Lance T. Mason, CPA’s Post

Paris Heymann, a Partner at Index Ventures shared great insights from Index's deep dive into the data behind successful startup teams and go-to-market strategies at Pilot.com's conference: #FounderTactics. Paris highlighted the importance of getting the right people in the right roles at the right time, debunking the myth that great products alone can drive growth. "Ideas don't build businesses, people do." Here are my takeaways: 📍 The Importance of People in Scaling Startups: ➡ Data shows that sales and marketing make up a significant portion of a growing startup's headcount, often increasing from 25% at 50 FTEs to 36% at 500 FTEs. ➡ Founders must focus on building a strong, aligned team and culture, as people are the true drivers of business success. 📍 Frameworks for Scaling Go-to-Market: ➡ At the seed stage, the priority is proving product-market fit through founder-led sales. ➡ In the venture stage, the focus shifts to establishing repeatable go-to-market motions and building a sales team. ➡ In the growth stage, the emphasis is on optimizing the return on investment in sales and marketing. 📍 Specialization and Attrition in Sales Teams: ➡ Sales teams tend to become more specialized as companies scale, with roles like sales engineers and sales operations becoming more prevalent. ➡ Sales organizations often experience higher-than-average attrition, particularly among individual contributors, requiring proactive management. 📍 The Impact of AI on Go-to-Market Strategies:  ➡ While AI is transforming various aspects of technology companies, its impact on sales and marketing has not yet been as significant as some may expect.  ➡ Founders should focus on building a more human-centric, personalized approach to customer engagement in the face of increasing market saturation. 📍 Navigating the Current Venture Capital Landscape:  ➡ Investors are seeking founders who are tenaciously solving the biggest problems and are deeply passionate about their mission.  ➡ During times of uncertainty, investors are looking for opportunities where the "why now" is compelling, as uncertainty can create significant opportunities. Want to dive deeper? Tap into #TheGreenRoomGuide's post "How to Master Product-Market Fit, the Index Ventures Way" and more resources here: https://lnkd.in/etfqiNCW #greenroomguide #conferencenotes #founders

💎 This post is for all the startups, founders and SMBs focused on growth. 💎 Paris Heymann, a Partner at Index Ventures, shared great insights from his firm's deep dive into the data behind successful startup teams and go-to-market strategies at Pilot.com's conference: #FounderTactics. Paris highlighted the importance of getting the right people in the right roles at the right time, debunking the myth that great products alone can drive growth. "Ideas don't build businesses. People do." Here are our takeaways: 📍 The Importance of People in Scaling Startups: ➡ Data shows that sales and marketing make up a significant portion of a growing startup's headcount, often increasing from 25% at 50 FTEs to 36% at 500 FTEs. ➡ Founders must focus on building a strong, aligned team and culture, as people are the true drivers of business success. 📍 Frameworks for Scaling Go-to-Market: ➡ At the seed stage, the priority is proving product-market fit through founder-led sales. ➡ In the venture stage, the focus shifts to establishing repeatable go-to-market motions and building a sales team. ➡ In the growth stage, the emphasis is on optimizing the return on investment in sales and marketing. 📍 Specialization and Attrition in Sales Teams: ➡ Sales teams tend to become more specialized as companies scale, with roles like sales engineers and sales operations becoming more prevalent. ➡ Sales organizations often experience higher-than-average attrition, particularly among individual contributors, requiring proactive management. 📍 The Impact of AI on Go-to-Market Strategies:  ➡ While AI is transforming various aspects of technology companies, its impact on sales and marketing has not yet been as significant as some may expect.  ➡ Founders should focus on building a more human-centric, personalized approach to customer engagement in the face of increasing market saturation. 📍 Navigating the Current Venture Capital Landscape:  ➡ Investors are seeking founders who are tenaciously solving the biggest problems and are deeply passionate about their mission.  ➡ During times of uncertainty, investors are looking for opportunities where the "why now" is compelling, as uncertainty can create significant opportunities. Want to dive deeper? Tap into #TheGreenRoomGuide's post "How to Master Product-Market Fit, the Index Ventures Way" and more resources below. #greenroomguide #conferencenotes #founders

🔍Is your company ready to deliver a compelling data-driven narrative during pivotal investment or exit pitches? 💡 Does your data generate insights that fundamentally enhance decision-making as your business scales? Natalie Cramp sheds light on this crucial topic in Startups Magazine. She explores why startups need to prioritize data from day one. Founders are urged to re-evaluate their data strategies to captivate investors. As PE firms embrace data-driven decision-making, they are diving deep into new metrics for a holistic view of a company's performance and future potential through predictive analytics. Don’t miss out on these insights. Read the full article here: https://hubs.la/Q02JSrMp0 #DataStrategy #JMANGroup

🎉🎉🎉 Elly Analytics💛 just won The Ventures Silicon Valley award for "Best Traction" thanks to our fast growth and the results we’re achieving together with our clients! We’re focused on helping marketers and growth leaders make smarter, data-driven decisions, and this award shows we’re on the right track. Big thanks to our team, clients, and partners who make this possible every day! Here’s to more progress ahead. #EllyAnalytics #Growth

