Matthew Langie

Incumbent software vendors are likely to embrace a transition to consumption pricing sooner rather than later, as they stand to more than offset any cannibalised seat revenues. Salesforce GA'd Agentforce last week, priced at $2 per conversation (which aligns with how customers perceive value in customer service , h/t Kustomer). Kyle Poyar did a great breakdown of the current state of consumption pricing for AI, affirming that both incumbents and startups are accelerating the transition. Several second order effects emerge around forecasting, billing, pricing and packaging, software metrics, and more. https://lnkd.in/eVMBiaVP

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Want proof that multi-threading works? Here's our own data: We only win 4% of deals when there's one contact engaged. Scott Tower posted today about this https://lnkd.in/g2y-xjE4 This shows that buying is a team sport, and if there's only one person involved in a buying process it's likely going nowhere fast. One contact usually means they are on an information-gathering tour - typically a person with no decision-making authority - talking to vendors to collect pricing and present it to an executive team. This is the dumbest way to buy anything. People need to stop trying to avoid talking to sales reps. Great sales reps don't pressure prospects to buy products they don't need - they are there to help them buy and ensure their needs fit the solution. They can't do that if they aren't talking to the person with the pain and who has the authority to make the deal happen.

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Thanks to Dave Rigotti and team for a wonderful #PLGTM conference in SF. I had great discussions with sales and marketing leaders and here are some observations on how PLG has evolved. Part 1: Time to rethink PLG practice ✔ While the core idea of PLG revolves around self-service adoption and user-driven growth, the practice has evolved, and companies are recognizing the need for a hybrid approach. ✔ For a lot of practitioners, PLG means self-service and users adopt the product without sales support. In practice, PLG leads to increases S&M costs increasing CAC. So, it no more just about building a product but putting the marketing $ behind it. ✔ Enterprise buyers are researching on their own and have good information before they come to the call. Huge number of prospects want sales help in navigating the value prop but want to try out themselves. ✔ PLG does lead to execution speed driving the awareness, showing the value, decreasing sales cycles and enabling simple and faster expansion. ✔ There is a myth that only startups or B2C companies use PLG and has to be bottom-up approach. While many of the companies we know and products we use might be B2C, lot of enterprise B2B companies are PLG as well. e.g. users can simply signup and start using Calendly, Canva or Airtable. teams can start using the products like loom, figma and datadog. ✔ Bringing customers need a hybrid approach in 2024. You need to provide user value created by the product and buyer value created by sales teams. Think about product market fit and product customer fit - leading to greater number of happy customers ✔ Every KPI you are measuring should drive an outcome. If you collect data, ask "what is it used for? " and "how does it help customer or adoption?" ✔ As the PLG model continues to evolve, companies must adapt and embrace a balanced approach that leverages the power of self-service adoption while providing sales support to drive customer success and long-term growth. Thanks to David Yockelson and Dave Boyce for providing engaging discussion on the core of PLG. #productledgrowth #productledsales #salesledgrowth #startups #salesleadership #productmanagement

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Biggest mistake I see in Go To Market plans? Failing to bring your Self to market in the GTM strategy. Over a decade ago I showed this slide on stages in NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco. Markets were opening across the country and people were looking for direction. Unfortunately, the majority of those audiences failed to understand the assignment. That first bullet point, breed your own, that’s not about the particular product or name or color or anything else. Hell, in many respects you’d likely end up with inferior product. But the thing people simply didn’t yet believe, is that was OK! The customers didn’t want the most superior product, they wanted the most superior story about their chosen product. So THEY could be the star of the show. With their friends, at their work, on social media. It’s always about your customer and their sincere desire for a story. It’s what makes them smart, cool, safe, or whatever else it is they’re seeking in their purchase. When we bred our own strains it gave me a chance to write a story. Who, where, dilemmas, success, hopes, quests, realizations, and connection. I shared those stories with our staff, making the story of making the product part of the product, we made staff part of the stories too, we told those stories to every customer, at every transaction, every visit. And then we bred new ones, with new stories, until an overarching story in the community was born. About this place you had to drive almost an hour outside Denver to visit, how you never knew what you would find, about these crazy guys committed to collecting and making rare stuff, about how you might get a one-time-only batch of something special. We became a destination. We built raving fans. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in or if you sell products or services. YOU are the story. Not your product. If you haven’t evaluated your team’s GTM strategy in a while, do it. Who is the star of the show? It had better not be the product! —— I help people embed themselves in their Go-To-Market plans, so their customers fall in love. Reach out if your product isn’t flying off shelves.

