Jon Miller

For AEC focused startups, think about GTM this way. For scale and keeping CAC metrics in line. Bottom Up. PLG for PLG : Product Led Growth for Project Led Growth - User focused marketing - frictionless on boarding - No Sales Function (it’s too expensive) Enterprise: Leverage Project based success to sell to the enterprise. - High Level Solution Sales - Proven ROI Metrics - Make the CFO your champion - Have a well thought out - ABM strategies work well here. Enterprise Solution vs Discounted offering for bulk purchase. Spec to Check: Build generic specifications for your product and work with A/E firms to get them placed. This is for Construction Tech Specific. Owner Influence - Everyone’s ultimate customer. - Brand awareness - Thought Leadership - Building Type Specifc Marketing. We have an entire playbook on this type of stuff. Also what we teach in our stage agnostic incubator.

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Here we go; Hampton's 2024 state of SaaS report is live. We surveyed our SaaS founders and got real answers on the state saas. The first thing I found surprising was How funding impacts time-to-$1M ARR (hint: not what you think) link to report: https://lnkd.in/gJmarrNa Give it a read and let me know what you think.

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The first version of the SaaS GTM playbook was written twenty years ago. Salesforce championed it. Mark Roberge published The Sales Acceleration Formula about Hubspot’s journey. Over the next two decades, we analyzed, quantified, instrumented, & optimized many aspects of the SaaS GTM. Account executive to SDR ratios, sales cycle lengths, conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, customer lifetime values, net dollar retention. The new software GTM playbook has yet to be written. But the companies who figure it out will become the next wave of massive businesses. On Tuesday, Theory held an event with [Dave Morse] formerly at Hebbia & Scale AI, Flo Crivello from Lindy, Paul Yacoubian from Copy.AI, & Chris Changfrom Gradient to discuss how AI changes these practices. These were my take aways : - Selling AI is being discovered because the technology is new. Buyers don’t know how to use it or how to buy it. - Because the sales motions are new, we can’t apply the previous playbook to the new sales process. The CEO/founder should hire a sales leader that they fully trust who focuses on ultimate success. The sales process is a part of the product : using both the customer’s language & the ultimate use of the product through success efforts - Between PLG vs sales led, more companies were sales-led. If starting with PLG, the template sells the product. Fight the empty box problem with great concrete templates that demonstrate how to use AI. If selling top-down, most of the conversations today are at the C-suite rather than the mid-market predominantly because the buying process is new. - Figuring out how to consistently produce wow moments with non-deterministic software is essential. - The room was split on pricing model : seats, usage, or some hybrid. Ultimately, pricing captures 15-30% of the value the software/AI creates. Developing a strong case for this with buyers will be key because the ROI question from buyers is real especially as the broader software market feels pressure. - Only VCs care about the word agents / agentic : for most enterprises, agents mean a customer support agent. Many teams don’t care about the underlying technology, they seek a solution to their problem. Tomorrow, we’ll be publish the results of the 2024 GTM Survey which we’ll reveal at Saastr in which we dig into the use of AI on sales processes & the impact to efficiency. Thanks to the panelists & attendees for a great discussion.

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📊 It’s not just about having data; it’s about having the *right* data. That’s what Hive found by adopting Gong Engage and Gong Conversation Intelligence. This powerful duo surfaced insights and next steps for John Furneaux and Hive’s sales team. They can now breeze through deals, navigate discovery calls with ease, and uncover more opportunities. The result? A 44% increase in meetings booked and 30% rise in sales opportunities. And that’s not even the full extent of Hive’s wins! Read about the rest here: https://lnkd.in/gh-7X7jG 

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I see an industry wide need to include more functions and teams in the GTM motion, this one reflects pretty closely to what I have in mind https://lnkd.in/ek2iCWXb

