Ascensus’ Post

My takeaways from what's worked for Adam to grow his bootstrapped business at ~20Mn ARR stage Strategically Re-allocate capital from outbound sales into marketing Tactically 1. There is an arbitrage opportunity today in creating Founder brand content on Linkedin 2. Deeper investments in high quality content and events 4. Email still works, but more as a brand communication channel than for lead-gen Any other such learnings on how GTM is changing? Original post here https://lnkd.in/grwKyK26 p.s - One thing missing in his analysis maybe the most simple thing - demand has reduced

It's interesting (and somewhat dispiriting) to see many in our industry celebrate the news that Solo Stove is changing CEOs because of disappointing Q4 results, as proof that the Snoop Dogg stunt/campaign didn't work in driving incremental sales. To be fair, this is how the company is positioning it, from their interim CFO: “Our fourth quarter results came in below expectations as we experienced softer-than-anticipated sales in our direct channel. While our unique marketing campaigns raised brand awareness of Solo Stove to an expanded and new audience of consumers, it did not lead to the sales lift that we had planned, which, combined with the increased marketing investments, negatively impacted our EBITDA. We believe there is a significant opportunity for us to build awareness and that these new campaigns will expand our reach and benefit our brands over the long term.” Only the folks at Solo will know the truth, but the Snoop campaign undoubtedly generated awareness and interest, as you can see from Google trends, a 25 point increase in searches for "Solo Stove" in the US in the image below. Is not converting this into incremental sales the campaign failing or is it on other parts of the business and Marketing mix? Impossible to say from the outside but changing CEOs because of one campaign seems implausible or very short sighted.

Another week has flown by at the speed of light. When you're as engaged and invested as we are at Lob.com, you blink, and suddenly it's Friday again. This week I've had the opportunity to connect with some incredibly innovative minds. Each conversation, a fresh reminder of the power of strategic relationships in driving growth. Throughout the week, I've witnessed how marrying paper and pixels, propelled by data, can create some truly powerful narratives. Each piece of mail a short story, each pixel a plot twist that keeps the readers on the edge of their seats. In the midst of it all, I've experienced the transformational power of neurocomplexity. It's like a secret weapon, bringing clarity to the most convoluted challenges. As we tie a bow on this week and look ahead, I can't help but feel a surge of excitement. The future of direct mail and digital marketing is brighter than ever, and I can't wait to see what it brings. Here's to another week of growth, innovation, and uncharted territory. But first - The Weekend!!!!

⏳Sneak peek of our conversation with Harry Hothi - who is a Product Marketing Lead at Wealthsimple! Stay tuned for the full episode which comes out next week!

Who's going to SaaSOpen in Austin? I'll be on stage speaking about the growth of Pavilion. Lots of learnings that can be applied to any SaaS business including doing unscalable things early, what it means to be customer obsessed, leveraging the power of a top down social media strategy to drive organic growth, and GTM execution. See you there 🤠

Big party on Friday - well, if you like watching a bunch of marketing-focused CXOs argue about WTF is wrong with #CMO tenure and why it's getting shorter by the day. One of my favorite people, Joe Chernov, has the misfortune of moderating this mess. It'll take place in the Hard Skill Exchange community - link in the comments. I'll be "debating" some amazing people: Haje Kamps, Founder & Pitch Coach, Reporter, TechCrunch Domenic Colasante, CEO, 2X Patrick Maes,, Founder, Disruptive Selling Beth Bauer, Founder & CEO, PosiROI, LLC  Brandee Sanders⚡️, Award-Winning CMO/CRO Erik Charles, VP Marketing, DispatchTrack  Allison J. Snow, Managing Director & Founder, Salacia Go-To-Market Advisory Mark Stouse, Chairman and CEO, ProofAnalytics.ai  Anastasia Pavlova, Founder & CMO, Bold GTM I do NOT envy Joe his herding cats in this one, since we have no shortage of strong opinions! #CXOgames #breakoutofyoursilo #marketing #sales #gtm #b2b #innovation

Great livestream with Abhishek Iyer today as we discussed what's new with Birdeye and some of the current AI trends. Check it out!

Super article from Gabe Miller-Smith via Bessemer Venture Partners in their GTM Series, highlighting why CS is a team sport. As a CS leader, it's essential to build a strong cross-department team that routinely reviews customer health and you all view churn prevention as a team sport. If you're looking to fine-tune your GTM strategy, I recommend signing up for the Bessemer Venture Partners email series (link below) 💪; I've learned a lot from it.

At Popcorn our number one goal is revenue growth and last year we were able to triple our monthly revenue. 💥🔥🔥🔥 Tripling our revenue wasn't luck. It was a calculated transformation of our sales process. We looked at the business from every angle. This article will detail the five pivotal steps we took to grow our revenue. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/evvxSTRR