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How do you set your deal priorities? Sales leaders are pretty good at this. But they can do better. The Efficient Frontier For Sales shows you where to focus so you maximize sales for the risk you are willing to accept. On average deal portfolios on the Efficient Frontier produce 58% more in-quarter sales than prioritizations based on stage, deal-size, forecast category, or deal-scores. Want to see how this works? DM me for that case study. #salesmanagement #salesleadership #salesenablement #salesoperations #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #analytics #datascience #forecasting #sales

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Who owns your end to end GTM system? What about the Bowtie data model? This was a key question during our two-day Revenue Architecture Summit in Santa Cruz. Marketing owns awareness. BDRs or equivalent own education. Sales owns selection. Finance oversees the mutual commit/contracting. Professional services do onboarding. CS helps with retention. Account managers focus on expansion. So do we even need somebody to own and optimize the overall #bowtie process and data model? YES! "But my marketing is great at increasing leads and sales is increasing close rates, so why worry about an overall owner?", you might say. What if the new leads are low quality and sales is rushing through the sales cycle, ultimately yielding high onboarding and ongoing churn? Whether you like it or not, revenue production is a closed loop system. Something you do on the left side of the bowtie impacts the right side and the other way around. Best to assign an unbiased data owner who does that personally have anything to gain by making the data tell any particular story. The most likely owner for the overall system, or at least for the overall data model, lives in operations or finance. We see new titles around GTM Strategy and Operations. We also see RevOps moving from CRO to COO or CFO. So hence my question: In your company, who owns the end-to-end revenue production system? Who owns data definitions and brings together your teams to decide on next actions to improve revenue production based on the data? #revenuearchitecture #bowtie #revops Photo courtesy Jill Guardia (she/her)

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What (Management) lessons can we learn from Los Angeles' apocalypse fires, and why is it time for Californians to rise against professional politicians and ideologues... First and foremost, I am so sorry for the hard-working people of Los Angeles, the gardeners, construction workers, retail/services managers, and entrepreneurs. What happened was unfair and heartbreaking but mostly outrageous because it was so predictable and avoidable. I (legally) immigrated to this country 25 years ago. In exchange for an Eb1 visa, I had to produce a five-year plan, hire many people, and pay many taxes. This led to a green card and eventually US citizenship... Originally, from Europe, I always thought of my affiliation as progressive, squarely leaning toward democrats (the 80s and 90s version), although I was always fiscally conservative... After 2 decades of no changes, worse infrastructures, growing taxes (why are we paying $4.89 a gallon vs. the national average of $3 again?), exploding homelessness, and consistent deficits... California, the 5th largest economy with a budget of $322B, should LEAD THE WORLD FOR ITS INFRASTRUCTURES, have the most modern high-speed trains (LA to Seattle in 5 hours), quality and abundant water, and clean (nuclear) energy (France relies 75% on it). Modern buildings, with yearly preventive clean-ups and fire prevention strategies and equipment, and communities of tiny houses solving homelessness and addiction. Dream on... The Tenderloin (a dangerous San Francisco neighborhood) 25 years ago is the same as it is today, but some say it is probably more dangerous and dirtier...Homeless people have grown significantly over these last 5 years (~200,000 people), $24B has been spent on the problem, and there has been no progress... Why? Less than 20% goes to helping people, the rest and the vast majority in the hands of administrations and mindless bureaucrats...such a waste, such as shame... It does not matter if you lean right or left; the bottom line is that we should not support politicians who are incompetent and live only to protect ideologies... When will California change and recognize that politicians have failed us over the last thirty years? It's time to rally, rise, and shake up the status Quo. Let's remain civil and temper our (justified) anger, but man o man... Go to any city in Asia or Dubai, and you'll realize we are short-changed. As in any capitalistic corporation, how about demanding the following from our leaders: 🔥 Extreme transparency on budget allocation 🔥 One-time term 🔥 Enforce Lobbyist $ Caps 🔥 Enforce performance-based reviews 🔥 Streamline Recall mechanisms

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🚢 Shipped Today: Pursuit's Fall 2024 Release 🚢 Responding to cold public sector RFPs is so 2023. (And 2022. And 1995...) Enter Pursuit Radar — Get alerted the moment a public entity mentions a problem you can solve, months before your competition knows there's even an opportunity. Be first in the door. Shape the conversation. Transform your win rate. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eAdzSdH8

