Emilie Gieler

Why I think GTM is Broken 💔 : 3 Key Problems Tech Scale-Ups Face ⛔ I recently joined B2B Practitioners because I’ve seen too many tech scale-ups struggle to grow internationally. It’s not that they lack ambition—it’s their go-to-market strategy that often holds them back. Here are 3 critical GTM problems I’ve seen time and time again: 👉 Fragmented Strategy: GTM isn’t just marketing or sales. Without a unified approach, teams pull in different directions. Aligning sales, marketing, and product is key to creating a sustainable growth engine. 👉 No Focus on Sustainable Growth: Growth at all costs? It works until it doesn’t. Companies need to prioritize efficiency and predictability, especially in complex European markets where quick wins are rare. Nothing happens overnight (well... almost nothing) 😉 👉 Lack of Local Market Understanding: Europe isn’t a single market. Scaling across DACH, UK, Nordics, and Southern Europe requires more than language localization—it needs a strategic shift in positioning and messaging. This I have witnessed over and over again Have you experienced these challenges in your GTM? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! #b2bpractitioners #GTM #marketing #scale

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Tanguy Crusson has spent 10+ years at Atlassian, where he's taken several products from zero to one, including HipChat, Statuspage, and most recently, Jira Product Discovery. In this episode, we dive deep into the struggles and lessons of innovating and building new products inside a large company. Tanguy shares candid stories about what's worked, what hasn't, and everything he's learned about successfully building 0 to 1. We cover: 🔸 Why large companies with so many advantages still fail at creating new products 🔸 How to avoid common pitfalls like competitive myopia and premature scaling 🔸 Lessons learned from acquisitions 🔸 Lessons from competing with Slack 🔸 Insights from the success of Jira Product Discovery 🔸 Tactics for protecting your “ugly babies” 🔸 The power of “lighthouse users” 🔸 The importance of having a “why now” 🔸 So much more Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gr9f4D45 - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gmiuz944 - Apple: https://lnkd.in/gWGAc5ZX Some key takeaways: 1. “Don’t eat your own bullshit.” When launching new products within companies that have already seen some success, it’s easy to assume that your existing playbooks will work again. But what got you here won’t take you there. You need to define, test, and validate your assumptions, because they may very well be wrong—especially when targeting new customer segments. 2. Startups benefit from starving. Starving creates hunger, which drives people to solve problems with resourcefulness and urgency. When exploring new products in a big company with excessive resources, you need to create scarcity to emulate this startup starvation. This generally means operating as a small, scrappy, siloed team. 3. The most likely outcome when launching a new product is failure—even at big companies that appear to have many advantages. It’s important to ground new product launches in this reality so that you can deter the company from over-investing, which ultimately serves to reduce hunger, slow things down, and decrease the chances of success. After all, why invest heavily in something that’s most likely to fail anyway? 4. Success for new products should be measured differently from existing ones, both in terms of metrics and time horizons. In general, new products should be judged by whether the team is answering the right questions at the right pace and whether the team is still excited about the new bet’s potential. It’s a common mistake to judge new products by metrics that a big company is used to, like MAUs or revenue. However, if a team is optimizing for MAUs or revenue before they’ve worked to understand the problem, they will be working on the wrong things. 5. Atlassian uses a four-phase approach to launching new products and deciding whether to invest in them further: Wonder, Explore, Make, Impact

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Are you a product manager who is ready to do the most meaningful work of your career ? Want to change lives and apply GenAI to do so ? At Virta we've reversed diabetes (yes it can be reversed), through nutrition, without drugs, for 10,000s of people. Along the way we've helped even more recover from obesity (hello sustainable drug free weight loss) We're hiring for a Senior PM for Adoption. You're the kind of person who can connect deeply with our members and guide our teams to solve their diverse pain points, removing barriers and lifting motivation and self belief. You’re expert at lean startup execution, falling in love with problem spaces, crafting MVPs and maximizing learning. You're also excited by the opportunity to improve our coach and care team tools, and know how to put Machine Learning and AI to work. You've honed your craft and are ready to put your talents to work in a way you'll be proud to tell your family and friends. The technology you build will change 10,000s of lives next year. But what excites you most is that with over 1B people in the world needing improved metabolic health --- this is just day 1. PS ... you're going to love the people you work with. If this isn't you --- but you want to change the world --- still reach out. We're hiring all the time and there's a "when, not if" to us needing you too. https://lnkd.in/guGtk7_Y #diabetes #healthtech #GLP-1

