Sarah Pettay’s Post

Starting soon! Join the conversation on how to build an early strategy for growth and expansion.

#20FirstTimeFounderLessons - Lesson No. 19 Slow Down Big Decisions, Speed Up the Rest ——— In startups pressure to make quick decisions can be overwhelming. It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that significant choices, such as funding opportunities, acquisitions, or key partnerships, must be made under tight deadlines. This mindset often stems from the fear of missing out on a golden opportunity. Yet, it's crucial to recognize that the most impactful decisions—the ones that can steer the direction of your startup—deserve careful thought and consideration. Allowing yourself the time to weigh the pros and cons, consult with mentors, and sleep on it, can lead to more thoughtful and strategic choices. On the flip side, this approach advocates for accelerating the multitude of smaller decisions that flood the daily operations of a startup. This dynamic shift in decision-making speed ensures that while you're taking your time with the few critical decisions, you're not slowing down the overall momentum of your venture. Embracing this philosophy can significantly reduce the pressure and anxiety associated with decision-making. Remember, the venture capitalists seeking to invest in your potential, the corporations considering acquisitions, or the partners eyeing collaborations, are likely to remain interested even if you take an extra week to respond. Prioritizing deliberation for monumental decisions while streamlining everyday choices can lead to more balanced and effective management of your startup.

🚀 Big SaaS Reunion started today in NYC 💛 1,000 SaaS founders with $5M-250M in revenue... ...all in the same room. Look for me in my #yellowpants. Look forward to connecting with you while you are here! 🎤 I am hosting a session at SaaSOpen → Sept 5-6, NYC I couldn’t be more thrilled to lead a roundtable on a topic that’s crucial for every SaaS founder: "What You Need to Know Before Speaking With SaaS Investors" 🗓 When: Friday, September 6th at 2:00 PM EST 📍 Where: #SaaSOpen 2024, New York City 🔗 Link to sign up to my session as a VIP in the comments below Navigating conversations with investors can be challenging, and I’m eager to share insights that can help you make the most of these pivotal moments. Whether you're a startup founder or part of a growing team, this roundtable is designed to provide actionable strategies to prepare you for investor meetings. Thank you Nathan Latka for having me at your incredible premier event to connect with fellow industry SaaS enthusiasts, learn from the best, and dive deep into the ever-evolving world of #SaaS. Looking forward to connecting with many of you there! Come and say #yello — 👋🏽 I help bold founders, funded startups, and enterprises with Innovation, AI, Agile Team Pods and Product-Market Fit (PMF). If this is you, pls follow me. ISHIR’s Innovation Acceleration is a powerful approach to uncover customer pain, learn what users love, delight them and make them raving fans of your product. This helps our bold startup founders to get their product right from the start. #StartupFounders #Startups #StartupFunding #BeBold #FundRaise #NYCStartup #Founders #Yellow Ashley Garvin Eric Soon Sean Piket Mamta Rani Renee Wilson Umesh Chandra Chetan Saxena

Highlighting your startup's early achievements is crucial before approaching investors, especially angels. Here's how it helps: Builds confidence and credibility. Early wins demonstrate progress and traction, showcasing your ability to execute your vision. Validates market interest. By showcasing early customer adoption, positive press coverage, or industry awards, you validate that your product or service resonates with a real need. Demonstrates learning and adaptability. Sharing how you overcame initial challenges or pivoted based on market feedback proves your learning agility and responsiveness. Provides tangible metrics for evaluation. Creates a compelling narrative. Weave your early achievements into a captivating story that showcases your passion, expertise, and execution power. #Startup #Achievement #Investment

