Growth Lab

Confused about positioning? 🤷 Here is a very helpful framework that will help you find your place to win in <30min. 3 simple but powerful steps: Positioning never happens in isolation. Your customers always compare you with something or someone. According to April Dunford, "something" can also be "do nothing". Here is how to think about positioning in a way that will help you identify your best place to win: 1. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 - What are your prospects actually comparing you against? Forget desktop research. Ask them directly - answers like "Excel", "hire another person", and "outsourcing to an agency" may redefine your thinking. 2. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 - How do your target customers make their decisions? What matters to them? Think broader than price, effort, and savings. Some might hope that they will get promoted for choosing you 🤠 3. 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 - Score from 1 to 5 on how well a specific competitive alternative brings value based on each buying criterion. Be honest. By scoring and summing up the numbers, you will find a vacancy on the market where you can play to win. Do this.  It will open so many new horizons for testing your winning positioning. It is like the Battleships game for positioning. The author of this concept is Andrej Persolja.  April Dunford, Robert Kaminski 🎯, and Anthony Pierri 🎸 also publish great content on positioning. Follow them!

This AI tool got me a FREE ICP-qualified lead 🫨. I did not even have to write my emails. Here is what blew my mind:  ❌ I did not have to write my own copy  ❌ No email database building and enrichment  ❌ No additional costs with email and domain warming tools. Instead:  ✅ I applied at https://lnkd.in/dSP23sRq ✅ Described my ICP in a human language and confirmed the sample  ✅ Had a great call with Kular’s team member, who wrote messages for me 😯 Then I waited and got a free qualified lead. 🔌 This is plug-and-play outbound. For the last month, I have been testing Kular, an AI-powered email sales tool developed by an excellent team from the UK, a Y-Combinator-backed company. Kular’s offer: Only pay $150 per qualified lead. (The first lead is for free.) Take them on this offer while it lasts. This is still the "doing things that do not scale" stage for them. They go the extra mile. What is not to like? 🤷 I am happy to answer questions in the comments.  I hope I can scale this for my workshops 📈 #sponsored

If I had to close 10 new customers next week, I would prioritize these 3 tactics: 1. 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 🤝. Your customers have positive experiences with you. I bet you will get at least 5 warm intros if you send 50 emails to your existing customers. (+ 📱 phonebook hack: scroll through your contacts and find potential leads) 2. 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 🔊. Go where the audience is. Post case studies on social media and communities (groups) relevant to your target audience. You should get at least 3 qualified leads per a great case study. No case studies? Create a no-brainer foot-in-the-door offer or pitch free audits. 3. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 50 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 📋 and reach out to them. Do not overthink how - do the research, pitch how you can help, attach an analysis or a case study if they are interested in working with you, and sign new clients. This is what I would do. What would you do? Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.  Let’s finish 2024 strong 🎯

Based on an analysis of 100+ Unicorns 🦄, there are 12 ways companies can get their first customers. I call them 𝐆𝐓𝐌 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 1. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 ↳ Wide appeal without legacy dominance. Example: RB2B 2. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 ↳ Customers actively searching for a solution. Example: Userpilot 3. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲] ↳ Integration-heavy or nascent markets. Example: Tella 4. 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 (𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 🪝) ↳ Many alternatives and adoption hurdles. Example: lemlist 5. 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 ↳ Low lock-in and many alternatives. Example: Convex 6. 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 [𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲] ↳ Niche appeal without legacy domination. Example: Usersnap 7. 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 [& get online buzz] ↳ Self-serve products in legacy-dominated markets. Example: Tally 8. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐑 ↳ Products with a strong social mission. Example: Perplexity 9. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 ↳ Products in new categories. Example: Cello 10. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 ↳ Geographically constrained, non-legacy markets. Example: Rows.com 11. 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 ↳ Straightforward offerings with high-intent customers. Example: Favikon 12. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫-𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 ↳ Customers needing complex, nuanced solutions. Example: Command AI (fka CommandBar) Unicorns didn’t start with massive budgets and large teams. Early GTM actions are scrappy, but they get you in a good fit for scaling. How did you get your first customers?  Share in the comments and ♻ this post to help more companies win. 