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👋 Do any of these resonate with you? A. Getting your first job in product management is tough. B. Changing customer behavior is challenging. C. Selling SaaS in this climate is tricky. D. Leading a team through uncertainty isn’t for the faint of heart. Over the past year, I've conducted over 200 calls on these topics with customers, founders, leads, and aspiring product managers. Here are my top two takeaways: 1. Community is key. Sharing experiences and seeking feedback from those on the same path (or having gone down it) sharpens your approach, makes the journey more rewarding, and less lonely. 2. Connection energizes. Engaging with the community has been incredibly fulfilling and motivating for me. To make these connections more accessible, I've opened a few 1:1 mentorship slots on Intro. Plus, 25% of the proceeds will be donated to charity (Kings County Tennis League). ⏩ https://intro.co/hirefrank As a former VP of Product at Slack, InVision, Casper, and Betterment, I’m excited to share my experiences and insights. I’ll also bring in learnings from my time at Etsy and Google. Here’s what we can cover together: ✔️ Roadmap prioritization & sequencing ✔️ Uncovering customer insights ✔️ Pricing & go-to-market strategies ✔️ Product feedback ✔️ Career advice for PMs ✔️ And more Honored to be on @Intro alongside world-class experts like Mark Mullen (seed investor in GOAT, Scopely, Figment & Trade Desk), Shegun Otulana (founder of Theranest/Therapy Brands, sold for $1.25B), Kathy Wang (head of AR product at TikTok), and Lars Schmidt (award-winning talent strategist, LinkedIn Top Voice). Comment “interested” and secure your spot now: https://intro.co/hirefrank

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Palantir stock is 🆙 Up 152% Year-to-Date (!) 📈 Trades at 34x ARR (!) and ⤴️ Is Growing New Customers +41% 🔥The Fire of the Fire in SaaS🔥 5 Interesting Learnings: #1. Growth Has Re-Accelerated tp 27%, from 13% a Year Ago Fueled by commercial and government contracts, and by AI-related demand in both, Palantir is seeing growth re-accelerate from 2023.  Pretty impressive, in a time when almost everyone else that is public is seeing slowing growth. #2.  Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) is a Year Old But Fueling $159m in Q2 Bookings Alone To some Cloud and SaaS leaders, AI is a table-stakes addition.  But for Palantir, it’s a true accelerant. #3.  Commercial (Non-Gov't and Defense) Customers Fueling Growth.  Up From Almost None in 2020 to 295 Today. Palantir is closing big, big deals and its roots are in government and defense.  When it IPO’d, commercial customers were a tiny bit of their business.  Fast forward to today, they are closing 300 of them.  And revenue is up +55%.  This potential for a decade of growth at scale here helps justify the high revenue multiple Palantir trades at. #4.  Closed 27 Deals Over $10,000,000 and 96 $1,000,000 Deals — Just Last Quarter Palantir is very enterprise. #5.  Profitability Has Increased Even as Growth Has Reaccelerated Do you have to do it all today, at least once you are at scale? Grow AND be more efficient?  Yes, you do.  And Palantir has risen to the challenge. It's pretty impressive to do both.

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We usually say that 5 user interviews can be enough to validate an assumption ✅. But sometimes, you have the feeling it is not enough to start development, and spend weeks (or sometimes months) of engineering time ? Multiple tools or techniques exist to help you validate if your idea would work at scale. One of them is the 😶‍🌫️ Smoke Test 😶‍🌫️. Smoke test consists in pretending that a product does exist whereas it does not ❌. You can then send 📤 marketing campaigns or create entry points directly within your product, which all redirect users towards a landing page. Users can then register to be the very first ones using this product as soon as it is available. With such tool, you can easily lower your risk at minimum cost 💸, and measure the 😋 appetite of your users for your next idea. I personally used it once, and it was extremely efficient !

