Alina Vandenberghe 🌶️

Thrive is a silent killer of a channel. But driving velocity can be tricky. At least until yesterday. Thrive and Instacart have teamed up to provide Thrive Carrot Ads. Now you can drive velocity with a surgeon's scalpal. Oh, and if you're approaching Thrive's Innovation Program. This is your chance to secure a permanent spot on their digital shelf. If you're interested, feel free to DM me or book a call. (No, I cannot get you 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 Thrive. But I can help you stay there.) ——— 🔹 We grow brands on Amazon. 🔹 We increase velocity in Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Sam's, COSTCO, and lots of other cool retailers. #cpg #cpggrowth #retailgrowth #retailvelocity #omnichannel #retail #amazonagency #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #instacart #thrive #thrivemarket #carrotads

18

17 Comments

A lot of start-ups fail because they don’t understand product market fit. If you too are on the prenatal stage of figuring your business out, don’t miss this PMF concept. Sarah Jenkins recently interviewed Alex Burke, a product expert from Amazon, Airbnb, and Shopify, who shared insights on PMF’s three pillars: demand, satisfaction, and scalability. Many companies excel at demand and satisfaction—customers love and use their product—but struggle with scalability, ultimately leading to failure. Brands like Juicero and Fab had demand but couldn’t scale and didn’t survive. PMF evolves through four stages: → Stage 1 Your early customers are often personal connections. Red flags here include customers not missing your product if it disappeared or inconsistent core features. The focus is on truly understanding your target market. → Stage 2 At this point, the product should drive growth, not your sales team. A churn rate above 20% or stagnant growth signals trouble. → Stage 3 (solid PMF)  If you have a significant number of customers, strong net revenue retention, and low churn rates, it indicates that your growth is on track. However, if your net revenue retention declines significantly, it may suggest retention issues that could hinder your ability to scale effectively. → Stage 4  If you have a substantial customer base, a strong sales conversion rate, and your earnings exceed your expenses, you’ve likely discovered a solid product-market fit. At every stage, remember the "4P" framework: Persona, Problem, Promise, Product. The key is continuous evolution—PMF is not static, and you need to keep fine-tuning as you scale. Anything you’d add? #ProductMarketFit #StartupSuccess #BusinessGrowth

84

11 Comments

How do you do messaging for multiple ICPs? What do you do when one of these scenarios applies? · Expanding from one ICP to two (or more) · Needing to talk to several ICPs at once · Messaging when you're a multi-product company · Writing home page copy for multiple audiences Anthony Pierri 🎸and I are gonna talk about it for 60mis, and discuss what makes sense when. We'll share our overall thinking about the matter, but will mostly focus on audience Q&A. Come join us next Wed (June 12) to discuss this topic. Bring your questions. Free event. Registration link in the comments.

109

24 Comments

Why most A/B tests fail? ROI in A/B testing = Frequency x Cost x Success Rate. Most teams focus on frequency or cost but ignore the success rate (And this is the biggest game-changer) At Snocks, we spent weeks testing upsells to find a winning design. The result? A 35–40% success rate across projects. Cheap tests won’t cut it. Smart iterations will. I hope that video helped! If there are any questions, drop them in the comments or DM me “ROI” to figure out how I can help you.

