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3 Proven Revenue Generation Activities to Grow Your Startup
Founders are stuck relying on luck or a silver bullet strategy to generate revenue. Unfortunately, the truth is that there isn’t one fantastic question at the end of a sales call that will gain you more customers. The good news is that you are likely sitting on...
Go-to-Market Strategy Stalled? Do These 3 Things
Top-performing entrepreneurs know that the path to product-market fit is paved with good business judgment. But, even so, how do you know when the market is telling you that you’re onto something and that you're ready to move forward? This is the most common question...
Flight Rules: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life in a Startup
I recently read Commander Chris Hadfield’s book, “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.” It offers a rare glimpse into an industry premised on iteration and built on decades of astonishing successes and spectacular failures…
At Early Stage, Selling SaaS Requires Flipping the Acronym
If you're in the early stages of selling a SaaS product, it's time to rethink the meaning of SaaS. In the early stages of bringing disruptive innovation to market, the acronym SaaS stands for Service as a Software (not Software as a Service). It's not your technology...
How to Avoid Wasting Time on the Wrong Sales Collateral
One of the biggest mistakes founding teams make is wasting time and energy on developing superfluous marketing and sales collateral. If you haven’t found your ideal customer profile or locked down your marketing messaging, anything you create will potentially be...
Why 3-D Revenue is the Best Revenue Model for Startups
I wish I had a virtual reality app for startup founders that offered a 3-D view of their revenue. We would put on our gear and go for an immersive deep dive to uncover which dollars were profitable, predictable and scalable - and then only scale those dollars. No such...
5 Days to Become a Cold Email Pro: Day 5
Welcome to the fifth and final day of our week-long series on creating and sending effective personalized cold emails. Today we’ll cover how to handle responses, and tips on boosting response rates. If you missed them, check out our previous posts on choosing the...
5 Days to Become a Cold Email Pro: Day 4
Welcome to the fourth day of our week-long series on creating and sending effective personalized cold emails. Today we’re going to cover campaign setup. If you missed it, check out our previous posts on choosing the right tool for your cold email campaign, defining...
5 Days to Become a Cold Email Pro: Day 3
Welcome to the third day of our week-long series on creating and sending effective personalized cold emails. Today we’re going to cover writing effective copy. If you missed it, check out our previous posts on choosing the right tool for your cold email campaign and...
5 Days to Become a Cold Email Pro: Day 2
Welcome to the second day of our week-long series on creating and sending effective personalized cold emails. Today we’ll be covering defining goals and understanding metrics. If you missed it, check out our previous post on choosing the right tool for your cold email...
5 Days to Become a Cold Email Pro: Day 1
Welcome to the first day of our week-long series on creating and sending effective personalized cold emails. It might sound contradictory, but personalized cold email campaigns are easy to do and highly effective. Throughout the week, we want to hear from you! Please...
How to Target Your Buyer (with downloadable template)
Avoid the common cold email mistake of sending emails to the wrong people! Targeting your buyer will save you time, money and increase your response and conversion rates. The answer is defining your Ideal Customer Profile. Keep reading to uncover: What an ICP is, and...
Do This to Find Product-Market Fit
Spoiler Alert: To find product-market fit, identify the person with the buying power for your solution and find out what matters to them. tl;dr Response rates are dropping. Focus on prospect quality, not quantity. Don’t confuse “scale” with “spray and pray” Make your...
The Lasting-Mover Advantage
Last·ing Mov·er Ad·van·tage (noun): a real and sustainable benefit enjoyed by an innovative company that enters a market and owns the customer use-case, the customer thoughts and actions and the customer relationship. We see a lot of founders and corporate executives...
The Art of Social Selling
(Ladders recently spoke with GrowthX on the art of social selling, why Conversation Intelligence is changing the shape of sales, and the key steps to get into the field.) What was the impetus for launching GrowthX? Seventy-percent of funded startups fail. And eight...
The Secret to Finding Product/Market Fit
(This interview was conducted by and originally published on the HowToWeb blog. Find it and other great content here.) Q1: What does a growth mindset mean to you? A growth mindset means you believe in your ability to be a learn-it-all and not a know-it-all. In the...
Top Strategies to Close End-of-Quarter Deals
(This article originally authored by Charlotte Leasia and Kathryn Aragon appeared on saleshacker.com) End of quarter… It can evoke a range of emotions. For some, EOQ (end of quarter) brings up reflection, planning, and celebrating company milestones. For those of us...
Sales Training Effectiveness
(This sales training article was written by GrowthX Corporate Partner, Steve Crepeau) How do we measure sales training effectiveness? There are a plethora of different metrics that you can track to measure sales training success from a "before" and "after" perspective...
2019 B2B Sales Predictions
(This article was written by GrowthX Corporate Partner Network member, Steve Crepeau) As I gaze into my 2019 B2B Sales crystal ball, what do I see? Well, for enlightened B2B technology sales leaders I see a tremendous opportunity to improve their selling effectiveness...
Stop Spending Bitcoins on Pizza
“Bitcoins on pizza.” That simple three-word message - Bitcoins on pizza - has become a catch phrase among GrowthX portfolio founders. I’ve been using it to quickly and delicately advise them that they may be spending their highly valuable time on relatively low or...
