#highlights
Your software product today is a tool, and it might already be possible for you or a competitor to build an AI-first product that does the work for your customers without any ongoing effort on their part. If not, it’ll probably be possible soon. Either way, a level of disruption that was not possible a few years ago is now possible in almost every software category.
Great startup leadership is about saying no to the bad ideas, sure. But mostly, great startup leadership is about saying no to most of the good ideas too. The decisions that make a mediocre startup a generational company are the decisions to not pursue legitimately huge ideas in favour of even better ones.
Sufficiently down-to-earth founders will, by default, convince themselves that they won’t succeed. This is partly because down-to-earth people are rarely successful in anything grand. It’s partly because everything looks simultaneously harder and easier before you try it. And it’s partly because all good ideas sound like bad ideas until they come to fruition.
Every startup needs a repeatable and sustainable sales model. This week, we explore the various strategies that work for SaaS products.
Tough economic conditions have a way of forcing us to do what we should have always been doing. This year, startup leaders need to make sure their teams are focused on the right things.
Today, we cover the two most tempting (and fraught) pivots for B2B startup founders: moving down-market, and adding additional product lines. We explore why these shifts are so difficult to pull off, and how to get them right.
A self-service experience, including a free trial or freemium plan, is a cost-effective way to sell a product that is capable of selling itself. Many startup leaders underestimate how much work it takes to truly make this work, though. This week, we explore how to deliver a self-service SaaS experience, and how to decide whether this strategy for growth is right for you.
For many SaaS companies and startup leaders, the 2022-2023 recession will be their first. This week, we look at how SaaS companies can optimise costs, adjust their value proposition, and build a strong business during a recession.
As startups achieve product-market fit, product strategy simultaneously becomes more important and more difficult. Startups become unfocused by chasing new opportunities when they should be optimising what they’ve already brought to market. This week, explore the importance of focus as you scale your SaaS company.
As your startup grows, responsibilities that used to belong to a single individual will be owned by teams and, eventually departments. This transition is where startup operations become critical. This week, we explore some of the rituals teams should adopt for continuous improvement.
Despite all startups being resource-poor relative to what they are trying to achieve, many founders invest in solutions (e.g., specific product features, technology improvements, and internal systems/processes) that require effort beyond what is desirable from an ROI perspective.