SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK
The three key interrelated metrics you need to build a great startup (CAC, LTV, and payback period).
Top 10 in Tech - What to know for the week ending March 5, 2021
SALES
Being the first sales rep at a SaaS startup is challenging for both the rep and the founders. Here are some reasons why and here is what you can do about it (and make sure the good ones never leave) - hint it's the Comp Plan!
SELLING
In the COVID/WFH current norm, remote recruiting, remote pitching, and remote selling are new skills we are all learning. So for all of you now selling remote, or if your customers are so globally distributed, selling remote IS the norm, check this sweet guide from Hubspot and Vidyar containing 10 proven Video Script and email templates for remote selling.
JTBD
Jobs to be Done is one of my favorite frameworks - it's a way to make the process of innovation accessible and tangible in very pragmatic ways. Take a deeper read here on a lightweight JTBD framework - broken down with real-world business examples - or skip straight to the templates
CONTENT MARKETING
Great content marketing efforts are what make this newsletter work, here is an extensive review of SaaS Content marketing, with the efforts of over 500 companies being analyzed. TL;DR Blog and write (but do it well), be consistent, test, and always offer something valuable in your content. Also, be sure to check this Content Marketing Benchmark report that analyzed 150,000,000 page views from dozens of SaaS companies! (TL;DR: 60% of total traffic came from organic search and was the fastest-growing channel (9%); deliver value within the first 400 words; Create tutorial content)
CUSTOMER RETENTION
The global pandemic has been rough for everyone, including, quite possibly, your customers. So here is a customer retention strategy well aligned for 2021 (using the thriving-striving-surviving health score). It's also really important to conduct a solid churn analysis (starting with a breakdown of internal vs external reasons).
MOATS
I've mentioned this in past posts, Moats are one of the best ways to provide a competitive advantage for your business and moats come in all kinds of different flavors (such as speed, brand, or growth). But here is a great one that conceptually covers b2b and b2c: Emotion. When it comes to pure B2B this post lists some popular and effective ways companies create moats for their products.
PRODUCT LEAD GROWTH
You may have heard me talk about this category from time to time. But here is a sub-category term for you: Product-Led Storytelling. PLG isn’t for everyone, some people, like the author of this article, call it hype, but probably so he can hammer home his agenda/story: That Product-Led Storytelling is way cooler.
GOVERNANCE
Alexander Jarvis has a great post on when and how to start thinking about forming a boardand Mark Suster (from Upfront Ventures) has a series on his Medium Blog covering StartUp Boards one of which is a post that shows a board structure based on stage! He also provides a blog post AND a 43 slide presentation on Managing Startup Boards with really interesting (for founders at least) continuous integration/agile approaches to management.
CASE STUDY
This week, it is all about Postmortem lessons learned: From Tracy Young (co-founder of PlanGrid), The truth about starting a Startup, and Calvin French-Owen (co-founder of Segment) haslessons for early-stage founders.