RB2B

The average age of a YC startup founder is 29 years old. In the next 5 years, I think this may increase to 39 years old. Here’s why: BACKGROUND A few weeks ago I was Austin for a RB2B offsite. On the sidelines of our meeting Adam, Diana and I were reflecting on how it is becoming harder to sell technology but easier to build technology. And it is a complete flip from before. On the flight back I realized this will have a huge impact on how startups are funded...   In the past: - VCs invested in founders that were hands on with technology - They could code themselves or attract others - They had high energy and were knowledgeable about new technologies - Selling was much easier. Brute force worked.  - They were often selling to first time buyers that were not savvy.  - Typical profile: An engineer with 5 years of experience with good pedigree In future: - Selling is becoming harder while building a technology is becoming easier.  - Buyers are no longer naive. They have a ton of information. Their decision making process has gotten complex.  - There's increased competition not just from local players but also global vendors - All this is making GTM and selling more difficult.  - Founders that already have an audience will do much better to get to Product Market fit.  - Typical Profile: A Sales Leader or a Marketing Lead with 10-15 years experience that is a trusted advisor for buyers in a given domain In the past, the only way VCs made money was through homeruns and 15x returns. However, with rising economic uncertainties, the VC math may change for some segment of investment and a slightly more experienced GTM profile will appear like a good bet for investment. If you are in Sales or Marketing and have entrepreneurial aspirations, your time is here. GTM is getting complex. Stay ahead of the curve with modern GTM strategies and build an audience that trusts you. This audience will be key to you launching your next venture. 

What is Adam Robinson's secret to LinkedIn success? 🤫 Is it his lukewarm takes on the evils of VC? 💅 Or his perfect hair? 💇🏻♂️ He seems to think it's clever enough to talk about on the Good Content podcast with Peter Conforti: https://lnkd.in/gqJ4xQX4

Why sell something for 💰 when you can give it away for free? That seems to be the guiding principle behind Adam Robinson's business model. 💸 Or is he just guessing until he gets it right? 🤔 He shares something that sounds insightful on the Good Content podcast with Peter Conforti: https://lnkd.in/gqJ4xQX4

I’m proud to say we closed Sep at $24m ARR (+2.2%) with a team of just 40 FTE! Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly that went down in September - and why I think our growth is about to SPEED UP: Retention.com: - We closed $75k new MRR with Ben + 2 AEs - Churn has slowed down (seasonal) but we’ve also made big CS improvements - We’re doing LESS with a MUCH smaller team (40% smaller than 60 days ago) - But we’re doing things that are moving the needle, so we’re growing faster - We have positive movement with the mid-market, great POCs in motion - We have been building some BADASS new R! products - We’ll be launching R! 2.0 at Retox Oct 31 - GET READY!!! RB2B: - I made a post about our horrific churn and got 6mo of learnings in a day - We’re implementing many things to address the “what now” problem  - We’re implementing a bunch of stuff to tackle the other churn reasons - We're going to experiment with value stacking coaching, courses, and RB2B - I recorded four courses in a studio before my paternity leave, which I’m violating right now writing this - MRR keeps growing - 7mo in we’re at $260k - Diana is meeting with Ilija every day to optimize our sales model - Our UGC motion is creating so many brand mentions we can’t track them - Robb continues to use AI and workflows to handle more and more tickets - I just crossed 100k followers on LinkedIn _______________ A month ago, I STILL felt like we were navigating rough waters. Somehow today - just 30 days later - I’ve never been more excited about what’s ahead. I am emphasizing this point for younger, earlier stage founders. I’ve been at this for over a decade, have a profitable, mid-20’s ARR business … And my outlook on the future is STILL changing by the month. This is one of the biggest reasons I champion bootstrapping. Capital adds risk to an already INCREDIBLY uncertain situation. Profitability, on the other hand, helps you weather ANY storm.

Have you longed to look deep into Adam Robinson's eyes? 👀 Is he the most inspirational person in your world right now? 🚀 Turns out, people do that. And they say that. 🤩 He talks about it on the Good Content podcast with Peter Conforti: https://lnkd.in/gqJ4xQX4

Employees join startups excited for stock options, but it's a total black box. Options are risky, unclear, and often worthless until an exit (if it ever happens). But there is a SOLUTION and I think Carta should build it: BACKGROUND When you get stock options from a startup it is only “rights” to buy equity “when” you vest. There are a lot of details that can alter the money you eventually make: - Exercise window - Capital gains tax - Exercise price - AMT tax The system is designed to be complex, and in most cases, employees never exercise their stock options. Even when they do, few see positive returns because investors prioritize preferred shares over common employee shares. It’s a BROKEN MODEL that leaves early employees with little reward despite their hard work and discounted salaries. Here's the SOLUTION: Issue Equity Tokens instead of Stock Options: What if early-stage startups tokenized their equity and distributed equity tokens to employees via a decentralized blockchain platform? These crypto tokens could represent shares in the company, functioning just like traditional equity but stored securely in digital wallets. Who will build this: I believe Carta could innovate by building such a system, streamlining crypto equity management and creating new possibilities for startups and employees alike. Imagine a platform where stock option agreements are transparent and startup equity is liquid.  Liquidity: Tokenization enhances the liquidity potential of otherwise illiquid assets (stock options). The whole idea of equity tokens traded on a blockchain based trading platform is to allow increased liquidity. Owners should be able to sell their vested tokens without the approval of the board or exchange their tokens with that from other startups to reduce their risk.      Fundraise: Tokenization of equity has already emerged as a powerful way of raising capital where startups issue tokens in exchange of capital thereby raising the value of their tokens. Early stage VCs may love this approach as it provides a lot more liquidity to the investments. Transparency: Blockchain technology ensures transparency in the transaction. In some cases the payment distribution is also encoded into the transaction itself enhancing trust. Voting Rights: Equity tokens can be handled like equity. They can offer dividends, voting rights and participation in the company’s governance.  Innovation: Equity tokens can be a significant innovation in venture development, startups investing, VC/LP investments and asset ownership. All you seed stage and series A companies: What is stopping you from tokenizing your stock options and making it far more transparent, liquid and attractive than your competitors? Do you know of a tech startup that has tokenized their equity?

So simple. So effective.

👏👏👏

For the past 7 years, I've had an ambitious goal. Last week I finally hit it. Here's what I wrote in my journal when I was 37 years old: "I will build Lead(.)com to $2M MRR by my 42nd birthday. I will create the highest quality software product and staff I possibly can. I will inspire others to work on my project as though it were there own. I will sacrifice my lazy habit in order to have the energy to inspire others and make this dream a reality." Lead(.)com didn't work out, but $2M MRR remained the goal. And last week Retention.com finally hit it! Not by my 42nd birthday. Not even by my 43rd birthday. But we hit it it. At the time I wrote this journal entry, I had been stuck at $250k MRR for two years with eight employees. I thought that when I crossed $2M MRR all of my problems would be GONE. Of course, many of my problems remain the same… But I’m more curious than ever what comes next. Can we get to $30, $50, or even $100m ARR? I have no idea. But $100M ARR is going in the journal... And we're going to keep building.

What does Adam Robinson claim is the goal of all outbound sales? 🥅 When was the last time this guy even made a sales call? 🤨 Whatever... he's gonna try to tell you how to Sell Better on his recent podcast appearance: https://lnkd.in/grpxKX-b