Rob Snyder’s Post

Startup/scaleup tip: Always remember that once you're on the other side, you are no longer your customer. Once you've founded your business or work for a company, you've drunk the juice! It's good practice to exist with the view that you can't speak for your customers or be the voice of your customers anymore, because you have an invested interest in the solution. That's why it's so vital that you keep talking to your customers and continually checking in and pulling that real data back into the company.  We have to understand their worldview - we have to understand the problem we're solving or job we're doing from our customer's point of view. And critically, it's about asking the right questions - if you don't spend time exploring what questions you should be asking and end up asking the wrong ones, you're going to end up with, in the best case, useless data, worse case, just plain dangerous data. How to do this right? 🚀 I always recommend the book The Mom Test - if you haven't got a dog-eared copy - it's time to join the converted. It's a fantastic guide to help you avoid insincere compliments from those well-meaning who don't want to hurt your feelings or vague promises of future investment. 🚀 You're trying to avoid false positives - believe it or not, most people want to be kind and supportive, so asking them questions about how they might act or feel in the future and you end up with insights that are, as I heard explained, "as good as Nostradamus." For startups, the data that is gold is information on your customers' problems i.e. things like What are they currently struggling to do / get done? What do they want to achieve that they aren't able to do now? How do they go about solving the challenge now? What stops them from making a change or hunting down a solution? What do they hate about "the industry". your in? And with existing customers, the precious bit for marketing and sales isn't just whether they like your product. In most cases, it's all the information on what was going on for them before they even came in contact with your product that can be really powerful, i.e. it's how they found it, what they were trying to get done or struggling with, and what was going on when they prioritised solving this problem that you solve, what was the trigger that made them say this is the day I find a solution? Or what was stopping them from searching for a solution? Doing this has real impact. But only if you listen. Sometimes, what they are buying isn't actually what you're selling!! Be open to whatever the answers are. Let those insights drive your value proposition and purpose and become a focus for your business! 🚀

🎯 Steer Clear of Generic Benefits: A Trap for Tech Startup Founders – Insights from SalesBooster Workshops Crafting a compelling value proposition is key for startup tech founders to break through the noise. Yet, many fall into the trap of using generic benefits that fail to set them apart. Here are common ones to avoid: 1️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆: Everyone claims it, but without proof, it's just noise. 2️⃣ 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆: Expected, but what makes yours stand out? 3️⃣ 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Vague unless you explain how it benefits users uniquely. 4️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Saying it isn't enough; show us what sets you apart. 5️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: Important, but show us the numbers that back it up. 6️⃣ 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲: Sounds great, but why does it matter to your users? 7️⃣ 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲: Security matters, but specifics make the difference. To truly shine, showcase how your product/service delivers these benefits uniquely. Show, don't just tell, with examples and data. Tailor your pitch to your audience's needs. That's how you stand out in a crowded market. 🌟 Examples for a start: 1. Company A: Instead of just claiming "leading technology," Company A showcases its patented algorithm that boosts processing speed by 50%, setting it apart from competitors.     2. Company B: Rather than simply stating "user-friendly," Company B highlights its intuitive interface based on extensive user testing, reducing onboarding time by 30%.     3. Company C: While many startups tout "scalability," Company C backs it up with a modular architecture that allows seamless expansion without downtime, proven by a 200% increase in users within six months.     These examples illustrate how startups can go beyond generic claims to truly differentiate themselves in the market (but with real data!). 👉 Feel free to share them to inspire others! p.s. I can DM you step by step guid to nail down or just re-evaluate your Value proposition. 👉 Comment below Value Proposition and I will send it to you. ---------- Like this? I'm Petra Wagner, and I specialize in helping Tech Startups effortlessly boost their sales while relieving the stress and pressure of selling Click my name + follow + CHECK FREE 3-step Sales video to Increase Sales & Scale your Startup