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🔑 Navigating the Dual Challenges of Leadership and Technical Experimentation in Achieving Product-Market Fit 🔑 Yesterday, we discussed the often-overlooked role of inexperienced leadership in the quest for product-market fit. Today, let's explore how we can address this challenge head-on, alongside the technical experimentation aspect. We can group challenges into 5 areas. 1. Integrated Leadership Development: One solution lies in integrating leadership development programs into the startup journey. Provide resources and support for pre-PMF founders to enhance communication, strategic thinking, and conflict resolution skills. 2. Collaborative Learning Environment: Create a collaborative learning environment to foster a culture of continuous improvement. Encourage open dialogue and knowledge sharing among team members, regardless of their level of experience. Pursue innovative solutions and collective growth. 3. Iterative Experimentation: Adopt an iterative approach to experimentation. Rather than betting everything on one big idea, break it down into smaller experiments that allow for quick learning and adaptation. Reduce risk and empower teams to course correct. 4. Cross-Functional Teams: Form cross-functional teams that bring together diverse expertise. Combine technical know-how with strong leadership skills. Preconceived ideas around product development and market dynamics can severely limit growth. 5. Embrace Feedback Loops: Regularly solicit feedback from customers, stakeholders, and team members. Ensure key decisions are informed by real-world insights and be prepared to be wrong. In conclusion, by addressing both the leadership and technical experimentation challenges in tandem, startups can increase their chances of achieving product-market fit. What strategies have you found effective in overcoming these dual challenges? I'd love to hear your insights in the comments below! 👇 #ProductMarketFit #EntrepreneurshipJourney #LeadershipDevelopment

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What's THE best SaaS metric to follow user engagement ? 🤔 👉I can understand the best option will depend on each use case and objective. And a great inspiration for that is Equals' SaaS metrics guide which I highly receommend to check ! ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ewZK8Bei BUT what 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 can help find a metric that best fits our use case ? 👉We are developping an AI coach that guides startups' teams to maximise their growth efficiency. Daily usage means people express their best self, which turns into optimum performance for the startup. Maybe we could use 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 (DAUY/MAU) or Equals' 𝘼3𝙭7 (https://lnkd.in/eDJ3GE8N) BUT how to go 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 and develop a metric that specifically fit our use case ? Bobby, Ben ? 🙏 Ideas and comments welcomed ! Thanks ! #AI #saas #metrics #performance

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Discovery is not just a “product thing” Nor is it just a design thing, a strategy thing, or a market thing. In most scale-ups and enterprises, each function has their own researchers. Each with : 👉 their own tools 👉 their own practices 👉 their own deliverables. Each with : 👉 siloed (and incomplete) analyses 👉 siloed models 👉 siloed vocabulary And yet, all their individual research causes siloed strategies and communication issues. That’s a shame and a huge loss of money. All researchers should work together. I mean… The outcome of their work is the same: 💡 Provide knowledge about customers, allowing the organization to optimize decision-making. 💡 This sounds like a team mission, no? So… I have 2 extremely simple pieces of advice: 🍽 If a part of your job is to “provide knowledge about customers allowing the organization to optimize decision-making”, identify the people in your company who have the same mission and have lunch together. 🍽 If you’re in the leadership team, pay the lunch bill. Because if they manage to get closer and make their results a bit more compliant, it will have a huge impact on your company. What do you think - who else should have a seat at the lunch table? --------- This post is part of a series about common discovery pitfalls. You can find the previous post here: https://lnkd.in/g5nJ_P29

