Edward D.

I'm going to try to launch a custom gpt for Discussit this weekend. I'll be implementing full stack vector search. I'm going to fix my embeddings code. I'll implement bumblebee to do the work. I'll use bge-large-en as the model. I'll use flame for doing the work on a separate machine (look this library up if you don't know it, it's awesome). I'll use oban to replace my old embeddings genserver, which was overly complex. The goal is to get an embeddings endpoint running that I can call from a chatgpt action, so I can launch a custom gpt that lets you chat with an AI that knows that you said in the past. Reliably, the hardest part will be authentication. Interested? Comment.

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I spoke with developers recently. They were telling me their pain points when it comes to waterfalls and distributions. They underwrote a deal in which they’ll make a profit for a few years, then do construction (which they’ll raise more capital for), and after that, they will refinance and hold for 10-15 years. Their issue is that their returns and IRR for both the GP and LP weren’t adding up. I brought up a few good points for them to start looking into and asked them how they would solve these issues. Was their model created for construction and to handle multiple capital injections? What happens when you have different investors contributing at different times? When is capital being returned? All of these issues are common occurrences and need complex solutions to resolve. Everyone wants a simple waterfall, but every case is unique. How do you answer these questions when you are underwriting? If you need help structuring and organizing these types of distributions, reach out and let’s chat. --- If you found value in this post, please like and comment. Follow for more content! If you want to receive my newsletter, direct message me! Any distribution or waterfall questions? Reach out! Need help setting up or calculating a waterfall? Reach out.

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Picking a software agency isn't a walk in the park. After 8 years in the game, here are my top five tips: 1) Make sure they know your industry. 2) Check their references - are they legit? Did you reach out to them? 3) Communication is key - waiting 2 weeks for a response isn't okay. 4) It's absolutely possible to get accurate estimates. 5) Question their security - What's their plan if there's a data breach? Don't hesitate to ask the hard questions! Flexiana #softwareagency #softwaredevelopment #softwarepartner

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“You’re leaving software engineering to start a paper straw company??” Jordan and I came up with the idea of creating the world’s best paper straw in early 2019. I was working as a Senior Software Engineer and always thought I’d start a SaaS tech company — not a physical product one. We officially incorporated SOFi Products in March of that year, but it was still just an idea. Jordan focused on product development, while I had to manage aspects that were new to me: Supply chain and logistics. Exactly eight months later, we launched the SOFi straws in November, taking our idea to market. We went through countless iterations during that time but ran into a new challenge. On the one hand, we had this product that lasted for hours, didn’t get soggy, or tasted like paper; on the other hand, we now had to sell it. How do you stand out in a crowded sea of straws claiming to be “compostable”? Most entrepreneurs say, “Build it, and they’ll come” — the truth is not so straightforward. We had to learn sales. I felt like we were really scrambling until I came across a book called Predictable Revenue. The author outlines a systematic approach to generating leads, prospecting, and structuring teams for success in the book. A quote from the book that completely transformed our sales was, “No is just a future yes.” You will face rejection on a daily basis and you need to become comfortable with rejection if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur. Fast forward five years, and we’re present in every Canadian province and 47 US states!

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Thanks for the insightful pitch strategies. When can I get a slot to pitch to you?

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The harsh reality for software companies (including big players like Google): 5 people in a basement somewhere with a great idea can compete with you. Which is why it’s so important to move fast (whether you’re the competitor or the established company 😉) Test. Feedback. Learn. Iterate. Test. Feedback. Learn. Iterate. That’s it. Anything that gets in the way of finding product-market fit should be avoided at all costs.

