Should early stage founders attend conferences and summits?
A B2B founders perspective to taking advantage of conferences As an early stage B2B founder, you have countless opportunities to attend conferences, summits, and meetups. The question is: should you go to all of them, some of them, or none at all? Your time is your most valuable resource, and deciding whether to spend days […]
Find customer segments with Jobs to be done framework
As an early stage founder, how can you identify your customer segments As a founder, you are looking for your ICP, Ideal Customer Profile within a customer segment. Choosing an ICP is a daunting task and can take some time to determine in the early stages. This is even assuming you have figured out your […]
10 Essential Skills for Becoming a Better Product Manager
Beyond JIRA Tickets: What should PM learn about. I recently taught a class of about 40 students on Product Management. I usually start the first session with something like “ If you think your job is to talk to users and gather requirements and create Jira tickets, don’t call yourself a product manager”. It usually […]
Don’t hire a sales rep….yet
One of the biggest mistakes I see early-stage B2B startups make? Hiring a sales rep—or worse, outsourcing sales to an agency—before they’re ready. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Many founders see themselves as techies, not salespeople. They assume that once they have a great product, a sales rep should be able to take […]
The early stages of the startups – the ground reality
This week I posted on Linkedin announcing my new startup – Ziply. I have started slowly peeling the covers. Unlike some other founders, I don’t think I am cut out for some big splashy announcements or even openly share on Linkedin. Plus we are just starting. Here is the post. As you know, I write […]
Are you the right company or product for the customer
Decision Point #3 – How B2B Startups Can Position Themselves as the Right Partner for Enterprise Customers In the previous article, we discussed the 3 decision points that a B2B buyer goes through. Once a prospect decides this problem is a priority, the next decision is to buy or build. And if they decide to […]
Navigate your customers Build vs buy decision
Decision point # 2 – Should we build or buy ? In a previous article, we discussed the 3 decision points that a B2B buyer goes through. Once a prospect decides this problem is a priority, the next decision is to buy or build. Decision Point #2 – Build vs. Buy For many B2B […]
Mapping key decision points of your customers
Decision Point #1 – Is this a priority? Let’s talk about the B2B buyer’s journey. Most sales and marketing efforts focus on prospects who are already in the market—researching, reviewing, and evaluating solutions. But what happens before that? Before a buyer even considers your product, they go through key decision points that determine whether they […]
Frictionless user experience
Mapping friction points across the user journey I’ve been working on my own startup, Ziply, targeted towards B2B SaaS companies. We recently finished the first version of the product and are onboarding our early pilot customers. This is not a self-serve product—it requires some training and setup. I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “If […]
Identifying your true competition
How to identify which competitor to watch and analyze Last week, I had the opportunity to give a presentation at Berkeley Skydeck on how to conduct competitive analysis. One of the questions that came up was: “Who are my competitors?” It’s a great question—and one that every founder and product manager needs to answer, especially when […]
