Joel Ponce

$3.2 billion company Retool is example of how you can pivot your positioning instead of your product When doing cold outbound, the founder positioned Retool as an “Excel sheet with higher-order primitives" - that failed Then he positioned Retool as a platform that helps companies build internal tools faster - and it worked! He ended up making $500k ARR in just 9 months from making this small change So it's not necessary to always pivot your product, you can just as easily pivot your ICP or your positioning -- maybe that's where the answer lies! If you wanna read the Retool story go here, check out the link in the comments:

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Raise $2M USD in pre-product revenue with these 3 community monetization tactics: 1) Build on a fandom Risk - the IP holder may come for you, so choose your target fandom wisely. Certain IP holders really understand the value of fandoms (and the content and services that arise from and for them) to the core IP, and are willing to ignore or even celebrate those who build on it. Target those. Reward - Fandoms are communities of people who are intensely passionate about an IP, so great products and services that provide desirable fan service are much more likely to find a customer base. I’m going to run out of space for 2 and 3, so if you’re interested, go check out my interview with Jason Killingsworth: https://lnkd.in/d5k4YVdC Jason is Creator and founder of Tune & Fairweather a high-end book publisher with an arm that serves the one of the most intensely passionate of fandoms: those who are willing to “git gud” at FromSoftware, Inc.’s absurdly difficult and deep video game worlds of Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Demon Souls, Bloodbourne, and Sekiro. I’m a card-carrying member of this fandom and participated in the pre-order campaign for his book Soul Arts (in partnership with YouTuber VaatiVidya), which generated $2M in revenue on Kickstarter before they even had it printed! His approach is a masterclass in building a creative business based on community, and I hope you find it as valuable as I did. Interview here: https://lnkd.in/d5k4YVdC

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Harry Stebbings, SPOT ON! Could not agree more. When we started FutureLabs Ventures 7 years ago, we were very clear that our mission was to create a 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐂, one that could truly make a difference to our portfolio companies. And very much like you mentioned, we focused on creating "Assets/platforms" that were centered on: 𝟏. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 (creating market access platforms) 𝟐. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 (avoiding hiring mistakes that are very costly for early-stage ventures ) 𝟑. 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 (skin in the game, aligned incentives) The same as you mentioned, albeit slightly different order as we'd like to think #3 is a consequence of #1 and #2 (and probably the least difficult to deliver). For many VCs it's a number game, 5 in 100. We are proving, in a small scale = 34 ventures, that it may not always need to be, as half of our portfolio have become regional/international companies... 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤? 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐕𝐂𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥)? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐂𝐬?  Feel free to comment below #Entrepreneurship, #Ventures_Made_Possible, 20VC, FutureLabs Ventures

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one of the harshest lessons - we have 75 (!) cases like this one, and share the tricks nobody tells founders, and how to void getting scr+we'd > Fundraising Bootcamp

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I failed at TikTok Shop—until I realized this one game-changer... Affiliates are everything. No matter how amazing your product is, without the right influencers, it won’t gain meaningful traction. Here are my 4 insider tips to ensure you're getting quality content: 1. Offer Incentives: Motivate affiliates by giving them bonus rewards for hitting GMV goals. 2. Flywheel Effect: Share your top-performing videos and hooks with new affiliates to inspire more content. 3. Offer Retainers: For creators who consistently hit GMV targets, offer monthly retainers to keep them producing. 4. Personal Connection: Send a welcome message to new affiliates with your brand’s story. Make your brand stand out. Implement these strategies, and you’ll see both the quality and quantity of your affiliate content grow.

