Austin Tam

Next year, Lightspeed Commerce will exit its teenage years and turn 20. What does that maturity mean? For me, it’s all about shifting from simply a growth mindset to one of profitability. I sat down with Gus Papageorgiou, our Head of Investor Relations and host of the Inside Lightspeed podcast, to discuss this cultural shift, where we’re heading, and how my role as CEO will guide this moving forward. When Lightspeed first started, we were all about seizing opportunities — whether it was moving to the cloud early on, expanding into new markets, or launching payments. These bold moves have driven us to where we are today. Now, as we approach this new chapter, we're putting an emphasis on: - Doubling down on areas where we can truly excel and deliver the most value to our customers. - Making profitability our new North Star and ensuring that every move strengthens our foundation. - Staying true to our core mission: helping SMBs thrive. But now, we’re doing it with a sharper focus on long-term success. Had a great time reflecting on Lightspeed’s past, as well as discussing our vision for the future. Check out the full podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gF3vG-Qn

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In today's rapidly changing tech landscape, the role of Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) has transformed like never before. Tim Richards, a seasoned revenue leader with experience at TimeWarner, AOL, Linqia, Nextdoor, and Amaze, shares his expertise in the latest episode of Revenue Reinvention, Pathways to Profitability, a podcast in partnership with Conga and Accenture. 🎧 Tune in to discover: The evolving role of the CRO 👏 Strategies for managing market expansion and contraction 💡 Innovative pricing and revenue models 💰 Servant leadership and team empowerment tips 💪 A glimpse into the future of revenue strategies 🔮 Don't miss out on these invaluable insights for driving growth in your organization! https://bit.ly/47NaKJD #RevenueReinvention #CRO #Leadership #RevenueStrategy #RevenueLifecycleManagement #BusinessGrowth #Podcast

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The Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a great way to understand what's happening in your business. The best are run with participation from adjacent groups including Product, Marketing, Engineering and CS. https://lnkd.in/gXhe3aYP

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Can fragmented customer data hinder business growth? It's certainly not going to help. Yesterday, I spoke with a Canadian manufacturer with offices across North America who was pondering this same question. Their team was spending a lot of time in internal meetings, gathering this fragmented information to be prepared to meet with customers. Except when they didn't, which meant they were going in blind. Yikes. Their vision was to have one central location for all customer data -- and make it super accessible to everyone on the team. They were looking for AI to automatically integrate data from Microsoft Great Plains, emails from Office 365, and videos from Teams calls into a unified CRM system. This would not only streamline operations but also ensure that every customer interaction was backed by complete and up-to-date information. Imagine the difference it would make for their sales reps on the road, who could quickly pull up customer histories and order details from their mobile devices, without having to dig through multiple systems or make frantic calls to the office. With this centralized CRM, they could focus more on building relationships and less on administrative tasks. The AI-powered features would automatically log interactions, summarize calls, and provide actionable insights, making their jobs easier and more efficient. Ultimately, this shift would help them grow their business more effectively, ensuring no customer falls through the cracks and every opportunity is maximized. Does this sound familiar?

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What’s the best way to help visitors find what they need on your website? Answer their questions. Coveo customers like Xero, United Airlines and dozens more use generative answering powered by Coveo to give their website visitors trusted, reliable answers to their questions. If you’re a Coveo partner — or thinking about becoming one — join our exclusive 3-part series on AI search and generative answering: 🗓️ Art of the Possible | August 7 🗓️ 2-Day Builder Workshop | starting August 13 🗓️ Seller Enablement | August 20 Attend one session, or all of them — and get to know Coveo AI search and generative answering technology can bring amazing value to your clients! 👉 Learn more & sign-up here: https://lnkd.in/ejmvgpRR #AIsearch #GenAI #GenerativeAnswering #EnterpriseAI

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As Thanksgiving approaches, I wanted to share a heartwarming customer story about Benevity, a leader in social impact software that connects brands with nonprofits worldwide. In fact – we’re proud to use the platform for End of Year Giving at Zendesk and experience firsthand how it streamlines the giving process. To improve efficiency for Benevity’s 150 support agents handling 350,000 tickets annually, the company uses Zendesk Advanced AI to optimize ticket handling from automating call summaries to adjusting tone in a way that matches the company’s friendly communication style. AI-powered ticket triage further boosted support by prioritizing urgent issues, resulting in reduced response times for users. These automations save agents hundreds of hours, improve service levels and client satisfaction, ultimately amplifying Benevity’s positive social impact. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/gFFHWSGx 

