Mehmet Karakus

SaaStock Dublin is three days away. Considering an exit in 2024? At my talk, I'll be answering questions I get every day like: - What are current SaaS multiples? - What metrics matter most? - What do buyers *actually* care about? Don't have a ticket to SaaStock? I have a few extra - reach out and I'll hook you up 😎 #SaaStock #Dublin #founders

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Sales Leaders - Avoid this Mistake! Please don’t give your SDRs access to Smartlead/Instantly and ask them to manage multichannel workflows like LinkedIn touchpoints and cold calling. It doesn’t integrate well with your CRM, dialler or data provider meaning it will make a simple workflow very complex. You might actually be better off with a traditional sales engagement platform like Outreach, SalesLoft, or even Lemlist (even though you're hearing something else from Linkedin.) Instead you should think of SmartLead/Instantly as an additional SDR on your team that can send emails at such a high volume and low cost. Use it to reach out to your Tier 3 and some Tier 2 prospects where the average deal size doesn't justify having a dedicated SDR. ----------------------------- Hi, I am Leo, former head of sales now agency founder of the The Playbook Agency

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The 3 biggest mistakes SaaS Founders make when trying to hire a DACH AE! In no particular order... 1. Long Interview process - It's a war on German sales talent right now & long processes are a fast way to ensure you lose out to competition. PS. You can still have a very thorough process take place within 3 weeks. 2. Lack of transparency - Too many founders sell the dream without giving full context to the current situation. PS. Share your challenges, ARR, quota attainment & mistakes to build trust in the interview process. 3. Treat the interviews as a one sided process - Too many founders spend every moment process trying to qualify the credentials of the candidate. PS. Ensure you factor in time to build a relationship and give all the info the candidate needs to make a decision. On average, a German AE we speak with is involved in 3 concurrent interview processes. Optimizing your interview practices will give you the best chance at securing the best talent. How else can we optimise the interview process to be more attractive to candidates? Let's discuss in the comments!

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Stop letting junior SDRs reach out to your C-Suites. Buyers don’t want to talk to salespeople anymore. They want trusted advisors. Domain experts.  Yet, for some reason, 99% of sales teams completely ignore this fact and let their junior SDRs reach out to C-suites — then they sit back and wonder why their outbound doesn’t work. The WHO factor is more important today than ever before. Here’s what it means moving forward: 1. Trusted Advisors vs. SDRs: Would you take medical advice from a first-year med student? Probably not. In the same vein, expecting a junior SDR to convince a C-suite executive is a flawed strategy. Buyers today want insights from those seeped in the industry, not those reading off a script. 2. The New-Age SDR: These SDRs have authority in their field and are the ultimate subject matter experts. They possess a highly relevant audience of ICP and excel in content creation and audience engagement. They understand the nuances and pains of the prospects and create value-driven conversations, not just touchpoints. 3. Team-Selling is a Necessity: If a CFO checked your website, why in the world would you let your SDR reach out? Facilitate outbound requests to your CFO and ask them to personally connect with the prospect from their profile. It’s about leveraging the right person at the right time to build trust and relevance. 4. Signal-Based Selling: Your outreach should be driven by real-time data and intent signals. Spot the triggers: website visits, content downloads, recent funding, etc. Engage with the right person, when the timing is perfect, with the right message from the right person. This isn’t about volume; it’s about precision. TAKEAWAY: In this new era, it's not about how many emails you send, but WHO is sending them and WHY. In 2024, the most successful companies will have GTM teams that look more like consulting firms than old-school sales orgs. The next-gen of successful sales orgs will be the ones that evolve beyond the old playbooks and focus on trust, relevance, and the power of human connection. The future isn’t just lean. It’s personal.

