Bhargav Brahmbhatt

If automated emails were honest... (2024) Subject Line: Re: Our last email, [First name] Dear [First Name], I saw you write a comment on LinkedIn on an account that we are tracking because they do what we do. I have no idea who you are and if you are really the company's ICP but another company that got your email from scraping the internet saw that you had a relevant position 5 years ago so... I want to sell you something. We aren't any better then our competitor but we have altered testimonials that say we are better in every way. You can check them out here: [landing page] We don't expect you to answer this because we don't care about quality outreach, we are just playing the numbers game. If for some 1-in-a-billion-chance you do need our services, here is some other person's calendar link because I'm not real, I'm just a fictitious profile created so that if I get flagged for spamming it won't matter. Best, I'm not real so my name doesn't matter. P.S. I am adding something funny here so it seems like I'm not a bot, even though I clearly am.

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Stop listening to folks who say - "Selling a product/service" is difficult. Here are 5 simple steps for you to follow and Sell anything: 👇 1️⃣ Find a Problem 2️⃣ Solve the Problem 3️⃣ Create content to Point out the Problem to People who have it 4️⃣ Create content to Hype up the Benefits of Solving the Problem 5️⃣ Position your Product as the Obvious Solution It is that simple... #MarketingTips #mannkizubani

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I posted at the beginning of my tenure at UserEvidence about how I was NOT focused on building process for my first product launch. Just doing the work. Reporting back as we move into two more big product launches this quarter, to say we're still not focused too much on process. 😂 What we did do is rally more around planning and strategy. We learned product launches are a great way for us to drive attention and opportunities in the market (Research Content launch was our second biggest meetings booked day ever, and we've driven great revenue in the customer base this quarter as well). As a startup we're trying to find and maximize 'marketable moments' externally to drive consistent attention and hopefully new sales opptys. Launch one showed us this can be a great driver for us, so lets see if it can be a consistent thing. We came together to agree on what the two launches should be strategically (I committed to two tier one launches this quarter as a part of this), align the roadmap to it, and decide what we're OK pushing back into Q4 or next year. And now I'll just go run at the launch work again. T-6 weeks.

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Startup equity is not cash. Seems obvious, but we see early-stage founders and HR folks get ahead of themselves on this all the time. You're a Series A founder (company valued at $40M today) and you're trying to close an amazing engineer. In her offer, you list the base salary, any potential bonuses, and the equity options package (almost always in Incentive Stock Options or ISOs). 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘀: • Annual base salary: $166,000 • Potential bonus: Up to $8,000 • Equity: Annual value of $26,000 𝗔 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲: • Annual base salary: $166,000 • Potential bonus: Up to $8,000 • 4-Year Equity Grant: X shares which represent 0.078% of outstanding shares   𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳    Is that as easily understandable as the dollar amount? Definitely not. But it's far more honest. Expressing equity in dollar terms should be reserved for startups that are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars - because the modal outcome for Series A equity is $0. It's why the discussion of "what percent of my compensation is equity vs cash" can be quite misleading at young companies. This is an additional reason why poaching great talent from Big Tech can be challenging for early-stage founders. You have to compete with compensation packages where equity really is effectively cash (or cash equivalent). It's why comp can only ever be a part of the total motivation for joining (and hopefully the learning / mission / agency is a larger slice of the pie). When it works, equity ownership is an unparalleled wealth-generating mechanism. But it should be explained clearly, with all the attendant caveats. Great founders invest in equity education for their employees so they can make better financial choices for themselves and their families. Last note for the startup candidates reading this: if the company you're considering just gives you a simple number of options in your offer letter, don't sign. You need at minimum the outstanding share count as well so you can calculate a percentage ownership! The more you know. If you want more data on startups, join our Data Minute Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gNa_Dk-F #startups #salary #equity #founders #compensation