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eCommerce health/fitness brands: Increase your sales by 41.6% with this ONE tactic. (It works on orange chicken too.) That stat comes from a peer-reviewed journal called Information and Management.  But it’s a very long article. (13 pages) And very expensive to republish. ($3,680) So here’s my personal example from the food court instead: The Northlake Mall in Charlotte has 20 places to eat.  And I can’t decide between 19 of them.  But the same applies to any business. Whether it’s: - Athletic apparel - A gym membership - Nutritional supplements - A business coaching course  - Or deciding between Sbarro and Lotus Express …Every purchase decision comes down to 2 questions: Is the product good enough to justify the cost? And is it a better value than some other option? Those are subjective answers when it comes to most purchases.  So no matter how good your messaging is— (Or how tasty the food looks behind the glass) We measure every purchase against the risk of buyer’s remorse.   But the orange chicken guy removed the risk with a free sample.  (So did his competitor who was slinging tamales.) Two shops giving out free samples.  Instantly, my choice went from 20 to 2.  I probably would have liked at least one thing on the menu from any of those places. I probably would have liked at least one thing more than I liked the orange chicken.  But there was a risk I wouldn’t.  There was no risk in tasting the orange chicken because it was free.  That made it a safer choice than 18 other places.  I tasted it and it was good.  Good enough to justify the cost, in my opinion.  So it was an easy purchase decision to make.  It doesn’t matter if you’re selling orange chicken or fitness trackers… If your product is good, a free trial will increase your sales.  Trust the guy who eats healthy all the time, but had orange chicken for lunch.  P.S. It works in other industries too. That’s why we offer free audits with 90-day strategy roadmaps.  Scroll up and click the “Book an appointment” link just below my name to test our services and decide if they’re good enough to buy. 

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I created Five Four because I saw a gap in the market for early stage founders in need of growth strategy and implementation. Pre-seed/seed stage startups need a team that knows how to grow revenue AND can do the work. Too many advise and consult, but can't implement. This leaves founders left with tons of ideas but no ability to execute on them. Five Four does both. Determining the buyer journey AND building email campaigns in Hubspot Identifying your beachhead market AND executing on the GTM plan Identifying your product's value props AND creating sales decks to convey them It started last October when I decided I didn't want to be one head of marketing for just one startup. I like to figure out what to do AND do the work. But the need became more than I could handle alone. Five Four has grown from me to a team who have supported 19 founders and CEO's all across the US. We build and launch products. We help you get funding. We grow revenue. And we love it all. I owe you all more updates on what this business is and examples of our work. But until then, please reach out if any of this resonates with you. Or, follow me on beehiiv where I rant about all of the above!

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Some of my favorite hooks: (Mostly for short-form videos that sell physical products) “My secret weapon is…” “This is already sold out…” “After I saw this {social media platform}…” “Don't buy this…” “The #1 recommended {product}...”  “This new {product}...” “This is how {famous person} does {interesting thing}...”  “Did you know…” First, sell the value of paying attention to the video. Then, sell the product. That’s how you create high-performing posts and ads. P.S. My UGC marketplace helps you find proven creators and get persuasive content made for affordable prices.  Hit the “visit my website” button to check it out.

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When you're scaling a DTC brand from $5m to $30m, don't try to optimize for lowest cost of capital when you raise debt financing... The lenders out there who can offer the lowest cost of capital usually can't offer the capital flexibility and deal terms that you need as you scale. Low cost of capital lenders don't love DTC. It scares them because there is little to no A/R and inventory is a riskier collateral base. As such, they'll either offer you way too little capital availability or their offer will come with hefty protective provisions that feel punitive. Non-bank lenders tend to be the best fit for a DTC-heavy brand that is scaling profitability beyond $5m in annual sales. Traditional bank lenders, which offer lower cost of capital, tend to become a better option after you hit $30m+ in annual sales. Obviously, there are always exceptions to this rule, but the advice I'm offering here turns out to be true most of the time in my experience. __ Want more tips like this? Consider reposting or giving me Jon Blair a follow.

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🚀 From a $10k MVP to 10,000+ Businesses Worldwide! 🚀 This is how Chris Ronzio, Founder of Trainual turned a consulting side-project into a global SaaS company. Chris shares his journey, from building the MVP with just $10,000 to scaling with smart Facebook ads and affiliate partnerships. Learn how he grew Trainual to over 10,000 businesses in 170+ countries—and raised $33.7M! If you want to scale your business or refine your processes, this episode is a must-listen! 🎧 https://lnkd.in/dwEuFbVv In this episode, we talk to Chris about: 1) Entrepreneurial Beginnings 2) How he founded Trainua 3) How to find your Product-Market Fit 4) Scaling Strategy with a small budget 5) The power of affiliate partnerships #Entrepreneurship #Scaling #SaaS #BusinessGrowth #Trainual

