Dan Lord’s Post

Picking the right startup can make or break an executive's career. Here’s 20 questions to ask before you sign on the dotted line: 1. Has the company successfully defined their Ideal Customer Profile? 2. What are the core use cases and do those use cases have testimonials and case studies? 3. What’s the competitive dynamic? 4. What’s the moat? What are the proprietary asymmetric advantages this company has relative to others in the space? 5. How big is the Total Addressable Market (TAM)? 6. How big is the Sales Addressable Market (SAM) vs the TAM? 7. Who owns the strategy for defining the target market? 8. How was the financial model built? Was it capacity driven or waterfall driven? 9. What is rep quota attainment rate? 10. How has pipeline generation been by quarter over the past 8 quarters? 11. What is average deal size and what has the trend been? 12. How is the product roadmap built and how often does the product team talk to customers? 13. What’s churn both on a dollar and unit basis? 14. Is the company able to reliably forecast results and hit its targets based on the last 8 quarters of performance? 15. Is the Founder/Founders technical and if not what is the strategy for recruiting and developing great engineering talent? 16. Who was my predecessor and why are they no longer in the role? 17. How much money has been raised and what preferences are part of the cap table? 18. What valuation did company most recently raise at and what does that represent as an EBITDA and revenue multiple? 19. What is the Founders exit strategy? 20. What is the Founders philosophy around compensation? Let’s make this list amazing. What questions would you add? #startups

6 reasons why VPs of Sales + CS reject offers from Founders: 1. No product-market fit This is a problem for the founder to solve. Remember, we can't scale what we don't have. No amount of GTM talent can fix a product the market doesn't need or want. 2. Lack of meaningful equity If we want them to build the "rocket ship" we must take them along for the ride. The average tenure is less than 2 years in tech startups. That 4 year vesting schedule doesn't carry the same weight it once did. Smart executives know this and aren't interested in dangling 🥕🥕 3. Pulling teeth to get details If the executive we want to hire is unclear about what's happening, how can we achieve alignment to make a confident hiring decision? Or do great work together. People don't expect perfection, they do expect honesty. 4. No seat at the table The only way to create the change we wish to see with this hire is to let them pull that chair up and keep pulling it up. 5. Bait and switch at the 11th hour with a sh*tty offer No, this isn't how startup life works. Even in a hard market. 6. Fear The inability to manage up to the board/investors and letting others make our decisions for us is a recipe for disaster. Setting expectations up, across, and down early and often sets the stage. Pro tip: Double down on alignment early and often. Ask questions like, "what's important to you" and compare it to what you're willing/able to offer. If the answers above are murky at best... Save the business 7-figures, and DO NOT MAKE THIS HIRE until the answers are Windex clear. #startups #hiring #founders #BuildWithATP Avenue Talent Partners | High-precision executive search for startups

Insightful take on the transition from startup to scaleup from Teemu Raitaluoto, founder of AIContentfy .🚀 Point #10 really hits home: "What happens if x increases by 10x?" This is the critical question that many companies overlook until growth is already upon them. At Iceventure, we've seen it time and again—growth often comes as a surprise. The key takeaway? Growth isn’t just a goal; it’s a challenge that must be actively managed.

Many startups get caught in the "scale at all costs" trap, leading to burnout, wasted resources, and ultimately, failure. But there's a better way! Let's explore the dangers of scaling too quickly and 3 key strategies to achieve sustainable growth: 1. Focus on Your Core and Keep Your Team Happy: •    Product-Market Fit: Obsess over your target audience's needs. Scaling too fast often leads to products that miss the mark. •    Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Who are you selling to? Knowing your ICP ensures long-term viability. •    Don't Be All Things to All People: Maintain focus on your core customer and avoid feature bloat. •    Invest in Employee Satisfaction: Loyal employees are your backbone. Avoid rapid hiring sprees followed by layoffs. •    Build a Generalist Workforce: Hire skilled individuals who can adapt to new challenges. 2. Secure a Cash Runway and Invest Wisely: •    Don't Burn Through Cash: Investors expect disciplined spending and a path to profitability. •    Invest for Growth, Not Just Profits: Fund strategic go-to-market activities and track their success. •    Build a Predictable Revenue Model: Consistent revenue attracts further investment. •    Leverage AI Tools: Increase marketing efficiency and improve customer engagement. •    Track Key Metrics: Monitor new revenue, customer retention, and NPS to optimize spending. 3. Prioritize Quality Customer Care Above All Else: •    Exceptional Service is Key: Loyal customers are your best marketing tool. •    Focus on Retention, Not Just Acquisition: It's cheaper to retain existing customers than acquire new ones. •    Don't Sacrifice Service for Growth: Scaling too fast can lead to poor customer experiences. If you agree to these tips, hit 👍button. Also feel free to add to this list in the comments section. #startups #scalability #businessgrowth #entrepreneur #sustainablegrowth