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🤣 One of the toughest parts of being in PMM can be getting held accountable for metrics we don’t have 100% control over. It’s like being asked to win a race but only having a few fingers on the wheel. Product Adoption is one of those tricky ones is. Everyone loves to talk about it, but nobody really agrees on what it actually means. If you're told, “Hey, you’re responsible for driving Product Adoption.” Where do you even start? Here’s a simple framework that can help.   🎯What is Product Adoption? Product Adoption measures how effectively users engage with and derive value from a product. At its core, it reflects the percentage of customers who actively use and integrate the product into their daily activities.   🚀Adoption Rate = Activation Rate × Engagement Rate 1️⃣Activation Rate (Activated Users ÷ Total Targeted Users) This is all about making sure targeted users get started smoothly. PMMs can help through: - Improving targeting: Tighten who you target with a more defined ICP and channel strategy - Improving onboarding: Build dead simple onboarding. Think easy guides or tutorials to help people hit the ground running. - Shortening time to value: Shorten the time it takes for them to see value. The faster they realize, “Oh, this thing is awesome,” the better. - Improving the value prop: Be super clear about why the product is worth their time. If they’re confused, they’ll bounce. - Remove Technical Barriers: Advocate for product to fix technical issues that cause friction.   2️⃣Engagement Rate (Engaged Users ÷ Activated Users) The frequency and depth of usage among activated users (usually expressed as MAUs). PMMs can help through: - Driving Feature Awareness: Promote the breadth of product features and design campaigns that showcase how they solve user pain points. Use email sequences, notifications, and reminders to encourage regular product use. - Build Contextual Relevance: Help users embed the product into their daily workflows with tailored content, user stories and videos.   🛑Note: Product adoption may also take win rates (or other things) into account if customer needs to buy something to use the product. Every org will have a different view of adoption and it needs to be nuanced based on your GTM. The more shared understanding you can create. The better. #PMM

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Now that Amazon has effectively ended hybrid work, it’s only a matter of time before other companies follow suit. Yet, no one seems willing to address why so many people prefer a hybrid schedule. For starters, the office setup itself isn’t ideal. There aren't enough conference rooms, and when there are, they're often too small to fit everyone. This leads to awkward meetings where half the attendees are in the room and the other half are on video, sometimes from the same building. Open floor plans? They’re loud and distracting, not exactly fostering collaboration when teams aren’t even seated together. And with no assigned seating, I could end up next to random people each day, lugging around my keyboard, mouse, and whatever else I need to work efficiently. Then there’s commuting. Anyone who has commuted into NYC from NJ knows it’s a slog—whether you’re driving or taking NJ Transit. Ever tried catching a train during summer? Good luck. And let’s not even talk about the nightmare that is the Port Authority Bus Terminal. As Joe puts it, quoting Atlassian’s Annie Dean: “For whatever reason, we keep making where we work the lightning rod, when how we work is the thing that is in crisis.” Joe sums it up nicley with this "As Annie Dean at Atlassian puts it, "For whatever reason, we keep making where we work the lightning rod, when how we work is the thing that is in crisis".

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I shouldn't be working right now. Our due date for Baby#2 was yesterday (Happy Fathers Day to my fellow dads out here!) But alas, babies never come on time. So I'm hanging out with Chelsea Chen, Megan Cohen, and Benjamin Terrell for the foreseeable future. Before I go on paternity leave, I want to share a personal project I will be working on! It's called GamePlan and it's a weekly newsletter that teaches soloprenuers and small business owners how to use AI in their businesses. I cover stuff like #leadgen, #AIchatbots, #ai, #aivideo, and automating everything with #IFTTT. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e_cyrbmV. S/O to beehiiv for building a sweet newsletter tool. I'm still waiting for them to integrate with IFTTT.

