Traction

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Mar Hershenson, Managing Partner at Pear VC.   There is a lot of confusion among founders as to the right approach to raising a series A because each industry, whether it’s e-commerce, consumer, SaaS, or marketplace, has a different set of rules and tactics.   In this session, Mar Hershenson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Pear VC gives us a masterclass on clinching your Series A.   Today, Mar covers the following topics:   2:08 - The backstory behind her venture into VC 5:55 - Where to find early-stage money 10:29 - How valuations have changed 14:30 - What matters most when fundraising 16:47 - What is a typical pre-seed round 19:53 - Where you have to be to raise seed 23:36 - The data that VCs actually measure 30:18 - What you have to show investors to get to series A 35:00 - Where you have to be to raise series A 40:02 - Why you should focus on the engine, not on the growth 45:28 - How much on average investors take ownership at each stage 52:52 - Recommendations for contacting investors 55:43 - The ideal company for Pear VC   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Mar Hershenson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mar-hershenson-b21395/   Learn more about Pear VC at https://www.pear.vc/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI features a talk on Product Positioning by April Dunford, Founder of Ambient Strategy and Author of Obviously Awesome from Traction Conference 2019.    Positioning has an impact across all key product decisions, from roadmap to pricing. Buyers need context to understand new innovative offerings. Businesses that figure out how to set that context have a distinct advantage over those that don't.   April provides a methodology for picking the right positioning strategy and shares examples from companies that repositioned their products or companies to unlock hyper-growth.   More specifically, April covers:   0:44 - One of the most misunderstood concepts in product marketing 3:47 - Why positioning is still important 7:02 - The effects of positioning your product in a certain market category 12:09 - The biggest problem around positioning and how to fix it 20:03 - Competitive comparables 26:21 - A small change in branding that made a big difference   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with April Dunford: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/ Get April’s book Obviously Awesome at  https://www.aprildunford.com/obviously-awesome   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at  https://contentallies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI features a fireside between Ryan Smith, Founder and Executive Chairman at Qualtrics, and Jason Lemkin, Founder at SaaStr from the in-person Traction Conf in San Francisco.   Ryan shares his journey from a bootstrapped startup to a multi-billion dollar company and the challenges and learnings along the way.   In this session, Ryan and Jason discuss:   1:01 - The Qualtrics founding story 7:14 - Stress of managing cashflow in the early days when the company was bootstrapped 9:35 - Zen learnings on capital efficiency 11:21 - How competition has changed and impacted growth 15:59 - The viral coefficient in B2B SaaS 26:25 - Challenging yourself to ask for higher prices when selling your product 34:29 - Learnings from hiring execs for a startup outside Silicon Valley   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Ryan Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-smith-3417901/   Learn more about Qualtrics at https://www.qualtrics.com   Connect with Jason Lemkin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin/   Learn more about SaaStr at https://www.saastr.com/   This episode is brought to you by: Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Mark Achler, Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners, and Mert Iseri, Entrepreneur in Residence at MATH Venture Partners.   A successful exit is a dream for many founders, but it often seems like a black box or a game of chance. So how do you bake an exit strategy into your business from day one, whether it’s an acquisition/selling your startup, a merger, an IPO, or something else?   In this session, Mark and Mert share how to position your startup for a successful acquisition based on learnings from interviewing more than 70 seasoned entrepreneurs with multiple exits to produce the book Exit Right.   Specifically, Mark and Mert dive into:   2:00 - How the Exit Right book came about 7:45 - Common learnings from across 70 exits 19:01 - The framework for a successful exit 23:51 - How to build relationships and approach potential acquirers early on 34:09 - Determining when it's the right time to sell 39:12 - How to determine valuation 48:50 - Things to look for in a term sheet 58:46 - The ideal timeframe for an acquisition to close 1:04:06 - The right and wrong time to engage a banker 1:10:37 - Tactics when scouting for other buyers and striking up a conversation 1:13:05 - Tips for maintaining your sanity   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Get the Exit Right book: https://www.amazon.com/Exit-Right-Startup-Maximize-Return/dp/1544525990   Connect with Mark Achler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markachler/   Connect with Mert Iseri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merthiseri   Learn more about MATH Venture Partners at https://www.mathventurepartners.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI and Brian Ascher, Partner at Venrock dive into the top themes driving startup funding and how founders should think about raising capital in this market.   Brian has had a successful career investing across unicorns, exits, and IPOs and has been named to the Forbes Midas List multiple times.   Specifically, Brian dives into:   5:04 - What Brian looks for in founders when he invests 14:40 - What's driving decision making in VC today, particularly at the Seed and Series A stages 18:25 - How founders should think about fundraising in this market 25:38 - How much money founders should raise at Pre-Seed and Series A 36:48 - How much equity should you give up at each stage 46:00 - Tips for founders to navigate the fundraising process 54:09 - Managing board and investor relationships and ongoing communications 1:10:26 - Brian's book recommendations   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Brian Ascher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianascher/   Learn more about Venrock at https://www.venrock.