29

4 Comments

Looking for the perfect tool to power your next survey? This list is your one-stop shop for 10 fantastic options, from user-friendly interfaces (think Typeform!) to in-depth data analysis (like Qualtrics). Here's a quick rundown: ⭐ Voxco - Build custom surveys, analyze data, and generate reports - all in one place. https://lnkd.in/eX5rW2vS ⭐ Qualtrics - Unleash the power of advanced analytics with a wide range of question types. https://www.qualtrics.com/ ⭐ SurveyMonkey - A classic for a reason! Create surveys, analyze data, and generate reports with ease. https://lnkd.in/emQE37vj ⭐ Typeform - Drag, drop, and design beautiful surveys with their user-friendly interface. https://www.typeform.com/ ⭐ Google Forms - It's free, it integrates with your other Google goodies, and it's perfect for quick surveys. https://forms.google.com/ ⭐ JotForm - Tons of templates and integrations to make your survey life a breeze. https://www.jotform.com/ ⭐ Zoho Surveys - Customize, analyze, report, and integrate with other Zoho apps - the survey trifecta! https://lnkd.in/ensgnNMu ⭐ SurveyPlanet - Another free option with all the essentials for creating surveys, analyzing data, and reporting.  https://lnkd.in/ewx4cc7j ⭐ Zonka Feedback - Integrate surveys with your other business tools for a comprehensive feedback experience. https://lnkd.in/enYdAs9B ⭐ Hotjar - Go beyond surveys with heatmaps and user recordings to understand user behavior.  https://www.hotjar.com/ There are many more tools out there. Before you dive in, take some time to consider your specific needs and goals to find the perfect fit for your project. PS: What are your favorite survey tools for healthcare research? Share your thoughts in the comments! #healthcare #research #surveys #tools #researchers

40

18 Comments

We have a new addition to the VentureFizz weekly email (signup here: https://lnkd.in/eMWsg9U). Announcing Boston Tech Time Warp!!! It's crazy to think that I've been publishing this email for something like 15 years (how is that possible???). I started archiving the emails 10 years ago, so I thought it would be fun to look back at the archives each week. I'll pull pieces of info through the years. So... what was happening in the Boston tech scene 10 years ago on January 5th, 2015??? * Who raised capital?  Swoop, Qualtre, Appcues * Event: the next WebInno event was coming up featuring Flyp, RocketBoard, & Upware Labs. * Some of the companies who were hiring: Swipely, Codeship, Backupify, Digital Lumens, CloudHealth, & Kiva Systems. * Blog post: Matt Fates (a VC at Innospark Ventures but was at Ascent Venture Partners at the time) published a blog post titled: The New Normal: Cloud, It’s Not Just Early Adopters Anymore - READ Part 1: https://lnkd.in/dDcNJbFr Part 2: https://lnkd.in/deBzUrNp

16

1 Comment

Here's how you can easily add support for drop-down and multi-select HubSpot properties with the Auto-create properties with CSV automation shown here: https://lnkd.in/eiv8_nty

10

2 Comments

42% of people say they'd choose to work with someone they found on YouTube over someone who hasn't. Cohort playlists are a great way to surround a common ICP with education and TLC. Solve problems for prospects as a herd to prosper as a herd. What YouTube will do for you: 👉 Solves your sales and marketing problem 👉 Accelerates the know, like, and trust factor 👉 Delivers relaxed sales meetings with pre-sold contacts #YouTubeMarketing #CohortPlaylists #MasterClass #ProspectEngagement #BuildRapport #ICPEducation #TLCMarketing #ProblemSolving #BusinessGrowth #CustomerSuccess #SalesStrategy #ContentMarketing #CommunityLearning #SalesFunnels #VideoMarketing

4

RevOps leaders, this is the playbook you’ve been waiting for. In a world flooded with content that often lacks substance, the RevOps Docs for Startups by LeanScale are a breath of fresh air. This guide isn’t just another rundown of the basics—it’s an in-depth, yet easily approachable, guide to the rapidly evolving RevOps landscape, crafted from real insights gathered across 50+ hyper-growth companies. Huge shoutout to my longtime buddy Joe Zaghloul and the team at LeanScale for putting in the thought and care to make something truly impactful. The format alone—structured like API docs, complete with a changelog—makes it incredibly usable and memorable. #RevOps leaders and #GTM teams will find it packed with playbooks that feel almost built-in to the process. If you’re scaling a B2B SaaS, you’ll want to bookmark this one. It’s hands-on, actionable, and unlike anything else out there. https://lnkd.in/ekrUJAW5