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The emails are piling up. The calendar is filling with '2025 kickoff' meetings. And let's be honest - we're all still writing '2024' somewhere. This year it's all about prioritization. This week I'm focusing on: ➡️ Quick wins to build momentum ➡️ Strategic planning (before the chaos hits) ➡️ Relationship building with key stakeholders Happy Monday 📅 Happy 2️⃣ 0️⃣ 2️⃣ 5️⃣

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🔥 Friday Hot Take 🔥 Making decisions by consensus works when you're five employees working out of a garage. It slows down operations significantly, in a bad way, when you're over 50 employees. Develop RACIs, delegate the final decision to the accountable party and then trust your employees to consult the right people and make the right decisions. It's necessary if you're going to scale growth. #startups #decisionmaking #scale

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I’ve been thinking about LinkedIn’s new adoption of vertical content, and as a product manager, I have some thoughts. As someone who uses Instagram and TikTok often, I do appreciate the move—it’s fresh, and I like it. But for LinkedIn it feels a bit out of place. The platform has always been regarded as “difficult and boring yet highly effective,” but it’s still popular because of its EXCLUSIVITY. That exclusivity builds trust and gives users a sense of status, which is key to product growth. People, in general, love to feel “special,” and that’s why LinkedIn stood out—even college students wanted to build a presence here. LinkedIn has always been seen as a professional space, with an air of exclusivity that sets it apart. People come here for career growth, networking, and that sense of belonging in a professional community. Now, with vertical content, I can understand why some users are concerned. It feels like LinkedIn is trying to blend in with other platforms, which might dilute its unique value - EXCLUSIVITY. Users are expressing dissatisfaction, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they feel LinkedIn is losing its professional edge by making itself more accessible to everyone, across all industries. Just my take on the new feature. What do you think? 😊

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Check out our new video showcasing how Employment Hero is making it easier for employers and employees to connect, work and achieve their goals. From hassle-free hiring to boosting productivity and automated pay days - Ready to see how employment can be made better? #EmploymentHero #hiring #smallbusiness #HiringMadeEasy

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One thing in your control that can be a company multiplier: Bring the intensity. Every single day. When you are around intensity each day: - Everyone starts working with a sense of urgency. - The debates will bring more clarity. - Average or OK will be unacceptable. Come in today with some fire, and I guarantee you'll have more fun and get more done.

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I just started marketing consulting with Bravely, the personalized coaching and training platform, led by Sarah Sheehan. If you're in HR or Talent and curious about lifting up all your employees, supporting marginalized people, or working with truly talented and vetted coaches, check out Bravely. We might not have Prince Harry on call, but there's an excellent team here helping HR leaders make a difference in people's lives. #coaching #talentdevelopment #hr #hrleaders

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Hey RevPartners, can I just be honest? If I were you I would NOT want to be at #Southbound today... I mean, first of all, the people in the room are TOO friendly. ➡️ You're just too likely to want to collaborate with them in the future. The sponsors are TOO innovative. ➡️ The experience truly could ruin any attempt that you make to network with future SaaS organizations. The speaking lineup is TOO MUCH like an all-in-one-day-Ivy-league-MBA-for-free. ➡️ You might reconsider any previous business education you received. ...In case you haven't guessed yet, Southbound is kind of the coolest thing happening in Atlanta today! 🎉 We are SO excited to welcome our speakers to the stage and can't thank these folks enough for making today happen! HubSpot | Chili Piper | PandaDoc | QuotaPath | Supered⚡ | CallRail | RevPartners

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𝗨𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻: The folks in your LI network who you "don't know well enough to make a warm intro to" are exactly the folks you *should* make a warm intro to. Let's break it down... My team and I are the midst of a big "warm outbound" push. After seeing response rates to cold outbound 📉 plummet in the last few months (on top of the fact that I hate cold outbound to begin with), we decided to switch tactics and focus on the people we have connections with and those who they might be able to make an intro to from their network. So far, roughly 90% of our responses have been some form of... "Ohhh, sorry, I don't actually know that person well enough to make an intro." And here's why I believe that's exactly the *wrong* answer: You're "connected" to that person, but you have zero relationship with them. The connection is worth absolutely nothing. If you go the path of "I don't know them, therefore I can't make an intro." then your connection is still worth absolutely nothing. It's just there and has little likelihood of growing. (Be real, if you were going to bother leveraging or taking action on that quiet connection, you probably would have done so already.) Which in my book, means there's also nothing to lose. And you're putting *nothing* on the line to reach out to them. The worst that will happen is they'll ignore you or perhaps remove the connection on LinkedIn. In either case, you've lost nothing. The best thing that will happen is that you'll begin to develop a relationship with that connection. Nobody is going to look back and think to themselves "𝘔𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘦𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴." But they might look back on the interaction and think to themselves, "𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮." Can the intro be made tactfully? 𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. Should you consider messaging them first to say something like, "Hey there, I know we're not well acquainted today, but X reached out and they're interested in meeting you. Would you be open to an introduction?" 𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. Am I saying that you should just make every intro that crosses your path, willy nilly? 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵. But should you reconsider your stance on "if I don't know them, I can't reach out to them"? I believe so. Go ahead, put me to the test. I'm happy to make intros where I can. (I won't guarantee an intro, but I will promise that "I don't know them well" won't be the reason I say no.)