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When we asked CPG founders who they wanted at Founderland... Their answer was clear: People who can help them grow their business & achieve their goals. Specifically: - The top retailers - The most founder-friendly investors, and - Other founders they can learn from and share with This conversation that I'm hosting at Founderland is a perfect representation of this group, plus one BIG bonus. We're also including Joel Toledano and ChargeUp.ai which is one of my favorite tech companies that is supporting consumer brands today. They automate the retail deduction and chargeback process for brands, saving them an insane amount of time and money. Such a cool co. Excited to teach, share and connect...and get some deals done, while of course having lots of fun. Joel Toledano Jen Zeszut Kim Coffin Deb Conklin

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Potential VC Investor (going through due diligence before an investment): your ROAS looks horrible right now. bring it up ASAP or i don't think we'll invest Brand Founder: no Investor: you need to maintain a [number] X Return on Ad Spend. so why aren't you pulling back spend until you get there? and why are you spending [number the investor thinks is too high]% on all those (air quotes) "Brand" videos that drive no attributable purchases? candidly, i'm losing confidence in your judgment. my conviction in this investment is dwindling Founder: we won't pull back spend simply to hit a ROAS number and we won't change the creative we're running Investor: that's the only way your unit economics work Founder: you're requiring the unit economics to function uniformly every month. we've been there, done that, it doesn't work. we knowingly plan for extended periods of lower efficiency because we optimize for the year, not each month Investor: you're taking on too much risk. you're making a bet that you're (does air quotes) "filling the funnel" based on the huge assumption that you'll clear it out when Black Friday Cyber Monday comes Founder: that's how brands need to do it. optimizing for consistent marketing efficiency every month is in service of consistency itself, and not the actual business. our goal is to maximize total contribution dollar generation over the course of a year at a margin we like Investor: what if it doesn't work? Founder: we've had that happen before. we learned there's both an effective and ineffective way to fill the top of the funnel. the effective way is to generate a high volume of brand-first content and run it through a rigorous validation process. Investor: it introduces too much volatility into the business. you might run out of cash if you're wrong. our other brands always maintained a [number] X ROAS every month Founder: your last consumer brand investment was in the heyday of facebook ads and when you could reach >90% of your social following. i know you want to "get back into consumer" because of your firm's "contrarian thesis-driven approach", but this is the right way to run a business Investor: yea, those were the days Founder: and this way of operating is a far superior way to support our wholesale business, which is quickly becoming 50% of our channel mix Investor: there's no way i can get the other partners to move forward with this investment if we're seeing such a degradation of marketing performance right before we write the check. they'll be spooked Founder: then we might not be a fit. we need the freedom to operate the way we think is best with the data we have. we might be wrong. we've been wrong before, but we need the space to learn. why don't we just shake hands and agree that we're probably not a fit Investor: (whispering) i wouldn't take the money either. the managing partners don't get it and VC isn't all it's cracked up to be. you're not hiring are you? i'd love to work for you guys

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Remote work is here to stay, and Oyster® is thriving because of it. With a fresh $59M Series D round, their valuation has jumped to $1.2B, showing serious growth despite the market reset. Here’s why this matters: 1. Oyster® focuses on global employment—hiring remote talent from emerging markets. 2. They’re simplifying payroll and HR across 180+ countries, with 40% of their workers in emerging markets. 3. And they’re B Corp certified, driving positive impact by keeping talent in developing regions. P.S. Do you think remote work will dominate the future? #RemoteWork #GlobalEmployment #Startups

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Here's why I'm bullish on DTC over the next 1-3 years (despite its recent challenges). → The Market is ripping  → IPO windows are also opening up again  → More rate cuts coming What does all of this mean? Consumer confidence and spending will rise as macro conditions improve. Unfortunately, we’ve seen some DTC brand deaths, but that won't be a downfall in e-comm. Sustainable businesses come from this type of creative destruction. Things burn down so new businesses can rise from the ashes. I asked the Yotpo legend Tomer Tagrin. on his take on our recent podcast episode of Equation of Excellence. And I knew his view was going to be a good one: → The prophecy is given for the fools.  → Most times are a great time to build.  → Ignore macro excuses—focus on great work, and the results will follow. But the most important viewpoint he mentioned came from his journey with cancer: “Focus on the thing you can control. The thing I can’t control I put zero energy into.” Absolutely honored to have him on the pod—incredible stories on Yotpo’s inception, the value of humility in leadership, how to succeed as e-commerce evolves, and way more. Catch the full ep in the comments.