In 2024, my LinkedIn impressions fell by over 50%. Yet my side hustle doubled to $126K ARR. Six things I've learned you can apply to your SaaS product: 1. Vanity metrics Metrics like views and reactions are useless. But giving up those dopamine boosts was challenging. Inspired by Aakash Gupta, I started ignoring those numbers and focused on delivering the right value to the right audience to get the right engagement. 2. Focus Tradeoffs—things you don't do—are essential. What’s particularly tough for me is rejecting dedicated training requests, which would be easy wins. But I need to stay focused, especially having a full-time job as a PM. Strategy is not just about what you choose. It's even more importantly about saying no to other things. 3. Purpose Revenue is a terrible motivator, even for founders. You quickly get used to any number. I paywall fewer posts than I declare, keep my prices lower than everyone recommends and publish opinions that contradict what some expect to hear. But nothing beats the feeling of being true to yourself and getting feedback you're doing something that matters. 4. Diversification Many experts, such as Justin Welsh, suggest building multiple revenue streams. This would mean adding training, consulting, etc., to the newsletter. But those products would drain my time and energy. And they wouldn't address the risk of relying on LinkedIn—a single partner that could change the rules at any time and disrupt all those “diversified streams.” Instead, I focus on diversifying my marketing channels. I'm particularly happy that SEO visits have surpassed LinkedIn. 5. Failure You will be wrong. A lot. And that’s okay. Getting things right requires trying and failing over and over again. If you could optimize just one thing, maximize the speed of learning. 6. Mental health This one is challenging. At nearly 40 years old, I can no longer work 60 hours a week. I struggled with burnout in the past and this could happen again. What helps: - Pareto principle & Impact vs. Effort. - Trust and context rather than control. - Applying automation (RPA, LLMs, AI agents). - Support groups & learning together. - Physical activity at least twice a week. - Making time for my family. Hope that helps. --- Enjoy this? 🎁 My full post with more stats and insights. No paywall: https://lnkd.in/dsQ5zxA2 --- Many thanks to people who’ve been supporting me through the year, in particular, but not limited to: Aakash Gupta, David Pereira, Maarten Dalmijn, Maja Voje, and Aatir Abdul Rauf ❤️🙏

Last 48 hours to claim 60% OFF: Do not miss out on a last chance to get everything I created and shared in 2024 at a fraction of the cost. For $197 (60% OFF) you will get:  ✅ GTM Strategist e-book ✅ Fast start video training ✅ Online resources and fill-in frameworks ✅ Checklist with 100+ assets and templates ✅ 5-hour GTM Bootcamp video course ✅ Personal Miro board … and much more!   Secure your access now and recalibrate your go-to-market strategy to take you across the chasm in 2025.  🎁 All my products in a box https://lnkd.in/d78ZXcH7 If you have any questions, ping me in DM, we will resolve everything ✌️ Disclaimer:  This is the highest discount in 2024.  I will not change it for Cyber Monday.

Before there are GTM Motions - predictable and scalable ways to get customers in the product - you need to do SOMETHING to get the business off the ground. Based on the analysis of 100+ Unicorn companies, Ali Abouelatta proposed 12 different ways how to get first customers:  🧩 Building in public 📣 Produce discoverable content 🤝 Warm outreach [Sell relationship or credibility] 🪝 Cold outreach [w/ a hook] 🎣 Fish on forums 👥 Embed yourself in the community [authentically] 🎤 Launch somewhere [& get PR — optional] 🗞 Full Blown PR  🦚 Influencers 🚗 Grab attention [on the streets] 🤖 Hack a distribution channel 🙌 Create a super-fan by over-servicing one customer at a time I called them 𝐠𝐨-𝐭𝐨-𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. In this post, you will find detailed examples of successful companies that have done it recently: RB2B, Userpilot, Tella, lemlist, Convex, Usersnap, Tally, Perplexity, Cello, Rows.com, Favikon, Command AI (fka CommandBar) Enjoy this value-packed article, and share your growth stories in the comments. How did you get your first customers?  Tag someone who has a story that the world needs to hear.

