Vikash Sharma’s Post

“To succeed in tech, what you need is a decent product and some funding” is a widely held belief. But what you 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 need is to get 3 KEY ELEMENTS right. If you do, you’ll be way ahead of the pack.  (Well, most of it anyway.) PROBLEM Do people actually have this problem?  + not every problem needs solving MARKET Can you build a profitable business model around it? + the time it’ll take you to get there ATTENTION How do you plan to draw attention to what you’ll be doing? + ads cost a fortune (cold outreach won’t do the trick) 👉 Whatever you do, DO NOT start your journey with building a product. I often speak with tech founders. Some pour their heart and soul into their product.  (Plus a ton of cash and years of their lives) One invested $100k and 4 years into getting their product built. Another spent 5 years building their product. Both failed to validate the problem and the market. Neither seemed to be looking for attention. Both focused on the least important part - building. It’s hard to see how they’ll ever get even close to making money. Don’t fall into the same trap. Focus on the 3 key elements.  Get them right. Everything else will follow. ____________________________ Helping you succeed with your digital product

What if you could guarantee that the quarter is going to finish strong? Here are some of the things I’ve been involved with in the last 6 months… — Company 1 Problem: Independent founder who had tried to build his product 3 times - each time missing the mark and getting derailed by market forces. He was wasting a lot of money and a LOT of opportunity cost. How I helped: Together, we built an incredible Product and GTM story that finally resonated with users and disrupted the status quo. I helped eliminate the indecisions and confusion and imposed the discipline, focus, and attention to detail needed to build something great. — Company 2 Problem: Publicly listed company experiencing Product + Engineering challenges. Low productivity, interpersonal conflicts, and nothing meaningful getting done. The company was burning millions of dollars and risking tens of millions in market cap. How I helped: I got to the source of their product and engineering challenges by going upstream and fixing their business strategy and org chart. Facilitated a deep dive into their core areas of focus, product, and company principles and re-designed the entire org chart. Turned them into a truly product-led company and eliminated the real root cause of the issues. They now have an exciting product strategy rooted in disruption and high-quality execution. — Company 3 Problem: The company had a range of disconnected point products that were a) not retaining b) not driving cross-product sales. The company was quickly running out of runway and risking its chance of raising the next round. How I helped: I supercharged cross-selling and transitioned them to subscription revenue. I did this by creating a unified organizing principle between the products and a delightful self-serve user experience that rationalized all the products into a unified product suite with ongoing use-value that unlocked a subscription business. — Company 4 Problem: A consumer hygiene company was crushing it with viral campaigns on social media but couldn’t figure out how to become a sustainable business with a great brand. Metrics were going sideways, and the runway was running out. How I helped: Designed and implemented a growth engine with an incredible onboarding journey. I helped them reimagine their brand as a more sophisticated and high-end player with something meaningful to say. — Let’s do this I have 2 slots available right now I’m meeting with startups and scale-ups to learn how I can be helpful. Drop me an email at me@chrissaad.com and tell me what’s keeping you up at night. #startups #scaleups #transformation #productstrategy #orgdesign #productmanagement #consultingconvos #disruption #growth

Founders that bootstrap build more sustainable businesses faster 1. Faster Product Market Fit They must quickly identify which pain points are painful enough for consumers to pay for a solution 2. Minimal Features, Maximum Impact They must weigh the degree of pain solved against the cost of engineering to determine which features make it into development 3. Balanced Revenue vs Spend Bootstrapped companies better understand how marketing spend drives revenue as they have to be more strategic, leveraging data and continuous improvement to keep marketing performant 4. Freemium Must Convert Businesses can't just give away resources for free, without understanding the path and timing to convert them to paying customers There are of course lots of disadvantages.. But what other advantages do bootstrapped businesses have 👇 #founders #bootstrap #lean

🚀 Ready to take your business to the next level? At Easy Tech Solution, we specialize in growth marketing that drives real results. Our team of experts uses cutting-edge strategies and data-driven insights to accelerate your growth and maximize your ROI. Whether you're a startup looking to scale or an established business aiming to expand, we've got you covered. Let's grow together! 💼📈 #GrowthMarketing #DigitalMarketing #BusinessGrowth #MarketingStrategy #ScaleYourBusiness

