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This is a tough post to write. Last Friday we let go of 40% of Retention.com's ecommerce business unit (15 people) and shifted our focus from ARR growth to efficiency. Here’s a breakdown of what happened: Before I start, I want to express my deepest gratitude to our team members that we let go on Friday. This is the worst part of the game we are all in. I want to express my thanks to our managers, who had to carry out an order and let go of team members they had deep relationships with, with basically zero warning. Thank you for being such incredible leaders, and understanding what had to be done, even when it hurt so badly to do it. Here’s why we decided to switch gears from ARR growth to efficiency: 1. Our TAM is way different than we thought.   18mo ago, we thought we could make the top 50k Shopify stores successful. We dropped that to 10k last year, now it’s 1,400, plus a few hundred mid-market omnichannel retailers. Our team was still at peak size, while pipeline and throughput continued to decrease since making that decision. 2. We thought we were going to be able to fix our churn. I thought honing in on a super-tight ICP would create metrics that looked like Klaviyo’s. Instead, we realized we are in a high churn product category with a high churn buyer persona. 3. Market dynamics changed completely, our product-market fit weakened. We won the Shopify market we were going after, and our product still provides MAJOR value for our ICP, but once our TAM shrunk, competitors showed up, our market penetration got very high, our churn didn’t improve, and everybody started buying less SaaS… Well… Nothing worked as well. 4. We scaled way too fast in 2023, and didn’t instill operational excellence. Before rolling out EOS with a coach, we hired way too fast and had no processes. It created chaos, lack of focus, and lots of waste. We are becoming far more focused and efficient. 5. I held onto the idea of ARR growth for way too long. It’s clear when you’re in a growth environment, and it’s clear when for whatever reason it’s stopped. I should have been able to see the very clear signs last fall that we were losing PMF, and course corrected to focus on efficiency and profitability. TAKEAWAY: Is Retention.com a business in peril? Absolutely not. You see every month how much it’s growing or shrinking in my updates. It’s a bootstrapped, highly profitable business, with a credible plan to move upmarket. But… We haven’t figured that motion out yet. When we figure it out, that itself will do wonders in helping the churn issue we’ve struggled with. 18mo ago, we could see that everything we did REALLY worked. Now when we look at it, many things we’re doing just aren’t. What do you do as a CEO when most things aren’t working but a few things are? I think you can only do three things: 1. Get as small as possible 2. Focus on what IS working 3. Find a new Product-Market Fit You live to fight another day. And you just keep building.

If you want to lead a company that's growing past 20m, 40m, and 100m in revenue, you better be able to master frame control. Because if you cant, you're going to get removed as CEO. The later stage investors, board members, and even your own executive team will see it as weakness and make moves against you. Sadly, I've seen this happen. Unicorn founders who then lost control of their company. They didn't realize that they were playing the frame game. And most CEOs and founders fall into this same trap. As a trial lawyer, I lived in the world of frames. With Sorenborn, I continue to live there every day and make sure our CEOs we work with know exactly how to dominate the frame in every conversation. It's existential.

Interested in Fractional Roles, Work Opportunities with Startups? → To Earn → To Learn → To Make Wealth → To Make More Impact Whether you are a final / pre-final year student or a professional with couple of decades of experience if you'wd like to explore work and other professional opportunities including co-building, co-owning something we invite you to reach us with a quick email at "Parttime@Workllyy.in" with your profile link. Full-time opportunities are also available in: ✓ Sales, BizDev ✓ Online Events, Content ✓ Investor / Corporate Relations ✓ Brand Marketing, Online Evangelism ✓ Operations, Corporate Communications ✓ Investment Banking/VC/Funding, Fundraising #Parttime #ParttimeWork #SideHustle #Hiring #Internship #RemoteJobs

