Francisco Martin

Have you ever looked for theory that can answer - how to approach investors - what kind of product to build first - how you’ll defend the company against competitors This new article from CDA partner, Kevin Maney extends Steven Johnson's writing from the book Emergence to #CategoryDesign. All #Startups and #VentureCapital teams should dig in. (link to article in comments)

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"If we’re measuring velocity in days or weeks, it might seem obvious to directly tie a startup’s velocity to the number of hours you work each day. But startup velocity is far more than just hours worked (a nuance that many adherents to startup “hustle” culture get wrong). Velocity is not only about how hard you work, it’s about how you work. At a fundamental level, startup velocity is a measure of a company’s sense of urgency." https://lnkd.in/gV9Z_ift

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Trying to get from $0 to $1M ARR? Find your PMF. Obsess over identifying a problem that a big enough market urgently needs solving. Talk to your customers about their most painful problems and validate your assumptions. Not all feedback will be valuable. Focus on insights from your early adopters—they become your ICP and shape your product. Stay true to your core customer profile. Chasing revenue or artificially widening the PMF dilutes your product's effectiveness. Your product can only meet so many needs. Tailor every feature to your ICP. Your first version is your Minimum Sellable Product (MSP). Make the MSP easy to use and beneficial. With customers using your product, continually collect feedback to improve: 1 - Offering 2 - Marketing messages 3 - Sales calls 4 - Pricing structure 5 - Demo flow If you reach $1M ARR, congratulations! Your product has real demand. Next, it’s time to think about scaling to $10M ARR. More on that soon.

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To scale from $1M to $10M ARR, you need to turn your ad hoc GTM efforts into a well-oiled machine. This means creating repeatable processes across your entire GTM - from lead gen to sales to customer success. The good news for technical founders is that they're experts at solving complex engineering challenges with precision, efficiency, and structure. At this stage of startup growth, they need to apply that same systems-oriented mindset to GTM - which, for B2B startups, can be approached more as a science than an art. More in the May edition of B2BaCEO: https://lnkd.in/emsvFN9q

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How did InvisionApp with a $1.9 billion valuation fail so badly? The short answer: - Lack of product focus - Marketing over innovation - Feature release stagnation - Declining customer trust - Missing innovation in the design space They could have easily prevented all of this! They had the talent. They had the money. They had the insight in the design industry. I covered this all in yesterday's newsletter issue. You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/dPU_kYF5

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Founders, waitlists don't work unless you talk about your product somewhere else or offer some type of lead magnet. Nobody cares about getting updates. That's not enough of a value exchange. Just published my latest teardown (search Roast My SaaS on YT) about a startup with a huge missed opportunity to capture leads & onboard them. Too bad the video is a little over 15 minutes and LinkedIn doesn't allow me to publish it here as well. #buildinpublic

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This is a must listen to for anyone B2B founder. How to figure out Product Market Fit. One of best frameworks I've seen in a while. https://lnkd.in/ghSmhVNB

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Sifted just released their list of the most promising SaaS startups in Europe. https://lnkd.in/erxJRGzi If you are looking to leave your corporate job for a startup but aren’t sure where to get started, do this. 1. Look at sifted lift of promising startups and pick 10 that really interest you. 2. Based on your skill set, use linked look up the lead of the department you think you would be interested in. For example, if you want to get into sales then look up the VP of sales. 3. Send them a DM on why you want to work for the company and what impact you could have in your first 100 days working there. Don’t send your CV until asked for it. 4. Follow up diligently every few days. If after the third try, no one has got back to you, move to the next 10 on the list. It sounds simple, and it is. Recruitment is the hardest thing for growth stage startups, and no one enjoyed paying 25% recruiter fees. Good luck

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What are the risks and implications of picking the wrong go-to-market leader? Why many startups (and even some scaleups) are not ready and what do they typically do wrong? Why do we see a rise in fractional VPs and CROs? Does it work? Who wins? I wrote about my experience and perspective about it. https://lnkd.in/di7xBVCe ******** Join other CEOs, Founders, Private Equity and VC Investors interested in “Healthy” SaaS and Customer-Centric go-to-market & revenue growth who get these insights in my newsletter: go to saasification dot net and subscribe.