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hey RevOps - wanna help us define the future of the RevOps role and the RevOps path the C-suite? 🤔 That's exactly what we're doing with our #RevOpsAF Executive Think Tank event series, Getting 25+ RevOps leaders together in the same room to: 🗺️ Define what RevOps should be in every organization ⛔ Figure out what’s standing in the way of a unified revenue operations function 🤝 Determine how to convince CEOs to respond and adapt to evolving market conditions by adopting a comprehensive revenue operations charter 🚀 What the RevOps path to the C-Suite looks like Our first Think Tank event will take place in San Francisco on August 22nd at 2pm PT. 🌉 So if you're a RevOps leader in the Bay area, then join us. 👋 We've already got RevOps leaders confirmed from companies big and small, and everywhere in between. Seats are extremely limited and we are limiting entry to senior leadership with deep experience in the field of operations. Learn more 👉 https://hubs.li/Q02F3M0X0 A huge thank you to our sponsor at Subskribe for making this event possible. 🫶 #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #marketingops #marketingoperations #csops #cxops #gtmops #alltheops

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Benchmarkit dropped its 2024 B2B SaaS survey, check it out! Confirms what many of the SaaS founders told me in a tough 2023: shrinking growth rates, tougher NRR environment, and lower "magic numbers". Still great businesses to own and scale, but a tougher operating environment spilled over into the M&A numbers. Lets hope for a 2024 bounce back! Thanks Ray Rike for the great work here. How does your business stack up? https://lnkd.in/gVpfQAdU #saas #benchmarking

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Great to be featured in Andreessen Horowitz's "AI Transforms Sales List" . Absolutely agree with the POV. ✅ The current CRM as a single source of truth is a myth. It was not designed to adapt to multi-modal data ✅ There is convergence of efforts across the buyer journey and across Marketing, SDR/BDR, Sales and Customer Success that will make "credit wars" redundant. ✅ Hybrid (fluid) GTM strategies are the order of the day. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gF7AX-mm #aitransformssales #deathofasalesforce

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GTM exemplified. When a love ❤️ brand like Gong gives an emphatic high-five for your solution across their GTM teams it's a story worth telling...Shantanu tells it better, his smile is contagious, so watch at your own discretion 😁 watch here >> https://lnkd.in/dY3VWYKw #salesprocess #scale #GTMevolution

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This GTM practitioner has cracked the code on PLG and signals. Meet Saad Khan, Director of Sales @ Aligned producing growth results and massive TANGIBLE value for clients and our community. Results like: 180% increase in outbound ARR 250% increase in pipeline 454% increase in qualified pipe YoY and 60% ARR CONTRIBUTION. To name only a few of many accolades. From playbooks to tactical execution, Saad helps revenue team make more money. (Including in how they use Aligned!) Saad has built a name for himself not on any hype or trends, but outcomes. You should follow and talk to Saad to accelerate your sales and of course see how Aligned could help your business. Do it right and convert your pipe. ~~~ Meet someone with a fiery passion and they can help light the way for you. It fades unless they are right there beside you, gaining your trust every step of the way. I'm on a mission to understand trust, networks, and how they produce long term business outcomes. Saad embodies the success of this. He comes as another highly recommended person in my network. He should be a part of yours too. ---------- This is part of a small project for the month of November to highlight men in my life that have impacted me in more ways than they know. Saad is somehow both serious and silly. He can yap for days and he can actually make a lot of sense. We take hours to get through a conversation but I love it - we have realizations and help eachother have new perspectives. You honor your friends, family, and partners by challenging them. I don't let Saad tell me any BS and I'm always watching out for him. That's because I believe in him and I know that what he has to offer needs to be nurtured. He does the same for me, so I must honor him by doing the same. Saad puts in the work. Sometimes too much, but what I love most about him is he is constantly pushing his own boundaries. He constantly redefines 100%. He challenges himself. In work. In the gym. With his friendships. With his family. It's the mark of a man to take the first step and push others to be better. Saad embodies this in himself first. He isn't one to tell others to do something, without being able to do it himself. And damn... if you knew what this guy goes through... you'd know just how much wisdom he has because of coming out the other side with his level of energy. Saad Khan thank you for being you. I love you man. P.S. We don't have a better picture together, but this one is pretty great.

