"Top 10 Learnings Going to 10 Million ARR" at SaaStr Annual 2016
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Leo Wildrich, co-founder and COO of Buffer, shares ten key learnings from growing the company to nearly $10 million in annual recurring revenue. These insights include the importance of early-stage customer interaction, data-driven flexibility, focusing on one effective marketing channel, and utilizing the lean startup methodology for feature development. Ultimately, Wildrich emphasizes personal growth opportunities over financial incentives in the entrepreneurial journey.
![@leowid
QUESTIONS TO ASK
Tell me about how you do _________ today….
Do you use any [tools/products/apps/tricks] to help you get ________ done?
If you could wave a magic wand and be able to do anything that you can’t do
today, what would it be? Don’t worry about whether it’s possible, just anything.
Last time you did ___________, what were you doing right before
you got started? Once you finished, what did you do afterward?
Is there anything else about _________ that I should have asked?
Link to full template:
bit.ly/buffercustdev](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/saastrannual2016leo-widrich-160219193530/85/Top-10-Learnings-Going-to-10-Million-ARR-at-SaaStr-Annual-2016-8-320.jpg)
"Top 10 Learnings Going to 10 Million ARR" at SaaStr Annual 2016
- 1. LEO WILDRICH CO-FOUNDER AND COO / BUFFER @leowid TOP 10 LEARNINGS GROWING TO (ALMOST) $10 MILLION ARR @leowid
- 2. 1. EXPERIMENT WITH A WEEKLY MASTERMIND WITH YOUR CO-FOUNDER IN THIS FORMAT @leowid
- 3. •We take around 1-2 hours, preferably when it feels a bit less busy. •We talk for 10 minutes each about our achievements; like “I shipped this feature” or “I hit the gym 3 times this week” •Then we spend 40 minutes each on challenges. We try to really dive in here and not stay on the surface. •We then add a section at the end where we share feedback for each other. HOW MASTERMINDS WORK @leowid
- 4. 2. AVOID BEING DISTRACTED BY DATA TOO EARLY ON @leowid
- 5. “Most Early Stage Startups Won't Have Enough Customers To Rely On Quantitative Data. You Need To Be Acquiring Hundreds Of Customers Every Month (Preferably Thousands) To Have Enough Data To Support A/B Tests, Etc.” HITEN SHAH CO-FOUNDER OF CRAZYEGG, KISSMETRICS AND QUICKSPROUT @leowid
- 6. 3. TRY ASKING THESE 5 QUESTIONS TO LEARN BETTER FROM CUSTOMERS @leowid
- 7. @leowid CINDY ALVAREZ “You Need To Learn About How Customers Behave And What They Need. In Other Words, Focus On Their Problem, Not Their Suggested Solution.”
- 8. @leowid QUESTIONS TO ASK Tell me about how you do _________ today…. Do you use any [tools/products/apps/tricks] to help you get ________ done? If you could wave a magic wand and be able to do anything that you can’t do today, what would it be? Don’t worry about whether it’s possible, just anything. Last time you did ___________, what were you doing right before you got started? Once you finished, what did you do afterward? Is there anything else about _________ that I should have asked? Link to full template: bit.ly/buffercustdev
- 9. 4. KEEP YOUR DATA IN HOUSE TO BE MORE FLEXIBLE @leowid
- 10. @leowid 2010-11: In-house data-tools built by Joel 2012: Experimentation with various 3rd party event-tracking tools (KISSmetrics, Mixpanel) 2013-14: Moving back to build all data-tools in-house 2015-2016: Transitioning to using Looker BUFFER’S JOURNEY WITH DATA
- 11. 5. PICK ONE CHANNEL TO DOUBLE DOWN ON INSTEAD OF MANY (BULLSEYE EXERCISE) @leowid
- 12. @leowid •Outer ring: What’s possible - brainstorm all 19 traction channels there are •Middle ring: What’s probable - Promote 3-4 most promising ideas and run tests •Inner ring: What’s working - Focus solely on the 1 channel that’s working —> Marketing flywheel HOW TO FIND YOUR ONE CHANNEL THAT WORKS http://tractionbook.com by Gabriel Weinberg, founder of DuckDuckGo
- 13. 6. SEEK CONFLICTING ADVICE FROM AT LEAST 2 MENTORS ON YOUR BIGGEST DECISIONS @leowid
- 14. 7. EXPERIMENT WITH CHANGING YOUR PRICES OFTEN AS YOU ADD VALUE @leowid
- 15. DOUBLING BUFFER’S PRICING Free $0/mo Standard $5/mo Max $20/mo Awesome Plan $10/mo Business $50-250/mo Enterprise Starts at $300/ mo @leowid
- 16. 8. USE THE LEAN STARTUP METHODOLOGY FOR EVERY FEATURE YOU BUILD, ESPECIALLY POST LAUNCH @leowid
- 17. @leowid
- 18. @leowid CREATE A PROCESS AROUND IT THAT INCLUDES • Hypothesis for your feature • A customer development phase • An (InVision), clickable prototype to get feedback • A roll-out of a working version that embarrasses you slightly
- 19. 9. WHEN YOU GET AN OFFER TO SELL, LIST THE EXPERIENCES OF PERSONAL GROWTH YOU MIGHT MISS @leowid
- 20. @leowid WHAT WE’D MISS OUT ON LEARNING • How to serve tens of thousands of customers • How to let someone go • How to hire key positions and train leaders • How to acquire another company • How to raise bigger funding rounds • How to recover from a hack
- 21. @leowid “STOP THINKING ABOUT MAKING A MILLION DOLLARS AND START THINKING ABOUT SERVING A MILLION PEOPLE” DHARMESH SHAH FOUNDER & CTO AT HUBSPOT
- 24. @leowid THANKS!