Marketing in Real Life

Over the past few months I’ve built my team at Privy from a one-man show to a group of four that I am extremely proud of and excited to come work with every day. In that process, I talked to a lot of people, lots of whom I liked a lot—even if they weren’t the right fit for this company at this time. (Both of those matter.) Between that experience and my own job searches in the last few years, I’ve been thinking a lot about where the process goes right and where it goes wrong. Along the way, I’ve put together a few takeaways worth sharing for anyone in a similar position. While I haven’t always followed these rules, I certainly try. 1. This company and this time matter. There are lots of really smart people who could be a great hire in a vacuum. But as companies grow and change, so does the skill set needed to be successful. For example, early stage companies need doers who can think but can’t afford people who are unwilling to roll up their sleeves every day (at least for a w...

Wait, when did I become the "slow down" guy? Fast, not flawless. Get shit done. Ship it. Sell it.  All common startup expressions. And I love them all. It's why I began working at startups and something I always prided myself on before I even entered the startup world.  So, why do I feel like I've become the guy who keeps saying "can we just slow down a little?" Other than simply getting older and grayer (I mean more experienced), here are three reasons I've been pumping the brakes a little.  Some things need to simmer to be properly cooked: discuss over coffee, have a conversation without a decision, really listen, think bigger or wider. Big time customers expect more: whether you've officially crossed the chasm or not, when you get those awesome logos that your sales team loves it means you need to treat  them like the enterprises that they are. They didn't buy you because you're a startup, they bought from you to solve a pr...

Hiring is hard.  Especially in a small company where one under-performer can put a big hole in the ship - the pressure to get it right is immense.  So, how do you know quickly if you've made a good choice for the short term and long term?  Here are three things I look for: They ask a lot of questions: Everyone wants to come in and add value from day one, but good employees know what they know and aren't afraid to get the information they need to get smart fast. While answering all of those questions takes a lot of time it's a good sign that they'll soak it all in and become a source of information for others over time. They set themselves free: New employees can be scared to go to other departments for help. It's human nature to be cautious when going out of the comfy confines of a team, but those are the people who will be advocates for your mission in short order and make themselves an integral part of the entire organization. They are hard on th...

No matter how many start up blogs you read, user testing sessions you conduct, market studies you digest... Nothing quite prepares you for the first few weeks of getting real customers for your product or service.  I'm going through it right now and like Stuart Smalley, I look at myself in the mirror every day and offer a positive affirmation because... 1.  All those people who said they could imagine using your product that made you feel awesome and excited... Most of them won't actually do it, or at least not right away. 2. Whatever your acquisition plans are for the long term, they won't work in the beginning.  It's hand to hand combat to get people to jump on board in the beginning and you just have to do things that you know won't scale. 3.  Bugs you pooh-pooed during testing are magnified 1000% when a "real person" can't get through a task.  Oh- and those same "real people" don't care that you're in a Beta. 4. Getting t...

I grew up in Boston in the 80's as a diehard Redsox, Bruins, and Patriots fan.  I yearned for victory because I knew they should be winning.  Close call after close call but our teams never quite got there.  Obviously that all changed with the Pats in 2001, the Sox in 2004, and bruins in 2011.  And those changes in championship stature helped confirm what I had always believed - that if your team worked hard enough and worked with both brains and brawn - anyone could win. This belief is something I've always stood by in my professional life as well.  When I worked for a 5 million dollar research agency, I knew that we could grow enough to become a top 50 firm.  When Constant Contact set out to build a social media tool I knew we could get huge numbers of smb's to use it.  And when I set out to find a job at an awesome early stage startup, I knew I could make it happen . But I guess I never really expected my small liberal arts college to tak...

Without much budget, startups have to really be careful about investing too much in technology.  On the other hand, you need to use systems that will scale.   So, having worked recently at a SaaS company I was sympathetic to wanting to make a fair deal when I went searching for marketing on automation software knowing I needed to push a little bit harder than I might be comfortable with.   I'll spare you the three weeks of back and forth after I had decided what system I wanted... But the end result was shocking.  Let's just say I was able to get a discount over 50%.  OVER 50%!  And this was from a market leader.   After I went through stages of delirious laughter, anger about what I had paid in the past, sadness over how willing I was to take 29%, and pride in the deal I just got it hit me that the truth was that list price is a bit f a joke.  And that pushing hard is expected, and pushing really hard is acceptable.   So next time you're buy...