Pascal Yammine’s Post

Ever wondered about Wartime OKRs? Learn how short-term focus and clear strategies make a difference in challenging times 👉 https://lnkd.in/eHa_S5Qn #WartimeOKRs #Strategy #Teams #Startup

When Claire Vo started as the Chief Product Officer at LaunchDarkly some three months ago, she knew she wanted to skip the traditional "listening tour" and get right down to business. The three most important things she did to hit the ground running and quickly make an impact as she started in a new C-Suite role: 1) Listen and respond quickly: Claire took meetings not only with LaunchDarkly's own employees, but also with partners, customers, and even prospective customers, looking for any opportunities to improve the product or sales process with small, quick tweaks. 2) Jump right in: Rather than sit in hours of meetings and briefings explaining why things are the way they are, she decided the best way to get up to speed was to roll up her sleeves and get involved with initiatives and projects that were already in flight. Claire says that she wanted to be seen as leading from the front, so as to inspire the rest of the team to do the same. 3) Communicate expectations: It's vitally important for the organization to get a sense of your vision and leadership style, ASAP. That's why she spends 30 to 45 minutes every week writing an internal newsletter that celebrates wins, recognizes individual achievement -- and, perhaps most crucially, lists out Claire's own top 5 priorities for the week ahead. You can read more of Claire's thoughts on ramping up as a new executive on the blog: https://lnkd.in/gcdq4fkM #startups #LaunchDarkly #startupleadership #executiveleadership

🚀 Key to Startup Success: Identifying the Right Corporate Champion In the journey of a startup, especially when engaging with larger corporations, pinpointing the right champion is essential. Understanding this dynamic can be transformative. Here's a straightforward approach: 🎯 Who Should be Your Champion? -Beyond Direct Users: The immediate user of your product is crucial, but not always the decision-maker. -Not just Approvers: An approver like a Vice President might sign off on the purchase, yet they aren't always deeply impacted by the product. -Aim for Impact: Choose a highest-level executive who stands to gain significantly from your product, even if they aren't a direct user or approver. 🔍 Use Case -Manager: Directly uses the product, experiences firsthand benefits. -Vice President: Has approval authority but limited direct benefit. -Director: The ideal champion. Even though they're not using or approving the product, the widespread efficiency gains across their teams make a substantial difference to their goals. 🌟 Conclusion Opt for a champion at the highest executive level who will substantially benefit from your product. This strategy ensures a more meaningful and strategic partnership. 🏢 #BusinessStrategy #StartupInsights #CorporateEngagement #LeadershipImpact #InnovativePartnerships

A startup’s solution is the least important factor when compared to the market and team (most important) for VCs. As the saying goes: distribution trumps innovation. There’s a reason why Salesforce is the leader in CRMs, despite its tech not being the most cutting edge. But let’s put distribution and innovation aside for a moment. What truly matters about a startup’s solution is the *vision* driving it. Your first product or service is only the beginning of changing the way your customers or users interact with the world. Behind what you build is the why. Why does the world *permanently* change after your product or service becomes ubiquitous? The most impactful founders I’ve come across my career see the world and their work through their vision and can communicate that effortlessly to investors and operators. I’ve seen startups get dinged because their vision wasn’t grand enough; this despite having great financial and operational growth metrics! Ask yourself: if my vision is realized, does to lead to a “before-and-after” moment for my industry? If the answer is no, you’re not going to be seen as ambitious enough by VCs.

