Justin Soffer

"If you need to be told what to do, don't buy a company-" This is just one of many unfiltered insights from my chat with M&A expert Chelsea Wood. Join us for this profound & unapologetic discussion on The Expertise Economy. Thinking about acquiring a business? Before you do, ask yourself this: When faced with a challenge, do you wait for instructions or take action? According to Chelsea, your answer could make or break your success as a business owner. "If you're somebody that's always just figured stuff out and you'll be fine, then you'll be fine as a business owner too." But if you're not? "Don't buy a company," she warns. Whether you're actively looking to buy or just curious about this wealth-building strategy, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in now. It might just change your entrepreneurial trajectory. #TheExpertiseEconomy #MandA #Entrepreneurship #WealthBuilding

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Check out the latest Open Market pod with Sincera’s Mike O'Sullivan, Joe Zappa and me. We talk about building a brand as you build a startup and get very tactical with ideas and experiences. CEOs, founders, marketers, definitely worth a listen! Thanks Mike! Link in comments.

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If you start down the path of #enterpriseimaging – which many health systems are doing (or considering) – "there have to be some objectives and a clear understanding of what you're attempting to do," said Joseph Marion during a recent discussion with Alex Towbin and Lenny Reznik. What you don't want is to go into it with "a false expectation or limited expectation." https://lnkd.in/gg3PkCim AGFA HealthCare #itimaging #healthcareit #enterpriseimagemanagement #patientsafety #patientexperience

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Shout-out to founders. Shout-out to the teams and individuals that commit to and push founder-led businesses forward. Building something meaningful is hard. Sometimes you have to play a role that does not come naturally because that’s what the business requires at the moment in time. Other times you have to make decisions that come with uncertainty and the best you can do is just figure it out…quickly. We’ve built RevBoss for 10 years, but we are in the process of re-building it for the 3rd time because that is what is required of us to deliver value to our clients. Will it be hard? Yes. Will it come with a bunch of bumps and bruises? Yes.   Will everything be okay at the end of the day? Absolutely. RevBoss exists to grow B2B founder-led businesses. I’m gearing up to talk with Adam Robinson, CEO of a founder-led business, RB2B, who also is in the business of helping B2B businesses grow. Join us on Aug 13th as we’ll be chatting about growth at founder-led companies and how to build a growth engine that works: https://lnkd.in/eVyJQjpC PS - excited to share our RevBoss journey more publicly, so feel free to follow along if you're interested.

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In a recent episode of The Expertise Economy podcast, I sat down with Johnny Page, CEO, and Matt Verlaque, COO, of SaaS Academy. Johnny shared a crucial insight for SaaS founders that challenges conventional wisdom 👇 "Many founders aim to delegate sales once they reach $15-20K MRR. This is often a critical mistake. We advocate for founders to remain deeply involved in sales for as long as possible." Why? According to Johnny, "No one can articulate the problem and solution more compellingly than the founder." Key takeaways from our discussion: > Founder-led sales drive stronger growth > Focus on consistent wins rather than quick handoffs > Clarify your customer acquisition strategy > Define your ideal customer profile precisely > Optimize your sales channel and offer > Maintain this focused approach for at least 12 months This strategy is the catalyst for transforming steady growth into exponential scale. For a deep dive into scaling strategies for your SaaS business, watch the full interview now: https://lnkd.in/dju-Be2u SaaS founders, what has been your experience with sales leadership? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. #sales #SaaS #SaaSAcademy #Scale #Startups #Podcast #Leadership

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🎙️ Exciting insights from SaaS Academy's CEO Johnny Page on the Expertise Economy podcast! Johnny breaks down their two-step approach to helping SaaS founders: 1️⃣ The Discovery Call: Uncovering the founder's "why" and long-term vision 2️⃣ The Strategic Game Plan Session: Creating a 90-day action plan to achieve 12-month goals 🔑 Key focus: Identifying and solving business constraints Want to dive deeper on the secrets of building a successful SaaS business? Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/dju-Be2u #SaaS #BusinessStrategy #SaasAcademy #ExpertiseEconomy #Podcast

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🔥 Founders, don't make the mistake of pursuing VC funding if your startup isn't the right fit! 🔥 In this podcast clip, I sit down with David Forsberg, CFA from Ascent Energy Ventures to explore the truth about raising venture capital. 💸 As a startup founder, former VC, and advisor to companies that have raised over $1 billion, I know how crucial it is to target the right investors. 🎯 Check out the full podcast for more expert advice on navigating the world of venture capital. Link in the original Kruze Consulting post. 🎧 #startups #venturecapital

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Want to learn more about the role of the business user in low-code. Watch this fun episode of Low down on Low-code!