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Some software companies make it really f***ing hard to buy their product. 😡 I had an experience recently, And thought how that would look if it were an in person interaction. Lil’ awkward don’t ya think? 🤔 Here’s the thing - I’m not some giant #PLG advocate who thinks every product on the face of the planet should be self-serve and that sales people aren’t needed. You do need sales people ✅ You do need to ruthlessly qualify your prospects ✅ And because the above are needed, you’ll naturally have some friction in the buying process. But most software companies today have OVERCORRECTED for this. So what to do then? Here’s what I would do 👇🏻 Find some feature set that can deliver value to your customers immediately, and package that into a self serve version of your product. Look at your sales folks as a “sales success team” (eg more like a customer success team), Who’s job is to share best practices, provide additional use cases for the product, and unlock the extra features needed for your customers to accomplish these things. Easier said then done, I know. I also know that some products are so inherently complex that self-serve seems out of reach. But think of all the things we have now, that used to feel out of reach. 🤔 So just because it doesn’t seem possible, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, egh? Happy Monday y’all ✌️ #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #customerlifecycle #buyingprocess #buyerexperience

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"How we went from zero to $500k ARR" is a three-part answer, and here it is. I was asked by a friend of mine, Yoon Cannon, "What advice would I give to a company just starting out if they were looking to go from zero to $500k ARR in twelve months?" As I was writing out my response, I thought, "This would make a great post for LinkedIn." So, here you go! -Enjoy. 1. Under 1M ARR, do not focus on scaling; it's too early for that. Instead, focus on the efficiency of your current systems and prioritize them. If you do not have them, create exceptional SOP's, roadmaps, and training materials today and put someone in charge (not you) who will design them and whose passion is to make sure everyone on the team is abiding by them. If you find the right person, they'll also enforce the rules and hold your team accountable when they are not. 2. Find your niche and drill down by speaking to potential and current customers daily. At $500k in ARR, you're still figuring things out. The closest way to figuring things out is by speaking to people—a lot of them. Speak to your current customers, get in the habit of asking: "What were you hoping for when you signed up for our service?" "What problem were you looking to solve in your business prior to joining us?", and "What words would you use to describe our product if you were to introduce us to a friend at a party now that you have seen what we can do...for them and you?" - These questions never get old, no matter if you're over $500k ARR or not. For potential customers, you should be speaking to them constantly, too. Doing three demo's a day (if you are a SaaS) and incorporating into your demos a mix of product discovery questions, recording them, and listening back to them later. With your team on a regular basis. Ask questions like: "In your industry, have you heard of anyone using a solution like this prior to today?" "If so, what has and hasn't worked for them when it comes to a solution like this?" "If our solution were yours, what would you change about it and why?" 3. Focus on effective sales, forget marketing (for now): Have a stellar sales team in place that will fight to get your product in front of as many eyeballs as possible. $500K, ARR is not about marketing; it's about sales, and a lot of them. Your best sales reps should be selling your product like a marketer would. The only difference is that a marketer will not pick up the phone and cold call potential customers, but a stellar sales rep will. Fill your team with enthusiastic, eager, hungry, out-of-the-box, and honest sales reps who can think like marketers (proactively open up new markets your product would be best for), but act like sales reps who will call those markets, open up conversations, and close those people. This will get you further than my first two points above. Especially if you're just starting out, going from zero to $500k ARR. I hope this feedback helps.  Siloh at ClicksDaily.io #business

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Hot take: killing features is as important as creating them. We just killed our first feature in Peek. Even though we've been out in the market for barely 2 months. We decided to get rid of the feature "Concierge." The "Concierge" was a chat window designed to let users ask our team any personal finance questions, promising responses within 24-48 hours. From "Should I pay off my loans?" to "What’s my FIRE number?" Sounds like a nice feature right? Since it's a free for all for users to essentially ask anything? There were a few things wrong with concierge: 1. Mismatched Expectations: Users accustomed to instant responses from AI chat windows found the wait time for human responses underwhelming. 2. Lack of Focus: The open-ended nature of the feature made it hard for users to understand its purpose, leading to confusion and underutilization. 3. User Guidance: Most users need prompts to identify valuable insights in personal finance, and chat isn't always the best format for this interaction. We're still committed to improving insights in our product, but we'll be delivering them in a different way. It's important to kill features that don't add value to the product. Every part of the app must have a clear purpose: to solve a problem or delight the user. And it may seem harmless to have a little-used feature It might feel harmless to include a little-used feature in the app—sometimes there's sentimental value or sunk costs associated with features you've built. However, hoarding features that don't add value can create bloat, detracting from the overall user experience and value. Sometimes...less is truly more.