So many companies these days are focused on scaling. That’s great. But scaling without getting the fundamentals right can easily backfire and produce confusion or lose traction with your customers. It comes back to the age old quote “quality over quantity” — getting your core brand message aligned with customer needs is the critical first step prior to adding growth or increased marketing output (increasing ad spend, new outreach campaigns, new blog posts, etc.) If you don’t ensure that your perspective is valuable and resonates with your customer’s needs, you may end up undermining your brand’s coherence and clarity… and wasting a ton of money by promoting something that falls flat  Focus first on quality, then once you have clarity and resonance, and it makes sense for your customers, add more quantity.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝗥𝗣𝗨 𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗔/𝗕 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰?  💸 There are neat frameworks for finding comprehensive and elegant complex metrics for later stage testing, such as North Star Metrics. But if you are just starting out your testing, don’t worry about any of that. These more complex metrics are usually activation/engagement/retention-related, and it’s too soon for you to focus on those as primary testing goals. I’m going to try to read your mind a bit, but I’d guess you care about 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 the most as a startup still early in your growth journey and trying to keep the lights on. And based on my expert mind-reading abilities, I’ll now offer you the single metric that is almost certainly the most relevant for you:  𝗔𝗥𝗣𝗨, 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 (𝗻𝗲𝘁) 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 💸 “Uhh, is it really that simple?” If you are an early stage business and just kicking off your experimentation program—yes. 9 times out of 10 this is what matters most to you. Why? Because you’re probably just starting to move from the 0 → 1 of getting product-market fit to the 1 → 10 of scaling your business. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, assuming you are a business that relies on your monetization, not just your fundraising, to scale and survive. And ARPU is the most complete metric there is for revenue. Bring in more money for each new user, and you bring in more money for the business.  Read on for a few tips on how to wire up and use ARPU the right way. ⚗️𝗛𝗶, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲. I help teams to establish and accelerate their experimentation and product-led growth programs, from analytics to product processes to growth design. Follow me for more tips 🏆

Do you know what positioning is? Most startups fail not because of a bad product, but because of poor positioning. As the cofounder of Crezes, a location intelligence platform for retailers in México, I'm always on the lookout for insights that can shape our growth and strategy. Recently, I came across an enlightening article by Lenny Rachitsky on positioning, and it truly resonated with me. In "Positioning: The Overlooked Lever to Turbocharge Your Startup's Growth", Lenny Rachitsky dives deep into the importance of positioning, emphasizing that it's not just about defining what your product is, but rather, how it fits into the lives of your customers. This perspective is crucial for any startup aiming to stand out in a crowded market. At Crezes, we are committed to harnessing the power of location intelligence to provide valuable insights to businesses across México. Lenny’s article reminded me of the importance of clarity in our messaging and the need to consistently communicate the unique value we bring to our users. Key takeaways: - Differentiation: Ensuring that we clearly articulate what sets Crezes apart from other solutions in the market. - Customer Focus: Continuously aligning our offerings with the evolving needs of our clients to stay relevant and indispensable. - Simplicity and Clarity: Striving for simplicity in our communication to ensure that our value proposition is easily understood. Thanks to Lenny, for sharing his insights and helping startups like ours navigate the complexities of positioning. I highly recommend reading this article to understand how you can leverage positioning to boost your startup’s growth. Link to the article here: https://lnkd.in/ePYq5sAx

"If you're running a business today, you have to be a creator" — Garry Tan If you're building a business, you have to build conviction capital somehow. The two greatest levers: (1) Make something people want (2) Own quality distribution However, as Peter Thiel says: "Most businesses get zero distribution channels to work: poor sales rather than bad product is the most common cause of failure. If you can get just one distribution channel to work, you have a great business.". Hence, nail (2), then figure out (1). Having distribution in place also makes figuring out what people want much easier. What's the greatest way to nail distribution? Through content; through building an audience. Why? As Claude Hopkins says in Scientific Advertising: "Making a sale without making a convert does not count much. Sales made by conviction—by advertising—are likely to bring permanent customers. People who buy through casual recommendations often do not stick." = conviction is crucial. *Convince* people about your vision. *Convince* people about your product. In advertising, you've got a split second to convince. Often, that's the only chance you get (according to Hopkins too). That's not the case with founder-socials. With on-going content (and in turn, a compounding brand), you're convincing with each post. You build trust and affinity. You become an authority, getting in front of prospects again and again. And this has scale—exponential scale. Not quite the same with performance marketing's linear scale. To our luck, today, the leverage of the internet makes that scale permissionless and exponential. No one needs permission to build an audience. Not to be that person, but… If you're building a startup, there's no time to waste. Start building your conviction capital *now* (because your competitors are). ↓ ↓ ↓ Want us to build your own distribution across socials? We've driven 7-figures in pipeline for $1m - $500M founders (incl. YC alumni) already. Founders, I'd love to chat to you too. DM me, Nicolai Svane Kristensen, or apply below. (🎥 My First Million)

Scaling your marketing efforts as your business grows is like adjusting the sails on a boat. ⛵ As your startup expands, your marketing needs to evolve too. Start by analyzing which channels and strategies have worked best. Allocate more resources to these areas while experimenting with new tactics. Automate repetitive tasks to save time and ensure consistent messaging across all platforms. Scaling doesn’t mean doing everything at once; it’s about focusing on what drives results and building on that. #MarketingStrategy #BusinessGrowth #ScalingUp #DigitalMarketing #StartupSuccess #Efficiency #ResourceManagement #AutomateToScale

Your website is a testament to your dedication, quality, and the value you bring to the table.  At JOHNSTON MARKETING, we understand the profound impact of a well-crafted website. Whether you're a startup or an established enterprise, we're here to ensure your online presence is nothing short of impeccable. Transform your ideas into a professional digital reality with us. #ProfessionalismMatters #WebsiteDesign #DigitalTransformation #BusinessGrowth #JohnstonMarketing #OnlinePresence #ValueCreation #CraftingExcellence