What You Learn Working with Early-stage SaaS Startups

This talk was designed based on a blog post and first presented at We RISE Conference in Atlanta on 24 June 2017.

Transcript

1. What You Learn Working with Early-stage SaaS Startups #werisetech @melaniecrissey
2. Thank you! #werisetech @melaniecrissey
3. Disclaimer: Thoughts and feelings are my own. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
4. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
5. What You Learn Working with Early-stage SaaS Startups #werisetech @melaniecrissey
6. 1 2 3 #werisetech @melaniecrissey
7. < 50 employees < $10M valuation Designed to grow fast. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
8. 92% of startups fail in the first 3 years... #werisetech @melaniecrissey
9. … do it anyway. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
11. “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” Maya Angelou #werisetech @melaniecrissey
15. Title + Tell your story... #werisetech @melaniecrissey
16. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
17. - Top Highlights - Five New Things - Your Stories #werisetech @melaniecrissey
18. Look for use cases (the problems people are trying to solve) and flesh out personas from there. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
19. Articulate the mission, not just the plan for the revenue goal. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
20. Do you know how much it costs to run a specific feature? At scale? Figure it out. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
21. If you’re taking large amounts of cash, you need a plan to put it to work. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
22. As soon as your company has more than one employee, identify your common core values and write them down. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
23. Know How to Celebrate Without Booze #werisetech @melaniecrissey
24. Transparency means making information available to everyone on the team. It’s the foundation of trust, teamwork, and innovation. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
25. Do your best to estimate timelines and share rough estimates with customers who ask for them, but never commit to a release date. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
26. Build Web Performance Into Your Success Criteria #werisetech @melaniecrissey
27. Every extra word, icon, and form field contributes to clutter. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
28. It’s smart to use similar words and labeling. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
29. Offices don’t always have accessible wi-fi connections; know how to demo your app with .pdf slides. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
30. Get Personal With Prospects #werisetech @melaniecrissey
31. Design a pricing model that’s simple and clear. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
32. It’s less risky to work testimonial discounts into renewals. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
33. If someone asks for a case study, you better have one ready to go. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
34. People Love Friendly, Responsive Customer Support #werisetech @melaniecrissey
35. When choosing a support tool, consider the experience for your customers and your teammates. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
36. Make It Easy to Cancel #werisetech @melaniecrissey
37. Cultivate sustainability in your lifestyle. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
38. Hire People Who Are Better Than You #werisetech @melaniecrissey
39. Go out of your way to work to attract candidates with diverse backgrounds. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
40. Give old-school employees the freedom to be creative and develop management skills as you bring in outside talent to fill C-level and VP-level roles in the org chart. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
41. Some people are just startup people. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
42. Clarity > cleanliness. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
43. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
44. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
45. Sales is a science. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
46. The end user’s experience is more important than your broken internal processes. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
47. People first. #werisetech @melaniecrissey
48. melaniecrissey.com/werisetech #werisetech @melaniecrissey