Startups need to master the 3 I’s: innovate, iterate, and improve. Ries argues they should learn from the principles of lean manufacturing so they can speed up a critical cycle: build, measure, learn. By speeding up this cycle, they can outmaneuver other firms while more easily making the decision to pivot or persevere at critical junctions. Some of the ideas that struck me: ✅ Ditch vanity metrics like number of customers and hone in on numbers that really matter and are actionable, like retention, engagement, and churn rates. For example, if you’re signing up 10,000 new customers per day but your churn rate on old customers is also 10,000 customers per day, you know you’re good at attracting eyeballs but need to figure out how to get them engaged so they’ll stay. Measure. What. Matters. ✅ When testing a new idea, go with a minimum viable product so you can get it in front of customers and learn from their feedback. Perhaps your assumption on what they want or who your target customer is was flawed. You have to test your assumptions as quickly as possible rather than perfecting a product no one wants. ✅ Learn what activities add value and which add waste. The ones that add value are the ones your customers will pay you for so spend your time on them. ✅ Know that it is not failure to pivot. Perhaps your understanding of what the customer needed was wrong, or who your target customer is, or perhaps a single feature should be your whole product. You may do a platform pivot, an architecture pivot where you move from high margin low volume to high volume low margin, or a channel pivot where you sell in a different medium. There are many points in your value offering that may produce more value if you pivot strategically. Pivots let you test your hypothesis about where your product/service will be most successful. ✅ Past customers can drive growth in four ways: word of mouth, as a side effect of them using it and others observing, through repeat use like subscription services, and by using revenue from past customers to pay for advertising to reach the new customers. ✅ There are three engines for growth: pay for it through advertising, get your product to go viral, and/or be sticky, which means acquire more new customers than you lose to churn. ✅ Use the 5 why method. When there is a problem, ask why, get an answer, and repeat four more times so you can get to the root of the problem. ✅ Reduce batch sizes and cycle times so you find problems faster with less investment. This was a terrific book! Thanks Ben Meer for sharing this as a must read! ✅ Cat photo “Cat photos are for Facebook, not LinkedIn.” 😉

A common mistake I see with <$1M startups is their ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) Specifically, it's too broad. Founders are often forced to pitch big on how their product will revolutionise HUGE markets off the back of industry data to lure early stage investment and fund runway. The problem is, you’re only at the beginning of your journey and still on the hunt for PMF (Product Market Fit).. Lofty TAM's are often tied to equally large growth and revenue expectations from your investors. Go figure?.. Time to hustle! 🚀 3 tips to craft your ICP and support early PMF & revenue traction 🚀 👉 Segment your ‘broader ICP’ into sub groups As an example, I work with tech based startups and scale ups seeking revenue growth. That is my ‘broader ICP’. While all in my wheelhouse, the challenges experienced by Founders moving from 0 to $500K are fundamentally different to those when moving from $500K to $1M, and different again from $1M - $5M. Revenue is a very ‘loose’ metric but you get the picture.. The more granular you are, the greater you can align/build your service or product specific to the pains they are experiencing. Would a startup in the 0-500K range likely have a sales team or be Founder Led? In the $1M - 5M range is PMF or GTM fit the likely priority for the team? Don’t be lazy with your ICP. Get detailed and document your sub groups properly. Your product/service is only as good as your knowledge of your customer (or prospective customer). 👉 Configure your CRM early It doesn’t need to be perfect but is a HUGE advantage if you spend a little bit of time on it. Qualitative feedback in early stage prospecting is great to shorten your product feedback loop but quantitative and searchable fields to the mix is like adding rocket fuel. Don’t waste good discovery / research by not having a basic set up in play to store your insights. While your product may not be aligned to certain prospects now (different sub groups), in 3-4 sprints when those new features are shipped, imagine having a list of qualified leads ready to circle back to. Basic fields like ‘ICP type’ with static drop down options or ‘Features of Interest’ will be a god send in 6 months and support your Product team (feedback loop) and Marketing team (tailored value added content). 👉 Prioritise ICP groups (short, mid, long term) based on product maturity Know your groupings, know your sweet spot. Be realistic about the direct (and indirect) competitive landscape, your current brand establishment as a start up, and your product maturity. Focus on one sub group really intently > what features or services are a must to start revenue conversion, and more importantly, early customer feedback? "With our current MVP, who can we service effectively NOW?" Prioritise your product roadmap by features that help establish early market validation while still aligning to mid and longer term product vision. Nail it, and expand to your next sub group. Rinse and repeat.