I often hear about startups that skyrocket to success with a viral moment or a groundbreaking product in their first year. But what about those companies that diligently grind through their first 5 or 7 years before hitting that "overnight" success moment 🤔 These companies might not have the immediate "wow" factor, but they often build something equally, if not more, substantial over time. The question is, how do we gauge their potential in these early, less flashy years? 🔍 What early metric do you consider a reliable indicator of a startup's long-term success? Is it the gradual growth in customer base? Customer return rate. The tenacity and adaptability of the team? Or something more intangible like brand value or market engagement? Let's discuss! I'm curious to hear your thoughts and experiences on recognizing the unsung heroes of the startup world. 💡 #startups #GrowthMetrics #investors

I still have more insights to share from SoCal Startup Day, but today I want to talk about Pavilion's ELEVATE:GTM event yesterday. Specifically, the throughline (thesis? theme? main topic?) of yesterday's event: The mantra for startups used to be grow at all costs. Now it's grow efficiently. If you're a founder who received significant VC investment over the past few years*, you've likely heard and felt this shift. 😀 ELEVATE:GTM gave a lot of practical advice and detailed frameworks that you could implement to optimize every aspect of your GTM motion. They shared exceptional best practices for customer acquisition and retention that will provide serious returns to startups that can afford to implement them. 😞 Unfortunately, implementing them will require significant investments of time, money or both. Resources an early to growth stage (or bootstrapped!) startup doesn't have in excess to spend. ❗ Startups with limited resources need smaller scope solutions for growing revenue efficiently that can be executed economically. One thing you can do quickly with limited resources to substantially improve your revenue growth efficiency is: 💡 Get clarity and alignment on your ideal customer, the problem you solve for them and how you solve it better than your competitors.💡 When we did this at Bluebeam: ⬇ Customer acquisition costs dropped as we focused our marketing spend and sales team time on prospects that were quicker and easier to sell on the value of our solution ⬆ Average sales price increased as target prospects saw more value in solving the problem and our solution to it ⬆ Win-rates increased faster than headcount as prospects were given more compelling reasons to choose us over the competing alternatives, including the status quo and doing nothing ➡ Not to mention all the benefits the product, engineering and services teams experienced when they could focus their efforts on a niche. So if you want to quickly improve revenue growth efficiency, get clarity and alignment on the following things: 1️⃣ Your ideal customer 2️⃣ The problem you solve for them 3️⃣ How you solve it better than your competitors 🤔 Not sure how to start? Contact me at meredith@amplified-edge.com for a complimentary consultation. *I know that those of you who bootstrapped your startup likely haven't operated under the concept of grow at all costs. However, the tip above still applies to you. #startups #founders #productmarketing #gtmstrategy #efficiency #revenuegrowth Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash

I know I have been posting about my larger angels as of recent, but wanted to also talk about how powerful some of my smaller check angels have also been. These angles have continued to be some of the most influential on my captable. They have made intros to other angles, vouched for our technology, and referred us to countless customers. They are the ones that are testing and iterating our product every single day. Every morning, I’m not kidding, I receive emails from them sending the product out to their networks. Reading their words shows me that they have the same excitement for the product as Team AfterWork does - and nothing beats the feeling of someone else loving your baby as much as you do! My advice to founders that are reluctant to take smaller checks, DO IT - you won’t regret it. The smaller check angels are going to be cheering you on and act as a sounding board. They are always willing to go the extra - EXTRA mile. And our smaller angles all come from different industries! Including tech (engineers, VCs, founders, managers, customer success), to real estate, energy, non-profit, healthcare, and more. In fact 15% of our angles had never invested in a startup before, but love the technology and see it scaling globally. So again my advice to other founders, if someone can't write you the check you are looking for but can contribute in other ways - take it. You need more than just money to build your company to a billion dollar success. #angelinvestors #angelinvesting #angels #smallangels #smallchecks #angelinvestor #angelinvestment #startups #founders #eventtech #events #eventtechnology #happyhours #networkingevents #teamretreats