This will launch your career into the stratosphere. (Not Joking)     Sharpening your business acumen will supercharge your career and give you a strategic advantage over your peers. How?   A study conducted by the Harvard Business Review showed that leaders who demonstrate a high strategic acumen are 45% more likely to be promoted to senior roles.   Mastering these skills isn’t just smart; it’s a game-changer for growth-focused leaders aiming for the top-level jobs.    In this Fuel Your Growth Cheat Sheet, we explore 5 Essential Business Models which include:   1. Six Sigma 2. Stakeholder Analysis 3. Gap Analysis 4. Scenario Planning 5. Competencies Model What would you add? Tell us in the comments. 👇 Repost this for your network! ♻   Follow me, Kevin Box🚀 Box for more Business Essentials posts.   #fuelyourgrowth --------------- 📌📌 Looking to grow your personal brand, DM me. I help leaders' grow their personal brand and thought leadership on #linkedIn

At face value, this might be the road to ruin for whoever gets hired. Here's why (and what I'd do if I was applying) 👇 First, I said it *might* be a road to ruin. I see these types of job postings all the time. They appear to be full-on checkbox marketing. It's why B2B is so boring. Checking all the boxes... except the ones that matter. I can promise that the 80/20 is true for this level of volume. Over one-thousand blogs per year? Most companies could probably cut 80% of this and not see negative impact down funnel. Second, for anybody applying for roles like this - ask two important questions: 1. The *why* behind each of these? Why 20 blog posts per week? Why not 50? Why not 2? Otherwise, you're trapped in the hamster wheel of checkbox marketing. I've been trapped there myself. Producing more content than ever and having ever-diminishing returns. Following the same 2012 content playbook that focuses more on volume than impact. 2. Do each of these activities have a unique premise? Is there anything that makes this volume of channel-specific activity interesting/better than everything else out there? What you'll learn asking those questions (I asked them in the comments on Jason's post) will make sure you find success in this role... or any role that appears to focus more on content inventory vs content impact. I like Jason, think he's smart, and have found lots (LOTS) of value in the things he shares. So maybe this is not that, and let's assume positive intent all around. (also OMG am I exhausted by the LinkedIn bros beefing with each other lately - this is NOT that - I want none of the smoke, haha)

Why be an Owningr Venture Partner? → Get Consulting, Advisory or Fractional Work Opportunities with Startups. Get Incentivised in Cash or Equity or Combination of both. → Access to Fractional Ownership, Investment opportunities Exclusively available through Owningr and beyond. → Bring your connections, refer to your network. Lead Pooled or Collective Investing (SPV, Syndicate etc) or do otherwise. → Earn commission on total referred investments. → Get additional Fractional Ownership in ventures & assets beyond what you earn from referrals, investments. → Early & Free Access to interesting new or paid tools, products. → Be part of various communities and get access to organised, clutter-free content in Areas of your Interest & Relevance. → Access to Co-founding, Co-building or Entrepreneurial Partnering opportunities, proposals. Email us your questions or interest of exploring, to "Partner@Owningr.com" #SideHustle #Coaches #Consultants #AngelInvestors #CorporateProfessionals #Freelancers #ParttimeWork

🌟 What is Forecasting? 🌟 Forecasting is the art and science of predicting future events based on past data, current trends, and expert judgment. In business and finance, mastering forecasting techniques is crucial for making informed decisions, planning effectively, and staying ahead of the competition. Types of Forecasting Techniques: ✏ Qualitative Forecasting: Relying on expert opinions and intuition when data is limited. ✏Quantitative Forecasting: Using numbers and mathematical models to predict future trends. ✏Time Series Forecasting: Focusing on data over time to identify patterns and trends. ✏Causal Forecasting: Exploring cause-and-effect relationships to make predictions. ✏Scenario Forecasting: Preparing for multiple potential futures by analyzing different scenarios. ✏Judgmental Forecasting: Leveraging individual or group judgment when data is scarce. 🔍 Why Does It Matter? Forecasting helps businesses make informed decisions, manage risks, and improve performance. Whether you’re planning for growth or preparing for uncertainties, these techniques are key to staying ahead. 💼 How do you use forecasting in your business strategy? Let’s connect and discuss how you can refine your forecasting approach! Share your thoughts or reach out to learn more! #Forecasting #BusinessStrategy #FinancialModeling #DecisionMaking #PlanningForTheFuture #Shaikomer #BusinessAnalysis #CFO #CEO

