Tamara Grominsky

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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Today’s episode with Mark Bergen, former VP Revenue at Shopify, is a special one for me. Mark gave me my big break into tech sales after I cold called him in 2015 and I teamed up with again at Shopify at few years later. Berg, as he’s affectionately known, is one of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with. He genuinely cares about his team, engages people in a compelling vision, executes on strategy and produces great leaders. He has easily the highest Q-Rating of any leader I’ve been around, which I'm sure people will be quick to mention in the comments. He’s the people’s champ on top of being and incredible executive. From an early role helping a struggling company find product-market fit, to leading Shopify’s enterprise GTM motion during its meteoric rise, Mark has seen every stage of the SaaS journey. Now, as a fractional executive advising multiple companies, he reflects on decades of experience to share timeless lessons for scaling teams, aligning cross-functional priorities, and building enduring organizations. We talked about: Partnering with Product in Engineering-First Companies Thinking Long-Term in a Short-Term World The Journey of Sales Acceptance at Shopify Building High Impact Partner Programs Lessons in Leadership and Followership I hope everyone listens to this one because Berg deserves a lot more attention than he gets. He's too humble for his own good. 😆

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Are you ready to unlock the full potential of Product Operations? 🔍 Only 2 weeks left until Product Ops: 101 - Getting Started with Product Operations on October 30, 2024, led by Denise Tilles! With only 2 spots left, this hands-on workshop will give you practical tools to implement and scale Product Ops strategies. By the end, you'll have a clear roadmap to drive better outcomes within your organization. Secure your spot now: https://lnkd.in/exBcs2V5 🎟️ #productops101 #productoperations #productmanagement #workshop

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What % of revenue does partnerships deliver today? What do you want it to be? Is there a gap? I'd say most likely... That's the hopes and dreams that partnerships can deliver a quick firehose of customers... However... Which partners are contributing towards it currently? Why would they do more, now and ahead to close YOUR gap? Do they have capacity, capabilities and motivations to do more? If not... Do you need to recruit more partners? How many? Why would they spend their time and efforts towards you? If they haven't worked with you before, you're an interruption to their people, processes and focus which drives forward their revenue.. So what's your partner value proposition? It needs to be MUCH better than their current partners and easy to onboard, implement and manage How many customers would they need to add for you? Lots of questions and things to consider, which is why you need a robust partner strategy BEFORE wasting time and efforts. Don't be one of those companies that say *we tried partnerships, it didn't work* That's what we help solve at Hockey Stick Advisory Like Tom Willis from Lawpath. Be like Tom. Reach out if you'd like to go faster with and through partners. https://lnkd.in/gDfrpB7y #partnerships #growth #ecosystems Scott Cooper Chris Tsiknas

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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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Marketing may be a funnel but product marketing is a cycle, and the goal of growth makes it even more complex. At the PMM Summit, Toronto on Nov 20th - join me to learn more about: - What elements make up growth product marketing. - How product marketers need to evolve into growth product marketing in order to stay competitive and relevant. The team at PMM Summit have generously given me some passes to share with you all, so simply enter 'SPEAKERS500' at checkout for C$500 off your ticket. Thanks Calum Harris & #ProductMarketingAlliance for having me. #PMMSummit #PMMAlliance #Productmarketingtechnology #Toronto

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It's now increasingly possible for founders who are technically capable - and smart enough to realize that experience is a more important differentiator than ever - to pull back some of their tech stack. People are going to continue to move away from Shopify to consider the alternatives - especially as Shopify does away with third-party integrations - or they're going to push Shopify to its limits by focusing on building a custom front-end that better serves their needs. Even though Shopify is technically "built for CRO," it's also a lowest-common denominator scenario, because there's simply no way they can address all the potential use cases in play. Therefore, if a differentiated experience is a premium for your brand, gravitating toward no-code builders and a headless CMS as an alterative as Shopify is a reasonable way to maintain greater control. What are your thoughts about Shopify and its alternatives as no-code improves and technical founders want to take more control back? Tell me about it in the comments below. --- 💎 Hi, I'm Jonathan, the CEO of Boom Labs. 💎 We're an outsourced solution for those sticky Growth Marketing problems that need an experienced resource. 💎 I write about accelerating the growth of your eCommerce business through testing, optimization, and a measured approach to incremental wins. 💎 Follow me for more!