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Dear C-suite………      ABM  ≠  Account-Based GTM. Here is why conflating the two is a dangerous trend that needs to STOP. BACKGROUND: The past 5 years have been the wild west of “ABM”. After SiriusDecisions and TOPO were acquired by massive research firms in 2019, a wave of instability and lack of standardization has plagued B2B. Tech vendors, agencies and boutique analyst firms have tried to fill the gap → leading to disturbing misconceptions and wide-scale confusion. EXAMPLE:   GTM leaders and operators don’t want another “ABX”. This was a well intentioned attempt at rebranding “ABM” and creating an evolved category. But missed the mark → ABM & ABX are the same thing... This has led to adoption hesitancy around “Account-Based GTM”. WHY ACCOUNT-BASED GTM IS HERE TO STAY: Your Account-Based GTM strategy spans across the entirety of ALL revenue teams… 1. Account-Based Marketing 2. Account-Based Customer Marketing 3. Account-Based Sales (this function has been doing this for YEARS) 4. Account-Based Sales Development 5. Etc. ABM isn’t going anywhere. CxO’s are just starting to wake up to the fact that → adopting account-based principles across the entirety of your GTM strategy leads to greater efficiency, clarity and $$$$ results. TAKEAWAY: Companies that adopt an account-based approach throughout the entirety of their GTM strategy outperform those who don’t. #b2bmarketing #abm #accountbasedmarketing #b2b

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The Invoca value proposition in emoji format Marketing ❤️ Contact Center = 💰 💰 + 🔥 🔥 + 😃 😃 Learn how that recipe works from Peter Isaacson, together with Derek Top and Amy Stapleton from Opus Research, in the upcoming webinar "Making the Digital-Age Contact Center a Revenue Machine." More details at the link below: https://lnkd.in/gKACPcAM

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If an advertiser is spending profitably on a small portfolio of the largest advertising channels already --- which almost all are with some significant percentage of total budget -- and wants to consider a new channel, they have to determine whether that same amount of incremental spend would deteriorate the performance of their existing campaigns, and whether that degradation would be worth the added cost of managing a new channel. As uncomfortable as it might seem, most user acquisition teams would be better off operating only on the largest channels — concentrating their spend, developing channel specialization, and minimizing their analytical overhead — versus having their team’s attention and time spread across a wider array of channels with a longer-tailed distribution of ad spend and revenue.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom just vetoed the “AI Kill Switch Bill” (SB 1047). Some say it’s a win for innovation, others warn it opens Pandora’s box. Both are right. On one side, letting AI develop without strangling it in red tape accelerates progress—especially for open-source projects. On the other, unchecked AI poses real risks: bias, harmful outputs, regulatory breaches, and eroding public trust. So how do we approach this? 1. Understand the stakes – Overregulation could kill innovation. No regulation? We risk AI running unchecked and causing real damage. 2. Consider the long-term – Strangling AI early on stunts progress. But ignoring the risks could lead to outcomes we can’t undo. 3. Balance innovation with accountability – We need guardrails that evolve with the tech, not blanket bans or free-for-alls. Here’s the reality no one is talking about: Any regulation without personal accountability is just noise. Fines don’t matter to companies with deep pockets and big ambitions. They’ll pay the cost and keep going. In fact, it creates an even bigger moat for the giants. If the only stakes are fines, there’s always someone with enough capital and enough motivation to push the limits—and go bigger than anyone ever imagined. The bigger the penalties, the bigger the incentive to play recklessly at scale. If we’re serious about preventing AI from spiraling out of control, we need regulations that hold people, not just companies, accountable. What’s your take? Let’s discuss.

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Colorado founders -- the next Thunderview CEO Dinners event (Oct 3rd) is focused on getting your first sales as CEO and then growing your sales team. As Natty Zola said at our last dinner, revenue is the best form of funding, and it's up to the CEO to make those initial sales. If you're struggling to get leads and close deals, you're in luck. Our featured speaker is Scott Schnaars, who has sold and build sales teams everywhere from early stage startups like Badgeville and ReSci (Retention Science), mid-stage companies like Firstup (formerly Dynamic Signal) and Cloudinary, and massive companies like Yahoo and Webex. This is a highly tactical conversation, and you'll leave with actionable steps to find and close leads the following day. Additionally, for founders who are moving beyond CEO-led sales, Scott will discuss best practices for hiring and managing your earliest salespeople. If this is your first Thunderview CEO Dinner, please reserve a seat at https://lnkd.in/et5zZShA If you've been to previous dinners, head straight to the tickets page (check your email or DM me) and grab your ticket as this is going to be another sellout crowd. Thunderview CEO Dinner October 3rd, 6p - 9p Mercury Cafe in Denver 🤘 Even if you aren't coming / can't come to the dinner, please please please like and reshare this post if you are in Denver. I'm fighting the "you've shared this link before" LinkedIn distribution penalty. 🤘

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The GTM Podcast just hit the top 1% of podcasts! I'm honored to be among their top 25 listened to episodes, particularly humbling when listed among names of so many world class GTM minds like Lars Nilsson, Eric Gilpin, Samantha McKenna, Katrina Wong, Ang McManamon, Adam Schoenfeld, and so many more. GTMfund has assembled some of the best minds in GTM, be sure to check out GTMnow to learn from their experiences. If interested, I talk about building teams and cultures and managing through different stages of growth —— you can find a link to the podcast in the comments below.

