Assembled’s Post

Wow, today was truly inspirational! You always get nervous when you let someone know that you're going down a different path. Like when I talked with JB Daguené ✊🇺🇦 today about the next venture I was taking on. For most people, you dread that chat and undergo this mix of feelings of fear, uncertainty, some excitement, and especially if your tenure was short, expectations that you'll cause a rift. But this is why Evergrowth is an amazing company. Even in my short tenure, we pivoted from professional services into a productized software solutions offering. Full SaaS, all gas, with everyone at the org taking no prisoners on executing large projects swiftly. The culture prioritizes results, the CEO is the best salesperson at the org, everyone agrees on customer centric alignment, engineering/prod obliterate priorities, operations keeps everything humming, no one lets ego get in the way and this is one of the lowest friction orgs I've seen when it comes to everyone wearing multiple hats. So speaking with some of the executive team today, Aivaras Rastenis and Apolinaras Sinkevicius, it was bittersweet. I'll genuinely miss my team here. The conversations weren't abrupt or disappointing. Instead, after explaining my new direction I was given amazing support, understanding, and a reminder of what I managed to achieve during my time here. * We condensed several other solutions and processes into a rapid deployment of a unifying toolset with the entire org. Full pivot/adoption in less than 30 days. * Built/launched a huge portion of the platform via viable MVP in a low code solution cutting down an estimated 80% of prior overlap. * Kicked off outbound into the US from a company with a single digit original founding team that started in Lithuania. It's been a crazy ride, and I look forward to Evergrowth changing the face of sales. Certainly expecting announcements of some incredibly large tier 1 major logos in the relatively close future (seriously at this size of company, this is insane). I'll be winding down the week, and will post a new update on what I'm doing next soon. Between those milestones, I'm looking forward to at least several days of some fun in the sun, drink in hand, laughing with people I love. It's never bye in this very small high growth, early stage pond. Until next time! 🤙 #sales #marketing #growth #saas #linkedin #revops

From Startup to Scaleup: The Role of Staffing in Business Growth" Share insights and strategies for scaling a home service business from a startup phase, emphasizing the role of strategic hiring decisions. Get insight here: https://lnkd.in/gYNDz5t2 #scalingup #business

🤝 Discover why strategic hiring is key to unlocking growth in #ConTech businesses. This article, written for #DCW by Beaumont Bailey 's Lucy Wright, explores the critical role of hiring practices in scaling up operations effectively. It explores the unique challenges faced by ConTech companies in recruiting and retaining skilled professionals, offering valuable insights into building successful hiring strategies tailored to long-term business goals. ⬇️ https://buff.ly/4aty8vR #ContructionIndustry #DigitalConstruction #BuiltEnvironment #StrategicHiring #BusinessGrowth #DigitalConstruction

🚀 Dive deep into the critical strategies for hiring in both startup and scaleup businesses. Watch the recording of last week's insightful presentation where Russell White, Director of Future Work, explores the unique challenges and best practices associated with hiring at each stage of business growth. 🎥 Watch now: https://lnkd.in/eir-udHS

Most “gurus” have it completely wrong. The earliest version of Ops consists of just these two things: 1. Process 2. Systems That’s it. That’s ops for early-stage startups. Sure, it'll grow into owning more and more over time – ops will own enablement one day, for example. But as a Seed or Series A company, your resources are limited. That's why stuff like training, enablement, and sales forecasting have to be done by the leadership team for the time being. You can't tack these things onto operations just yet, unless you have the budget to hire a full team (think $750k+ per year). This is going to be life until your run rate hits $5m-$10m. I joined the sales leadership teams at PandaDoc and Dropbox DocSend long before we had a proper operations org, and it fell to me to make sure reps knew their jobs. And if you're not up for something like that? Go work for a 1,000+ person company. Seriously. If all you want to do is run deals, manage people, and be a “pure” sales leader, go somewhere you can be a cog in a well-run machine. In early-stage land, you need to be comfortable wearing MANY different hats. Because everything you decide to outsource at this stage poses a huge risk to your organization.  So don’t listen to all the “gurus” who overcomplicate ops. For now, just focus on process and systems.  That’s it. #saas #revops #sales #marketing #operations

Just met what we will call a "founding go to market leader" at a startup we will be investing in (announcement coming soon). She is EXACTLY what founders should be looking for in early hires. Especially in GTM functions like sales, marketing and customer success. YES, she is doing them all! It's not scalable, but it's absolutely what's needed early. These are the words she used, frequently in a 1/2 hour call. 1. Chase the challenge 2. Figure it out 3. Curiosity Everything she did was focused on 1 thing. Talking to customers... even when they didn't have any! How does that work? Relationship building, plain and simple. There is no playbook for this type of thing. Incredible. #cheatcode