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Ok let's talk about Devin. The AI software engineer that originally got a lot of hype. 👇 For every type of job out there, there is a funded startup trying to make a ‘Devin’ for it. But as a lot of us saw, when Devin was really put to the test, the AI spent hours on handling a task that could have been accomplished by simply looking at the read-me and spitting out a line of code. 🫣 So, there are a lot of claims on the market that might not meet expectations, but here’s my take: it won’t be this way forever. Whether or not Devin specifically gets better, who’s to say? But AI will get stronger at planning and executing work. I see a clear future where tasks that are purely transactional are the kind of work that will be given fully to AI. Because when you do, you lower cost and overall friction for that given function—making things easier for everyone. So maybe it’s time to start thinking about what jobs we actually want AI to take from us… #ai #infosec #artificialintelligence #presales

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Can CSMs succeed without a strong and reliable product? Unlikely. Full stop. 🛑 CSMs… sorry to say the quiet part outloud. You all are only human and not magical beings. When… - product is buggy… go to developers - product is missing a feature… go to developers/product team - product is hard to use… go to developers/product/UX team It seems a lot rests on your shoulders that you are not in control over and because of that you are VITAL to the cause and we in leadership love having you part of the team. Stay strong all my CSMs and have an amazing weekend! #saas #cs #customersuccess #b2b #founders #tech #startup

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As a sales leader, I LOVE this post from Christian Krause talking about what you need to do in a discovery call. Often the most underrated meeting, I've seen far too many salespeople sleepwalk their way in & out of these meetings. In many ways, the Discovery call is the best meeting because it is where the salesperson gathers all critical information (Power?) to understand the Business Issue (Problem, Pain, etc.). Once you know those things, you can show the customer how you can help them (Solution, Value)! If you don't know their pain, the BUSINESS ISSUE, you shouldn't be trying to sell them!! Shout out to Joe Billelo for sharing! "go deliver freaking *value* on the 1st call" Let's Goooooo!!! #GetHyped #SalesManagement #ValueSelling

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Measuring what matters 📏 There are four data points I've been helping a seed stage startup monitor and improve, alongside helping them build their engineering team. 1️⃣ Application to first interview ratio ➝ Why it matters: Highlights the effectiveness of job postings and hiring partners. 2️⃣ Time to hire (TTH) ➝ Why it matters: A quicker TTH helps secure top candidates, while a longer TTH can negatively impact candidate experience. 3️⃣ Lost talent at each stage ➝ Why it matters: Identifies potential process issues and areas for improvement. 4️⃣ Offer acceptance ➝ Why it matters: Indicates the strength of your company culture, mission, package, and talent qualification process. Getting clear on the data points that are most important to your business, why they are important, and how you are going to track them is essential. Make sure your partners understand your data points, and help you in the process of achieving your targets. If you're experiencing challenges in your hiring process. Book in a free discovery call using the appointment button on this post or on my page. #hiring #recruitment #hiringtips #datadrivenhiring #startup

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This is some of the best advice for job seekers I've ever seen. Geared toward #SaaS, but relevant to most industries. Study this! #hiring #jobsearch #jobseeker #jobseeking #career

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I speak with a lot of founders who want to figure out how to reach people. First off, reach may not directly translate to business. Second, the rule IMO is to be consistently telling your story. *Not the story of why you started* but the story of what you're up to. What did you learn this month? What did you break? When you're clear about where you're at, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Even when you've messed up or your product isn't done. People love a story. People follow people and companies who are diligent about telling a new and interesting story.

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So it seems that Partner Rally ‘s scalable commission tracking and payouts for 1099’s could be hugely valuable in multiple industries: - Gyms (paying trainers) - HVAC - Plumbing - Electrical Anyone in those spaces? Any others that automated commission payouts could be valuable in?

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