When should you bring on your first product hire at a startup

In this bonus episode of the Revenue on the Rocks - we collaborated with the We're Not Marketers team to discuss the disconnect between sales and product marketers. Specifically, we cover:1) Why salespeople think they understand the customer better 2) How win-loss research can fill in gaps from loss reasons 3) Marketing and sales not understanding each other's metrics or daily pressures4) How founders or VCs can make it difficult to align on one ICP 5) Why marketers should shadow sales calls to gain firsthand experience6) Ways to build a rapport with sales as a marketerEric drinks a mezcal on the rocks 🥃Zach drinks a Coors Light 🍺Gab drinks a homemade gin tonic with maple syrup 🍸Ben drinks a Coors Banquet 🍺I drink canned wine 🍷

In the last episode of Season 2 - we discuss the relationship between go-to-market and product with our co-founder and Head of Product at Navattic, Randy Frank.Specifically, we cover:1) How to identify when a product role is needed2) Ways to align on a product roadmap and not get distracted3) Why you need to filter customer feedback to prioritize valuable features4) Balancing innovative features and competitive offerings5) Ways to communicate product updates to go-to-market teams6) How to manage expectations for product launch timelines and scopeRandy drinks a local DC lager 🍻 I drink a negroni 🥃Ben drinks a Coors Banquet 🍻

In Episode 14 of Season 2 - after throwing our first-ever CMO dinner we share the behind-the-scenes of what goes into planning a B2B dinner. And we bring on our co-sponsor and events expert Regina Magaril from Mutiny to rehash learnings from the events. Specifically, we cover:1) Event planning timeline and how we pull in other partners2) How to assign clear owners to event tasks 3) What are our biggest fears around events 4) Should you invite sales team members to your events 5) How to fix on-day event problems like not enough attendees6) Ways to get inspiration from events outside B2BRegina drinks Catch and Release Chardonnay 🥂I drink Catch and Release Pinot Noir 🍷Ben drinks an IPA 🍻

In Episode 13 of Season 2 - Ben and I talk about the stress of hitting quota at the end of the quarter for sales teams (fresh off of end of quarter at Navattic). Specifically, we cover:1) Why sales is laser-focused on hitting quota 2) Ben's experience with quota at other companies3) How marketing can not bother sales near the end of the quarter4) Ways to involve the entire sales team in setting quotas5) How hitting quota impacts the entire company6) Dissecting wins to help sales reps play to strengths and talents Ben drinks a whiskey 🥃I drink a canned cocktail 🍸

In Episode 12 of Season 2 - Ben and I go over our "failure lists" from being first-time startup leaders. We reflect on failures and lessons learned as startup executives and talk about the general benefits of keeping track of your failures. Specifically, we cover:1) Struggling to balance IC work and managing others2) Realizing a lack of documentation when onboarding new hires 3) Ways to improve communication between GTM and product on feature requests4) Why normal marketers are different from event marketers5) Trusting your founders and their direction for company growth6) How Ben and I make decisions now based on learning from these failuresBen drinks a coffee with whiskey ☕️I drink a Chianti 🍷

In Episode 11 of Season 2 - Ben and I reflect on our first official sales kickoff and the B2BMX conference. Plus we discuss the benefit of focusing in-person company events on just getting to know each other.Specifically, we cover:1) Why Ben decided to structure the SKO the way he did2) Connecting with employees to understand what motivates them3) How trust at the leadership level plays into running these types of events4) Fear and decision fatigue from marketers apparent at B2BMX5) Navigating awkward conference convosBen drinks water 💧I drink a Pinot noir 🍷

In Episode 10 of Season 2 - a month into 2024 Ben and I give our take on how the software buying market compares to 2023. Specifically, we cover:1) Why everyone was so excited about 2024 vs 2023 2) Continued budget concerns for 20243) How more stakeholders/ departments are involved in the buying process4) A shift away from PLG to more wholistic self-serve buying 5) Why the market has been so competitive and ways to stand out6) A divide in marketing strategies for 2024 Ben drinks a Coors Banquet 🍻I drink a Chianti 🍷

In Episode 9 of Season 2 - Ben and I discuss our process for creating our new State of the Interactive Demo Report 2024. Specifically, we cover:1) How we sourced questions from our sales team for the report2) Why we use first-party product data vs survey data3) Ways we promoted the report and got early feedback4) How we designed the report to make it more sharable 5) What we changed about this report vs last year's report6) Fun games to help the sales team learn the dataBen drinks a Coors Banquet 🍻I drink a Cucumber Mint Cocktail 🥒If you want to see the report: https://www.navattic.com/report/state-of-the-interactive-product-demo-2024

In Episode 8 of Season 2 - Ben and I talk with Molly Bruckman from Mutiny about their widely successful Surv-ai-vor campaign and how they got sales bought into a unique, time-intensive, and creative campaign. Specifically, we cover:1) The origin story behind the Surv-ai-vor campign2) How sponsors were brought in and decision process for big prizes 3) Our experience as a sponsor and why we decided to sponsor4) Results from the campaign and the reactions from the sales team5) How Mutiny's amazing brand awareness helped fuel the campaign 6) Takeaways from the campaign around virality Molly drinks a rosemary gin and tonic 🍸Ben drinks a Coors Banquet 🍺I drink WeWork sponsored tea 🫖 

In this bonus episode, Ben and I talk about how to be a better software buyer. We usually talk about how to be better software sellers, but in this mini episode, we poke fun at ways that buyers could make the sales process a little smoother. Hope you enjoy and happy holidays ☃️