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📣 Free founders-only event below! I often see founders get a lot of early traction in signing customers and then hit a wall when trying to scale that repeatedly. Why?? Maybe it's because: 1️⃣ that 1st group of customers came through warm intros from your accelerator batch 2️⃣ you've already combed through industry connections from your previous career 3️⃣ you're just good at brute-force selling but you're only one person 4️⃣ you are still narrowing in on product market fit Next week I'm hosting a free, founders-only candid discussion with two people who have had to break through this wall out of necessity and now coach countless founders on this. More on our speakers: 📈 Ian Illig took his 1st job out of college at a friend's startup (employee #1). He quickly found himself trying to sell a product that was still finding its market fit. Fast forward years later and Ian had completely built out the sales team and revenue, allowing the company to get acquired. And then he turned around and did the same thing again with the same founding team. 👀 Sonia Baschez was one of the 1st employees at Atmos, a consumer & builder-facing product for homebuilding. She developed early marketing channels & helped the company grow from Pre-seed to Series A. Sonia optimized product launches to reach the right customers, a challenging feat given their core customers are actively NOT in the tech bubble (aka Techcrunch and a thread on X are not going to do the trick). Whether they know it or not, both Ian and Sonia have been secret superpowers for me as I've grown The Council Fund and supported portfolio companies. I'm excited to share their playbooks & expertise with founders for FREE next Wednesday. Join us 12-1pm Pacific! Link to RSVP in comments below ;)

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To all debating whether no-code should be used in build products with fundraising in mind: Investors often have a mandate to invest when there's a strong technical value prop or moat, which is why they're hesitant about no-code foundations. It's not about scale, compliance, IP, or security—modern no-code tools excel in these areas today. The real issue is the absence of deep tech roots that makes them wary. However, more open-minded investors or those focused on non-technical value props, moats, or other verticals usually have no problem with this approach. Better yet, they appreciate it for showing resourcefulness and avoiding overcomplication.

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As a B2B SaaS VC 👩‍💻 and a huge data nerd 🤓, fewer things bring me more joy than a truly statistically significant analysis (600+ companies surveyed) of B2B SaaS metrics across early stage companies. Great work by our team at Emergence Capital! See comments for full report, and please let us know how we can make this better in the future!

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When working on larger projects and / or those with high outcome uncertainty, many org cultures (surprisingly pervasive even in many startups) tend to prioritize tackling low-hanging fruit or default to taking a consensus path ironically termed "the path of least resistance". This approach of solving easy sub-problems ("known unknowns" as Donald Rumsfeld fmr. US Sect of state, would have termed it) builds in sunk costs & illusions of progress, creating inertia to course correct. Most modern project or program operations turn out to be successful if we view them as a portfolio of risks (sorted by highest impact, high uncertainty to lowest impact, high uncertainty). Tackle the ones at the top first. Prove or disprove your hypotheses. Source of image: First round review #product #bets #operating #principles

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I really like this PMF Framework from Sequoia. https://lnkd.in/gT2nWttx

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Insightful look into bioplatform strategy, and what it takes to raise a Series A from my partner, Omri Amirav-Drory: https://lnkd.in/dFv7GbF6

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What if playing it safe is actually holding your startup back? 🚀 In product development—especially in startups—taking no risks might be the biggest risk of all. I’ve seen firsthand how moving too cautiously can lead to being outpaced by competitors or missing key opportunities. As technology leaders, it’s not about avoiding risk; it’s about understanding, managing, and embracing it strategically. In today’s fast-moving startup world, speed and calculated risk-taking can be the difference between success and failure. 💡 In my latest blog, I break down practical strategies for managing risk while driving growth. Are you ready to take your product to the next level? 👇 Click the link to read more. How do you approach risk in your business? Are you pushing the envelope or playing it too safe? https://lnkd.in/efAUA5xb

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New Capitaliply Acquisitions: RecurrinGO! and Split Payment. $1.72M to Buy, $2M to Grow 🥳 Capitaliply - RollUp Fund in Shopify market is making big moves with the acquisition of two powerful Shopify apps, RecurrinGO! and Split Payment, for $1.72M. With an additional $2M planned for future investments, this strategic expansion is set to redefine what's possible in the e-commerce space. Check out the full story on Benzinga, the leading financial platform with over 25 million monthly readers, to see how Capitaliply is gearing up to make a major impact 📈 https://lnkd.in/dyYu7bki #Shopify #ShopifyApps #PrivateEquity #Investments #SaaS #Aquisitions

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✨🚨 Another Make Cents post is live! 🚨✨ In this post, "AI & its Impact on Vertical SaaS: The Gates of Distribution have Flung Open", I explore how AI is impacting vertical SaaS workflows and its implication for distribution and defensibility. We defy.vc are more excited than ever to invest in vertical SaaS because we believe there's tremendous value leveraging AI to enhance human productivity across tasks like 1) structuring data, 2) analysis, 3) recommendations, and 4) taking action. I also walk through why customer acquisition costs are at an all-time low, attributed to more than just AI-driven product functionality. Read more ⬇ and share your thoughts and feedback in the comments! https://lnkd.in/gRVcJASH

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