Stage 2 Capital

Our August update is here! Catch up on the latest content from Stage 2 Capital: 📈 Scaling your GTM team: Full-cycle vs. specialized sales roles 🎙 Mark Roberge's podcast: Building unicorn sales teams 🤝 Signs your startup may be ready for a COO or President 📰 Portfolio News: Webflow's new integration, DeepScribe's AI solution 💼 60+ job opportunities with our portfolio companies

How is AI changing GTM? Will AI replace sales? What trends are we seeing when it comes to hiring? Our partner Mandy Cole chatted with Dini M., former CRO at Lattice, current Executive in Residence at Peak XV Partners, and Stage 2 Limited Partner, to get her perspective. Her top observations? 1. Companies are doing more with less, cutting costs while in growth phase 💪 2. GTM teams are hiring smaller, more generalized "athlete" employees 🏃♀️ 3. AI is transforming GTM, but mainly by handling tedious tasks, not replacing sales people 🤖 Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/g5xuSPqF #GoToMarket #AIinSales #StartupStrategy

'We're coming out of stealth mode with a handful of design partners. How do we set our initial pricing for launch?' It’s tricky and there are so many mistakes made at this phase. Liz (Cain) Christo, Stage 2 Capital Partner tapped Peter Zotto, former Managing Director at Price Intelligently by Paddle and Co-founder of ProfitWell by Paddle to get his take on just how to approach the pricing conundrum. Peter emphasized one key piece of advice: selecting the right value metric. Tough to do in the early days, but if you can take the time to understand what they value you’ll be in a much better position to see continued sustainable growth. Peter's pricing advice: 🥅 Choose a metric that aligns with customer goals. For instance, a project management tool might price based on the number of projects created. Ensure it's easily understood. If customers struggle to grasp your pricing, they'll struggle to see the value. © Avoid blindly copying competitors. Many established players miss the mark on pricing - don't assume they've got it right. 📈 Design a metric that scales with customer growth. Read the full article for more detailed advice and examples: https://lnkd.in/gqMv8FDc 

Ever wish you had a wise friend to bounce your go-to-market ideas off? Every week, Liz (Cain) Christo, Partner at Stage 2 Capital, takes your questions and finds answers from top industry leaders. We’re always looking for new questions to tackle—got one? Drop it in the comments! Take a peek at a few of our most popular (recent) articles: 🎯 ABM for early-stage teams: Navigate with confidence (with Eric MacColl) https://lnkd.in/gFMdBMKF ➡ Founder-led GTM: Unlock rapid growth (with Maya Mikhailov) https://lnkd.in/gMe6jTXw 💼 Sales comp plans: Optimizing for your first enterprise reps (with Graham D. Collins) https://lnkd.in/gkV4kY6W Not subscribed to Dear Stage 2? It's your weekly dose of real, bite-sized GTM advice published every Saturday morning.  (you can sign up here: https://lnkd.in/g_a3M3_n) #GTM #SalesStrategy #StartupAdvice Dini M., Tanya Alfonso, Carol Meyers, Jacob Karp, Charlie Maier, Amy Volas, Jillian Kamiyama, Kyle Coleman

When's the right time for a startup to bring on a COO or President? Liz (Cain) Christo partner at Stage 2 Capital, chatted with Katie Bullard, President of Red Canary and seasoned tech leader, to get the scoop! Here's what we learned: 📊 Signs you might be ready: - CEO feeling spread too thin - Expanding to new geographic locations - Hitting that $100M ARR milestone 💡 Katie's advice for hiring: - Look for skills that complement the CEO's - Ensure long-term goals align - Build a relationship on trust and transparency 🔑 Pro tips: - Rethink the CEO's role - Consider the impact on your exec team - Seek advice from experienced mentors Read the full article on our blog --> https://lnkd.in/gwrfYC4h

What #AI tool do you swear by in your GTM strategy? We're gathering your insights for our upcoming article, From Hype to Help: AI Tools GTM Leaders Actually Swear By, and we want to spotlight your go-to. Got 60 seconds? Share it with us in a super quick 3-question survey! ⌛ https://lnkd.in/gMiRAfMT

📬 DEAR STAGE 2: What are the trade-offs between full-cycle reps and more specialized roles (AE, CS, onboarding, AM, etc.)? When should we consider having the same person play multiple roles? Is this more about the customer or stage of the company? A: Let's face it - we're all working with limited resources. The trick is to make the most of what you've got and put your time and money where it really counts. This week Liz (Cain) Christo Partner at Stage 2 Capital called on Stage 2 Limited Partner, Tanya Alfonso, to share her experience and unpack the pros, cons and considerations of full cycle reps v. specialized roles. 🔄 Full-Cycle vs. Specialized Roles: The GTM Evolution Key Takeaways: 🏗️ Full-Cycle AEs offer continuity: These reps own the entire customer journey, from initial contact to renewal. They're great for smaller organizations and maintain deep relationships, but may lack deep expertise in specific areas and face scalability challenges as the company grows. 🎯 Specialized Roles bring focused expertise: These roles focus on specific parts of the customer lifecycle, making recruitment easier and allowing for deep domain expertise. However, they can create silos, making handoff management and clear communication crucial. 🤔 Decision factors blend customer and company needs: Consider customer complexity, product intricacy, and lifetime value alongside your company's stage. Early-stage often favors full-cycle, while growth and mature stages benefit from increasing specialization. 💡 Success strategies evolve with your business: Start with full-cycle roles and specialize gradually, focusing on critical points in the customer journey. Be open about this evolution during recruiting and provide growth opportunities within new specialized roles. Remember: This isn't a one-time decision! 🔄 It's an ongoing journey that requires constant (re)evaluation and the company changes. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gK5zn9pk

At Stage 2 Capital, we saw the incredible potential in Slang.ai's AI-powered digital phone concierge, which transforms how businesses handle customer calls. The brilliant minds behind Slang, Alex Sambvani and gabriel duncan, and the entire team are delivering impressive results. Congrats on being recognized for your hard work! 🎉

Congrats to our portfolio company Momentum.io! 🔥 🔥 🔥

You're looking for your next job. The last one didn't go so well. You gotta get this one right, and you found one. But how do you know if it's good and how do you know you can help? 🎙 On a recent episode of the Science of Scaling podcast, Mark Roberge, Co-Founder of Stage 2 Capital talks with Dini M., the founding CRO of Lattice. She saw that this company wasn't exactly growing in its infancy, but she came across Jack Altman, Sam Altman's (OpenAI) brother, who's one of the most brilliant founders she met. So she had to assess Lattice to figure out if she could grow it, and then execute a playbook so that years later it's become a $3 billion company. 👉 Listen to how she did it: https://lnkd.in/g5ks-aH5