S

Startup GrowthLessons Learned

My Journey

S Developer at age 15

S Rockwell Automation – 18 years - VP Global Sales

S GMI $1M-$50M in 5 years - $100M exit

S Toluna $10M-$120M in 5 years - $260M exit

S FlexMinder Idea to Industry Leader in 5 years (sold 3 weeks ago)

S Worked with hundreds of startups around the world

The progression

Strategy

S Who is your customer?

S Employer - Insurance Company – Law Firm – Hospital – SMB – Enterprise –

Media Company – Research Firm - Specialized third party (TPA, CPO)

S Why would they switch from what they do today?

S What does your product do for them? Why does that matter?

S Pricing – How much will they pay? How much do you need to be a viable

business? Target $1M ARR

Obsession with listening

S Solicit brutally honest feedback

S Survey existing/potential customers

S Speak with them (Skype/phone/f2f)

S See what they see

Messaging

S Capture interest quickly – earn more of their time

S Every word matters – Ad/Landing Page/WebSite

S Earn the right to get more of their time

S A/B test to get it right

Focus on their Pain

S Not you and your product (email, marketing, phone)

S “My name is Lowell and I work for FlexMinder and we

have software that automates the claim submission process

for your participants”

“We reduce debit card substantiations by 75% for TPA’s”

Don’t use weak language

Be direct

S “I am sorry to bother you”

“If you have time”

S “Your competitors have reduced

substantiation costs by 75% with

automated claims - would you

like to see how?”

Expansion

S ID the profile of your customer (title, vertical, size etc.)

S Where can you find more just like them?

S Referral program

S Channels & Partnerships

Marketing/Advertising

S Paid

S Facebook (Desktop/Mobile)

S Search (Adwords)

S SEO

S Conferences

S Content Marketing

Attack mode

S LinkedIn

S What conferences do your customers attend?

S Speaking slots (not the paid ones)

S Booth (email list)

S Guerilla marketing

S Coffee

S Breakfast/lunch/dinner

Thanks to

S

Startup GrowthLessons Learned