Many B2B startup founders ask me for advice. They say, "Stefan, we're working with enterprise, but we don't have a product that will fit the enterprise." My official answer to startups is: "Fake it until you make it." Why do I say that? Considering the modern sales cycles, which are nine months or more, and the enterprise's desire to customize everything perfectly, along with the number of decision-makers (up to 12 people) in the company needed to close a $50,000 a year deal, it might make sense to promise that the product will be ready. Because you will have a lot of time to develop the product. In fact, you will have enough time to create a product from scratch, even if you don't have one yet. I bet the product you develop for the enterprise will end up being entirely new. Cheers! So, fake it until you make it, even if you don't have a product. That's how you work with enterprise.

Most failed startups have products that customers don’t really need. If you don’t want to be one of them, read this. ↓ Misunderstanding customer needs is a common startup blunder. I see it often. Entrepreneurs assume they understand their customers’ problems without thorough validation. → They develop complex solutions → Invest heavily in product → Launch full-scale products and marketing campaigns right off the gate All before confirming if their solution addresses a real customer problem. Here’s a better strategy: 1. Focus on what you’ve identified as a problem and the construct of how you’ll solve it (make it visually felt use low-key wireframes or flow diagrams) ↳ Conduct short, focused interviews with a few ideal customer(s) ↳ Get as much data and make them answer your survey in these interviews (conversationally) ↳ Repeat 1 & 2 with a slightly longer set with a scaled demo and structured interview 2. At this point, you will notice patterns in the feedback and should wholly validate your understanding. Make sure to add questions that can show you: ↳ Real problems (In case your identified problem, wasn’t actually a weighted problem) ↳ Tangential problems, which can give you a clear focus on your roadmaps ↳ More problems that can potentially give you understanding of how to build better relationships with your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) 3. Once you’ve done the analysis of this, is when you only need to invest actual dollars into building anything. ↳ Prioritize features that address frequent concerns ↳ Have a couple of ICPs be a part of the journey to shorten the feedback loop at a feature level ↳ Continuously validate changes with your target customers (ICPs) 4. Scale with confidence: ↳ Give early access to people who’ve helped you with feedback ↳ Once you see the impact and gain confidence in the solution, now start thinking about marketing efforts. ↳ Introduce new features based on validated user needs ↳ Keep incentives to maintain ongoing engagement Building a product that truly resonates is your primary goal. This approach can shift your trajectory in just a few weeks, Even if you're starting from scratch. Why do I write this post? My true work love is to solve problems and build scalable solutions. DM if you want to jam about your industry and business. I’d love to learn in the process and I hope I can help you with possible scaling options. I lock an hour each week for this. Send me a DM and I’ll share a Calendly link to lock your time 🙂

I have read "The Lean Startup" and "Model business canvas" in the past, I understand how to get an idea from 0 to MVP very well. These approaches focus on innovations with a vast number of early adopters and I thought: how different will it be B2B? same idea, same concept.. right? Well I have started to read "Lean B2B". so far I have learned that: - The more proximity with companies you have, the more likely you are to succeed  - B2B validation is more relational, companies should perceive you as coworkers - "The Lean Startup" and "Model Business Canvas" are about innovation, not relationships  - There is a limited numbers of prospects for your business and an even smaller number of early adopters. If you don't establish a real mutually beneficial relationship you are going to lose. - Enterprises can't innovate like startups and that's the major opportunity for entrepreneurs. Enterprises are aware of this - A product that generates less than $100 million in annual revenue at maturity would not be considered successful at Microsoft. Everything looks small through the eyes of a giant.  - There are three main reasons why enterprises buy technology: "increase revenue", "decrease costs", and "increase customer satisfaction". That is very different from B2C I continue reading the book...

How critical are Purpose Statements for B2B startups? Purpose statements, often displayed on the sidelines of About pages or tucked away in footers, tell me there isn’t a general consensus on their importance. Crafting a purpose statement isn’t easy. Things get muddled, especially when your team members have multiple and strong ideas. The most compelling purpose statements go beyond product pitches; the best ones focus on how your product will improve people’s lives. They don’t always have to “change the world,” but if they don’t articulate the Why behind your product, the message won’t land with your customers or prospective employees. What do you think of OpenAI AI’s statement? Believable? Authentic? Or maybe not?