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For Immediate Release: Exit Five on a Tear; B2B Media Business Posts Record Growth in the First Half of 2024 Burlington, VT -- Exit Five, the top community for B2B marketers that want to advance their skills and grow their careers, today announced record growth after the first half of 2024. Team Growth: From One to Five Exit Five entered the year with one person full-time (the same guy writing this press release; hey it's me Dave). Today, Exit Five has a full-time team of five with team members in Vermont, Arizona, Canada, Texas, and Massachusetts. It's all about the people; the business part is easy. And the people have made the biggest difference with Exit Five to date. There could be plans to hire more in 2025. Leading Through Content and Community Exit Five's business has two parts: content and community. On the content side, there's a popular podcast, newsletter, and webinar series. New contacts grew 43% to 20,224; more than 4,000 marketers registered for a webinar session in 1H, and the podcast grew 16% to 107,411 downloads. MRR growth for Exit Five's paid community followed this trend, growing 45% and overall revenue is on pace to grow 100% year over year. There are now 3,848 members in the community - up 42% vs. last year, and engagement continues to climb: monthly active users are up 71% vs. this time last year and now consistently hovers around 40% MAU. Exit Five also announced - and sold out - 200 tickets for the company's first in-person event September 11-12 in Burlington, VT called "Drive." *** Our mission at Exit Five is to help B2B marketers advance their skills and grow their careers. We do that through our content and community. Thanks to a 12 years in B2B SaaS working in marketing, and our growing team with Dan, Matt, Danielle, and Anna. For Press Inquiries: Reach out to Dave Gerhardt, from DG PR. To learn more about Exit Five and join the community, check out the company's website. *** Thanks for reading. I'm having a blast building this company, and I can promise you it's only the beginning. There's also a rumor that Exit Five might expand beyond Marketing in the future. But we can't confirm or deny that rumor right now.

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How insights data revolutionizes B2B sales prospecting Stuck chasing marketing's bad leads? Data finds ideal accounts and connects you to decision-makers. Boost sales, ditch frustration. Learn more.

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As an advisor to early-stage enterprise startups at Greylock, I see companies struggle with all types of GTM challenges during growth periods. Many of the challenges stem from the same issue: trying to do too much at once. Understandably, most companies don’t believe they have the luxury to focus on just one or two things at a time. But without that discipline, you risk driving down standards across every aspect of your GTM process. In this post, I’ve shared some advice for early-stage startups when building a cohesive GTM strategy. This first part focuses on building the foundations, from establishing a set of Leading Indicators to team alignment and establishing a development culture that prepares people for leadership. Stay tuned for the second part, where I’ll explain best practices for startups when executing during the sales process. https://bit.ly/3ReTdmK

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Ready to transform your customer success strategy with cutting-edge insights? Dive into this episode of Scale Your Sales, where Emma Lo unpacks the latest trends in customer success and AI-driven personalization. Emma, the onboard czar at Noibu and leader of Canada's thriving CS in Focus community, shares golden nuggets on predictive analytics, the importance of customer advisory boards, and the true meaning of personalization at scale. You don't want to miss this episode; it's a blueprint for game-changing growth! https://lnkd.in/ehqgZB7R #scaleyoursales #customergrowth #techleadership #technology #AI #sales

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🚨🎟 Countdown to Pavilion’s Montreal Event: Only 10 Spots Left! 🎟🚨 #Montreal’s GTM leaders, the clock is ticking!⏰ We're just days away from what promises to be one of the standout professional gatherings of the year, right here in our own city! 🌟🍁 📆 Event Details: Date: Thursday, May 30th - 5@7 Location: Stay22 Offices, Montreal Join us as we dive into the cutting-edge topic of "#GenerativeAI in GTM Content" with peers, notably with my Co-Chapter Heads Vyara Ndejuru & Sylvain Bergeron! It's your chance to explore what’s working, uncover new strategies, and participate in rich discussions with peers who are shaping the future of our field. 🤖💼 DM or email me at [email protected] to RSVP 🔥 Why You Can’t Miss This:👇 - Exclusive #Networking: Connect with top GTM professionals and broaden your industry contacts. - Insightful Discussions: Bring back valuable #insights that could change how you approach your strategies. - Complimentary Refreshments: Enjoy snacks and drinks on us—perfect for casual chats between the engaging sessions. (if the weather cooperates, we'll hit the terrasse!!) ☀️ 👥 This event is designed for GTM leaders looking to push the boundaries of what's possible in their careers and organizations. Whether you're a Pavilion member or not, this is your opportunity to be part of an elite community focused on networking, learning, and excelling together. 🚀 Spaces are filling fast, and with only 10 spots left, now’s the time to claim your seat. Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of this dynamic gathering. Secure your spot and be ready to get inspired! #PavilionMontreal #GTMLeaders #GenerativeAI #NetworkingEvent #MontrealProfessionals #Stay22 #BusinessGrowth #TechInnovation