There IS such a thing as being too top-heavy in a business. I think the biggest mistake I see when companies get rolling is having an immediate, full-time C-suite (or similar roles). Now, ya'll know that I hardly ever plug what I do here on LinkedIn because I believe my profile is more about who I am, not what I do, but there's something to be said about hiring a Fractional Executive as a founder/investor (and I'll get to that in a moment.) What happens is you start a new venture with an incredible investment. You have the green light. You get started. Wah-hoo. Right? And then that nasty "O" word creeps into your business - Overhead. And C-Suites (or VPs, or other titles in that genre) are the most expensive. Admittedly, when I was just a professional sprout, I raged against the machine and never understood why they got paid so much because I never saw them do much. (I'll also admit... in some situations, I still ask that question today - sorry 😋). But in theory, they're expensive because they're supposed to have an incredible amount of applicable knowledge to help lead, manage, and operate a business. This would imply then that there's meat on the corporate bones. But guess what? Most new ventures stay meatless for quite a while. They are incredibly lean and require flexibility, affordable resources, and the expertise of those leaders. And that means that they need to hire Fractional Executives first—tenured professionals who focus on a specific part of your business that needs that intense level of knowledge and support but doesn't require heavy, full-time hours, salary, and benefits. I tend to rotate operating in three capacities - CMO, CRO, and COO, focusing primarily on Marketing and Sales - specializing in program and team creation and systems development - all focused on increasing revenue and functional systems of operation. Many great friends here do the same or focus on one area over another (feel free to tag yourself in the comments!) We're all different, but have incredible value to offer to new businesses - and even existing Enterprises! So, if you're a new venture, "start up" by focusing on intelligent strategy first - and that includes not incurring high costs right out the gate on expensive titles/roles. Get that thing moving and built, but please stop breaking my heart by telling me six months or a year after you've started that you're strapped for marketing/sales/ops dollars because you're paying out the nose in payroll. Don't punish the mountain movers in your business by not flexing your strategic thinking muscles. If you need help figuring it out, let me know - I love helping everyone work out the kinks in business. PS - I also love making referrals if there are others in my network that specialize in the area you need.

Last couple of years lot of startup founders have reached out to seek some help in terms of insights sharing, some internal operations to be sorted, connects to be established for hiring, angel investing, connections to angel investors and VCs. My usual recommendations have been as follows and this view hasn’t changed in the past 7 years - Maintain majority control of the business with founders if you are building long term - Vet your investors more than you vet your customers - completely one way door, you cannot change your share holding easily once anyone enters - Build skills for your team ; you need to be their guide ; if as a leader you can’t build skills for yourself there will be no respect on the ground - Preserve reputation of the brand ; that’s all that matters - Stop comparing your journey with another company and do not get any success into your head - If you can’t push on distribution and you are not restless around it, company will fail - Keep all costs absolutely low - Always be creating or closing demand and diversify the business as long as it’s your core domain - Stop going to networking events not relevant for you - Hire only if your P&L allows you, else do the work yourself I’m a big believer that we need founders with deep conviction about what they build and stand on their own feet and on their own terms even if that’s the hard path..

