So begins another year complete with a fresh – and likely higher – revenue expectation from your board and yourself! While there may be a few reasons you’ve already identified by reflecting upon the previous year’s performance, if your sales team treats your customer like a compiler that needs debugging, you’re not selling – you’re […]
Content Strategy, Demand Generation, Execution, GTM Strategy, Positioning, Presentations, Sales
How to Stop Your Roadmap from Getting You Ghosted
29
Dec
Dec
Done well, your product roadmap can convince enterprise customers your product is not only worth the investment now, but one they won’t outgrow in the future. Be warned though, if compelling outcomes are years away, you’ll delay sales rather than accelerate them. You poured your heart and sole into a gorgeous product roadmap – color-coded […]
Demand Generation, Execution, Go-to-Market Strategy, GTM Strategy, Lead Generation
Demand on a Dime – How Smart Founders Cheat Their Way to Traction
22
Dec
Dec
Founders, ready for some holiday cheer?? The “shortcut” you’re chasing isn’t a shortcut – it’s discipline with fire under your feet. There are no viral hacks that magically carry you across the chasm from idea to adoption to commercialization. In fact, thinking back on my personal shortcut quest over the years reveals the only thing […]
Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Go-to-Market Strategy, Positioning, Sales
Sorry, Your Innovative Product Isn’t “Scary” Enough to Change Behavior
15
Dec
Dec
If you think you’re selling innovation, you’re already two steps behind reality. Despite what your gut or your PR agency might be telling you, here’s the painful truth about technical audiences: engineers don’t buy innovation – they avoid risk. They tackle problems. They solve critical issues. They only change what they absolutely must because failure […]
Go-to-Market Strategy, Lead Generation, Marketing Strategy, Positioning
Proof Over Hype – How to Make Engineers Actually Listen
18
Aug
Aug
You’re a founder of a cutting-edge tech startup. Your product wields science-heavy wizardry only a PhD could love. But guess what? Engineering your idea is the easy part. The hard part – getting engineers to care – lies in marketing that’s not clever but credible, not flashy but functional. Demand Generation and GTM: No Longer […]
Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Messaging, Positioning
You’re Not Steve Jobs, and This Isn’t the iPhone
17
Jul
Jul
So, you think your B2B tech startup’s next-gen widget is the iPhone of [insert niche]? Newsflash: your hero fantasies won’t pay the bills. Crossing the chasm from idea to adoption isn’t about revolutionary press events – it’s about carving your own identity in a herd of look-alikes. First truth: B2B buyers aren’t dazzled by specs […]
Brand, Content Strategy, Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Messaging, Positioning, Uncategorized, Value Proposition
Your Competitor’s Marketing Sucks. So Why Does Yours Look the Same?
09
Jul
Jul
“Never publish an ad that your competitor can sign!” – sage advise from a mentor that still serves me well today. To be blunt: if your brand looks like everyone else’s, you’re feeding the very beast you’re trying to slay. Founders of B2B tech startups, hear me – the biggest mistake isn’t being bad; it’s […]
Brand, Content Strategy, Execution, Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Messaging, Sales, Value Proposition
Unsexy but Unstoppable: How to Make Your Boring Tech Irresistible
25
Jun
Jun
Not every product was born to sparkle – that doesn’t mean they won’t drive significant revenue. Some tech isn’t flashy, doesn’t demo like a magic show, and won’t make headlines at CES. But it’s damn useful. It’s the quiet engine behind real productivity, uptime, safety, savings, or control. The problem? Useful doesn’t equal attention-grabbing. And […]
Content Marketing, Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Messaging, Positioning, Sales, Uncategorized
Nobody Cares About Your Science – Until You Make Them
17
Jun
Jun
You’ve built the next quantum-leap in biotech, AI, or industrial automation. Congrats. But guess what? That’s not enough – at least not initially. To make PEOPLE care, you’ve got to tell a story. You can’t pitch “the science”. Here’s why: Even the most buttoned-up technical buyers are human. Neuroscience says stories fire up smell, sound, […]
Content Strategy, Execution, Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Positioning, Sales, Value Proposition
Competitors Make Great Teachers but Even Better Roadkill
11
Jun
Jun
A seasoned product executive colleague I know lives by the mantra, “Steal all good ideas.” For product, this is certainly sage advice, but not necessarily efficient when it comes to facing competitive threats and can unnecessarily burn a startup’s precious time and resources when not a priority. Founders must remain aware that the B2B battlefield […]