Kieran Barr

Insightful breakdown from my great Partner Omri Amirav-Drory on the simple factors that really separate the top 1% of investors from the rest, and how more operators should become investors! https://lnkd.in/gEiZdT2h

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Today, GTMfund’s is excited to announce to launch of Operator, its first incubated company. Max Altschuler (founder of GTMfund) teamed up with co-founder Adam M. (design engineer and 0-1 builder) and co-founder Mark Kosoglow (Outreach employee #1 and former SVP of Global Sales) to create Operator.ai alongside an insanely talented team Pleasant Middelhof, Jeremy Jonas, Carl Gunderson. We've entered a period called “The Great Ignore”. Spam and irrelevant, poorly-automated outbound campaigns are running rampant.   Operator gives you an easy-to-use Growth Engineer that allows you to build and enrich lists with accurate data, and run experiments and queries using AI to generate highly targeted outreach.    Check out their website to get updates, early access, and see how they are taking the world back to 2 touches meant to attract buyers into conversations that convert, instead of 20 touches meant to make sure you hit your activity number: https://www.operator.ai/

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Hiring alert! One of our newest MKT1 portfolio companies is hiring a founding marketer. nodaFi is vertical SaaS that understands a wedge-in strategy. The team is scrappy and values marketing--and really understands their ICP - facilities managers. If you're based in the Bay Area and interested in helping bring a tech-first approach to an industry that operates with pen & paper, take a look. The founders are awesome (cc Jacob Pandl & Michael Loyda) JD link in the comments.

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Dear podcasters in my network: In addition to our listener-facing podcast discovery & engagement platform at DeepCast, we're also building DeepCast Pro, a new toolset designed to simplify your workflow and boost your reach. Got 5 minutes for a quick survey? Your insights could shape the future of podcast production. Please and thanks in advance, truly! (and if your show isn't in our catalog yet, DM me!)

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To scale a business successfully post product-market fit, it's crucial for leaders to focus on building a team of "A" players who embody the company mission and can deliver results effectively. As the business moves into scaling phase, the emphasis should not be on merely filling positions but on maintaining a high standard of talent. It's essential for sustained success that the bar for talent remains elevated. While specific criteria may vary based on the business stage, there are fundamental areas to assess during the hiring process. These criteria serve as a solid foundation for all managers to work from when bringing in new talent. Below is an example of a hiring guide I used based on the needs of the company I worked for. What does your hiring guide look like?

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Orb (#uncorrelated) raised $25M to continue building their pricing and billing platform that lets companies automate a range of different billing modes e.g., usage-based, subscriptions, or a mix, marry analytics and billing, collect and meter product usage data, invoice customers, generate revenue reports, draw on product usage insights to find revenue opportunities, model out alternative pricing plans (thus enabling experimentation), orchestrate changes in real time, schedule future price changes for certain customer cohorts or contract renewals, directly embed draft invoices into product billing portals, surface past-due invoices, and recover failed payments automatically. "Orb gives companies a single source of truth that can connect every unit of product usage to revenue. We’ve found a particularly strong fit in AI, cloud infrastructure, fintech, and dev tools, and have seen most of our growth come from those verticals.” Orb’s revenue grew 5x in the past year, and the customer base tripled to include brands such as Vercel, Replit, Pinecone, and Perplexity. https://lnkd.in/gYh4y2tg

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Cohosting a webinar with Joseph and Alex from Syncly (YC W23) on strategies for keeping long-time customers happy. What questions should I ask?

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Replicating NYC Startup Vibes in Saigon. Back in 2011, it was a tight-knit startup tech community, and a bunch of us at WeWork Labs in NYC shared the same floor with ☁️ Mark Birch 🚀, Adam Neumann, 🌲Miguel McKelvey, Jesse Middleton, and Matthew Shampine. FUN FUN times. Mark and I recently reconnected in Saigon, and here are some highlights from our conversation about the Vietnam ecosystem and Marc's plans with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the local ecosystem. - Observations on Southeast Asia's Ecosystem:  - 🚀 Rapid growth in developer ecosystems in Indonesia and Vietnam.  - 🔄 Similar vibes to early Silicon Valley and NYC startup scenes, specially in Saigon. - Challenges for Southeast Asian Startups:  - 🌐 Scaling to a global business from a regional base.  - 💸 Venture capital scene maturity, with most VCs being financiers rather than operators.  - 🏆 Need for more success stories to build a sustainable ecosystem. - Role of AWS:  - 🤝 Supporting startups from idea to scale through programs and services.  - 💡 Emphasis on a customer-centric approach and providing comprehensive support.  - 🏗️ Significant investments in South East Asia, including new regions in Thailand and Malaysia.  - 🏢 Building data centers, providing employment opportunities, and enabling startups globally. - Future Plans for Marc:  - ✈️ Travel to South America, Africa, or back to Asia. (send him a request) For more consolidated insights from this interview and Marc's Founders in the Cloud research on Vietnam, check out my Agent A, trained AI with all this information and sources, including 7+ hours of conversations and interviews with different ecosystem players. https://lnkd.in/gM7kPwNW #ecosystem #aws #southEastAsia #vietnam