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Outbound prospecting in 2024 vs Outbound prospecting in 2021 2021: SDRs create demand Outbound is part of Sales Call connect rates are above 10% Money is practically free so less scrutiny on budget spend = more junior buyers + loads more of them No events means budget can be redeployed easily Every SDR is crazy hungry as they know they will be promoted in 12 months Companies can spend silly money on Marketing to support awareness stage 2024: SDRs capture demand Outbound should be part of Marketing Call connect rates less than 10% Budget cuts still happening, efficiency is the top priority - the CFO is still the ultimate buyer Digital channels are exhausted and companies are reverting to traditional channels e.g. events, direct mail/gifting etc Promotion tracks are a dog fight even if they do exist = less motivation No spend going into brand means it's harder to break through to prospects There's an even longer list than this. Ultimately outbound is getting increasingly harder to pull off. But it's NOT DEAD! A few things to consider: 1️⃣ Diallers e.g. Orum / Nooks - particularly good for SMB / velocity sales 2️⃣ AI SDRs e.g. 11x.ai to help supercharge the manual tasks 3️⃣ Direct Mail / Gifting (obviously Reachdesk) to improve response and show rates 4️⃣ Signals to prioritize accounts - 6sense RB2B Warmly,Demandbase to help reps know which accounts to go harder at 5️⃣ Create PODs to co-prospect - refine process so SDRs and AEs work together to co-prospect Ultimately we know the game has changed. But we all have options. What's working for you right now? #prospecting #sales #sdrs

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Great read on the state of SaaS in 2024. Biggest take-aways (especially GTM): - 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: ARR growth is at its lowest in years, with companies relying more on expansion than new logos. - 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Sales efficiency has dropped, with the net magic number falling below 1.0x for the first time. - 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗜𝗣𝗢: More SaaS companies are achieving profitability before going public. - 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀: Free Cash Flow (FCF) margins are improving, but the "Rule of 40" remains stagnant. - 𝗔𝗜'𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: GenAI could shift the "Rule of 40" to the "Rule of 60," but this is expected in 12+ months. - 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: ARR per FTE is up, but operational costs per employee are rising due (inflation and AI investments). Report by Claire Davis and Emre Garih at ICONIQ Capital #tech #startups #saas

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I stood on stage at SaaStock US last week to present 'Six ways to help your sales team close more deals this year'. Here is what I shared: 1. Focus on the follow ups In my last company, the conversion ratios of prospects who were in their 2nd, 3rd ,or even 4th cycle with us, converted at a significantly higher clip each time round. Summary? Timing is everything, but you need to create awareness first. Fortunes are made in the follow ups. Get your reps to focus on 'Closed Lost' opps before they focus on new prospects. 2. Four killer question deal scorecard Do they have a problem? How big is the problem? Are they motivated to solve that big problem now? Do they understand why you are best to solve it versus the others? Simple sales deal qualification, but its staggering how much time is sank into deals where those questions simply aren't answered. Get your reps focused on the deals where they are answering 'Yes' to the above questions, and less time focused on the deals where the answer is 'No'. 3. Create 'What I heard you say' and 'I will show you today' slides for their demos. Use these before the demo or at the start of each call in the deal cycle. Show the prospect you have listened and that you understand their problems (the first slide should basically provide the answers to the 'Four Killer questions'). Then show them the 3 or 4 things you will focus on during the demo. Don't stray away from the 3 or 4 things on the 'I will show you today' slide. Prospects will love you for this. 4. Start with the money shot. Make sure your reps are starting their demos with the big head turning feature your prospect will most care about. Get them excited from minute one versus waiting ten minutes to get there. Simple. 5. Creative deal structure. Prospects crave this in today's economy more so than ever. Move away from rigid contract terms. -Incentivise early renewals by giving additional users at a discounted rate for a short period of time. -Leverage buy-outs to get commitment, where you are dealing with an incumbent vendor with time left on their contract -Create 15 month subscriptions with break clauses after three months, Meaning you can do 'paid pilots' but you're only having to sell the deal once versus twice. Get creative and make it easier for people to buy from you. 6. Double down on coaching. Your sellers are 33% more likely to hit their quota if coached. Companies with dynamic coaching programmes achieve 28% higher win rates. 82% of sellers want MORE than they are getting today. Struggling to do this effectively? Ask me how we can help.