57

15 Comments

I'm NOT speaking at brightonSEO in San Diego, and I couldn't be happier about that! I love BrightonSEO, and I'm thrilled to be ATTENDING instead of speaking because speaking at conferences is a LOT of work, at least for me... I tend to go way overboard with my presentations: 🔹 Months of data gathering and analysis. 🔹 Thinking about my data and my presentation obsessively in almost every waking moment leading up to the date. 🔹 Procrastinating about creating my slides until the few days before the event. 🔹 Locking myself in my office for the 3 days before the event and ignoring all other work while I stressfully try to get my presentation and slides done. 🔹 Working on the slides on the plane to the event (while other people watch movies) 🔹 Arriving in the city and locking myself in my hotel room trying to finish my slides while other speakers and attendees enjoy getting together over food and drinks. 🔹 Pulling an all-nighter trying to get my slides done and my presentation perfect before I have to get on stage. 🔹 Missing all the other awesome presentations because I'm still in my hotel room guzzling instant coffee trying to get those remaining slides done. 🔹 Showing up at the time of my talk completely frazzled, exhausted, and stressed out. 🔹 Then getting on stage, feeling perfectly great, and delivering a kick-ass talk that is well-received. Lol. 🔹 Then enjoying that high for the rest of the day/evening while I hang with my SEO friends (this is the best part). 🔹 Then crashing so hard the night of the event before I get on a plane and go home. I know this is just me and other speakers are a lot more planned, organized, and chill about speaking, but after presenting dozens of times at SEO conferences, I have come to terms with the fact that I am unable to do it any other way. I'm too much of an obsessive perfectionist about it. And it sucks. It sucks because I miss most of the event and all the things that make conferences awesome! So I cannot wait for BrightonSEO San Diego where I am NOT speaking. 🔹 I won't have any stress at all. 🔹 I'll get to spend time with my wonderful local search pals, Joy Hawkins, Greg Gifford, and Krystal Taing. 🔹 I'll get to hang out with awesome friends like Noah Learner and Nick LeRoy at the SEO Slack Community Boardwalk Bash. 🔹 I'll get to attend all the incredible talks. 🔹 I'll come away feeling freaking awesome, filled with new knowledge, and excited to start implementing everything I learned at BrightonSEO San Diego. So, thank you so much Kelvin Newman for NOT inviting me to speak. I am so grateful to be able to just BE at this conference. Can't wait! And if you're going to be there, please give a shout in the comments. I'd love to see you there!

131

40 Comments

I've listened (or re-listened) to Lenny's podcast on product-led growth with Ben Williams from Snyk. The full episode is amazing, covering topics from focusing on a narrow group for MVP to implementing growth loops. What really stood out was the advice on how to organize growth teams - the need for removing silos and cross-functional collaboration that I'm seeing more and more in both B2B and B2C. Here's what stood out to me: 1. Building a balanced team around specific goals (acquisition, monetization) that can not just ideate but implement those ideas. This means having: A marketer and or growth role who can run testing experiments Product and dev people to implement ideas Data and decision scientists analyzing immediate and compounded impact Alignment with all exec stakeholders to support PLG as a priority 2. Focusing on identifying micro and macro loops in growth strategy and having patience to implement and let them run over time. Results are never immediate. 3. Ensuring data is effectively tracked and available to identify areas of improvement. This often means aligning and analyzing both marketing and usage data together. This podcast also reminded me of a great series of articles from Reforge on growth loops. One of the main ideas is transforming growth funnels into growth loops by removing silos and approaching acquisition, product, and monetization holistically. Some great ideas to dig into that are as relevant now as ever. https://lnkd.in/ewJh7EuH https://lnkd.in/e6RVgheH