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Since 2014, CloudTask has evolved from a B2B Lead Generation and Sales Services provider into a transformative force in sales outsourcing. Leveraging our extensive direct service experience, we have developed the CloudTask Marketplace to facilitate seamless interactions globally between buyers and sellers. As a pioneer and CEO of the RevOps marketplace, I am excited to introduce a platform designed to revolutionize how businesses engage with sales service providers and remote candidates. Our team has worked tirelessly to create an intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly marketplace that tackles the everyday challenges of sales outsourcing. Initially, we identified industry inefficiencies as a traditional Call Center offering direct sales and lead generation services. This realization propelled us to shift our focus toward creating a transparent and accessible marketplace. Today, the CloudTask Marketplace stands as a testament to our commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions. The platform currently offers a comprehensive array of services, including 163 sales agency listings, 761 available remote candidates, 38 remote job posts, 26 sales agency requests, and 113 software tools. Businesses can find, negotiate, and transact with vetted sales service providers and remote candidates worldwide, streamlining the process akin to shopping on platforms like Airbnb or Uber. Here are some of the key benefits from the marketplace: 1) Quick access to a global pool of qualified remote professionals with video profiles and service details, guided by our Remote Career Coaches: Viviana Puerta, Daniel Agudelo, and Mauro Sparza. 2) Increase visibility for companies to connect with a wider pool of potential clients, promoting a level playing field and shorter sales cycles, supported by experts like Mateo Valencia in Marketing and our Demand Generation team: Dave Menjura 💼, Jalen Nelson, Eddie💡 Bello, and Eduardo Melendez. 3) Financial transparency and trust, safeguarded by Carolin Forero and Arturo Mejia. 4) Product innovation and user experience continually refined by Tony Dicks and Danny Ahumada. Whether you are exploring our latest marketplace layout, using our platform to hire professionals and service providers, or signing up as a remote candidate, your feedback is invaluable in continuously improving and delivering the best possible service. Join our mission to bring the convenience of B2C e-commerce to B2B sales outsourcing: shop.cloudtask.com

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Today Vlad Magdalin and I shared with the Webflow team that I will step into the role of CEO and Vlad will become our Chief Innovation Officer as we embark on our next chapter of growth. Here's the note I shared with the team: It’s an incredible privilege to do work you love, with exceptional people, in service of an organization with a powerful mission and endless potential. Bringing development superpowers to everyone is not just a bold idea; it’s a transformative vision – and it goes without saying that I’m profoundly honored and grateful to lead Webflow in this next chapter. But before we move full-force into what’s next, I’d like to share a little of my own Webflow history with all of you. A little over two years ago, I met Vlad for the first time. We talked about Webflow and his vision of unlocking the opportunity to touch billions of people and democratize technology through visual development. I was captivated – and over so many more conversations with Vlad where we geeked out about Webflow and its potential, I quickly understood why Webflow is so incredibly special. This platform brings the power of development to the masses through a visual interface, allowing more people to participate and create – which not only sounds wonderful; the proof is there! Designers, agencies, and teams worldwide have adopted Webflow to build and manage their most important websites in a way that previously wasn’t possible. The validation is everywhere. I couldn’t stop thinking about Webflow, day and night: imagining the endless opportunities ahead and how we could take this vision further on behalf of our customers and partners. I knew there was nothing else to do but commit myself fully to this mission. Now, two years later, my passion for Webflow’s mission, customers, partners, and potential has only deepened. Vlad and I have developed a unique partnership built on exceptional trust: one where we can challenge each other, complement each other’s strengths, and inspire each other to push boundaries. This partnership is one I’ll continue to rely on as I take the helm, and one of many reasons I’m so optimistic about the path ahead. Over the last 12 years, Vlad, Bryant, and Sergie have created a strong business and grown it to a remarkable scale, all while crafting an incredible team – and that’s something I don’t take for granted. I’m humbled and honored by the opportunity to build on the foundation they’ve forged and guide Webflow to new heights. In fact, this moment is not just a professional milestone, but a deeply personal one; it’s why I wake up each day energized and committed to doing everything in my power to unlock Webflow’s full potential. Thank you for your support and trust as we embark on this exciting new chapter, together. Here's the link to Vlad's full note to the team: https://lnkd.in/gwvTsq2i