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It's now increasingly possible for founders who are technically capable - and smart enough to realize that experience is a more important differentiator than ever - to pull back some of their tech stack. People are going to continue to move away from Shopify to consider the alternatives - especially as Shopify does away with third-party integrations - or they're going to push Shopify to its limits by focusing on building a custom front-end that better serves their needs. Even though Shopify is technically "built for CRO," it's also a lowest-common denominator scenario, because there's simply no way they can address all the potential use cases in play. Therefore, if a differentiated experience is a premium for your brand, gravitating toward no-code builders and a headless CMS as an alterative as Shopify is a reasonable way to maintain greater control. What are your thoughts about Shopify and its alternatives as no-code improves and technical founders want to take more control back? Tell me about it in the comments below. --- 💎 Hi, I'm Jonathan, the CEO of Boom Labs. 💎 We're an outsourced solution for those sticky Growth Marketing problems that need an experienced resource. 💎 I write about accelerating the growth of your eCommerce business through testing, optimization, and a measured approach to incremental wins. 💎 Follow me for more!

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It feels like beginning again in the Ecommerce ecosystem. The quality of the people and innovation have never been better. The maturity of the Shopify ecosystem has created a whole new opportunity around app building which is enabling incredibly small teams to make a big impact. They’re standing on the shoulders of a giant and merchants benefit. You’ve got 6-10 (at least) new vendors appearing in categories like inventory planning where when tools like inventory planner came through it was them on the Shopify App Store and not much else. It’s more competitive than ever in these categories but merchants at least know the solution type exists. Other companies have unbundled things that were part of the more all-in-one (now legacy) vendors like MetaPack. Take shipping options. Add in A/B testing and CRO. You’ve got PrettyDamnQuick. Whole new value being unlocked where it looked like things were done and dusted. There’s also opportunity in building the consolidation solution. Most brands use a returns platform now which makes something like Two Boxes possible - where previously they’d have built the returns portal for a brand AND the app for the 3PL. These solutions have high potential for growth because they lean into the existing ecosystem without trying to change core systems. Then you’ve got what we’re doing at Nolo Apps - filling the gaps in workflow and data. We’ve realised that the ecosystem of back office tech isn’t some perfect puzzle you can piece together. To make work flow, sometimes you need some joining pieces. We can identify the 4 features you need and build them. It’s faster, leaner and more agile than buying 50 features you don’t. People keep trying to figure out what our “end game” is with Nolo Apps. Our focus is solving real business problems faster and more effectively than is possible with software you buy. Thank you David Wiltshire and Andy Richley for hosting everyone on behalf of Cogent2 last night 👊 #ecommerce #techstacks #MCRMafia

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Enterprise Salespeople - just a friendly push (from someone who isn't impacted by your results but wants you to kick ass) May & June - time to fine-tune  😎 If, on average, you have a 6 + month sales cycle - hopefully you rested up this long weekend.... It's GO time! Any Discovery Calls booked inside what's left of May & the month of June have a shot to close by Calendar Year End. Factor in some down time in July & August & December. This is when you want to: 🚀 review and own the heck out of next steps with ops inside your CRM 🚀work with marketing to provide timely and intelligent collateral for each stage gate of your ops 🚀ensure that decision makers are identified and introduced 🚀hammer away with your sales leader/founder the key accounts and get support 🚀build plans with your champions to get these deals to their natural close 🚀understand how market forces/head winds/corporate budgets etc might create a sense of urgency for prospects Good Luck & Go CRUSH Your Quotas - like only you can!!! AND make sure you have some personal activities for growth inside your daily calendar!!! That part is always non-negotiable!! If I can help - happy too! startupsalesgrowth.ca #sales #saas #saassales #founders #startups #startupsales #proptech #realestate #enterprisesales #ae #bdr #salesteams #salesculture #salesprocess #salescycle #salesstrategies #salestips #quotas #salesquotas #revenue #salesleadership #salespeople #worklifebalance #marketing #salesandmarketing #mentalhealth #salesprospecting #crm #nextsteps #coaching #b2b