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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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I believe two of the big winners over the next 10 years in the SMB category will be PE who are rolling up the businesses and GenAI powered software that makes running these businesses significantly more turnkey and/or profitable. Thanks for having me on Jay Kapoor. If you want spicy takes fast forward to 25 min mark. If you want to get deep in market analysis buckle in for the whole thing. https://lnkd.in/d8M7Jyrx

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I hopped on with Adam LaGreca at 10KMedia to go deep on incident response. We covered a variety of topics: 🛳️ Why pragmatism is important 📊 The fact that leadership want fewer, severe incidents, and don't view them as 'opportunities' ✨ How we're thinking about AI in incident response 🔮 Where we're headed in the future 🎧 Listen more in the link below!

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Raising capital for your startup is nuanced...when to raise, who to raise from, and how to balance keeping your startup on track during a fundraise is tricky. In last week's podcast we talk about the ins and outs of raising your first round of funding. Listen here 👉 https://lnkd.in/g-FS9K2w

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An early challenge in my still unfolding founder brand'ing process was figuring out how to say the same thing lots of different ways. It's pretty obvious that consistency is the name of the game -- both your people and the algorithm need new content to keep the feed flowing. But it's awfully hard to deliver a concise message to a targeted audience (only your ICP matters) on a consistent basis without sounding like a broken record or worse -- a sales guy. I'm still figuring it out and I'm working on a new project that I think will make it much easier to be helpful / interesting / entertaining on a more consistent basis... ...but in the meantime, see below for a list of 20 questions you can ask yourself that will make it easier for you to deliver a the same problem / solution / opportunity message wrapped up in different ways. :) PS -- We've turned this process into a new product at RevBoss. Leave a comment or send me a message if you want to know more. 🐏 -- 1. If I were [ICP], I’d start focusing on [specific priority] because... 2. The most overlooked challenge for [ICP] right now is... 3. If [ICP] could change just one thing about how they [do X], it should be... 4. A common misconception among [ICP] is that [myth]. Here’s the truth... 5. The [ICP] who invests in [specific action] today will be miles ahead this time next year. 6. Here’s how I would tackle [specific problem] if I were in [ICP]’s shoes. 7. [ICP], stop worrying about [irrelevant concern] and start focusing on [high-impact solution]. 8. The best advice I’ve ever given to an [ICP] is... 9. If [ICP] could see the long-term ROI of [specific change], they’d do it immediately. 10. The smartest [ICP] I know always [habit/strategy]. 11. If I were [ICP], the one tool I couldn’t live without would be... 12. [ICP], here’s a quick way to avoid [common pitfall] and get better results with [strategy]. 13. I’ve seen too many [ICP] struggle with [issue]. Here’s how to fix it for good. 14. The one thing [ICP] never asks, but should, is... 15. [ICP], here’s how to know if you’re making the right call on [big decision]. 16. If [ICP] understood the real cost of [inaction/mistake], they’d act today. 17. Here’s a step-by-step guide for [ICP] to achieve [goal]. 18. The one thing every successful [ICP] has in common is... 19. [ICP], are you asking yourself this key question about [problem]? 20. If [ICP] knew this one secret about [strategy/approach], they’d never look back.

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Are you a talented head of paid media? My friend owns a beautiful business called Content Creator and invested a ton in the domain. The business is growing steadily every year for four years straight and spits out cash. The problem is he’s still majorly involved in paid media. If you’re great at creating strategy and translating that to CRO and turning the dials across paid social. Comment below!

