Shannon Kay

KNOW YOUR REAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS • GAAP Revenue • Cash Flow • Cash • Contribution Margin • CAC • CAC Payback FUNDRAISING: PRESENT & SUBSTANTIATE FINANCIALS • Investor needs to know what your forecasts are • They need to believe them David Weiden, Khosla Ventures

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B2B Seed Stage Founders are meeting tomorrow night in SF to discuss a variety of topics around GTM. One topic Al Rey and I are most interested to learn about is what folks are spending on customer acquisition and what channels are working. Tight funding markets require creative approaches. Come learn from your peers and place smarter bets with your limited resources. We're at capacity but as the time approaches we're likely to get a few folks drop out so please jump on the waiting list and I'll communicate with you regularly leading up to tomorrow night. https://lu.ma/9e9ccv6e

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7. That's the median employee headcount for SaaS companies under $1m in ARR. Nearly half of those positions are in engineering. I'm often asked about headcount planning and it's so helpful to provide data to drive decisions. The High Alpha SaaS Benchmark Survey is live and it's full of data like this. Download the report now. (Link in the comments)

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🚀 We're spotlighting 10 pre-seed and seed startups in our NYC B2B community today... 1. 💻 Craft Tech [Tal S.]: AI-native OS for residential contractors 2. 🏥 QuickSlot Health [Hisham Issak]: Reducing admin burdens in healthcare 3. 🍝 Minitable [Sean Pan]: Simplifying management for high-demand restaurants 4. 🩺 Eden [Evan Smith]: Automates redundant workflows in medical practices with AI 5. ☁️ Metadash [Ivan Malopinsky]: Automating 80% of AWS cloud operations 6. 🤝 Imera [Victoria (Vicka) Ter-Ovanesyan]: Streamlining essential services for immigrants with AI 7. 🏠 Beagle Labs [Dwight Neptune]: ML for faster property inspections 8. 📈 inGENuity Trading [Pallav Chhaochhria, PhD]: AI platform for asset managers 9. 👵 Lizzy Care [Marc Rothman, MD]: Supporting dementia caregiving families 10. 👚 Make the Dot [Emilie H.]: AI-powered fashion design, procurement, and trade finance for enterprise brands Interested in connecting with these founders and learning more? ↗️ Subscribe to our newsletter with the entire B2B Founder List: https://lnkd.in/ez888kna #StartupList #VentureCapital #TechInnovation #AIStartups #HealthTech #FinTech #B2BSaaS

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🔎 This is a well done analysis. 🔎 I gave a founder pretty similar advice yesterday about what to target and expect at the seed. And while I'm seeing founders raise seeds w/o any revenue, those founder are either repeat founders or strong pedigree founders (like AI Phd's with time at Google etc.). So for the typical founder, shooting for at least $250k in true ARR with 300%+ growth or more is a good target. And the more the more likely you are to raise funding. 🎯

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It turns out, the Long Island Sound IS water. For these and other insights, check out this post about our seed funding round. 😬 #startups #fundraising #newyork

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How does David beat Goliath aka early-stage startups close candidates also interviewing at FAANG / larger companies? Generally, they don’t, but here’s what @SingleSprout's data (80% offer close rate in last 6 months) says: 1) $30k: If the offer from a big company exceeds yours by over $30k, you're very likely not going to get that candidate. 2) # of Competitors: A candidate considering one large company might still be within reach. However, the more large companies they entertain, the less likely you'll get them. 3) Motivation: Understanding why a candidate genuinely prefers your company is crucial. Look for and test for interest in impact, equity, and the entrepreneurial journey. Unfortunately, most startups hiring on their own can't get this level of information from a candidate, and sadly waste a lot of precious time :(

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What metrics should SaaS founders focus on? "The best learnings come from SaaS founders sharing the metrics they measure, like NPS, eNPS, or Net Revenue Retention. Benchmarking is critical." —Travis Knipe, CEO of StarRez, Inc. Travis emphasizes the value of transparency and collaboration within the SaaS ecosystem. 💬 What’s the most valuable metric you’ve learned from another founder? 🎧 Hear more here: https://lnkd.in/gbsfH6Ps Are you a SaaS founder? What’s the biggest challenge you've overcome in the last 6 months? Comment below or, better yet, come share your story on SaaS Founder Stories! Book in here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gwBw-zqm #SaaS #Startup #Entrepreneurship #SaaSFounderStories #SaaSMetrics

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IS FREE USAGE TRULY MARKET VALIDATION? I recently spoke with a founder who developed a fantastic investment analytics app -- one that is even being used by a major investment bank! He also has a handful of loyal users who have stuck with him for years. But here is the catch: when I asked about his Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), the answer stunned me... $0! Why? Because he was afraid to charge for it, thinking the product was not "ready" yet. Despite having users, he claimed he had "market validation." No wonder he iss struggling with fundraising. Here is my take: Founders need to start charging from Day 0 -- even before a single line of code is written. Here is how: - Get Letters of Intent (LOIs). - Ask for paid Proof of Concept (POC) development. - Put a price tag on your solution during the FIRST conversation with potential pilot users or clients. Don’t fear the price tag -- it is your first true validation.

