scale 142

Scale Payment Services Sales Hiring Payment Methods 142

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

If you told me there was an employment strategy that would improve my company’s employee retention, hiring, and productivity — yet I ignored it — I bet you’d question my leadership. . Hiring is expensive, and there’s nothing worse than losing an employee prior to seeing the impact of your investment come through. .

Business 151

Business Software Engineering Company Culture Retention 151

ChurnZero

JUNE 10, 2021

The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria: entrepreneurial leadership; talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans. ChurnZero is headquartered in Washington, D.C. About You Mon Tsang.

Entrepreneurship 98

Entrepreneurship Innovation Consulting Leadership 98

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 9, 2022

Approaches vary from top-down (leadership pushes goals all the way to sellers) and bottom-up (sellers and managers determine realistic goals and commitments and roll them up). Separate from the sales forecast , seller capacity refers to the probability of achieving quota for a given seller. Many recommend a hybrid approach.

Scale 97

Scale Headcount Sales Forecasting 97

Buffer Resources

AUGUST 16, 2023

Invest in technology Clients expect agencies to be at the forefront of technological advancements. We recognized this early on and invested in cutting-edge tools and software that streamlined our internal processes and efficiency. We encouraged our clients to refer us to potential customers, significantly boosting our business growth.

Scale 52

Scale Scaling Strategy Social Media 52

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 27, 2022

When a deal was lost and the sales rep would change the stage in their CRM system to “Closed Lost,” a notification was triggered to each member of the organization’s senior leadership team. Measure the time invested. I’m happy to refer you to others.”. Put yourself in the rep’s shoes. What typically happens?

Forecasting 86

Forecasting Systems Review Leadership Sales 86

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 7, 2021

For every member that’s referred by another member, we’ll plant 250 trees. Identify the decision makers in the organization that’ll ultimately be the ones to promote you into that next company or into that first leadership role. Invest time and energy in building out that professional network. Finally, Vidyard.

Branding 79

Branding Technical Review Underperforming Technical Team Sales Hiring 79

Buffer Resources

MARCH 21, 2024

Cost and time saving: Creating new blog content requires significant upfront investment. Cross-promote your content If you reference, quote, or link to noteworthy industry accounts in your original blog article, be sure to tag them using @mentions in the LinkedIn version. This exposes your content to their whole network.

Social Media 107

Social Media Engagement Branding Construction 107

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

You said before, to me, it’s the believing in kind of participatory leadership over servant leadership. I don’t subscribe to the servant leadership model. Harry Stebbings: I think that participation and leadership is almost like a luxury of later stage companies. Andy MacMillan: Yeah. Let’s do it.

Sales Hiring 189

Sales Hiring Scale Leadership Sales Enablement 189

SaaSHolic

MAY 5, 2023

The speakers believe that the next 10 years will be better for the region, with opportunities for investment in various industries using technology to solve problems. Latin America has interesting characteristics that make it a viable place for investment, including a high level of internet penetration and social engagement.

Technical Review 90

Technical Review VP of Engineering Development Team Review Software Review 90