Products suffer a premature death because of go-to-market (GTM) boo-boos. And "choosing the wrong GTM Motion" is a regular culprit in such tragedies. A GTM motion is the vehicle that takes a product from the dev kitchen to the customer's hands at scale. For example, - Miro used PLG, content & growth loops to grow early. - Loom soared after a successful Product Hunt campaign. - Hubspot used content marketing to its advantage. - RB2B relied on founder-brand to grow rapidly. So, how do you select the right GTM motion starting out? Well, I got a GTM champion to help us out with this - none other than Maja Voje herself. Maja is a go-to-market expert who has helped several companies scale from 20 million to 60-100 million in yearly revenue. She is also the best-selling author of the “GTM Strategist” book and newsletter. And in today's edition of Behind Product Lines, Maja teaches us a 5-step process to arrive at the right GTM motions for any product. What you can expect to find: - an email template to send audiences to learn where they consume info. - how to analyze competitors to inform your GTM motion decisions. - a handy traffic-light framework to narrow down your choices. - how to evolve your GTM motions in the medium to long run. And one more thing. This edition also has a limited-time deal for something to help you hit the ground running with your GTM journey. You know where the link is ↓

For most companies, 2-3 Go-to-Market Motions work best. Go-to-Market motion is a predictable and scalable way to get customers to your product. In my book, Go-to-Market Strategist, I defined 7 Go-to-Market Motions: 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 - you create content to generate leads 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 - cold outreach to a higher volume of targets via email, social media, or phone 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 - media buying to capture the target audience’s attention 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 - engaging with or creating content for community members 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 - collaborating with other companies for mutual marketing or sales benefit 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - targeting high-value accounts with personalized campaigns 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 (𝐏𝐋𝐆) - developing solutions for self-onboarding and early value realization (aka - the product would “sell itself”)  The magic happens when you use multiple GTM Motions and create synergies between them. My colleague Aakash Gupta and I analyzed some well-known technology companies.  They all had a primary GTM motion and added more motions as they grew. I usually like to start by dominating one free or inexpensive GTM motion and expand it with one paid and another "free" GTM Motions. For my business, GTM motions are:  🎯 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 - a combination of LinkedIn, Substack, and content collaborations with other leaders  🤝 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 - I have regional partners to open new markets - Spain and MENA because they have complementary expertise and in-depth market knowledge. 🔎 Under testing: 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝/𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥: I have been running outbound campaigns and investing in Meta ads for digital products.  What GTM Motions do you swear by in your business? Let’s exchange best practices in the comments. 

In 2024, I more than doubled my LinkedIn audience. Here are 7 lessons you can learn to do it faster. I went from 22K to 50K in <12 months, but it was slow. First of all, massive thanks for following my content. I am finally celebrating 50K here on LinkedIn, contributing to 70% of my sales. To celebrate this milestone with you, I wanted to share 7 things that I would do differently if I knew what I know today - so you can grow faster: 1. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - posting directly without a LinkedIn routine can be scary. First, learn how to add value in comments. Engage with opinion leaders in your space, as well as your customers and peers. Create a habit. 2. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧 - not every post will go viral and that is ok - you are learning by doing. Produce a huge volume of content and double down on what works. As you do the reps, you will get better. 3. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 - people say: You want to go fast - go alone. You want to go far- go with a team. Some of my biggest follower spikes came from collaborations with other content creators. Find the ones that are compatible and co-create with them. 4. 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 (𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭) 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. I have spent even 72h working on a single post. Hard work usually pays off. While you cannot go “all in” for seven posts a week, at least two posts add massive added value. 5. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬. You do not have to post memes and selfies to be successful here. You can even suck at writing hooks or use them ironically like I do. Your audience connects with your authenticity. And believe me - there is an audience for anything. :) 6. 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. If you are not one hell of a copywriter, you can come far with visuals. Learn how to design or outsource it to someone who understands LinkedIn-first content. It is one of the best investments I have made to grow.  7. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 - as you grow, someone will always hear the message for the first time. Believe it or not, if you said something 7 months ago - it is new to many people in your network. Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me.  Here to answer all questions that you may have. I am not a LinkedIn expert, but I guess I am doing something right 🤠 I am happy to share my experience and hands-on knowledge with you all. Grab more value by asking me anything in the comments.