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Before selling a service, you need to sell the strategy. At ProductLed, we make three key sales before a client ever pays us. Sale 1: Are you convinced PLG is right for your business? If you don’t fully believe that Product-Led Growth (PLG) is the right approach, nothing else matters. So, we start by helping clients understand whether PLG makes sense for their business. Sale 2: Are you bought into our specific approach to PLG? This is where the Product-Led Playbook comes in. We wrote it to 1) Clearly outline our process and 2) Help others see if our approach aligns with their needs. If a client doesn’t buy into our method, they won’t value our services as much. Sale 3: What’s the fastest way to implement PLG? Now that they’re convinced PLG is the right strategy and our approach is the best way to execute it, the only question is speed. Do they want to implement it themselves using the Playbook, or do they want a ProductLed Implementer to help them move faster? It’s only at this final stage that we close the deal. I wanted to share this because it's WAY too common for SaaS companies to skip the second part. Last week, we were working with a founder who was struggling to identify the biggest friction point preventing users from signing up. But even before users sign up, your homepage or website copy needs to clearly communicate why your approach is the best way to solve their problem. It doesn't have to be through endless comparisons with competitors, but by educating them on: • What's the most effective way to solve [specific problem]? • Why your approach is better than the outdated methods? • Why your product stands out in the current market? You can look at examples of "Why [Company]?" pages for inspiration. Remember: When you sell the approach first, the rest becomes easier.

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7 Undeniable Reasons why Outbound Agencies > SDRs 1️⃣ Tech Stack Specialization • RevOps are spread thin, tools take time and 💲to onboard and integrate. • Outbound Agencies spend their time optimizing the best tech stack for a very specific part of the funnel that requires minimal integration with existing business systems. •  Clients fit into a fully optimized tech stack that undergoes regular upgrades. 2️⃣ Quick Results • Takes months to ramp a SDR and many more months to realize it's not working. • Agencies hit the ground running with best practices in weeks. 3️⃣ Experience • SDRs are typically entry level. Unless you have an amazing strategy and training (most do not) there's a lot of failure on the way to effective outbound. • Agencies are typically the best reps scaling up their strategies with technology.    • In our case, RevOps who have built every version of outbound system there has been for the last 5+ years and knows what works vs. not from cold, hard data. 4️⃣ Scalability • Typical SDR can SPAM the TAM with junk templates or craft decent to great personalized emails (but very few). • Agencies can send hundreds or thousands per day on behalf of reps while keeping it relevant & personalized. 5️⃣ Strategy • Agencies send a LOT of outbound for many clients. It's easier to find data-backed, proven strategies. • With AI & Automation keeping costs low, you're paying for a winning outbound strategy more than you are the horsepower behind it. 6️⃣ Hyper-Iteration • Most companies with reps use traditional SEPs with limited A/B testing • The modern agency stack enables hyper-targeted campaigns. It A→Z tests many variables to find message-market fit 10x faster. 7️⃣ Cost • DFY Outbound saves thousands on tech stack. Agencies can take advantage of economies of scale and pass that on. • 80+% cost reductions for outbound efforts with better results, no brainer. There's still a place for SDRs as social sellers, cold callers, and upskilling into GTM Engineers. or White-glove selling into Fortune 500. 💭 What are your thoughts on how the SDR will evolve in the next 2 years?

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Our strategy at PeakSpan is simple - scaling a growth company successfully should be an iterative, incremental process. The decisions and options you have in front of you at $3M of ARR scale are vastly different than those at $10M and different still from those at $25M and beyond - scale your way into success sensibly, putting your foot on the gas more and more when the data asserts that you’re ready for it and it’s the right thing to do. This video encapsulates our approach in a nutshell - swinging as hard as you can for a statistically unlikely outcome when you’re a young, still very much evolving business, simply isn’t the value maximizing strategy. https://lnkd.in/e96AzU_N