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People often ask me about AI Overviews' impact on search traffic. This data helps answer their concerns. When we zoom out and look at the overall trend, Google's clickthrough rates have been steadily declining – from 60.4% to 54.1% over the past 8 years. This isn't surprising. Google has consistently evolved its search experience with features like answer boxes and now AI overviews. Each iteration makes Google better for users, while reducing clicks to websites. But this doesn't tell the whole story. While clickthrough rates are declining, Google's dominance in search remains remarkably stable at ~90% market share. And despite predictions of AI chatbots replacing search, data shows 99% of AI users still use Google. Credit to Ajdin Perco 🇺🇦 for helping compile this data and presenting these insights. [Data source: SparkToro + our approximations]

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Most DTC founders second-guess their decisions because they don’t know how those decisions will impact their cash position. “If I double down on this campaign, will I be able to buy inventory next month?” “Can I afford to hire someone to help me with website design?” Very reasonable questions, but the answers are hard to find when you rely on spreadsheets and have 100 other things to do. Using Viable, founders can easily forecast cash flow and understand what investments they can make without risking the business. #cashflow #dtc #ecommerce

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Primary Venture Partners NY Seed Report is out In Q3 2024, the NYC seed funding landscape saw a strategic pivot. While total funding dropped 13%, the average round size rose by 11%, signaling a high-conviction, low-volume approach from investors. Healthtech, AI, and FinTech deals led the way, with notable growth in transactions within the $6M-$10M range. For the entire report: https://lnkd.in/eByGuxW9

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Have you ever looked for theory that can answer - how to approach investors - what kind of product to build first - how you’ll defend the company against competitors This new article from CDA partner, Kevin Maney extends Steven Johnson's writing from the book Emergence to #CategoryDesign. All #Startups and #VentureCapital teams should dig in. (link to article in comments)

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We have exceeded our goals in terms of Product Managers from the Boston tech scene joining our new VentureFizz Product Management Community!!! The caliber of people joining at all levels of experience is insane! Are you interested in joining?  There are only a handful of invites left for our Original (OG) Members - where you'll get a free one year subscription! To request an invite, click on the link in the description. #productmanager #productmanagement

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Tons of new business owners are missing out. You can get up to $100,000 in AWS credit (as in, no-payback) to build a proof-of-concept if you have an idea and a website. AWS Activate is the program. If you're a founder and you're looking to build cost-effectively before you have paying clients, check it out.

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I had a 30-minute meeting with Daniel Saks, co-founder and CEO of Landbase.com. He discussed their Agentic AI product for Sales and marketing, specifically the GTM-1 Omni solution. He also touched on the opportunities available for AI and ML engineers. This conversation likely gave insight into how their AI technology transforms go-to-market strategies and the growing demand for talent in AI and machine learning fields. Daniel Saks discusses the evolution of Landbase’s Agentic AI, its applications in sales and marketing, and the challenges faced in leveraging AI for lead generation. Highlights 🌍 Daniel Saks shares his entrepreneurial journey from a family furniture business to co-founding AppDirect and Landbase. 🤖 Landbase utilizes Agentic AI to intelligently automate go-to-market strategies for businesses. 📈 The Agentic AI market is predicted to be five times larger than the current SaaS market in the next 10-15 years. 🔍 Landbase offers insights through a Digital Trust Score, helping businesses improve their credibility. 📊 Their AI model has been trained on extensive data, optimizing lead generation and conversion strategies. 📚 Landbase provides a suite of products including outbound, nurture, and inbound solutions for effective lead management. 💪 The importance of assembling a skilled team and the challenges of data scarcity in AI development were highlighted. Key Insights 🌟 Transformative Potential of Agentic AI: Agentic AI represents a significant shift in how businesses approach lead generation, enabling them to automate and optimize strategies effectively. This could redefine market dynamics. 📊 Market Growth Prediction: The potential growth of the Agentic AI market suggests that startups can disrupt traditional software markets by offering innovative solutions. This emphasizes the need for adaptive business models. 🔑 Importance of Credibility: The Digital Trust Score reveals that a strong digital presence and credibility are crucial for successful marketing campaigns. This insight underlines the significance of brand reputation in lead generation. 💡Data-Driven Decision Making: The success of Landbase’s AI model relies on extensive data training, highlighting the necessity of having quality data for effective AI applications in businesses. 🛠️ AI Product Suite: Landbase’s offerings—outbound, nurture, and inbound solutions—illustrate a comprehensive approach to lead management, catering to various stages of the sales funnel. 🌍 Global Talent Scarcity: The challenges in finding skilled talent for AI development indicate a competitive landscape, suggesting that companies should invest in talent development and training. 🚀 Entrepreneurial Spirit: Saks encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to leverage the current era of technological advancement, emphasizing that great companies can emerge from anywhere with the right vision and conviction. #landbase #agenticai #ai #GTM #danielsaks #srinivasanramanujam

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Churn isn't always a bad thing – in fact, it can be a strategic move that boosts your bottom line. In this article, Chargebee's CMO, Guy Marion explores the concept of Strategic Churn and how it can be leveraged as a powerful tool for growth and optimization. Check out the full piece here: https://chrge.be/45m1s6c #SubscriptionManagement #RetentionStrategies

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