Download - Startup Growth - Scaling Up
S
Startup GrowthLessons Learned
My Journey
S Developer at age 15
S Rockwell Automation – 18 years - VP Global Sales
S GMI $1M-$50M in 5 years - $100M exit
S Toluna $10M-$120M in 5 years - $260M exit
S FlexMinder Idea to Industry Leader in 5 years (sold 3 weeks ago)
S Worked with hundreds of startups around the world
The progression
Strategy
S Who is your customer?
S Employer - Insurance Company – Law Firm – Hospital – SMB – Enterprise –
Media Company – Research Firm - Specialized third party (TPA, CPO)
S Why would they switch from what they do today?
S What does your product do for them? Why does that matter?
S Pricing – How much will they pay? How much do you need to be a viable
business? Target $1M ARR
Obsession with listening
S Solicit brutally honest feedback
S Survey existing/potential customers
S Speak with them (Skype/phone/f2f)
S See what they see
Messaging
S Capture interest quickly – earn more of their time
S Every word matters – Ad/Landing Page/WebSite
S Earn the right to get more of their time
S A/B test to get it right
Focus on their Pain
S Not you and your product (email, marketing, phone)
S “My name is Lowell and I work for FlexMinder and we
have software that automates the claim submission process
for your participants”
“We reduce debit card substantiations by 75% for TPA’s”
Don’t use weak language
Be direct
S “I am sorry to bother you”
“If you have time”
S “Your competitors have reduced
substantiation costs by 75% with
automated claims - would you
like to see how?”
Expansion
S ID the profile of your customer (title, vertical, size etc.)
S Where can you find more just like them?
S Referral program
S Channels & Partnerships
Marketing/Advertising
S Paid
S Facebook (Desktop/Mobile)
S Search (Adwords)
S SEO
S Conferences
S Content Marketing
Attack mode
S LinkedIn
S What conferences do your customers attend?
S Speaking slots (not the paid ones)
S Booth (email list)
S Guerilla marketing
S Coffee
S Breakfast/lunch/dinner
Thanks to
S
Startup GrowthLessons Learned