Ian Cairns

We use Circle for our community at Exit Five, and Matthew Carnevale has become a Circle power user (he runs our community). They did this awesome write about how to grow a community with insights from Matt and Exit Five sprinkled in. • How to use your community as an audience growth multiplier • 5 systematic community growth strategies • Why you should treat your community like a product, and • Best practices for growing your community https://lnkd.in/e9vs32NQ

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Some smart takeaways from Cohere Director of Product Nick Jakobi on building products with AI. "Clearly, they [customers] need a model that can solve the use case for them, so it needs to be it needs to be high enough IQ, but there's no point in paying for more than you need, and it needs to be fast enough to solve the use case." Check out the full story: https://lnkd.in/enZSH_MT

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At most networking events… Business owners shake hands, exchange business cards, and go home. HumanX has a different approach. You’ll be paired together in 1:1 conversations with investors & AI startups. You’re not just adding people to your rolodex. Deals will be made.

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Should we prioritize people, or tech innovation in our large-scale development projects? The strategy's slowly shifting to people. And that’s exactly how California Forever CEO Jan Sramek wins over skeptics like Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. Not bad. “There’s a lot of baggage that tech has created in building new cities that, unfortunately, we are at the receiving end of”, explains Sramek. So smart cities and tech libertarian network states aren't the focus here. Quite the contrary. He calls the project (in this context) “really, really boring.” The focus: ∙ More housing ∙ Walkable cities ∙ Affordable by design* ∙ Improving the country for residents *(housing prices to start at $400k) I recently covered California Forever, dubbing it a future ‘Tech Utopia’ given its massive Silicon Valley backing. So it’s exciting to see Sramek's positioning and skillful handling of the grilling. Is the era of the smart city over due to its 'baggage'? Time will tell. More on California Forever and other visionaries designing new cities from scratch here: https://lnkd.in/e9-i386q Full interview: https://lnkd.in/eMnT8QhU #futureofcities #urbandevelopment

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If you're connected with me, you know I scream about how necessary integrations are. Check out this piece where I explain more for insideBIGDATA!

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Take it from me, there’s no better way to learn excellent and practical ways to overhaul your experimentation efficacy! Erin makes critical thinking fun and highly accessible in this workshop, June 11:

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Talked to Authority Magazine about how I've built lasting customer relationships while scaling Forethought. If I could summarize it, it all boils down to delivering great work and forming real human connections. Customers who have a great experience with you or your product will come back again and again — especially if you they know the people behind the product. Loved this interview because we went way back to how I got my start in CX and AI, and how that has shaped our value of "customer-obsession" at Forethought. Please give this a read and lemme know what resonates with you! #CX #Customers #Entrepreneurship #AI #CustomerSupport

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3 years of pricing lessons at Equals condensed into one blog post. Since starting the company, we've tinkered a lot with pricing and packaging. It's one of the single most impactful levers early stage companies can pull. I think folks *don't* experiment with pricing enough, or take big enough bets when they do. We've tried free. We've tried completely sales led. We've tried not listing pricing on the site. Matt Hodges details all the plans we've had, why, and what we've learned in our latest installment on Wrap Text. https://lnkd.in/ecckEDba

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The coolest marketing launches aren’t always new features. In fact, this year, in addition to all the awesome new features we’ve launched (ahem DevEx surveys, Data Cloud, investment breakdowns, DORA improvements, and more), we’ve also put a ton of effort into two badass projects that have little to do with the product and everything to do with creating the best customer experience out there. I’m talking about: ✨ Self-service. We’ve always offered a free self-service trial but earlier this summer, Ari-Pekka and our growth team rolled out the option for engineering organizations to buy Swarmia with a credit card, without ever talking to a human. This is perfect for those smaller teams who’ve tested the product, love it, and prefer getting onboarded on their own. ✨ Swarmia Startup Program. After just ~6 weeks of working at Swarmia, Santeri launched a sweet offer for startups affiliated with one of our partner VCs: 50% off paid plans for the first year. I’ll drop a link to the landing page in the comments so you can check it out. (Also, we’re accepting leads about potential new partners at startups (at) swarmia (dot) com so hit us up.) Moral of the story? Work for a company who goes out of their way to be great for customers to work with 🥰