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It's the end of B2B SaaS week in Paris. I enjoyed it from the 1st minute to the last one. Here is why: 1. Knowledge🧑‍🎓: I got many learnings from other CEOs of B2B SaaS and investors. It's really hard to find the right GTM strategy as a SaaS company. Here I learned from 50 others CEOs in only 2 days. 2. Network 🚀: I met many high quality people (see list below) and some already made great introductions to develop our business further. I know I got some personal connections that I would never had if I had an online meeting with them. 3. Clients/partners 👋: we met some of our customers, prospects and potential business partners 4. Energy 🔥: it gives so much energy to meet other entrepreneurs that have their ups and downs. A few people to mention 1. Colin Lalouette, PhD CEO of Appvizer and B2B Rocks 🎸 Sept. 25-26, Paris: happy to have met you in person and all the privileged invitations here and there ;) 2. Clément Puren and William Swinnen CSO and CMO of Guideflow - Interactive demo: impressed by your growth since we met last year and looking forward to hearing the next great news ;). Thank you for the event yesterday with Captain Data 3. Krzysztof Szyszkiewicz and Kacper Floryn 👻 from Valueships. They impressed me a lot with their energy and their very deep knowledge about SaaS pricing in France (they benchmarked 2000 French SaaS companies!) 4. Vincent Thuillier and Maxime Robles from Ignify. Those 2 ex A-players from Swile grew their agency at an impressive pace the last 12 months. Great energy and we immediately started a partnership. 5. Andreï Sochala VP Growth at Aircall and Deidre Hudson: reminded the importance to think like your buyers and not as a seller. It's more crucial than ever. 6. Stan Massueras ex-VP growth at Intercom: what an energy! I’m also looking forward to our meeting next week. Btw, I’m now considering visiting Dublin, you intrigued me. 7. Bertrand Gaté the magician: we spent such a good moment with you on the boat, next to the Eiffel Tower. Vincent is still in shock. Me too to be honest :D Thank you again for this memorable moment. 8. Sébastien Le Roy, Partner at Serena: we have the same favorite kpi: NRR 9. Thibault Le Meur thank you for the super chat about growth yesterday 10. Julie Farley and Valentin Bernier from Semrush: thanks for the clarity and hundreds of tips shared about demand generation. Thank you Vincent Bully for being part of this! #B2BSaas

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From Product Talk: Product in Practice: Opportunity Mapping Led to a 20% Lift in LTV at Grailed When trying to figure out what your customers want, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking about what you want to achieve with your product or business. Learn how a product team at Grailed adopted continuous discovery and managed not only to avoid this trap, but to make a major impact on their desired outcome and customer lifetime value. Read more: https://buff.ly/3IcVUAY ❓ What strategies have you used to ensure your team frames opportunities in the language of your customers? Share examples of how this has impacted your product development and user engagement.

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How we try to "walk the talk" in this instance is that leading up to "product release" the Product Marketing team is the "Voice-OF-the-market" and once the release hits we are the "Voice-TO-the-market". It is also very helpful to visualize as a Cycle and not linear, because launch and post-launch measurement feed directly into Discovery. "Post-mortems" become "pre-development" activities

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lempire has gone from 0 to $10M EBITDA and $28M ARR in 6 years. I spent 6 months researching and talked to the whole exec team. Here's the story: — A huge shoutout to everyone who helped, including: - Kévin Moënne-Loccoz - Guillaume Moubeche - François Lejeune - Maxime Lesur - Charles Tenot — THE STORY It all started with Guillaume Moubeche's last $1000. He bet it all on solving cold outreach's biggest problems: personalization and deliverability. That bet paid off. Big time. In just 3 years, Lemlist skyrocketed from $1M to $20M ARR. How? By doing things differently. Eventually, it became lempire. — PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT lempire throws out the modern PM playbook. They use a modified shape-up methodology with: - Project, not product teams - Very few meetings and reviews - Minimal documentation, maximum action The result? A lean "get shit done" culture with no BS. — GROWTH STRATEGY Lempire's "profit-led growth" has been a mix of PLG and CLG: - Content-first go-to-market strategy - Cross-product synergy that keeps users hooked - A reverse trial model that flips the script on user acquisition And the kicker? They did it all while staying profitable. From day one. — MARKET POSITION In a $1.7B market, Lempire has carved out a 1.6% share. That might not sound like much, until you realize how fast they're growing. Their secret weapon? Personalization at scale. It's not just a feature—it's their entire philosophy. But they're not without challenges. Enterprise penetration remains their next big hurdle. — KEY TAKEAWAYS This isn't just a company to watch. It's a company to learn from. They've proven you can scale fast without VC cash or burning out. They're building for the long haul, not just the next funding round. In a world obsessed with growth at all costs, Lempire chose a different path. And it's paying off in spades. — What's your take? What can other SaaS founders learn from Lempire's journey? I say much more in my deep dive, available in the comments. #SaaS #Startup #Growth