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The foundation of every great discovery call isn’t just about asking the right questions. It’s about being fully present and engaged. When you’re in sales for the right reasons—to help others solve complex problems and drive real outcomes—being present is easy. True presence requires genuine curiosity, and that curiosity is rooted in a desire to make a positive impact. To be truly effective in sales, you need to genuinely care about the person on the other side of the call. And to do that, you have to believe in what you’re selling. It’s not about pushing a product; it’s about solving real challenges with solutions you trust. That’s where the magic happens. PS, at Iterable we are looking to hire A players with enterprise experience. Can be remote or hybrid (offices in NYC, SF, and Denver). DM me if you're interested or know someone who may be.

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Want to know the most critical meeting in your customer journey? It's the kickoff call. So many SaaS founders underestimate the power of a strong kickoff call. It's not just another meeting - it's the foundation of your entire customer relationship. Get it wrong, and you're setting yourself up for churn before you even start. Nail it, and you'll unlock a flywheel of retention and referrals that can supercharge your growth. I've developed a 3-phase strategy that transforms kickoff calls from a potential liability into a powerful asset. Want the full playbook? I've broken it down step-by-step in my latest video, including the exact SOP we use at SaaS Academy. Check it out now ↓

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One of the best benefits of Shopify is their insane app marketplace. Think of a problem, pain point, or crazy feature that major retailers have on their website, and there is 99% chance that the Shopify app store has an app that does it. Not only does the app store cover integrations with other backend services (like typical SaaS apps do) but the apps provide ways to create whole new experiences for shoppers. Some of the ideas I can think off the top of my head: - A quiz maker that recommends products based on a user quiz - A spin wheel discount code generator - Upsells, Reviews, UGC, Loyalty, Social Feeds - Subscriptions Wait a minute. Did you realize how crazy that is? Up until recently Subscribe and Save was a feature that only major retailers like Amazon could offer, or sites that were built around offering subscription products. Coding and managing the complexity of subscriptions locked out the majority of stores. But a quick search on the Shopify app store returns 261 Apps for the keyword subscription. Why are there so many apps offering the same feature? The answer is that by securing a recurring sale from a customer you can build LTV and long term revenue growth a lot more reliably and easily. If you have a product that can be consumed, or that needs to be replaced, I highly recommend you install a subscription app. My recommendation is Paywhirl. We set up a store with subscriptions from beginning to end in under an hour for a few different plans. The interface is very easy to use, both in setting up and in managing, and it looks great on the site. Here is a link to install (I get an affiliate commission) - https://lnkd.in/exvVgQ98 If you need any help setting this up, DM and I will do my best to help you out.

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We've seen this so many times. Your brand/customers/product is unique, but that doesn't mean you should reinvent the wheel with your commerce/marketing stack experience. When brands choose heavily-customized tech stacks, it usually leads to high implementation & maintenance costs. But more importantly, it makes it difficult to iterate down the line. You'll be stuck with your "custom" ecom site, loyalty program, unique UX for years - while your competitors will blow past you with "out of the box" tools.

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Choosing the right platform for your eCommerce store has many variables. Paul and I chat about the advantages of Shopify in this episode. The sheer breadth of the ecosystem around Shopify makes it a natural choice for brands of all sizes. For earlier stage folks, the app ecosystem makes success with a smaller team more attainable. For larger brands, the support and expertise around customizing the entry level tools is readily available. But with more options comes more decisions, and potential hurdles that slow the speed of growth. Give this episode a listen to learn from the combined experiences of working with hundreds of brands. You can watch it on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple Podcast and its called "Shopify Is Indeed Plotting Enterprise Global Domination. Paul Rogers and Vervaunt Are Ready For It" #shopify #ecommerce #growth P.S. We’re looking for more great guests to bring on the Ecommerce Hotline by Bemeir - drop your suggestions in the comments!

