Laura Schaffer (Amplitude) Dissects Cameo's Rise and Fall; Plus New Benchmarks for Companies in 2024
Nov 21, 2023
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Laura Schaffer, VP of Growth at Amplitude, joins Brian Balfour and Casey Winters to discuss the rise and fall of Cameo. They analyze its violations of marketplace patterns, misattribution of growth, and challenges during the pandemic. They also explore the challenges of layering self-serve into sales-led, personalization in customer experiences, and convergence of public and private company metrics.
Identifying multiple growth drivers is crucial for sustainable growth
Understanding recurring behavior and investing in long-term growth strategies
Leveraging key moments to align marketing and sales efforts for better lead engagement
Deep dives
The challenges of growth and making the right investments
In this podcast episode, Brian Bell and guest co-host Casey Winters discuss the importance of accurately identifying growth opportunities and making the right investments. They emphasize the need to focus on multiple factors rather than relying on a single driver of growth. They also highlight the need to be cautious when scaling during temporary boosts in demand, as these can lead to unsustainable growth. The rise and fall of the marketplace Cameo is used as an example to illustrate the challenges faced by companies in maintaining sustainable growth.
The importance of understanding recurring behavior
The hosts delve into the issue of recurring behavior in SaaS companies and the impact it has on growth. They discuss the OpenView SaaS Benchmark Report, which shows a drop in top-line growth, median gross retention, and payback period across the board. This challenges the notion that cutting costs and getting leaner automatically leads to more efficient growth. They highlight the importance of understanding the drivers of recurring behavior and investing in strategies that can drive sustainable growth in the long term.
The limitations and challenges of lead scoring
Laura Schafer discusses the limitations of lead scoring as a tool for identifying qualified leads for sales teams. She highlights the lack of trust between marketing and sales and the difficulty of accurately predicting customer readiness for engagement. Instead, she suggests focusing on identifying key moments or power signals that indicate customer readiness to engage with sales. By operationalizing and leveraging these moments, companies can better align marketing and sales efforts and focus on the most promising opportunities.
Efficiency challenges and the need for strategic cuts
The hosts discuss the broader challenge of achieving growth efficiency in SaaS companies. They highlight the need for companies to make strategic cuts and reevaluate their investments. They caution against over-reliance on benchmarks and emphasize the importance of understanding the specific dynamics of each company. The discussion touches on the balance between profitability and growth, as well as the need to avoid becoming a 'zombie' company by over-cutting and missing out on growth opportunities.
The importance of understanding the long-term benefits of Product-Led Growth (PLG)
Product-Led Growth (PLG) initiatives may not yield immediate cost reductions or efficiency improvements in the short term but can be capital efficient in the long term. Implementing self-serving PLG requires significant design work, including re-instrumenting the product, onboarding flows, and features. The changes take time to implement, and their impact on metrics like onboarding and retention are lagging. Companies should view PLG as a part of a holistic strategy and not rely on it as a silver bullet for immediate return on investment.
The importance of prioritizing simplicity and efficiency in personalization and AI initiatives
Companies often over-rotate on complex personalization strategies, investing in deep data systems without considering the efficiency and returns. It is crucial to start simple and leverage basic segmentation questions to gather relevant information from users. Asking simple questions like what they want to build or their preferred coding language can drive conversions and provide valuable insights. Companies should focus on building relevant and efficient support systems using AI to meet changing user expectations. While AI-driven features can be monetized in the short term, companies must also plan for long-term sustainability and avoid over-reliance on AI as a growth lever.
Laura Schaffer Dissects Cameo's Rise and Fall; Plus New Benchmarks for Companies in 2024
This week, Brian Balfour and Casey Winters are joined by Laura Schaffer, the VP of Growth at Amplitude. Laura is bringing the heat as we unpack the rise and fall of Cameo and discuss what the latest SaaS benchmarks mean for companies braving the challenging waters ahead in 2024.
Our discussion about Cameo begins at 4:30, and the conversation of the Openview VC Benchmarks starts at 39:14.