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Partner enablement is a two way street. If you're a hub in an ecosystem a self serve model with tiers and content and certification and an outward focus makes sense for making sure your partners are delivering a service or solution that aligns with your brand, value, and mission. But how does your team stay up to date with everything your partners are doing? Is it your responsibility to enable your team on your partner's offerings? Or do you rely on your partners to do this, but gate access to your people? Do your reps even care? Is there an incentive culture around partnerships? They typically don't care about a better together story until they understand what's in it for them.

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Today’s CRO has two main responsibilities: (1) Predictably hit the company’s revenue number every time. (2) Boost the productivity of revenue-impacting employees. AI cuts across both of these responsibilities. Predictive AI unlocks revenue forecasts with pinpoint precision. This enables CROs to hold their team accountable down to the dollar. Generative and Descriptive AI offer critical opportunities to boost productivity. With the right balance of features, reps and leaders can accomplish more than ever. The bottom line: An AI strategy is essential.

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It's time for 2025 budget planning, and the alignment meeting Finance & Engineering is more important than ever. Yeah, yah. I know I'm a marketing leader, but I do think the Engineering/Finance relationship affects the entire organization when planning for the next year. This is especially true with GenAI transforming our workflows. It's crazy out there! You must back every R&D investment with solid data rather than just intuition. Lucky for us, we have Joanne Cheng as our CFO. In her latest post, she shares how Finance and Engineering can work together for more effective R&D budgeting. Read the full post to start planning with clarity and confidence: https://lnkd.in/g5dJxtx8

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Episode 2 - Industry Advisor Corner (Sapphire Addition) You can listen to this informative #videocast by clicking the graphic below👇 SUMMARY Applying your suggestions from Ep1, we interviewed leaders from different companies and industries, capturing their #Business success stories - and in honor of Sapphire - their suggested sessions for you to attend. DETAILS: We are super excited about this short , jam-packed, video-cast. My colleague, Rahaf Assaleh and I interviewed leaders from IBM, Kyndryl, 2Squared and SAP. We expanded on the discussions from Episode 1 on cross industry synergies between #hightech & #professionalservices sectors. This video includes highlights, portions of the interviews, selected for their relevance to this week's Sapphire Event. Throughout the video, we highlight NOT TO BE MISSED Sapphire sessions, including a summary at the end. We look forward to sharing the full interviews with you in the weeks to come (we'll add links to them in the comments section of this post as they become available). GUESTS / INTERVIEWEES:   🗣️ Simone Porcu - Partner, IBM    🗣️Sven Denecken  - Chief Solutions Office & SVP of Industries, SAP   🗣️Roger Kerr - Managing Partner 2Squared LLC / formerly with Kyndryl   🗣️Stephen McCarthy - Managing Partner #2Squared   🗣️Thomas Madonna, - VP Services Industries, #SAP   HOSTS:   🗣️Rahaf Assaleh, - Professional Services, Acting Industry Advisor, SAP   🗣️Patrick Maroney - High Tech Industry Executive Advisor, SAP   CALL TO ACTION: 🔸FEEDBACK - what you think about the video; what'd you like, what'd more would like provided we get to do this again.. 🔸 FUTURE REQUESTS - Let us know what other topics you'd like to learn more on a future Industry Advisor Corner #vidcast 🔸 SAPPHIRE SUGGESTIONS - add you recommended and/or favorite sessions (and why) to the comments below Tags: #SAPsapphire #sapphire2024 #industry #proserv #hightech #bestpractices #businessOutcomes #casestudy #Software #Consulting #businesschallenges #trends #digitaltransformation #digitization #podcast #videocast #experts #ARR #AI #skills #revRec #subscriptionBilling #saas #xaaS #IndustryADVISORcorner Sally Eaves Tony Moroney Amy Craven Lisa A. Dalesandro DiChristofer Mark Lehew William Newman Scott Campbell Henry Himanen Stefan Ressing Andreas Zartmann Isabel Reingruber Eric Fraser Ausra Gustainiene Melorine Parsy Heidi Zhao