New data - this time for emerging VCs! Our first ever VC Fund Performance report is now live, with data up through Q1 2024. Carta serves more than 3,000 venture firms across many categories, so we’ve narrowed this analysis in a few ways to make it more impactful. Only U.S. funds are included, and all included funds are direct venture investors (as opposed to fund of funds). Funds must have been in vintage years 2017 through 2022. Each vintage year includes at least 120 underlying funds (and far more in most vintages). We believe this represents a dramatic expansion of the public data available for small VC fund performance. Note that this report does include some data from funds over $100 million as well, a traditional delineation point between emerging and established managers. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 • 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Funds in the 2022 vintage have deployed about 43% of their committed capital at the 24 month mark, the lowest share of any analyzed vintage. Prior vintages ranged from 47%-60% after 24 months.    • 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 30.6% of companies that raised a seed round in Q1 2018 made it to Series A within two years. Only 15.4% of Q1 2022 seed startups did so in the same timeframe.    • 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗣𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲: Less than 10% of 2021 funds have had any DPI after 3 years. This is obviously the first release of what we hope to be a quarterly deep-dive, so if you have ideas on how to improve it shout out in the comments! Also if you are a Carta Fund Admin customer, you can certainly read the public report – but you'll be receiving an exclusive, expanded analysis in your inbox this morning. We appreciate you 🙏 Link to full report: https://lnkd.in/g7Fy33Ya Data to the startup people! #venturecapital #VC #emergingmanager #fundperformance  #startups

Basically every B2B company is questioning their BDR/SDR strategy right now. Because the mass manufacturing strategy of MORE Leads, MORE SDR Headcount, and MORE Spam Cannons have created an inefficiency spiral: Need More "leads" -> Lower conversion -> Inflated Costs -> Repeat. The cycle has spiraled out of control to a level where it now costs a B2B company 2-5X more money to acquire $1 in incremental ARR. The "Predictable Revenue" model has become entirely unsustainable. __ I'm old enough to remember what “Business Development” used to look like before the Predictable Revenue model came on the scene in the early 2010’s. Business Development teams were small teams of experienced professionals who: -Have strong business acumen and executive presence -Have strong domain expertise and industry experience -Have strong connections in the industry and are respected in the industry -Focused on developing relationships & opportunities in large, strategic accounts (partners, Tier 1 accounts, OEMs, new markets/verticals) -Leverage an integrated combination of physical events, in person meetings, and inside sales activities to create and close big opportunities -Compensated and incentivized based on creating and closing REVENUE But here we are in 2024, and the Predictable Revenue model that has become an "industry standard" in tech & SaaS is cracking like cheap glass: -Inexperienced people who don’t have strong business acumen or executive presence -No domain expertise or industry knowledge -No connections in the industry or awareness in the industry -Focused often on chasing around small accounts & small deals where the SDR role just dramatically increases CAC to untenable levels -Only leverage inside sales using spam cannon technology to flood buyers with unpersonalized, irrelevant digital messaging asking for meetings -Compensated and incentivized to book meetings and hit a volume of “activities” ____ It's pretty simple to see why the current "industry standard" is falling short for B2B companies, and more importantly, for their customers. In the future, we’re going to see a big change to how “Business Development” works in B2B companies. We’re going to go back to basics. Back to the fundamentals. Where experienced, respected, highly competent people leverage an integrated approach to develop and close new opportunities with high-value accounts. And a lot of the low value work done by inexperienced people to low value accounts will be automated and removed by AI. Time to go back to basics. #marketing #b2b #finance #gtm #sdr P.s. this isn’t ambulance chasing. I'm not saying every SDR role is going away tomorrow. But what is clear as day across all functions in business is that low value work done by inexperienced people that isn’t customer centric, will over time be removed by AI.