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French 🇫🇷 people are culturally wired to be great product managers. Why is that? Because French people say No 👎. Often. (Did I hear "too much"?) Jokes aside, defining #priorities is defining what you should be doing, but more than anything, what you should NOT be doing. For 1 Yes, there should be 10 No. And it's hard. I'm guilty myself of not saying "No" enough. I want to be nice to my customers, the sales team, the support team. I want to act as a team player, and it's so much easier to say Yes! So how do you rephrase your No to make it better accepted? - Highlight the Focus 🎯: Explain what you will be focusing on instead, and how that will move the needle. This help shift the conversation to what’s being gained rather than what’s being declined. - Empathize and Offer Alternatives 🫴: Acknowledge the problem or request and explore alternative solutions within the limits of your product—or even outside of it. This shows you’re still committed to solving the issue, even if not in the originally proposed way. What strategies do you use to say No effectively without burning bridges? #productmanagement #prioritization #productdevelopment #leadership #PMtips #Frenchpeoplerock

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What sets successful product-led companies apart? It’s not just great products; it's their approach to ease and user experience. If you're still chaining yourself to email verification walls and convoluted pricing structures, you might as well throw in the towel right now. There’s no excuse for frustrating potential customers before they’ve even had a chance to see your product be awesome. The article discusses industry giants like Calendly, Zoom, and Slack, highlighting their strategic choices that enhance user experience. They eliminate unnecessary obstacles and get users engaged—fast. Think about it: A frictionless sign-up can be the difference between a casual visitor and a devoted user. If you want to be part of the conversation about product-led growth, you need to embrace these principles, or you're simply playing catch-up. Want to stay ahead of the curve? Join my newsletter, 5 Minute Founders, for insights that deliver the essence of business books in a fraction of the time. You can also check out what I’m doing at Quuu.co and QuuuPromote.co—where we make it easy for you to discover and share valuable content. Which product-led brands do you admire? Let’s hear your thoughts. https://lnkd.in/ede-miPF

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People overcomplicate SaaS launches Listen, if you're a tech entrepreneur: 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱: - Endless feature creep - Perfectionism paralysis - Ignoring early user feedback - Overspending on fancy offices 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: - Build a lean MVP - Launch fast, iterate faster - Listen obsessively to users - Invest in cloud security from day one Focus on this for the first 6 months. Build from there. How I turned a napkin sketch into a 7-figure SaaS: 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭: Scribbled idea at 2 AM 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟳: Recruited 2 genius devs 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟯𝟬: Bare-bones MVP live 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟲𝟬: First paying customer 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟵𝟬: Major security overhaul 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟴𝟬: Hit $10K MRR No fancy pitch deck. No VC funding. Just relentless execution. The game-changer? Prioritizing security from day one. While others treated it as an afterthought, we made it our core feature. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: - Enterprise clients knocking on our door - 99.99% uptime from launch - Zero data breaches in 2 years 𝗛𝗼𝘄? 1. Partnered with ethical hackers 2. Implemented AI-powered threat detection 3. Continuous authentication protocols We're now blocking threats before they exist. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿? Our security stack costs less than most startups' coffee budget. Turns out, smart security attracts big clients. Don't wait for a breach. Build trust from day one. Want my detailed SaaS security playbook? DM me "𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀". 𝗣𝗦: If my grandma could understand our security pitch, anyone can. I'll show you how.

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This new article is for PMs and POs to demistify couple of concepts related to product management like priorisation, strategy, risk management and research. Often thought of very complex things we are afraid to touch, while there are ways to fear not, and get started. Hope you'll find those helpful. #productmanagement #prioritization #frameworks #research #riskmanagement #backlog #strategy

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