🚨Reminder: It is happening TOMORROW!🚨 Join us for tomorrow's Zoom webinar, "How to Build a Startup That is More Investible Using A.I.," as part of the Female Founders Bootcamp series. 📅 Date: 13th August 2024 🕗 Time: 8pm Singapore Time Why should you attend? ✨ Leverage A.I. for Investment Success: Learn how to harness the power of artificial intelligence to make your startup more attractive to investors. ✨ Gain Insights from Industry Experts: Hear from seasoned professionals who have successfully integrated A.I. into their businesses to secure funding. ✨ Networking Opportunities: Connect with other aspiring female founders and potential investors to expand your network. What will you learn? 🔍 How A.I. can streamline your startup's operations and increase efficiency. 📊 Techniques to use A.I. for market analysis and identifying investment trends. 📈 Strategies for crafting an irresistible pitch deck powered by A.I. tools. Don't miss this chance to transform your startup's future! Click the link below to register now! 👉 Register Now for the Webinar https://lnkd.in/g2kxRByC

Lower costs seem like an obvious advantage for emerging startup ecosystems — but data shows being cheaper isn’t enough. While affordability can help, the most successful innovation hubs offer specialized expertise and strong institutional infrastructure to turn cost savings into lasting economic strength. Why? Forrest Wright of Startup Genome argues in this Technical.ly guest post that their deep networks — experienced investors, specialized talent pools and well-developed support systems — more than offset the financial burden. Two emerging ecosystems, Austin, TX, and North Carolina’s Research Triangle, show how affordability can fuel innovation when paired with specialization and strategic growth. Read on to learn more:  https://lnkd.in/d7ctnX2p

🚨Reminder: It is happening TOMORROW!🚨 Join us for tomorrow's Zoom webinar, "How to Build a Startup That is More Investible Using A.I.," as part of the Female Founders Bootcamp series. 📅 Date: 13th August 2024 🕗 Time: 8pm Singapore Time Why should you attend? ✨ Leverage A.I. for Investment Success: Learn how to harness the power of artificial intelligence to make your startup more attractive to investors. ✨ Gain Insights from Industry Experts: Hear from seasoned professionals who have successfully integrated A.I. into their businesses to secure funding. ✨ Networking Opportunities: Connect with other aspiring female founders and potential investors to expand your network. What will you learn? 🔍 How A.I. can streamline your startup's operations and increase efficiency. 📊 Techniques to use A.I. for market analysis and identifying investment trends. 📈 Strategies for crafting an irresistible pitch deck powered by A.I. tools. Don't miss this chance to transform your startup's future! Click the link below to register now! 👉 Register Now for the Webinar: https://lnkd.in/gaji5T3H

Here's some advice I give to companies graduating YC: External pressure (from group partners, demo day expectations etc.) will drop to zero, and it's easy to feel directionless. You have to put structures in place to keep the heat turned up on yourself so you can keep executing at high velocity. At Supabase this included the introduction of: - Quarterly major launch event to work towards. Sets a cadence for major project delivery and rallies everyone around marketing. - Weekly Monday metrics review (metrics are manually input into a sheet, if you automate this you're less likely to actually internalize the numbers). - Weekly Monday thread where each team shares 2-3 high level bullet points of things that everyone else in the company might need to know about. - Weekly short video from Paul Copplestone on Fridays recapping high level movements from the week or disseminating important information. - Monthly investor update email and regular catch ups with key partners. The generalized version of this advice around 'taking things that happen in the batch and baking them into your ongoing culture and internal processes' stems from this 2021 post by Geoff Ralston on 'YC is CRISPR for Startups': https://lnkd.in/e2bdv7nR . I think my main addition to this post is that it helps to be conscious about how YC is shaping your culture and be explicit about building a framework around it. Would be keen to hear from others what specific tactics you bake into your weekly processes to help with cadence and velocity.

Exciting News for Female Founders! Join us for our upcoming Zoom webinar, "How to Build a Startup That is More Investible Using A.I.," as part of the Female Founders Bootcamp series. 📅 Date: 13th August 2024 🕗 Time: 8pm Singapore Time Why should you attend? ✨ Leverage A.I. for Investment Success: Learn how to harness the power of artificial intelligence to make your startup more attractive to investors. ✨ Gain Insights from Industry Experts: Hear from seasoned professionals who have successfully integrated A.I. into their businesses to secure funding. ✨ Networking Opportunities: Connect with other aspiring female founders and potential investors to expand your network. What will you learn? 🔍 How A.I. can streamline your startup's operations and increase efficiency. 📊 Techniques to use A.I. for market analysis and identifying investment trends. 📈 Strategies for crafting an irresistible pitch deck powered by A.I. tools. Don't miss this chance to transform your startup's future! Click the link below to register now! 👉 Register Now for the Webinar: https://lnkd.in/g_qmHPQ3