21 Mistakes That Could Ruin Your Sales Plan
(This post by Anna Glazunova was originally published by LiveSpace.io.) Turning a new lead into a client and signing a contract keeps many sales professionals awake at night. Everybody looks for the most effective way not only to close the deal, but also to do it...
Gil Beyda is right: It’s time to Reconsider Corporate Venture Capital!
Gil Beyda, a partner at Comcast Ventures, recently contributed this important article for TechCrunch detailing the myriad reasons why startups should consider taking capital from corporate venture capital. Sure, he’s a corporate venture capitalist, so you would expect...
Growing a Social Proof Marketing Platform to $88k/mo in Revenue
(This post was written by GrowthX Lead Growth Marketing Instructor, Ryan Kulp) Hello! What's your background, and what are you working on? Howdy! I'm Ryan Kulp, founder of Fomo. Fomo is a conversion rate optimization tool that increases website conversions by showing...
The Innovation Equation: Four Key Insights for Corporate Innovation
CBInsights recently released their State of Innovation Report based on a survey of 677 strategy leaders. It's worth downloading and digesting. Based on those findings, here are four deeper insights about corporate innovation from GrowthX Corporate, a boutique...
![[PODCAST] Investor Connect Interview with Andrew Goldner](https://growthx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/investorconnect-1400.jpg)
[PODCAST] Investor Connect Interview with Andrew Goldner
During this podcast interview by Investor Connect, Andrew and host, Hal Martin, explore a variety of important topics impacting funders and founders. Highlights include Andrew's discussion of four leading trends impacting venture capital and the imperative to create a...
GrowthX Partners with London Business School on Corporate Innovation
(This article was authored by Greg Orme, a London Business School Associate Program Director and author of 'The Spark – How to Ignite and Lead Business Creativity') Innovation hacks straight out of Silicon Valley Want your organisation to innovate better and faster?...
What It Takes to Train The Next Generation of Innovators
By Sujan Patel Co-founder, Web Profits @sujanpatel Originally published on Inc.com GrowthX discusses the critical skills for the upcoming "Innovation Economy". "How do we educate people for a future we can't predict?" It's a question that's been on my mind a lot...
Making Deals with Andrew Goldner of GrowthX, Live from 3686
GrowthX and GrowthX Academy Co-Founder, Andrew Goldner joins Eric at the 3686 Conference in Nashville to talk making deals instead of breaking deals. Andrew shares how his time as a tech attorney inspired him to become a venture capitalist, seeking to help businesses...
Why GrowthX preaches listening, authenticity and research as the pillars of successful selling
By Collin Stewart, originally published on Predictable Revenue Current sales culture, for the most part, is entirely concerned with the close. It’s an understandable focal point, of course. Closing a customer means more revenue for the company, and more revenue for...
Will Bunker, Creator of Biggest Dating Site of the 90s Reveals What He’d Build if He Were 25 Today
Meet Will Bunker, a prolific investor and maverick entrepreneur. In the 90s, he started the dating site that became Match.com. Now a Founding Partner at GrowthX, Will’s mission is to identify companies that will shape the future, accelerate their growth, and train...
A Founder’s Guide: Mapping Your First Sales Playbook
by Andrew Oddo, Early Stage Practice @Silicon Valley Bank (Originally posted on LinkedIn) Here’s where we are: things are good, your company’s product-market fit is tight, you just raised an early round of funding. Now it’s time to ramp up and hire revenue-generating...
Comcast Shares that GrowthX Ready to Build the Silicon Valley of the South
In the world of business, it’s easy for anyone to say, “If I just had more money, I could buy my way out of my problems.” Such are the fantasies of a person not ready to fully pursue innovation. Sure, they might have a great startup idea and a great pitch. But at the...
CES 2017: The Next Killer App for the Car
After a few days of digesting last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas, I’ve thought about what new user experiences I saw would have the most practical impact. With everything from new VR apps to more wearables and a robot that operates your connected...
5 Tips for Pitching to the European Market
We asked GrowthX advisor, Odile Roujo, former President of Lancôme International, about what advice she would give startups who want to pitch corporations in the European market. Here is what she shared with us: 1 - FOCUS ON HUNGRY CORPORATE CLIENTS! There are cycles...
A Beginner’s Guide to SEO Best Practices
Someone probably told you that you need to have “Good SEO.” But what the heck does that even mean? And why are you getting phone calls every other day from recording machines claiming they can get you to the top of Google? Before you spend a single penny on “SEO,”...
The Secret to Becoming an A-Player
“Ralph, what’s the secret to becoming an A-player?” Salespeople ask me this all the time. On the one hand, salespeople genuinely don’t know, but want to improve their game. On the other hand, deep down, they really do know the answer, but still don’t apply what they...
The Five Barriers To Success
One day I was working on interviews. I was trying to find several great candidates for my sales development team. People were just blowing the interview left and right. It was very frustrating to me. At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was me, or if it was the company,...
