“How many mermaid tails do you think are sold every year globally?” It wasn’t a question I expected to be asked by a SaaS founder. I guessed 50 million.
I grew up an introvert. Hunched over behind a computer in the late 90s, writing lines of code, hoping I never had to talk to anybody. If you would have told me that one-day people would pay me $10,000+ to give a keynote presentation to an audience of hundreds… I would have laughed my ass off and called you an offensive word. ...Then I would have vomited. Right on the floor. Public speaking TERRIFIED the absolute %^&* out of me!
Let me demystify this complex, confusing strategy they call: Startup Funding Rounds. Yeah, you’ve heard the words thrown around before. “We’re raising our series B”, and “I’m looking for a pre-seed angel investor” or “We’re gearing up for an IPO”... They may as well be talking another language, right?
When I launched my company Clarity.fm in 2010, I gave a live demo to an audience showing how the service works. It was my Steve Jobs moment.
2020 sucked. Not only for businesses... but for families, communities and economies around the world. Working closely with SaaS founders means I’ve heard the pains, seen the panic and talked through the new reality of Covid 19 for many struggling startups. Some businesses have a model that lets them bend rather than break. Others… aren’t so fortunate.
I didn’t want to shoot this video. Honestly, I didn’t even think it was necessary. I assumed that all scaling SaaS founders must be doing accrual accounting, right?
“Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not”. This is a quote from my latest Escape Velocity Podcast guest, Marvin Liao, formerly a partner at 500 Startups. 500 Startups is a venture capital fund that runs an accelerator in San Francisco and invests in seed rounds for tech startups.
If you want to start a new SaaS business in 2021 without tearing your hair out, my advice is: Find a co-founder. You shouldn’t have to do it all on your own… and it’s better that you don’t.
How are angel investors different from venture capitalists? Both invest in businesses. Both can write you big checks. Both have the power to help your business growth with a cash injection you otherwise would never get. Are they the same? Heck no. I found this out the hard way...
Your website is polished. Facebook ads retargeting, Google ads pushing your domain to the top of the results page. Traffic trickles through… starting with a sign-up for a free trial. All your PPC ad spend is balancing on a knife’s edge. But here’s the question: Will the prospect convert from a free trial to a paid customer?