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Vishal Sunak, Co-Founder and CEO at LinkSquares.   LinkSquares has grown 1,000% in two years, with 400+ brands including Fitbit and Twilio as customers. The company was recently placed No. 253 on the annual Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.   Fresh off their $100M Series C funding at an $800M valuation, Vishal joins us to share the founders’ perspective of scaling a company to $10M ARR in 2 years and dives into all the challenges, lessons, triumphs, and failures that come along with the journey.   Session highlights include: 1:54 - Coming up with the idea 9:00 - How LinkSquares acquired their first customers 16:17 - Raising the first external capital and signals of product market fit 25:07 - Key framework to scale from $1 million to $10 million ARR 29:24 - Navigating through the hiring and recruiting process in 2022 35:30 - Tips to evangelize people to join your company 46:44 - Handling missing functionality in the early days 51:38 - How founders should think about when to add a second product 58:16 - Key metrics that founders should watch like a hawk 1:05:30 - How to drive FOMO when fundraising 1:13:38 - Navigating the toughest points in the startup journey 1:20:05 - Unconventional advice founders ignore, but shouldn't   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Vishal Sunak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalsunak/   Learn more about LinkSquares at https://linksquares.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI features a fireside chat between Harj Taggar, Partner at Y Combinator, and Alda Leu Dennis, General Partner at Initialized Capital from the in-person Traction Conference.   Previously, Harj was a Co-founder and CEO at Triplebyte and Co-founder and President at Auctomatic. Harj was also the first seed investor in a number of unicorns including Instacart, Coinbase, Rippling, and Opendoor.   In this episode, Harj dives into:   1:26 - How he became the first partner at Y Combinator  7:36 - The #1 mistake when starting up 11:29 - The most common mistakes post launch and post product-market fit 15:47 - The balancing act of hiring too fast vs. too slow 17:00 - How CEOs need to transform on their journey to building a unicorn company 20:00 - The key factor that helps early stage companies raise money   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Harj Taggar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harjtaggar/   Learn more about Y Combinator at https://www.ycombinator.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com  

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Karen Peacock, CEO at Intercom which helps more than 25,000 companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and Shopify to engage and support their customers and prospects. Intercom has been named one of the top 100 private cloud companies globally by Forbes for five years in a row.   Before joining Intercom, Karen served as the Senior Vice President of Small Business at Intuit, where she helped build one of the world’s largest SaaS product lines and grew it to $2.5B in revenue.   On this episode, Karen shares her top five lessons learned in building and scaling businesses from $1M to $500M in recurring revenue.    Specifically, Karen covers:   1:17 - Expanding your market for your next wave of growth 4:16 - What you should do if you receive a big check 7:31 - Building your next big product 10:05 - The most important question you can ask yourself 12:36 - Finding product market fit again and again 15:08 - Figuring out your platform play 17:38 - Building out your team and how to apply lean startup principles to hiring   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Karen Peacock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenpeacock/   Learn more about Intercom at  https://www.intercom.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Gokul Rajaram, CxO at DoorDash, Board member at Coinbase and Pinterest, and an angel investor in over 100 companies with more than 40 exits and unicorns.   With massive shifts and uncertainty in the markets right now, the default for most companies is to work on a defensive plan to get through it all. Whilst defensive strategies might help a company survive, thriving is a different matter.   To exit this current climate in a stronger, more competitive position, and to be a market leader, you need to play offense.    In this session, Gokul covers:   3:13 - The habit of paying it forward 8:14 - What's happening in VC right now 14:51 - What good growth rate looks like 19:07 - Good offensive strategies 25:26 - Where to double down on investments and where to pull back 37:57 - Top metrics driving board conversations 42:23 - A CEO's most important operational responsibility in these times 49:29 - Key drivers of company culture 55:00 - How to know when a startup can become a billion-dollar business   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Gokul Rajaram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Byron Deeter, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.   With massive shifts and uncertainty in the markets right now, founders, CEOs, CFOs, and board members alike want to know what the new rules are to play by.   In this episode join Byron for a deep dive on what's going on in Venture Capital and how you can build a cloud unicorn in the current climate.   Byron started as a SaaS CEO and has invested in probably more SaaS IPOs and unicorns than any other VC, from Twilio to Canva, DocuSign, HashiCorp, Box, Intercom, and dozens more. Few have been doing this better, for longer, than Byron.   In this session, Byron covers:   4:29 - What's happening in VC right now 7:29 - Public and private market analysis 13:08 - What's driving decision making and advice in VC at seed and series A vs growth rounds 25:38 - Which metrics boards and investors are watching right now 30:18 - What the best companies are focusing on to drive sustained growth to $100 million 44:34 - When is the right time to build a second product, and when should you become a platform company 51:57 - Where founders should be investing and where they should be pulling back 1:01:37 - Byron's top resources    Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Byron Deeter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/byrondeeter/   Get more resources from Bessemer Venture Partners at https://www.bvp.com/cloud   Accelerate revenue through Cloud Marketplaces with https://tackle.io    This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com