On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Mada Seghete, Co-Founder at Branch. Driving growth doesn’t always mean hiring a big team and spending a lot of money. It starts with prioritizing activities that have the biggest reach and impact at the best ROI and moving towards your goal with high velocity. In this session, Mada shares the growth playbook that took Branch from 0 to $4 billion. She covers topics such as channels, demand, brand, community, team, tools, and metrics. Specifically, Mada dives into: 3:32 - The backstory of how Branch began 10:51 - Acquiring customers in the early days 14:56 - What marketing should look like on a tight budget 20:54 - Branch's three marketing pillars 25:25 - The steps for building a community early on 38:39 - How to build an international ambassador playbook 51:23 - Key traits for being/hiring ambassadors in different markets 54:23 - Tools and tips to manage multi-touch attribution 1:00:46 - Who to hire on your marketing from early stage to scale   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Mada Seghete: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madalina/ Learn more about Branch at https://branch.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

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI features a talk by Leah Solivan, General Partner at Fuel Capital and Founder of TaskRabbit from the in-person Traction Conference.   The idea for TaskRabbit came about in 2008 around the time the iPhone first launched, while Leah was living in Boston and bootstrapping the company.   In the process of bootstrapping, the entire trajectory of her journey changed. She went from being an engineer at IBM with no network or entrepreneur friends, all the way to raising her first million dollars in seed from a 15-minute meeting with Tim Ferriss.   Today, Leah shares lessons learned from her time at TaskRabbit, scaling the business from nothing to 40+ cities and acquisition by Ikea.   More specifically, Leah covers: 1:57 - The story of founding TaskRabbit: transitioning from an engineer to an entrepreneur and 5 tips to build a successful startup 2:32 - Why ideas are everywhere 6:51 - Experiencing vuja de, the opposite of déjà vu 8:02 - Why you should tell everyone about your idea 16:25 - The serendipitous network of happenings 17:41 - The importance of big, hairy, audacious goals 21:54 - A story about a big corporation with aggressive sales goals   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Leah Solivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahsolivan/   Learn more about Fuel Capital at https://www.fuelcapital.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 Waseem Daher, Founder and CEO at Pilot.com.   Fundraising is never easy, but the right preparation can make all the difference.   Waseem joins us to share the KPIs and questions that investors look at during various stages of investment.   Waseem is a three-time founder with two successful exits (Ksplice acquired by Oracle and Zulip acquired by Dropbox) and he has recently raised $100+ million from Jeff Bezos (and other notable funds) at a $1.2 billion valuation.   Today, Waseem covers: 1:42 - The backstory behind how he got started 7:35 - Metrics investors may look at during a seed round 10:35 - Determining product market fit 16:02 - What drove the decision-making that led to a $1.2 billion valuation 17:17 - The right time to start fundraising 20:13 - The average process of raising capital and getting money in the bank 23:32 - Top factors driving valuation in the market 28:31 - Most crucial items in your data room 32:37 - Top three reasons why investors decide to invest in a company 38:38 - How founders should think about dilution 43:15 - Building your executive team 45:04 - Making sure everyone is aligned with your vision and values when you're not in the room 47:21 - What the CEO should focus on when the right team is in place   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Waseem Daher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher/   Check out Waseem's substack at https://waseem.substack.com/   Learn more about Pilot at https://pilot.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 Sahir Azam, Chief Product Officer at MongoDB.   Sahir shares how MongoDB transformed from a traditional software company—sales driven, longer cycles, etc.—into more of a consumer-style self-service model.   Overseeing the growth of MongoDB’s Atlas, Sahir shares his learnings (the good, the bad, and the ugly) about building and bringing to market one of the fastest-growing cloud products of any scale (70% YoY, $400M ARR, 26K+ customers).   In this session, Sahir discusses: 7:44 - MongoDB sales-led model prior to going product-led 10:31 - What main KPIs were focused on 16:01 - Recommendations and best practices for building teams 20:07 - Tactics to make sure that cross-functional dialogue is happening regularly 26:57 - The ideal squad structure for a cross-functional team 32:46 - The product development framework at MongoDB 37:34 - Best practices for developing a go-to-market strategy for a product-led company 41:36 - Product marketing roles vs product manager roles 52:29 - What kickstarted growth for the MongoDB Atlas customer base 55:31 - Top pieces of advice that were learned the hard way 57:54 - Recommended books and resources   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Sahir Azam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahirazam/   Learn more about MongoDB at https://www.mongodb.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 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