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It's never too early to think about customer success 💡 Fellow founders, have you already set up your customers for success? The Customer Success market in Germany and across Europe is booming. With a global growth rate (CAGR) projected at 22.18% from 2024 to 2029, the demand for effective Customer Success Management is only increasing. Here are key factors driving this growth: 1️⃣ Rising customer expectations: More than 60% of customers switch providers after just one bad experience. To retain loyal customers, businesses are doubling down on customer success strategies. 2️⃣ Focus on customer retention: As acquisition costs continue to climb, customer retention has become a strategic priority for sustainable growth. 3️⃣ Technological advancements: Customers recognize the potential of automations and appreciate personalized journeys. Emerging technologies make it possible to deliver personalized, proactive support that scales. 4️⃣ Digital transformation: With more data available than ever, businesses can fine-tune Customer Success strategies to deliver targeted, high-impact results. Customer Success is fast becoming the third pillar of growth, alongside sales and marketing. In fact, 64% of executives now recognize the link between customer service and business growth, and 60% say Customer Success significantly boosts retention. #CustomerSuccess #CustomerRetention #GrowthStrategy #SaaS #Marketing #Sales #VENMATE Felix Benscheid | Maxim Svistunov

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Let CLV Be Your North Star for ICP Targeting SaaS businesses thrive when sales and marketing focus on accounts that deliver long-term value. Yet, most teams still rely on win rates as the primary metric for ICP analysis. The problem? Win rates measure short-term success, not profitability. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) gives you the whole picture: 1️⃣ Focus on customers who bring the highest long-term impact. 2️⃣ Optimize for efficiency by aligning GTM efforts with profitable ICP segments. 3️⃣ Use the CLV/CAC ratio to prioritize growth that scales sustainably. The truth is, without CLV metrics, it’s hard to identify and double down on your best-fit customers. Ready to reimagine your ICP strategy? Learn how aligning around CLV can transform your GTM strategy in our latest blog. Or DM me to explore how AlignICP is helping GTM leaders with data-driven ICPs that improve account-based GTM execution. 👉 [Read more on the blog! Link in 1st comment below] #GTMstrategy #CLV #SaaS #ICP #customerlifetimevalue #ABM #accountbasedgtm #revops  #alignicp

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SDR Bite-Sized Tips: Leads Deciphering 🧠 The best thing about SDR is that it can be done in a ton of ways. 1️⃣ You can spray & pray (with or without personalization) - yes, you'd still have conversions and appointments; 2️⃣ You can tailor and personalize first messages or connection requests and then fire away your offer - quite a decent approach; 3️⃣ Or instead of firing right away, you might try to get a conversation running first, ask some questions, spark interest - that could work excellently; Anyhow, your brilliant sequence (manual or automated) might not work for X people. And it's fine. The point is there is no magic pill or universal method. We just have to focus on a couple of really important points: - If we are generally reaching out to the right people at the right companies; - If our offer is relevant/ intriguing / on-time / strong; - If we try again & again, utilizing multiple sender profiles & different approaches. Deciphering how we get connected, what offers spark interest, what hooks work (on both company & contact level). It's like accounts rotation in your sales or SDR department. To reach the best results your team should operate like a single organism. GetSales.io actually helps to build one :)

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Yesterday marked 2 months as Head of Sales. Here's my review. The past two months with the incredible SDRs of Germany team were A LOT. A lot of learning. A lot of mistakes. A lot of hard work. A lot of fun. 💙 Joining a start-up always sounds fun and games, but jumping from a rather structured schedule with heavily regulated processes into the everyday chaos of a small company was a tough experience. 😳 Mistakenly, I believed that my role was basically "a glorified AE role with a nicer title", but... I could have not been more wrong. Fortunately. 😂 Instead, I get to wear lots of hats at the same time. From SDR work in the trenches to developing strategies and visions for the future - I've done it all by now. And it's been such a humbling, educational, and motivational journey. 💪 Here are my 5 key learnings: 1. Embrace failure. Fail every day. Fail fast. Get up and try again right away. (still struggling with this one, but it's getting better) 2. Your input equals your output. If you don't hunker down to prospect and generate pipeline, you won't have deals to close. Do it. 3. Structure your days, but make use of the flexibility you have. Daily prospecting blockers? You bet. Lunch blocker? Nah, let's be flexible. Early starts to have gym time in the afternoon? No prob. 4. Experiment. Dare to change things and challenge processes. Nothing is set in stone. 5. Commit to the TEAM. We learn from each other, but also hold one another accountable, have a chat, a drink, and a stern finance review. Sometimes all in one day. Joining the amazing environment Helena Klaus and Mattia Schaper have created at SDRs of Germany is a blessing. Wouldn't trade it for the world. So far, so good. Let's see what the next months will bring. I have the feeling, the ball just got rolling... 🚀 #sales #headofsales #leadership #startup #sdrsofgermany