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Another INDUSTRY in the books. Thank you Mike Belsito, Paul McAvinchey, and all of Product Collective for once again putting on a pitch-perfect product conference with real experiences, valuable insights, and above all else, fabulous people (including Tami Reiss, Maggie Crowley, Yana Welinder, Bob Moesta, Quincy Olatunde, John Haggerty, Sean Flaherty, and more). Stay tuned for a recording of my talk along with a copy of my deck. #INDUSTRYConf #productmanagement #strategy

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Let's get real with AI tool adoption in Marketing... As VP of Marketing at Wunderkind, Amandine Servain knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities that come with integrating AI tools into marketing workflows. In a recent AMA webinar, Amandine shared her approach to evaluating and adopting these tools. The key, according to Amandine, is to start not with the tools but by identifying specific pain points within your team's workflows. From there, look for AI solutions that can both solve those problems and also seamlessly integrate with your existing technology stack. "First, we look at the challenges that we have... then we move to trying to find a tool that can solve that pain point, could be AI, could not be AI," Amandine explained. "When we find AI tools, such as Tofu, that was solving a pain point, most of the time we do a POC first to make sure it actually solving the pain point that we think it's solving." But adoption is only half the battle. Measuring the impact of these tools is equally important. Amandine's team tracks engagement metrics and runs A/B tests to quantify the effectiveness of their AI-powered campaigns. However, Amandine cautions against data overload: "We track a lot of data, probably too much data, more than we actually use, but I think that's kind of the marketer's disease, tracking too many data points and not fully knowing what am I going to do with that data?" The key takeaway? Be strategic in your approach to AI adoption. Identify clear pain points, ensure seamless integration, and measure impact using meaningful metrics. With the right strategy, AI tools can be a powerful addition to your marketing workflows. What has been your experience with adopting AI tools in your marketing efforts? https://lnkd.in/gMTVPbtU

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👉 Analytics and Product trailblazers tell their real-life stories of insights that led to massive growth. Shoutout to Lenny Rachitsky / Lenny's Newsletter, Phil Carter, Maria Pergolino, Casey Winters, Japna Sethi, Ken Rudin, Darius Contractor, Jenna Lemonias, Andreas Gross, Elena Dyachkova for contributing 🌟 - your insights are driving innovation and shaping the future of data analytics. 🙏 I’m thrilled to share our collection of "Outta Sight" Insights from these leaders. 🚀. We asked our partners to share their geeky, cocktail party-worthy stories 🍸 - incredible journeys and impactful insights! The stories they shared are incredible. 🍻 🔥These trailblazers, who helped build Airbnb, Google, Grubhub, Quizlet, Zynga, Adobe Marketo, Dropbox, Otter.ai, Life360, Peloton Interactive, The Atlantic, Loops, and other companies, have seen firsthand the transformative impact that robust insights can deliver. Enjoy reading about their bold, analytics-driven moves in this Outta Sight Insights collection. 🔥 Here’s why we built this collection: At Loops, we know there's too much "data theater" out there, distracting from the robust insights that truly drive growth. 🎭 We wanted to inspire data analysts and product growth teams by showcasing these powerful wins. It’s easy to forget the thrill of a big win, especially when grappling with daily growth challenges. These stories remind us of the profound impact that data-driven decisions can have on a company's trajectory.🚀 👉 Together, let's move beyond data theater and focus on what really matters: driving actionable insights that fuel success! 💡📈 https://lnkd.in/d4QsxKgf #DataDriven #ProductAnalytics #GrowthInnovation #CausalML #DataDrivenDecisions

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𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀! We're conducting a benchmarking study to define success metrics specifically for vertical software companies. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Existing SaaS benchmarks just don't cut it for your unique industry needs. This research will provide the data-driven insights to measure and optimize your vertical software business. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽? A few minutes of your time can make a big difference.