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Having followed Emma Stratton for a few years now, her new book “Make It Punchy” is a true reflection of her personal brand—approachable, informative, and inspiring ✨ The words flow like you’re having a conversation with Emma over coffee. The only challenge you’ll face is wanting to immediately go work on messaging before you’re done reading it (or maybe that’s just me?). The nuggets of wisdom in this book are too many to list here. All I can say is take an afternoon in the park (like I did) and read this book! You’ll come away smarter, more energized, and more positive (thanks to the pep talks sprinkled throughout). #marketing #goodreads

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Building a dream team by rejecting everyone is a recipe for a one-person company and a lonely lunch break. Hiring biases are unfortunately an all too real part of corporate America. Studies have shown hiring managers discriminate against various groups, including young and older workers, disabled individuals, and people of color among others. Now, you can add ex-entrepreneurs to the list who face challenges in the traditional job market due to gaps in employment or a perceived lack of fit with corporate structures. All of this comes amidst a persistent struggle for employers to fill open positions and highlights a potential disconnect between what employers advertise in job postings and the qualities they actually value in candidates. "Startup experience desired." Really? From large companies to small ones, job postings often state they want someone who's a self-starter. Who better than someone who's started their own business? Research suggests otherwise, and in fact, shows a surprising hurdle for those who've ventured into entrepreneurship: a 35% lower chance of landing a job interview. This entrepreneurship penalty means their skills and experience might be overlooked. While some ventures may not succeed, entrepreneurs demonstrate initiative, resourcefulness, and the ability to navigate complex challenges – all valuable assets in today's workforce. "Need XX years of experience managing a team." Disqualifying candidates, let alone former entrepreneurs based on stereotypes and bias is a self-fulfilling prophecy for a long hiring process. One potential explanation for the bias against former entrepreneurs is the perception that they may not be comfortable working within a traditional corporate structure. In other words, there's concern that their independent spirit and experience leading their own ventures might make them less likely to thrive in a more hierarchical environment. "We have an entrepreneurial culture." The description of one's culture is almost always highly subjective. Like it or not, people capable of pushing forward on tasks based on ambiguous information or little direction are highly valued. Given that, former entrepreneurs should be in greater demand, not the other way around. Yet, here we are. Relying on preconceived notions to eliminate candidates unseen represents a significant missed opportunity for employers. In other words, biases held by recruiters and hiring managers continue to hinder access to a valuable talent pool. Sadly, valuable talent and diverse perspectives are lost before a meaningful conversation can even occur https://lnkd.in/gagSuZwj #hiring #bias #stereotypes #talent #entrepreneur #jobs #culture #humanresources

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"...at the end of the day, hype fades but connection sticks." - Victoria Igwe A Tale of Two Strategies: Black Friday vs. Spotify Wrapped What drives lasting impact—urgency or reflection? This insightful read by Victoria Igwe explores why Black Friday fades fast while Spotify Wrapped sticks with us, offering key lessons for product design and marketing: - Urgency grabs attention, but personalization builds loyalty. - Reflection creates memorable experiences. - Sharing turns users into advocates. Whether you're building a brand, designing a product, or just curious about what makes experiences meaningful, this is a must-read! 👉 Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dptMZwcw

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