🌟🚀 Exciting News: Unveiling Our Newest Services & Reflecting on Pikkup’s Success! 🌟🚀 Looking back at the incredible journey of developing Pikkup, I realized I hadn't shared the full scope of what it took to bring this vision to life: 🚀 Team of 7 brilliant minds 🕒 2 months of development dedication 🛠️ Another 2 months ensuring flawless support 🌍 Connecting over 300+ service providers 🔥 With a 6-year track record in guiding startups through their development phases, it's clear that success demands more than hard work—it requires relentless focus and unwavering commitment. 🌟 We're thrilled to introduce #StartupControl and #StartupAudit. Designed to empower startups and investors alike, these platforms aim to enhance project outcomes and safeguard investments from common industry pitfalls. 💼 Utilizing our extensive experience, we're committed to helping startups not only launch but also achieve long-term success. We ensure that investments yield tangible, impactful results. 🎯 Join us on this mission to transform potential into achievement. Let's make sure the future of innovation is not only promising but also profitable. 🔗 Want to see how we can elevate your startup or enhance your investment strategy? Let’s chat! Drop a message or comment below! 👇 #TechInnovation #StartupGrowth #InvestmentSuccess #EntrepreneurialSpirit #BusinessStrategy

🚀 Understanding the Fundraising Journey: A Guide for Founders 🌱💰 Hey fellow entrepreneurs! 👋 Let's dive into the thrilling world of fundraising stages that founders often embark upon to fuel their startup dreams. 🚀💡 1️⃣ Pre-Seed 🌱: Planting the Idea At this stage, founders use personal savings, friends, and family to nurture the seed of their groundbreaking idea. It's all about proving concept viability. 2️⃣ Seed 💰: Sprouting Potential With a viable concept, founders seek external investors. Seed funding helps in product development, market research, and establishing a stronger foundation. 3️⃣ Post-Seed 🚀: Cultivating Growth Post-seed comes after initial traction. Here, founders focus on scaling operations, expanding the team, and fine-tuning the product for a broader market. 4️⃣ Series A 🌐: Growing the Garden Achieving significant milestones, Series A funding supports market expansion, customer acquisition, and further development. It's a crucial phase to propel the startup into a prominent player. 5️⃣ Series B 📈: Branching Out Series B is about accelerating growth. It helps in diversifying product lines, entering new markets, and strengthening the company's position in the industry. 6️⃣ Series C 🚀: Scaling New Heights At this stage, companies aim for international expansion, strategic acquisitions, and optimizing operations for sustained growth. 7️⃣ Series D-G 🌍: Reaching for the Stars If needed, subsequent series support scaling on a global level, potential mergers, acquisitions, and fortifying the company's competitive edge. 8️⃣ Initial Public Offering (IPO) 📈🚀: Going Public The grand finale! Going public through an IPO enables founders to raise massive capital from the public markets, turning the startup into a publicly traded company. Every stage is a unique chapter in the entrepreneurial journey. From nurturing an idea to becoming a public entity, the fundraising process is a thrilling ride filled with challenges and triumphs. 💪🌐 #StartupLife #FundraisingJourney #Entrepreneurship #TechInnovation #IPOReady 🚀💼

As we noticed, in 2021, a notable phenomenon emerged in the startup world: many founders raised significant capital 💰 based solely on their storytelling prowess 💭, without having executed their ideas on the ground ⚒. Now, we can see that many of those founders who successfully raised large rounds back then are struggling to maintain their businesses or have already closed operations ❌. 🤔 What can we learn from this? Storytelling 💭 has always been a powerful tool for founders to communicate their vision and attract investors. The ability to craft compelling narratives 🌈 that paint a picture of future success can lead to sizable investments from eager backers. However, without a solid foundation of execution and real-world validation, these narratives often proved to be more fiction than fact❗❗❗ Personally, as an investor, I always emphasize to founders that execution is the most critical aspect of building a company. Founders who demonstrate strong execution are always a green flag ✅ for me. It's always better to validate your idea, build a strong product, and focus on delivering value to your customers, rather than crafting a beautiful story. ‼Remember‼ a great story can enhance your company's appeal, but it's the execution that will determine its success. #venturecapital #startups #startupecosystem #southeastasia #investments