📕 The Guide to Building a Sellable Product; First-Time CMO Mistakes; Call or Email for SDRs?...
There have never been more software companies than there are today, yet there’s an asymmetry between the rising interest in SaaS and the availability of private SaaS company data. This study from Andre Retterath took a look at the top startup databases to see which provided the most extensive and accurate data. Tl;dr: if you are an operator looking for general info like company location, leadership and light funding history, Crunchbase is the best bang for your buck. If more detailed funding history and competitive analysis is a must (and you can afford the starting rate of 18k/year), then Pitchbook is probably your best bet.
🧠 The hardest part of creating a startup isn’t building a product, it’s getting people to actually care about it. Go-to-market is how we make people care, but that strategy is largely informed by how your product is built, making the two interconnected. Merci Victoria Grace’s (Former Director of Product at Slack) guide to building a sellable product explains this dynamic and why success boils down to how your product makes people feel. For example, creating “Day 0 Value” which immediately gives users the feeling they’ve mastered a new workflow triggers a powerful dopamine rush that leaves them wanting more. This and similar product emotional experiences makes users willing to suffer through areas of friction in your app, and turns them into long standing customers.
💵 B2B SaaS co’s have much more complex billing scenarios than your basic subscription box startup, which is why they require sophisticated tools to manage their payments. Pure product capability is of course the number one factor in the decision but fees (both as a percentage of revenue billed and per transaction) can end up being a huge variable as they vary greatly from vendor to vendor. Subscription analytics tool Baremetrics offered a list of potential picks along with their key features and fees so you can cut right to the chase. The larger your business and revenue flowing through your payments solution, the more appealing a flat rate with low variability will be.
⚾ You are an SDR battling for a prospect's attention, hoping to grab just a few seconds of their spare time to pitch your product. So how do you reach them? We came across a fun thread on Sales Hacker weighing the two obvious choices – phone or email. The final answer is… Well, it depends. For more transactional, lower ARPU products, an email first followed by a call (if they don’t respond) lays the groundwork by sharing key info upfront, and gives high interest prospects a chance to identify themselves before you expend too much energy. For higher value enterprise tools, a call right off the bat which demonstrates that you have done your homework and took the time to specifically dial them is well worth the output.
👂 Drift’s Tricia Gellman and InVisions’s Brian Kardon recounted the biggest mistakes they made in their early CMO days on the SaaS Revolution Show. Both pointed to a lack of alignment with their stakeholders on where marketing should be focused as the #1 mistake, which is pretty ironic given that marketing is all about being a great listener to your audience! Another mishap was not moving quickly enough. You want to be able to make a noticeable impact in your company within your first 90 days, so Kardon suggests starting to look for new hires (if you are adding to your team) the day you sign. They also pointed out some simple improvements like more detailed reporting which can serve as quick wins.