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We get a lot of people asking us: What services do we actually offer? Cold email. We send 1000s of high-quality emails on your behalf to consistently generate high-quality leads for you. Together, Felix and I bring: ✅ 15+ years in B2B outbound sales ✅ 10+ years active in the B2B sales community  ✅ 4+ years of monitoring & using the latest sales-tech. So when it comes to creating a solid sales email... We combine the copywriting AND technical expertise to ensure your emails not only grab attention, but also get delivered, opened and acted upon. The right message to the right prospects. StackOptimise ⚙️

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Not sure if I agree with Joel Graber's take here. If you can't hire a junior SDR, that likely means your org is lacking some serious enablement processes... Yes the SDR workload has changed a lot over the years. But the core function remains the same: Understand the product value, research and find relevant targets, create engaging outbound to capture those leads. So if your junior SDRs aren't getting it, you likely jumped the gun on: -Clarifying ICP -Creating persona based messaging -Clearly defined UVPs against competitors (Battlecards) -Good discovery format -Proven frameworks and coaching That said, I don't believe your entire SDR team should consist of junior reps. You need the influence of 1-2 seasoned SDRs to get the balance right. But you can't expect junior, or even senior reps for that matter, to answer all the above problems for you. Your VP of Sales exists to think through these problems before you scale not while you scale. But as always, I'm happy to be told I'm wrong. Let me know what you think.

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I wouldn’t build a pure SaaS company today without first having partner distribution on lock Partner Distribution is PMF, for me Pure tech plays can and will be easily replicated Distribution is all that matters Bonus: They also double as potential strategic acquirers and they buy quickly because you’ve proven seamless distribution and value. - Smaller MVP - Faster Time to Market - Faster Time to Acquisition

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🇺🇸🇪🇺Why are there so few enterprise SaaS founders in Europe compared to the U.S.? ------------------------------------------------------------------ I recently had an interesting discussion with a SaaS founder about how the U.S. market seems much more welcoming to enterprise-focused SaaS compared to Europe. In Europe, building enterprise software is possible, but it’s much harder, and fewer founders are building such SaaS software. Fundamentally, I think it boils down to two major aspects: 🏢 The difference between U.S. and European enterprises in terms of budget, market fragmentation, and risk-taking. 🤗 The lack of an "enterprise software" culture among entrepreneurs and VCs in Europe (especially at early stage). 1️⃣ When it comes to software spending, data from the latest Cledara report supports this idea. The report shows that companies with 200+ employees in the U.S. spend an average of $690k on software, while their European counterparts spend around $490k (see the attached graph). This aligns with a Gartner study, which indicates that U.S. companies typically allocate 3-4% of their revenue to IT, whereas European companies spend around 2-3%. So yes, U.S. enterprises spend significantly more on software than European ones, creating greater revenue opportunities for enterprise software startups. 2️⃣ Another key aspect is market fragmentation. Although Europe may have more enterprises overall than the U.S. (around 40,000 companies with 500+ employees in Europe compared to about 20,000 in the U.S.), the European market is highly fragmented. For instance, Germany has the highest concentration of enterprises, with approximately 10,000 companies with 500+ employees, followed by France, with fewer than 5,000. 3️⃣ In terms of risk-taking, U.S. enterprises have a much stronger culture of technology adoption, especially in large companies, compared to Europe. Many founders in Europe get stuck in "innovation programs" or "proof-of-concept purgatories" when working with enterprises. Although risk tolerance among European enterprises has improved over the past decade, it still lags far behind the American “spirit”. 4️⃣ A consequence of the previous aspects is that there are fewer founders and startup employees in Europe with experience in building enterprise-grade software. Europe's SaaS entrepreneurial culture is much stronger in the SMB/mid-market segment than in enterprise-level SaaS. It’s the same for early stage European VCs, who also tend to favor SMB/mid-market focused SaaS over enterprise solutions. Investments in enterprise-grade software typically come at a much later stage (series A / B), mostly when startups have already moved upmarket.

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