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🚀 Ready to supercharge your GTM strategy? Join me in Austin, Texas, from October 14th-16th for Pavilion's annual GTM2024 conference! This isn’t your typical B2B event. Over three days, you'll dive deep into hands-on sessions with other GTM leaders, crafting actionable strategies that will propel your speed to market. 🛠️✨ Oh, and did I mention? I’ll be there too! 🎉 Whether you're looking to connect, collaborate, or just grab a coffee, I’d love to chat. Fun fact: I will be speaking on my favorite topic: How to Scale AI in GTM! Stop by to be part of the conversation. Don’t miss out! If you’re interested in attending, drop me a DM or message me with “Boost my GTM” to grab my special promo code for 10% off your ticket. 🎟️ Register Here: https://lnkd.in/ebpdhUkn Let’s make GTM2024 unforgettable! 🌟 #GTM2024 #Austin #PavilionGTM #Marketing #Sales #Strategy

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The acquisition game is very different from 10 years ago now that 70% of SaaS acquisitions are led by private equity investors or PE-owned strategic buyers. Most SaaS founders aren't thinking about the new realities of eventually selling their SaaS companies. It's very different than the old days of "sell it for big multiples to a strategic buyer, cash out, and see ya later." Here are 5 questions for founders to consider the new realities of a potential PE-backed exit: 1) Is my company built to keep growing efficiently after I sell it? - Your SaaS metrics need to be healthy. Growing steadily with efficient CAC and solid revenue retention - You need a business that runs without you, the founder. - And you will still be responsible for fixing the problems in your business. 2) Would I invest in the new company with my hard-earned equity or cash? PE buyers don't cash you out of 100% of your equity, just a partial "first bite of the apple" prize. They buy a minority or majority of your company, so you become the major private investor in the acquiring business. This is not an earn-out. You now own shares in a new company that you don't control. You must be confident enough in the new owners, operators, culture, and vision to invest 20-60% of your hard-earned equity in this new venture. 2) Why will this acquisition work to build and sell a much bigger company? Most old-style mergers and acquisitions didn't work for either side. In this new world, founders need to find the right owner/partner with the right strategy and team to ensure their hard-earned equity pays off on their "2nd bite of the apple" when it is sold again. Founders should also do deep due diligence on their acquiring PE investors, not just pitch themselves for "sale" to any takers. 3) Do I trust the new owners and operators to do the right things? Most founders don't stay on as CEOs when they sell to PE buyers. Someone else owns your business (PEs), and they have CEOs who will run the business their way. 90% of founder-CEOs who sell to PE end up as board members with the ability to make suggestions to the new leaders. That's it. You must trust the people and their approach to your business and your precious equity. 4) How will things change now that I'm not the CEO? Maybe you continue running the business as a CEO with new owners for a while, but eventually, you won't be there. Now what? How do you spend your time now that you're only an involved board member? This is very jarring for most former CEOs, so it's worth considering before selling. 5) How will things change now that I have money? The biggest reason to sell a major part of your healthy SaaS business is to take some chips off the table and win a major cash prize. You invested 5-15 years in this business and probably some of your own cash. Now what? Will your life change a little or a lot? It's a whole new world for successful SaaS founders when they sell to PE buyers. #practicalfounders

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As we move deeper into 2024, tracking the right metrics is critical for scaling a SaaS business. This insightful guide outlines the top metrics to watch and includes valuable benchmarks to keep you on track. Whether you’re focused on ARR, CAC, or CLTV, understanding where your company stands is key to driving sustainable growth. Check out the article for a comprehensive look into the latest SaaS trends and metrics! #SaaS #BusinessGrowth #Metrics

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Catch up on Adam Robinson's journey on The Force & Friction Podcast as he discusses scaling a SaaS company from $20M towards $50M ARR. Watch the full episode here: https://bit.ly/3YzjaBH "It’s a game of different rules at each stage". #ForceAndFrictionPodcast #RevOpsLife #GTM #SaaS #B2BGrowth #EntrepreneurJourney #ScalingUp

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