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Seeking Investor for $100k Loan on Undervalued Women's Niche Ecommerce Acquisition Acquisition Price: $250,000 2023 Revenue: $1,308,757 Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE): $208,843 (1.6x Multiple) Email List: 238,000 Total | 110,000 Active Investment Terms: $100k loan repaid with 10% of revenue + equity kicker on exit with multiple expansion Growth/Profit Potential: 1. Increasing Frequency of Purchase: Monetize email list - seller emails but not optimize for sales - list could add $110k to $250k in revenue 2. Increase Size of Purchase: Expand product offerings with niche-related items women's beauty care niche - seller not upselling 3. Transition to a 3PL provider to reduce warehousing, shipping, and labor costs- 7 to 10% PM me.

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Meta's introduction of incrementality-based optimization, revealed at Performance Marketing Week in June and officially introduced last week, is strategically shrewd: - Meta has natively facilitated lift studies for years, so it knows that its platform is incrementally accretive; - Meta is the singularly largest publisher for most eCom advertisers, and its contribution is likely being undervalued by psuedo-deterministic measurement solutions; - Meta would prefer to reduce its dependency on direct data transfer, even through server-to-server mechanisms, and it has slowly been increasing its reliance on aggregated attribution data from 3P measurement tools (see: AEM changes last year). Optimizing for incrementality will simply increase platform CPMs while shifting more budget allocation into Advantage+.

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How I Help DTC Brands Add $250K–$1M in Revenue Using Custom Quiz Campaigns... If your brand is generating over $100K a month, you’ve likely found a winning formula with your customer base. But here’s the thing: there’s still untapped potential. By building custom quiz marketing campaigns, I’ve helped brands take their top-performing customer segments and add an additional $250K to $1M in revenue. These quizzes not only engage customers but also drive higher conversions by delivering personalized recommendations at scale. Here’s how we do it: 1️⃣ 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 – We dive deep into your data to pinpoint the most profitable and engaged customer groups. 2️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘇𝘇𝗲𝘀 – We create custom quizzes that are specifically designed for your best customers, making the experience highly relevant and engaging. 3️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – Based on quiz responses, we offer product recommendations that speak directly to each customer’s needs—leading to higher conversion rates. These strategies consistently boost revenue for brands that are already performing well by unlocking new opportunities within their best customer segments. Is your brand ready to unlock an additional $250K–$1M in revenue? Let’s talk about how quiz campaigns can help you scale.

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If you’re a founder or investor in Nashville, you need to know: Peter Swan and Gust -Peter moved to Nashville from New York, and as the CEO of Gust, wanted to find and help advance Nashville’s startup community. -Gust created a program for founders online years ago that provides a dashboard and product to help new startups incorporate their business easily. They also provide templates in business critical subject areas that are high priority for founders: things like tax forms, fundraising documents, and advisor contracts (among many other resources). Peter will always answer questions from folks. He’s a wealth of knowledge for founders. -But I don’t want to bury the lede. The best thing about having Peter and Gust in Nashville is how much more organic visibility founders and Angels have to their initiatives. Gust recently launched a new Angel investor platform with participation from Nashville’s Angel community. I don’t even think we understand how incredible this is. Just 5 years ago, founders didn’t have as many options for investor visibility outside the Southeast. And Angels didn’t have as many options either to form a group. Gust is changing the game. Just personally, I’ve really enjoyed being their customer and getting to be a very small part of their company/community’s journey. I’ve learned so much from them. It’s crazy because Britepeer got rejected from a Nashville based incubator program at the same time we were accepted into Gust’s first cohort program, and it dawned on me back then that finding the fit is incredibly important. Without Gust I don’t think Britepeer would have launched an MVP at all and for that option, I’m really grateful.

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