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Ever found yourself staring blankly at your 🖥, unsure where to start on a creative work project? Recently I shared a new Copilot tip with my fellow Customer Experience PMs at MSFT: using Copilot to develop an adoption asset for a new feature. The results were so impressive that I'm excited to share them with you! Copilot wasn’t just a time-saver (it shaved four hours off my usual workflow)— it was a creativity booster. Here's how I leveraged Copilot to elevate my ✍: ✅ 1. Groundwork: I began by gathering relevant content to ensure Copilot stayed true to our product's branding & facts. Prompt: Help me find documents (files, emails & chats) that contain information about <specific topic> that could be used as sources of input for an <adoption asset> I need to create ✅ 2. Brainstorming: Copilot helped me brainstorm compelling subject lines that connect emotionally with the audience. - Start by giving Copilot a specific role in your prompt - Define role at beginning of prompt, Copilot executes instructions in order.   Prompt: Act as a marketing copywriter and generate a list of 5 headlines for an <adoption asset > to help <e.g., announce the launch of new product>. The headline should compel <target audience > to read on, so they <how you want to appeal to reader emotionally>. ✅ 3. Drafting: I set specific guidelines for the output, from structure to style, ensuring the content was impactful and precise. - Be specific about the elements you want included in the asset - Specify information sources. Type ‘/’ in the text input area to quickly reference files and/or people. -  Check for accuracy Prompt: Act as a marketing copywriter and help me draft an engaging and informative <adoption asset > targeted at <audience>. The goal is to <e.g., announce the launch of new product>. The adoption asset should catch the reader's attention, inform them about <e.g., the availability of new feature/product>, and inspire them to <e.g., start using it today>. Include the following elements: ·      An introduction that captures attention and introduces <new product> ·      An overview of key features and benefits. ·      Instructions on how users can get started ·      A call to action that <e.g., encourages use> Use the information from </name of file> to help you write the email. The tone should be <e.g., professional yet inviting>. ✅ 4. Refining: We then simplified technical jargon and explored various tones and headings to better resonate with our audience. Prompt: Condense this complex information into a succinct, engaging summary focusing on [specific aspect] ✅ 5. Final review: Promoting Copilot to 'editor-in-chief', I ensured the final draft was inclusive, engaging, and polished. Prompt: As a copy editor, please review this text and provide suggestions for making it more inclusive and engaging.  Provide feedback on how to enhance its impact. Imagine what you could achieve with the extra time gained!

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One of the best thing that happened at Loblaw Digital is at when I joined we were in process of migrating our analytics from Adobe to Snowplow. What this meant was, Snowplow will be housing data into BigQuery, and everyone in the org will be able to build views with Looker. This was a kinda big deal for me because it would unlock and unblock SEO team on a lot of data analysis part. Of course we would help of data teams - pros like Liam Baird and Mykyta Todorov (which they thankfully did(and still do), and SEO team is in forever gratitude of) but still there were things we could do on our own without having extremely heavy reliance. There was a bit of learning curve at start because BQ and Looker was new to me, but since I spent good time in LookerStudio(formerly DataStudio), it was easy for me to capture a lot of it. The result of this entire exercise has been extremely positive on SEO Team. Duane R. has been a great partner in this journey of learning new platform, and developing skills, views and reports. I'm happy to say, we are on our way where SEO Team will be able to pull in and join data from GSC(through BQ), Google Ads, Web Analytics(from snowplow). This will help us answer a lot of business related questions. It will also help us build monitoring views, reporting views and more. Better yet, now we could think of using these data as a feedback loop into our Helios Platform. We are already thinking/planning to automate building dynamic pages using this data in a way it makes sense for business. pSEO? wink wink. All this to say, I completed 2 years here last week. And these two years have been extremely rewarding in terms of my personal growth. I want to take an opportunity to thank everyone(without tagging anyone specific) for giving me the opportunity, the runway and resources to build what we could build together with Duane R. at LD. I'm sure there is more to come here, and I'm excited to continue to build SEO practice that's rooted in data, and anchored in driving meaningful results to the business.