Win Any Conversation By Building Rapport and Doing Your Homework
One lesson I've learned that I've used throughout my career and in life is the importance of how you open a conversation. It’s such a simple thing, but the key is not starting out with a yes/no question. A yes/no question puts your back up against the wall. In order...
Success Potential: The Foundation of Customer Success
This article was originally posted on SaaS Growth Strategies, Lincoln Murphy's Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success Thought Leadership blog. Customer Success starts with acquiring customers that have Success Potential. Customers that have Success Potential are said...
Orchestrating Sales and Customer Success Alignment
This article was originally posted on SaaS Growth Strategies, Lincoln Murphy's Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success Thought Leadership blog. If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Customer Success yet, it’s when your customers achieve their Desired Outcome (what...
How to Start a Valuable Company Without a Technical Co-Founder – Jack Smith of Vungle
Earlier this month Vungle co-founder Jack Smith spoke at our Growth Marketing SF meetup. Founded in 2011, Vungle is the leading in-app video platform for performance marketers, with current revenue north of $100M annually. How do two hustlers get a tech startup off...
Improve Your Company by Assuming Positive Intent
How many times have you worked with colleagues at various levels of an organization who had agendas that didn’t align with what was best for the company? I’ve been in a few, I’m afraid. I’ve seen team members focused on building their own careers, enhancing their...
You Only Get Paid When Your Customers Succeed
What would you do differently if you only got paid if a customer succeeds? Over the years I’ve seen business coaches, gurus, and experts ask different versions of this question, always in the form of a thought experiment. But I’m here to tell you this isn’t a thought...
How to Pitch Your Ideas: The Pyramid Principle
It's a noisy world, and the people whose attention you're trying to grab are busy. They get a hundreds of emails, calls, and messages every day. Your job is to cut through all the noise, and make sure your message gets across as quickly and effectively as possible....
![[Inc. Magazine] How Startups Really Get Funded](https://growthx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/GX-Dogfood-Image.jpg)
[Inc. Magazine] How Startups Really Get Funded
Inc. amplifies Andrew Goldner’s message about how the age of applied technology is upon us, and changing the way startups get funded. With talent so plentiful, finding product-market fit early on is more important than ever before.
Dynamo Discussions' Katlyn Whittenburg and Santosh Sankar talk to Andrew Goldner about product-market fit and why it's important for founders to stay in their hometowns. Tune in here.
Four Free Ways to Check Your Global SEO Ranking
International SEO presents some very complex challenges for someone who does not know the language they might be targeting in an SEO campaign, so knowing precise search engine rankings becomes even more important. Here are four free ways to check your global SEO ranking.
Traction Speaks Louder Than Words
GrowthX Founding Partner, Will Bunker, shares his wisdom in this recent episode of Seed Sumo’s, Sumo Cast. Listen in on the secrets that helped Will create Match.com, his favorite growth hack, and how to get his attention if you’re pitching your startup.
![[FORBES] Silicon Valley’s New Heat Map: Investing In Middle America](https://growthx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/img_featured-nashville.jpg)
[FORBES] Silicon Valley’s New Heat Map: Investing In Middle America
Forbes puts GrowthX in the company of Steve Case and Paul Graham. We all agree that founders should not have to leave their homes to build great companies.
The #1 Mistake Founders Make When Raising Venture Capital
This talk goes beyond the typical Fundraising 101 advice and focuses on “Raising Predictable Capital.” It’s chock full of valuable information…
Open Source Rapid Research About Market Acceleration & GrowthX
As a fund-raising startup founder in the Midwest, Fred Zimmerman was interested to see the recent Forbes article about GrowthX and our focus on “Middle America.”
Don’t Bite the Hook
Depending upon our relationships, our work environment and what we choose to pay attention to, there is a seemingly endless variety of hooks that are dangled in front of us.
Inside the Minds of Corporate VCs
The past few years have seen Corporate Venture Capitalists (CVCs) play a larger role in the private markets CVCs participated in deals that deployed over $12B into startups in 2014, according to CB Insights, a number that is expected to be matched or exceeded in 2015.
Infrared5 – Live Video Streaming: Theme and Variations
Infrared5 Founder and CEO Chris Allen is one of those people who finds just about everything interesting. When he was a kid, he discovered a baritone ukulele buried in the back of his grandmother’s closet.
Yes, 2016 is the year to sell your startup…
Talk to any founder or investor who’s successfully done an acquisition and listen to how much work they put into making it happen. Over the past three months we’ve seen a marked increase in inbound demand for people…
On User Onboarding
I recently did a product huddle with one of our portfolio companies. They’re in a somewhat regulated industry and customer privacy is a chief concern shaping their product. But we’re not there yet. Because to provide this kind of experience, we need a lot of information…
We’re Not Just Investing in Your Business, We’re Investing in You
The CEO of Five Run, Fabian Oliva, came to us recently. He’s got a great product, so naturally he’s got a lot of interested investors, but also a lot of interested buyers. He wanted to continue bootstrapping, growing his company…
Cost per Lede: A Modern Marketers CPL
Getting a good “lead” remains the metric that matters the most to marketers. To a journalist, a good “lede” is a great headline that entices readers to read the full story…