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"Probably the worst decision that I made as CEO of Loudcloud was to take ona. 10-year lease with a $30M letter of credit. We leased the space right before the dot-com crash. Rents dropped 10-fold in Menlo Park... worse yet, due to the recession, we couldn't hire so the space we already had was sufficient and we never ended up moving into the new building. So I basically lost $30M for nothing." This is from Ben Horowitz's recent interview with Big Think. Even a quarter century ago the typical office lease construct is misaligned with how a company needs to operate. Our industry could get away with this when office spaces had a monopoly on how and where work got done, but those days are dead. As global markets are crashing, we'll be looking at another disruptive cycle for businesses which will create more cost cutting pressure and the first thing to go when they roll will be inflexible leases. CRE needs to develop new offerings and fast. https://lnkd.in/ePuZgzkU

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I wrote two term sheets this week into startups backed by amazing founding teams, and in both cases I recommended a pivot to the team’s initial GTM strategy.   Sometimes being well networked, or building in a white hot problem space can be a gift and a curse when it catches the attention of enterprise customers.   On paper, it is the exact type of validation a funding team is seeking as they work through an initial version of their product, but more often than not it has the potential to derail a startup’s potential for success.   The startups in question were both experiencing this exact dynamic.  In one case, the team had caught the eye of one of the largest robotics companies in the world and begun conversations around a potential partnership.   The second company is backed by a 20 year industry veteran with a deep rolodex of enterprise customers within his ICP.  Some of the largest retailers in the world were engaging in conversations around piloting his product.  As I explained to both of these founders, this was amazing validation, but should also not be the focal point of their initial GTM.   The reality is, in order to successfully deploy within either of these customers, they were looking at a long and arduous path, filled with security reviews and product feature sets that realistically an early stage pre-seed company with 2 founders could not deliver upon.   My advice to them, continue those conversations, with the realization that they could take 1 year+ before realistic deployments, but focus the lion’s share of their GTM energies toward customers with lower deployment hurdles, in this case Series A/B backed robotics companies and $50M-$250M retailers.    To be clear, the  genuine interest from these enterprises is a massively positive indicator on the problem/solution set they are building for, and it is part of the reason we are bullish on the market opportunity of each startup.  I’ve just seen so many startups fail to deploy an initial product and ultimately never raise a seed round because they get stuck in a seemingly never ending enterprise sales cycle.

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The #1 question I get asked is: “How do I hire a CEO?” (How to hire, incentivize, and manage a CEO) I created a guide with all my learnings from hiring ~40+ CEOs and leaders across Tiny (and many epic fuck ups along the way). Topics I cover include: Is hiring a CEO the right choice for you? When to hire a CEO? How to find the right CEO? Should you invest in a recruiter? What to look for in your CEO? How to diligence candidates? How to ensure a culture fit? How to negotiate & structure compensation? How to transition from founder to owner? How to relinquish control? How to determine CEO success? When to replace the CEO? Book Recommendations * A cheatsheet is included with key points from all sections. Get my guide for free → https://bit.ly/4bSTeUY Enjoy!

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Despite tightening marketing budgets, in-person events continue to be a core marketing channel for B2B SaaS companies. According to Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC, in person trade shows and events are the leading area of marketing spend for 2024, with 38% percent of respondents saying that exhibiting or sponsoring in-person conferences will be a tactic they employ. It’s clear marketers understand the value but with budget pressures and a move towards efficient and sustainable growth, 41% say the pressure to prove the value of their marketing efforts is high. For events in particular, justifying the spend and proving the ROI is more important than ever. In our latest blog post, we look at the different ways to sponsor events, why events remain a core B2B SaaS marketing channel, and run through three ways to measure the ROI of your event marketing efforts. Blog post first in comments section. How are you measuring ROI for Events? #Events #conferences #ROI #marketing #saas #B2B #saastock2024

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ENOUGH WITH THE FRAMEWORKS! If you've worked with me, you've probably heard me say that. Product teams should be focused on driving outcome and impact, not falling in love with the process. And that's something Peter Yang from Roblox knows all too well. We had a great conversation on Next Gen Builders about how the PM role is evolving, how to use #AI to focus on more important work (like talking to customers), and more. Tune in to our conversation: https://lnkd.in/dY-AZh2s

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