I wish someone told me this when I first started out. The biggest difference between going from $0 to $1M and $1M to $10M: When you're just starting out, it's all about hustle and grit: • You're constantly networking, pitching, and closing deals • Every new customer feels like a huge win • You're personally involved in every aspect of the business But as you hit that $1M milestone, the game changes. Suddenly, you need to focus on building systems and processes to support sustainable growth. It's no longer about enduring the grind, but rather creating a well-oiled machine. This is where many founders struggle, myself included. I love the thrill of landing those first few big accounts and seeing the business take off. But I've had to learn to step back and let others take the reins as we've scaled. That means hiring the right executives, delegating responsibilities, and trusting the team. It also requires a shift in mindset from short-term tactics to long-term strategy. Instead of just trying to hit this month's numbers, you need to be thinking years ahead. • What new markets can we expand into? • How can we optimize our sales funnel and customer lifecycle?  • What strategic partnerships or acquisitions could fuel our growth? These are the questions that keep me up at night as we push towards that $10M goal. The journey from $1M to $10M is less about raw hustle and more about smart scaling. It requires a different set of skills and a willingness to let go of what got you to $1M. But if you can make that leap, the rewards are incredible. You go from being a scrappy startup to a serious player in your industry. And that's when the real fun begins.

🚀 Dive deep into the critical strategies for hiring in both startup and scaleup businesses. Watch the recording of last week's insightful presentation where Russell White, Director of Future Work, explores the unique challenges and best practices associated with hiring at each stage of business growth. 🎥 Watch now: https://lnkd.in/e-WhbBBN

Have you been in a company when it was acquired? How did you navigate the changes? During a long-term consulting role at a successful cyber-security startup, I experienced the impact of an acquisition firsthand. The pre-acquisition team thrived in a creative, scrappy environment. Post-acquisition, the new company brought in experienced professionals, many former Dropbox staff (they were so intimidating to us!), with established systems and structures, causing a shift in culture. Despite challenges, the integration was ultimately successful due to the following 3 strategies: 1. Transparent leadership: The new CEO held regular town hall meetings that transitioned to weekly stand-ups, fostering open communication, authenticity, and alignment between the new and existing team members. 2. Focusing on proven strategies: The new company prioritized initiatives with a successful track record, eliminating experimental approaches without a proven ROI. I was managing many of the experiments, some of which (under the old CEO’s direction) were really fun and wacky! This was tough but it was absolutely the right thing to do. 3. Promptly addressing cultural friction: The new company quickly identified and let go of toxic individuals intent on hindering the development of a healthy new team culture. It only takes a few. Get them out quickly! By implementing these strategies, the new company effectively navigated the post-acquisition landscape, ultimately creating a successful and harmonious integration of the two organizations. They were acquired again a year later, the new company with a >$1B valuation. I think they did well. What was your acquisition experience like? Is there anything you would have done differently?

I had front row seats to this, "Appen, considered an analyst favorite in Australia due to its high-profile customer base, lost 97% of its share value between 2021 and 2023." - Reuters. In November 2021 I was recruited by Appen to lead the enterprise team's global demand generation team, then was impacted by layoffs in May 2023. During my interviews I knew we were facing headwinds and I was up for the challenge, but I had no idea that we were also standing in quicksand, how could I? Despite these challenges, while fighting hurricane-like conditions and working alongside strong leaders in our business unit, our business unit's revenue team increased pipeline by 64% YoY. With front row seats to the downfall of one of the world's largest #ai training providers, here are a few of my key learnings. - Using insight from the team, the go-to-market strategy should be set by executive leaders. All #GTM ambiguity surrounding what products/services and verticals to prioritize will be eliminated when leaders and teams are aligned and bought-in on a singular revenue vision. - #Revenue generation reporting by channel requires nomenclature and channel definitions that is agreed upon by #sales, #marketing, and executive stakeholders. A GTM committee should be formed to govern these policies and solve revenue attribution disagreements. - All major sales and marketing motions should be measured using revenue as the main KPI, and #pipeline as the secondary KPI. The entire revenue team should be in alignment with this and optimize GTM programs with these KPIs. - Customer #retention is key to success. If churn rates are high and NPS scores are low, address these issues before tasking teams to hit aggressive revenue goals and investing in significant customer acquisition programs . - Trust is the foundation of a culture that is ready to accelerate revenue. If teams (and people) can't trust one another how can they successfully go-to-market together? - Don't forget to have fun and live your best life, no mater what's happening in the business. Layoffs are not the end of your career and sometimes a sinking ship can't be saved. #Failure #B2B #OpenToWork