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Growth-stage DTC brands know that scaling is a financial tug-of-war — every department is pulling for its share of the (budgetary) pie 🥧 In our most recent expert guide, Matt Weiler, founder of Second Star Ventures and interim CEO of Wells Group of New York, shares five tactical tips on strategic cross-functional finance: 1️⃣ Decide between tangible growth and buzz Balance investments in short-term ROI with hard-to-quantify activities. Collaborating across teams to align on needs will help you measure intangible results and focus on net profits per initiative. 2️⃣ Assess your decision risk Evaluate each business decision by mapping out assumptions for probability and measurability. Then consider how easily it can be reversed if it fails, and * only * proceed if the cost of failure is manageable. 3️⃣ Prepare for success just as you plan for failure Whip your ops into shape before you action on strategy. That way, when growth occurs, you can deliver what you promised your customers. For example, a successful product launch can still fail if you don’t have enough stock to meet demand. 4️⃣ Pay back your CAC quickly Tracking your LTV, CAC, and payback periods helps you monitor customer growth at all times. If you can’t pay back your CAC quickly, you can’t drive near-term ROI, making it tougher to increase LTV. 5️⃣ Use Drivepoint for cross-functional strategic finance Drivepoint enables you to easily create and compare financial scenarios, build accurate forecasts in minutes, and sync sales, accounting, and marketing data across all sales channels — for a holistic understanding of your business. Want to learn more? Matt breaks it down here: https://lnkd.in/gXc-f_5x

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As a strategic partner to our clients, we recognize that not every search requires an agency. BUT every search does require planning and preparation. SearchStart was launched last month to help companies go to market confidently with all information in hand and knowing that their role will stand out in front of their candidates. Want to know what it is all about? Click the link below and fill out the form to schedule a call to learn more! #searchstart #talentacquisition #recruiting

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I just wrapped up a panel with the Marketing Leadership affinity group within the How Women Invest community with my hero Auntie Nancy Hayes, aka the Yoda of board membership, angel investing, and general badassery. We talked about different ways to serve on boards, a role in which experienced Marketers seem to be often underrepresented. Why? If I had to guess, I'd say: 1 - Most heads of marketing are women 2 - marketing is undervalued, especially under sales/revenue experience 3—Compound the first two with the messages you tell yourself about your own worthiness, and suddenly, you're a great marketer for everyone else but yourself. ___________ For those who are interested in getting closer or into the board room, there are so many ways to start/get experience: 1—Board Observer (one of my current board roles)—you represent the investor but have no votes. It is unpaid, but/and hugely essential to act as a bridge of visibility and communication between the fund you've invested with and the company in which the fund has invested. My role brings value to both sides with much less bias than the other VC board seats. 2—Corporate board director—There is much governance but not much influence on the product, as the company usually has big enough teams for that. There is a lot of hiring/firing CEOs (read: drama), which can still be fun, especially for those fresh-popcorn-in-my-bag swag kinda folks (both grossly generalizing and way understating this role's fiduciary importance, but you get the idea). 3—Independent board director—this is another of my favorite places to sit. It is much like the Board observer role but with voting rights and equity (although not always, as these terms are negotiated and influenced by the shareholding board seats). You are NOT representing a VC fund (typically), but you might have subject matter expertise in the product or are a generalist boss gal like myself and bring a sense of neutrality and balance to the board. 4—Advisor. Advisors are similar to IBD in terms of influence and type of advice but are not part of the board or its meetings. This role is usually paid in some combination of equity and cash. It's another of my faves. (Are you seeing the trend here?) We have not even touched non-profit boards (where I got my start and am currently sitting on my sixth), but we will save it for next time as it's a whole 'nother Oprah. If you want to learn more, How Women Lead is hosting its 5th annual #getonboard week, starting October 21. Hybrid virtual and in-person. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/diizwv8j #womeninleadership #boardofdirectors #howwomenlead #governance #boarddiversity #corporategovernance #boardservice #businessleadership #leadership Julie Candelon Susan Greenwood Schroeder Mikayla Ludwig

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💼 Learn more about effective cash management strategies for your startup! Will rates come down soon? We don't have a crystal ball. 🔮 But we do have insights on what to do if they come down. Learn from our expert insights on navigating potentially lower interest rates. 📊 Link to the article in the original post. #StartupFinance #CashManagement #VentureCapital

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Next up on Embracing Erosion? Alex Pattis, the General Partner of Riverside Ventures and founding team member of Hampton. Alex is also the co-founder of Last Money In Media, a leading VC newsletter that delves into Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) within the Venture Capital ecosystem. Alex has become a leading voice advocating for the SPV investment format versus the traditional VC fund model. So it won’t surprise you got super deep and into the weeds on all things investing, but we touched on plenty of other topics such as: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups Give it a listen 👉 https://lnkd.in/gEKv5ghE The Compete Network

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