9

Churn is the nemesis we all face in subscription business. This article tackles a critical truth: a leaky bucket drains your resources and inhibits growth. New customer acquisition should complement retention, not be the primary desperation. The article highlights two types of churn—voluntary and involuntary—and illustrates the importance of addressing this from the onboarding phase onwards. Why waste resources chasing new customers when elevating the experience for current users can deliver exponential value? Let’s turn the lens on how we engage and retain our customers. What strategies have you found effective in thwarting churn in your business? Share your thoughts. By the way, if you want to sharpen your business skills in record time, check out the 5 Minute Founders newsletter. A great way to pack in the benefits of full business books in just 5 minutes. https://lnkd.in/eF98xRPs

2

Account research at scale ✅ And not just understand the account... but automatically surfacing unique pain points they face related to your products and value propositions you should use in creating content for them 😁 https://lnkd.in/gd2GU8Bi

11

In SaaS space, it’s tempting to rely solely on data, features, and rational arguments to differentiate your brand. But here’s the hard truth: logic informs, but emotion persuades. Customers don’t choose one brand over another because of a slightly better feature—they choose because they feel a connection. Imagine this: Two SaaS tools with identical pricing and functionality. One talks about its “99.9% uptime and robust analytics,” While the other says, “We help you sleep at night knowing your operations are always running smoothly.” Which one would you choose? Here’s why emotional branding matters for SaaS founders: 1️⃣ Story over specs: Customers want to see how your product fits into their lives, not just how it works. 2️⃣ Connection over comparison: Features can be copied, but the emotional trust and connection you build with your audience are uniquely yours. 3️⃣ Relatability over rationality: Show them you understand their struggles and aspirations; don’t just list your credentials. Slack became a household name not by selling “team communication tools,” but by promising to make work life simpler and more enjoyable. They sold connections, not software. If you’re ignoring the emotional connection, you’re missing the most powerful driver of loyalty. So ask yourself: What story is your brand telling, and how does it make your customers feel? #SaaSFounders #BrandDifferentiation #EmotionalBranding #EarlyStageSaaS

4

CHEATSHEET: HOW TO FIX LOW TRIAL CONVERSION RATES A 3-step framework to fix activation and differentiation at mature SaaS companies to escape stagnating trial conversions. Your trial conversions stalled as your PLG SaaS matured, no initiative really moves the needle, and you keep hoping for a Hail Mary with that next big onboarding revamp? Then this cheatsheet is for you. Comment & like + add me and I’ll send you the HD Cheatsheet + a template for a Product Storyboard. Content: 1. 🔎 A Product audit kit to identify gaps between user needs and your sales, marketing, and product comms 2. 🔄  A 5 step process to create a converting Product Story centered around differentiation and activation 3. 📄  A Product Storyboard template you can use to workshop this in your company

44

17 Comments

Every small business should be running Meta ads – and vertical SaaS platforms, agencies, and consultants can help make it happen. In today’s digital world, small businesses can’t afford to miss out on Meta ads, yet many struggle with the time and know-how. Preflect's new solution empowers SaaS providers, agencies, and consultants to offer seamless Meta ad support. Help clients grow their visibility while unlocking new revenue streams and boosting your own value. Check out our latest blog on why Meta ads are essential and how you can deliver them easily. #DigitalMarketing #MetaAds #SmallBusinessGrowth #VerticalSaaS #AgencyGrowth #Preflect

14

Innovation for doers: Focus on Impact, Not Jargon Your customers don't care if your innovation is labeled as disruptive, adjacent, or incremental. They won't ask which "Horizon" it fits into or whether it aligns with the latest innovation framework. It's time to cut through the noise. What matters most is the tangible impact your innovations have on their lives and businesses. They care about solutions that solve real problems, enhance their experiences, and drive meaningful change. So, let's shift our focus from terminology to transformation. Instead of getting bogged down by jargon, concentrate on delivering results that truly matter. 🔍 Stop overanalyzing. 💡 Start making a difference. Your next breakthrough could be just around the corner—if you let go of the labels and embrace the possibilities. #Innovation #CorporateInnovation #BusinessTransformation #InnovationStrategy #ImpactfulChange #venturebuilding #CVC #openinnovation #accelerators

20