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Have you ever heard of an engineering team that signed up for multiple daily deployments without an automated testing strategy? ... Me neither. That's insane. Who has time to manually validate every button and textbox??? So... why do so many GTM teams sign up for being "data driven" without an automated insights strategy? The last decade for sales and marketing teams have been rough. Sinking valuations, constant streams of data and yet GTM is still the most expensive and least efficient part of any organization I've worked with. No wonder we are tired. We've become data rich and information poor. The reality is we set ourselves up to fail. The good news? We shouldn't beat ourselves up over it. It's an impossible task and AI is already enabling us to flip the script in 2024. How are you using #GTMAI to empower the frontlines?

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Okay...This is too good not to share... We've seen how our customers have increased revenue through proven segmentation practices. Our team broke these strategies down into easy scenarios for you to follow. Amongst other industries, we looked at retail and how to drive revenue through targeted cross-selling using SFMC. 👉You can find a full breakdown of segmentation in SFMC in our guide: https://lnkd.in/ePG2MTAe #segmentation #salesforcemarketingcloud #sfmc #deselect

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Cruisebound, Inc.’s not just dipping its toes in the travel tech waters; they just cannonballed with a cool $13M in fresh funding. This isn’t your grandma’s cruise booking site. Led by Pierre-Olivier Lepage and Jay Hoffmann, these guys are out here making sure the next-gen of travelers can book a cruise faster than you can post your vacation selfie. Accomplice VC jumped on board, along with a few other big-name investors. And with legends like Scott Hintz from TripIt and Priceline co-founder Randy Schartner advising, Cruisebound is basically rolling with the travel industry’s Avengers. These guys are serious about leveling up the cruise game, and they’re doing it with style—competitive prices, flexible payment options, and a mobile-friendly platform that’s easier to use than finding a TikTok filter. Let’s not sleep on their growth either—these folks went from 50 to 900 employees, and they haven’t even hit the turbo button yet. Doubling revenue since they launched in 2021? Light work. This $13M is just fuel for the fire. Cruisebound’s about to crank up the marketing, fine-tune the platform, and scoop up first-time cruisers who don’t even know they’ve been missing out. So yeah, if the travel industry thought cruises were just for retirees, Cruisebound’s here to shake that up. Gen Z, Millennials—get ready to set sail. Congrats to the whole Cruisebound crew—you’re steering this ship into uncharted (and seriously exciting) waters. #TravelTech #VacationTech #CruiseBooking #Technology #Innovation #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #TechEcosystem

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A lesson from Shopify: Stop obsessing over churn. I just listened to an incredible podcast featuring Archie Abrams, VP of Product and Head of Growth at Shopify, and it left me buzzing with ideas about what it truly means to build a resilient, customer-first business. One question stood out: Why doesn’t Shopify obsess over churn? Here’s what I learned: 1️⃣ Optimize for the long game. Shopify doesn’t view churn as a core problem—it’s a natural outcome of their mission to empower entrepreneurship. Their mindset? If you lower the barriers to entry and help as many people start as possible, a few will scale to massive success. Those success stories make the entire cohort worthwhile, even if churn rates are higher. 2️⃣ Embrace experimentation, but remain accountable. Shopify runs countless experiments, but what’s different is their timeline for accountability. They’re tracking impact years down the line to ensure their initiatives drive sustainable growth—not just short-term spikes. For a founder like me, this is a powerful reminder: shipping fast is important, but the real value comes from continuous learning and long-term refinement. 3️⃣ A hundred-year vision. Shopify’s north star is to build for the next century, not the next quarter. Every decision is grounded in what will benefit their merchants for decades. This kind of thinking is rare—and deeply inspiring. As I reflect on Brij’s journey, this long-term mindset encourages me to stay patient and focused on building a platform that will deliver value for years to come. Our long term bet? A platform that truly bridges the offline & online worlds. Is it easy? Nope. Will it take time? Yep. Is our vision huge? You bet it is. Check out the link in the comments. #churn #saas #growth

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