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Partnerships with big Creators are only valuable for growth and marketing if the big Creator successfully aligns with your product. I've done partnerships that worked great and partnerships that totally, miserably failed (I still cringe thinking about those). Everyone thinks "I'll get a huge Creator / celebrity and that will make all the nano-, micro-, and mid-tier influencers notice and use my product!" But that's not how it works. If you get a megainfluencer as a partner, they better get great results. If they get great results, that's what the long tail will notice. You'll go to the moon. But if they don't? The long tail will notice that as well. You'll have wasted a lot of time and money. SO before you sign a big Creator partnership: - Make sure your product is ready - Do smaller deals with a variety of smaller Creators to test different variables and find what works - Choose a large Creator partner based on the variables that work + general excitement to partner - Align the incentives in your deal - Walk away from a deal that feels misaligned WALK AWAY! It's better to waste 6 months negotiating and walk away because it doesn't feel right or you've learned something new than rationalize doing a bad deal because you've put in the effort. Prioritize picking Creator partners who will succeed. The halo effect you want will come from the success. How are your big Creator partnership efforts going? If you need help, message or email me.

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Appreciation post for Shopify, especially the App Store team - It’s been there for more than a decade now. I haven't seen anyone appreciating the option for merchants to leave reviews for the apps they’re using on Shopify. Those reviews are a game-changer for Shopify SaaS founders like me. Running a SaaS company isn’t easy, and having long days is the new normal no matter what stage you're in. Whenever I receive a Slack alert that there is a new Shopify review for Vajro, it brings me immense happiness. It doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative. Someone took their time to write about us and share their feedback publicly is a different feeling altogether. It gives an opportunity to feel & express genuine gratitude towards the merchant. All the other benefits - organic ranking, seo, social proof - are all secondary. There are thousands of app developers in the ecosystem, and I’m pretty sure every single one has felt this. The mental calmness these genuine reviews provide is underrated, and nobody talks about it. p.s. Yes, we’ve set up an alert in our Slack for whenever someone leaves a review. Our whole team celebrates every single review together ❤️ You should do that if you haven't done it yet.

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Fyi: Funding / IPO / Equity of “Founders”: For the St. Louis Region and Beyond, #EcoNetworkSystem for #Founders, #StartUps, #Entrepreneurs, #Innovators, #SMB’s and Others. All of content: “SaaS founders — if and when you IPO, how much of the company will you own? Many folks throw around a couple key checkpoints. The first one is founding teams should try to hold on to 51% of equity after the Series A raise. That’s a fine goal (although many great companies don’t have that and still go on to wonderful outcomes). But how about at the end of the journey? Disclaimer: this is not Carta data and it's only 34 companies. But I still find the info collected by Jason M. Lemkin at SaaStr fascinating. Standout points: 1. The average ownership across the entire founding team at IPO was 22%.     2. The "first founder" (usually the CEO) had significantly more equity in companies with 2 co-founders (often about 2:1 ratio). Now - there are significant outliers here. The founding teams at Atlassian, Klaviyo, and ZoomInfo all IPO'd with majority ownership. Atlassian at 75.4% is an outrageous mark, kudos to them! If you remove the three high outliers, the key benchmarks look like: • 75th percentile ownership across the founders: 22.3% • 50th percentile: 17.1% • 25th percentile: 14.4% Does that feel like too much? Too little? The range is gigantic, from 75% down to 2%. And it’s definitely possible that founders across the board took some money off the table with secondary sales, etc over the lifetime of the company. Seems like every path to IPO is distinct enough that comparison is just an academic exercise. And hey, 2% of billions is still a lottery-level outcome. Here's to this damn IPO market opening back up soon, for everyone's sake 🙏 #founders #startups #dilution #fundraising #IPO -------------------- 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 Some of these companies may have more co-founders than listed who aren’t large enough shareholders to show up in the S-1 cap table.  For purposes of thinking about equity ratios, the focus was on identifying folks with >= 5% ownership or who were named officers or directors. Stock option grants may not be fully included in these numbers which would push ownership numbers a little higher. Data from Jason Lemkin & SaaStr | Chart by Peter Walker _____ #StartLouis Where “StartUps” Start. Ed Schneider ——- For the St. Louis Region and Beyond, #EcoNetworkSystem for #Founders, #StartUps, #Entrepreneurs, #Innovators, #SMB’s and Others. _____ (O:081024-0219p-(147) -(R:0319p). _____

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