I underestimate the time it takes to get to places. And then I’m late. And I hate being late 😡. Most business owners are optimistic (otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen this career path), which means we underestimate how long it takes to: - Close a deal - Get traction on a new product - Hire critical staff We don't want to be less optimistic. Rather, we should try to factor in incidentals. Example: If you anticipate a 3-month sales cycle, plan for an extra month of following up or troubleshooting payment. Things may go according to plan. If so, excellent! If not, leaving yourself some wiggle room means you won't get caught out by the unexpected. PS - What did you underestimate recently - product launch, revenue numbers, new key hire? PPS - an alternative option to the above is to send me a DM. I help business owners develop key strategies for growth which includes planning for unknowns. *** #startups #scaleups #strategy #businessplanning #growth

Founders know their businesses better than anyone right? Very true. But, why are they so inept at finding the right hires in the early days? Not my words by the way. Their own words! I had the chance to speak to a number of Founders at a recent event. I was keen to know the challenges they faced when growing headcount in the early stages of growing their businesses. It became apparent that if they had their time again in those first few years they would do 4 things better when it came to hiring: 1) Listen to their gut 👂🏻🤔 You know your business better than anyone. If something doesn't feel right, it's usually not right. Don't panic buy. 2) Sack off competency based questioning and focus on technical skills and personality 🚫 Don't waste your time on fancy questions that just result in fluffy answers. Ask open ended questions, in a relaxed conversational manner, to get the candidates talking openly and comfortably. If someone is comfortable, their passion will inevitably show and ultimately you want to find the passion, talent and motivators behind anyone wishing to join a startup / early stage growth business. 3) Lean on trusted opinions away from the business 👥💬 You know too much about your business and with that in mind you can sometimes get tunnel visioned. You have the blinkers on. Lean on trusted business partners that know you, have been involved with your business growth from the outside that can give you an honest, unbiased opinion. 4) Don't over-pay 💰 Find a healthy balance between "paying peanuts attracting monkeys" and allowing a recruiter to uplift a salary that attracts people way overqualified for the job that won't last the long haul. Do your research and find your ballpark and stick to it. What's your best bit of advice on this? #founders #startups #scaling

Stop wasting time and money on premature hiring! Many young companies think that hiring and firing is the golden ticket to scaling their sales and marketing operation. But here is the real deal...it’s not. Before you rush to expand your team, consider this...technology and content can offer unmatched cost-efficiency, speed, and impact. Here at Champion, we have spent over 25 years working with startups and young companies entering the market. Across all our experience, there’s one universal mistake we see time and again...hiring at the wrong time. Forget about finding the right people if you don’t even have the timing down right.  Young companies need to leverage the power of technology and create content that resonates and connects with your audience first. Build your foundation right, and you’ll find that the right hires will follow naturally when the timing is right. elvis works dot com #b2bsales #saleseffectiveness #marketingeffectiveness #salesandmarketing #founders #cofounder #salesdevelopment #salesgrowth #newbusiness #startups #b2b #CEO

🎩 Building up High Five, as the founder and CEO, I wear many hats and execute the functions of a: ◾ Recruiter ◾ Account Executive ◾ Account Manager ◾ SDR ◾ UX Researcher ◾ Marketer ◾ Financial Operations I’ve been a team of one since we launched just over a month ago and embraced performing each of these roles. It’s been incredibly challenging but rewarding at the same time 🔥. At the early stage, I firmly believe it’s crucial for a founder to wear as many hats as possible. Not only does this provide invaluable insights for me, but it also safeguards against the danger of hiring too quickly - a common pitfall for startups. Premature scaling through excessive hiring can quickly drain resources and create inefficiencies that are difficult to unwind 🔴. Most importantly, only by wearing many hats can the founder know the business functions inside out and understand: ◾ What excellence looks like ◾ What efficiency looks like ◾ What are the limits in productivity ◾ What archetype best fits the role when hiring While wearing multiple hats is valuable in the early stages, it's equally important to recognize when it's time to bring in the right people 💯. 🤝 The next step would be to swap hats and delegate hats with the support of my first hires. Choosing what hats to wear across the team becomes an important, strategic decision. And these decisions usually come with an executional trade off. Every founder has their unique strengths and weaknesses, and every startup faces its own unique functional challenges and opportunities ✨. What's your take on founders taking on multiple roles in the early stages? How did you navigate this transition from wearing all the hats to building a specialized team? Which roles should I delegate first? Which roles should I absolutely retain? I'd love to hear about your experiences and insights in the comments below 👇. #entrepreneurship #founders #startups