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Cloudinary's CRO Allison Metcalfe brings a wealth of experience in revenue operations for SaaS companies, which she discusses extensively in a recent episode of The GTM Podcast by GTMnow. Listen in to discover: - Her unique path from customer success to CRO - Why establishing a robust post-sales function is crucial from the start - How to balance product-led growth with an enterprise sales strategy - Traits that define an effective modern CRO - Using customer stories as a significant growth driver - Insights gained from LiveRamp's remarkable growth and its acquisition by Acxiom - And more https://okt.to/y4RqAP

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As we celebrate Salesforce Ventures 15th anniversary, it's a good opportunity to reflect how the industry and we as a firm have evolved and the opportunity if front of us. When I joined Salesforce Ventures 4.5+ years ago, it was clear that the VC industry was changing. As venture scaled during a period of unprecedented economic growth, capital has become a commodity: it became easy to simply make an investment, attend quarterly board meetings, and leave the hard work of scaling entirely to the entrepreneur. The firms that will thrive over the next 15 years are those that actively redefine the role of a VC — bringing not just individual expertise but the full power of their team and network to help founders succeed through every market cycle. Salesforce Ventures embodies this shift, blending the singular focus of traditional VC with the stability, resources, and value-add from the pioneer in cloud computing. We’re proud of the foundation we’ve built by serving enterprising founders with the patient capital, coveted community, and unparalleled access they need to build industry-defining companies. To our founders: Thank you for your trust, dedication, and ambition. If the next 15 years are anything like the last 15, there will be plenty more extraordinary things to come!

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Looking forward to talking about this 🔥 🔥 🔥 topic - Gen AI Competitive Playbook to Boost Win Rates - faster, simpler and better...with my dear friend Sheevaun Thatcher, CPC

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Some of you may know that I angel invested in 30 companies before launching Fund I, where I’ve now invested in another 30. I get a ton of questions from new angels on how to generate deal flow, what good diligence looks like, how to design a portfolio, how to differentiate (why would a founder take your check?), how to track your own performance, and more. I had the same questions when I got started! Excited to bring The Council Angels and Brydge Club communities together to cover Angel Investing 101 next Tuesday. All are welcome - RSVP below!

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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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 I'm thrilled to announce Amaze’s merger with @Fresh Vine Wine, Inc., a transformative step in our mission to democratize commerce. At Amaze, we empower thousands of creators daily to build their brands and monetize their communities. This reverse merger opens new doors, offering creators access to premium products, like wine and spirits, as unique extensions of their brand. It will also accelerate our M&A strategy and allow us to bring more high valued companies and products onto the Amaze platform. Together, helping creators build authentic connections and new revenue streams in ways that weren’t possible before. https://bit.ly/3YBrQpx  #Amaze #CreatorEconomy #NewOpportunities #CreatorCommerce

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Rolling into another day of the Primary Summit. Hit me up if we should connect onsite. Kudos to the Primary Ventures team so far, as yesterday’s Pre-Seed Summit was on point. Mar Hershenson, Benjamin Sun, Chris Douvos, Zach Weinberg, and Graham Pingree all dropping helpful nuggets for fund managers. Some paraphrased highlights: - Chris Douvos (AHOY Capital) - Most fund decks are terrible. Start with your people (not your strategy) and know you have about 6 slides of his attention. - Zach Weinberg (Curie.Bio ) - beleives SF’s AI talent is a significant advantage over NY, wouldn’t build AI in NY. Also questions if VC exits can keep up with VC expansion (generally hilarious and smart Twitter follow) - Mar Hershenson (Pear VC) - VC is so much more competitive now. It’s not enough to be an ex-founder with a great network and domain expertise. Have a better “why you are different” or do something else! - Benjamin Sun (Primary Venture Partners)- still sees arbitrage in going long NY venture (vs. SF). Do the work to keep various influential networking nodes aware of what you’re doing and how you think.

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