How To Bring A Startup Mentality To An Established Company

How to create a product vision so clear, even your grandma gets it. Let’s break it down. Product vision is a clear statement of what you want your product to become. A great product vision will impact: → 📢 Communication → 🤝 Team Alignment → 🧭 Product Strategy → 📝 Decision-making Product vision creation is a process of: → Why does the product exist? → Who are you solving this problem for? → What change would you aim to make? → What does long-term success look like? → What are the key values of the product? When defining your product vision, consider: → How will it change lives & businesses? → How will it contribute to a better future? → How will it continue to innovate and grow? → What role will the product play in the market? The best example of a well-defined vision statement is from Slack. "To make people’s working lives simpler, more pleasant, and more productive." It displays the impact of Slack on people and businesses. You can use different approaches to write the best-fitting product vision statement. Yet, my two favorites are: 1) To [specific action verb], [persona] to [goal, future state]. 2) To [goal] by [action], delivering [benefit] for [persona]. Clear, simple, and easy to play with. Finally, before jumping in and starting to create your statement, Aim for "everyone gets it" instead of "What does this even mean?" *** 📌 Hey, I'm Othmane Agoumi, and I'm on a mission to empower early-stage startups to build innovative products that transform their industries and lives. 💬 Share your favorite vision statement in the comments! ♻ REPOST and share with your friends! If you enjoy my content, follow me for more. #productmanagement #productdevelopment #startups #founders #business #productvision

Great blog by Bessemer Venture Partners about finding Product-Market Fit #PMF. A few high-level takeaways of mine for founders (and even for new products at existing companies) ▶ Start uncomfortably narrow - prove you can identify your ideal customer and over-deliver. ▶ Don't try to over-market - the spray-and-play marketing strategy for a startup will literally kill you. ▶ Early-adopters DO NOT signal market fit - ensure that your customers represent a statistically significant profile consistency. Often your first few customers don't represent your ideal mainstream https://lnkd.in/gcsykg5k

🎇 Join us in celebrating Jay McGrath - our newest Venture Partner here at 3VC! Jay specializes in sales and brings a wealth of experience from multiple startups, including roles as VP of Sales and CRO at companies like UiPath, Tonkean and Dun & Bradstreet. If you ask him what makes him tick professionally today, Jay's response is immediate and resounding: he thrives on building and learning and a fast paced environment. In fact, in 2017 when he joined UiPath there was no one in sales in the US but him: “By taking the sales calls personally, by working events personally, and by working to build the pipeline, I learned first-hand what it took to sell the new technology known as RPA.” Jay is always eager to talk about what product-market fit actually means because, from his standpoint, it is often subjective. But he’s quick to point out that “you have to have fit and understand who HAS to have your product and HOW they are using it to build demand. Then your sales team can turn that into revenue.” Read the whole interview 👇

Woah! Scratchpad is #14 on LinkedIn’s Top Startups List for 2023. What an honor! And what a journey! It’s not lost on us on how we got here. #1 our incredible fanbase of users and customers. It’s wonderful to see several of our customers on this list! Thank you for the support and feedback to help us deliver a truly unique experience for sales teams. #2 there is a ton to be fired up about for growth. Just in the last couple of months, we’ve gone from the fastest experience for reps to update their pipeline to the fastest, most integrated sales performance stack with a ton of value for RevOps, Sales Managers and Sales Leaders ⤵ No-Code Automations for RevOps ✅ Deal Inspection for Sales Managers and Leaders ✅ Call Intelligence and Coaching for Managers ✅ Forecasting for Sales Leaders ✅ Best in class pipeline management for AEs ✅ A sprinkle of AI magic for reps and managers 👀 ✅ IYKYK. If you don’t, Scratchpad is: All you need to unlock the highest levels of sales performance. Free to try. Loved and used by sales reps, managers, leaders, and operations. #LinkedInTopStartups #Sales #Revenue

Change happens fast and often in startups. In our recent work, we've noticed a common hurdle: SDRs & AEs on different pages – leading to issues like unactioned leads, misalignment in qualification criteria, and ultimately, less than optimal customer experience. A few thoughts: >> Change doesn't mean throwing everything out. It's about fine-tuning for better outcomes. >> Document the changes and make sure everything is clear and easily accessible. >> Communicate, then communicate again. >> Where applicable, include "clean your room" reporting on IC dashboards to help the team identify and action things that may have fallen through the cracks as the team shifts to a new process. Change can lead to great results, but be sure to bring the team along for the ride.