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Thanks to Dave Rigotti and team for a wonderful #PLGTM conference in SF. I had great discussions with sales and marketing leaders and here are some observations on how PLG has evolved. Part 1: Time to rethink PLG practice ✔ While the core idea of PLG revolves around self-service adoption and user-driven growth, the practice has evolved, and companies are recognizing the need for a hybrid approach. ✔ For a lot of practitioners, PLG means self-service and users adopt the product without sales support. In practice, PLG leads to increases S&M costs increasing CAC. So, it no more just about building a product but putting the marketing $ behind it. ✔ Enterprise buyers are researching on their own and have good information before they come to the call. Huge number of prospects want sales help in navigating the value prop but want to try out themselves. ✔ PLG does lead to execution speed driving the awareness, showing the value, decreasing sales cycles and enabling simple and faster expansion. ✔ There is a myth that only startups or B2C companies use PLG and has to be bottom-up approach. While many of the companies we know and products we use might be B2C, lot of enterprise B2B companies are PLG as well. e.g. users can simply signup and start using Calendly, Canva or Airtable. teams can start using the products like loom, figma and datadog. ✔ Bringing customers need a hybrid approach in 2024. You need to provide user value created by the product and buyer value created by sales teams. Think about product market fit and product customer fit - leading to greater number of happy customers ✔ Every KPI you are measuring should drive an outcome. If you collect data, ask "what is it used for? " and "how does it help customer or adoption?" ✔ As the PLG model continues to evolve, companies must adapt and embrace a balanced approach that leverages the power of self-service adoption while providing sales support to drive customer success and long-term growth. Thanks to David Yockelson and Dave Boyce for providing engaging discussion on the core of PLG. #productledgrowth #productledsales #salesledgrowth #startups #salesleadership #productmanagement

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Awesome SaaStock workshops yesterday led by Kevin "KD" Dorsey on how he operationalizes his sales teams and keep them up to date, Rita Jhaveri on the importance of customer onboarding with a fun workshop (Team Monkey FTW!), and Jake Dunlap for new insights on creating a effective buying experience. My biggest take aways from the sessions were: Our buyers' environment is changing and how they buy is changing. Are your internal processes staying up to date to meet your buyers where they're at? At startups I think of my sales org processes within a constant loop -> What's our.... TAM -> SAM -> SOM -> ICP -> Buyer Persona -> Pain Points for said personas within the ICP -> Does our product solve those pains points -> relevant messaging for marketing + disco + demo -> win customer -> case studies -> renew -> apply case studies and stories to new business sales cycle -> repeat The challenge I hear often is that people don't know what their ICP should be and so everything after that falls flat. But why is this so hard to figure this out? It's going to sound ridiculously simple..but it's your industry tags. Read more on why and how to fix it in the comments below and if you’re attending SaaStock today let’s meet up! #saastockusa2024

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What is a Pipeline Council? Your pipeline council is a committee of GTM leaders that meet to discuss and create real solutions for deep issues affecting the pipeline. It’s an opportunity to dig deep into what’s working and what’s not to create and close pipeline. An opportunity to identify real issues, across the business and solutions to those issues. How to Setup a Pipeline Council: 1. Get Executive Alignment 2. Decide on Attendees 3. Hold the First Meeting 4. Then Continue Meetings How to Run Them: 1. RevOps brings the source of truth: data 2. Everyone has to show up 3. Everyone has to work towards the same goals 4. Leaders have to be vulnerable in sharing ideas 5. Every meeting has to be action-oriented 6. Keep it dynamic More on this in tomorrow’s 📰 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙊𝙥𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 📰 Subscribe to get it here: https://bit.ly/49RCm0h ✌️

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Customer Success isn’t just about keeping clients happy, it’s a boardroom-level conversation that investors will scrutinize. ⬇️ At #SaaStr2024, Nick Mehta from Gainsight broke down 10 critical questions that every founder and customer success leader should be ready to answer when engaging with investors. #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #TreeAndLeafPartners #NickMehta #Investor #Leaders #SaaStr2024

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