Matt A. Smith

Struggling to scale your mid-market business? Scaling isn't just about getting bigger – it's about getting smarter. In this week's The Wise Exit newsletter, we're diving deep into scaling strategies for mid-market firms. You'll learn: - The difference between growth and scaling (most get this wrong). - 5 key strategies to scale your business without losing your shirt. - Common mistakes to avoid (we see these all the time). - Case Study: How Zapier scaled without traditional VC funding. Whether you're planning to scale, sell, or just curious about what's next, this issue is packed with insights you can't afford to miss. Read the full newsletter here: https://bit.ly/3LHo7Ra Don’t miss out. P.S.: Follow me for more content like this.

35

26 Comments

Niche doesn't mean single-product. Data from TideMark's 2024 Vertical & SMB SaaS Benchmark Report backs this up. The sauce for Vertical SaaS is owning a niche and layering new products over time to grow 'share of wallet'... Here’s what I’ve learned from acquiring and operating Micro SaaS: // Product Expansion: - Start with your core offering, but always be mapping out adjacent pain points - Look for low-hanging fruit - features users are cobbling together with spreadsheets or third-party tools - Aim for products that increase switching costs and make your solution "stickier" // Acquisition vs. Development: - Sometimes it's faster to acquire a complementary product than build in-house - Look for small, bootstrapped tools in your vertical that solve adjacent problems - Assess potential acquisitions based on tech stack compatibility and integration ease // Pricing and Packaging: - Bundle strategically - not all products need to be sold separately - Use add-ons to increase ARPA without scaring off smaller customers - Consider usage-based pricing for auxiliary products to lower the barrier to adoption // Sales and Marketing: - Retrain your sales team on solution selling rather than product pitching - Develop clear ideal customer profiles for each product combination - Use your existing customer base as a testbed for new products // Technical Considerations: - Plan for integration from day one - whether building or buying - Prioritize a consistent user experience across products - Consider a modular architecture to facilitate future expansion // Metrics to Watch: - Track product adoption rates within your customer base - Monitor support ticket volume as you add products - Keep a close eye on churn rates for single-product vs. multi-product customers The multi-product approach isn't just about making more money. In smaller verticals, it's often the only path to building a substantial business. It's about creating an ecosystem that comprehensively serves your niche, making it harder for competitors to dislodge you. Depth plus breadth. But don’t diversify for the sake of it — be strategic, based on actual user needs and market dynamics. Follow me if you want to learn more about my journey of acquiring & operating Micro SaaS. For the love of the game 🏴‍☠️ ⚡ #Growth #Product #Strategy #Sales #Marketing

48

1 Comment

North Star metrics are the backbone of any successful marketplace. In this clip, Godard Abel shares how G2 focuses on quality reviews, buyer traffic, and vendor revenue as leading indicators of success. Episode 462 of The Full Ratchet dives into his journey of building and scaling G2 to $100M ARR, the challenges of early-stage entrepreneurship, and how AI is transforming software discovery. Link to the full episode is in the comment section below.

11

1 Comment

Do not read this post if your quota attainment per seller is >70%, Average Deal Sizes have grown >2x in the last year and if you don't need more Sales Pipeline. For those of you that do, I'm proud to announce a revolutionary way for your GTM teams to drive productivity with DatabookGPT. But, don't listen to me, listen to our customers: “As we pilot the new DatabookGPT, we find it’s driving down the creation of our initial account plans from seven weeks to seven minutes,” said Chris Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at Grant Thornton. “It's a game changer." "Every AE at Databricks lives by our value of 'customer obsessed.' Understanding the value the Data Intelligence Platform delivers for every customer is essential. DatabookGPT was built on Databricks and supports our sellers by giving them that account intelligence," said Ron Gabrisko, Chief Revenue Officer at Databricks. "Through our teams' use of Databook, we saw our average deal size increase by 54.8% in FY24", said Kirsty Mundy, WW Field Enablement Microsoft, Industry Solutions Delivery Learn more at www.databook.com. It's Generally Available now for companies looking to grow their deal sizes, shorten their sales cycles, and grow pipeline. #accountintelligence #enterprisesales #strategicrelationshipmanagement

71

14 Comments

7 Undeniable Reasons why Outbound Agencies > SDRs 1️⃣ Tech Stack Specialization • RevOps are spread thin, tools take time and 💲to onboard and integrate. • Outbound Agencies spend their time optimizing the best tech stack for a very specific part of the funnel that requires minimal integration with existing business systems. •  Clients fit into a fully optimized tech stack that undergoes regular upgrades. 2️⃣ Quick Results • Takes months to ramp a SDR and many more months to realize it's not working. • Agencies hit the ground running with best practices in weeks. 3️⃣ Experience • SDRs are typically entry level. Unless you have an amazing strategy and training (most do not) there's a lot of failure on the way to effective outbound. • Agencies are typically the best reps scaling up their strategies with technology.    • In our case, RevOps who have built every version of outbound system there has been for the last 5+ years and knows what works vs. not from cold, hard data. 4️⃣ Scalability • Typical SDR can SPAM the TAM with junk templates or craft decent to great personalized emails (but very few). • Agencies can send hundreds or thousands per day on behalf of reps while keeping it relevant & personalized. 5️⃣ Strategy • Agencies send a LOT of outbound for many clients. It's easier to find data-backed, proven strategies. • With AI & Automation keeping costs low, you're paying for a winning outbound strategy more than you are the horsepower behind it. 6️⃣ Hyper-Iteration • Most companies with reps use traditional SEPs with limited A/B testing • The modern agency stack enables hyper-targeted campaigns. It A→Z tests many variables to find message-market fit 10x faster. 7️⃣ Cost • DFY Outbound saves thousands on tech stack. Agencies can take advantage of economies of scale and pass that on. • 80+% cost reductions for outbound efforts with better results, no brainer. There's still a place for SDRs as social sellers, cold callers, and upskilling into GTM Engineers. or White-glove selling into Fortune 500. 💭 What are your thoughts on how the SDR will evolve in the next 2 years?

118

47 Comments

Myth: Custom sales collateral takes forever to create. The truth? It doesn’t have to. The real problem isn’t the complexity of customization - it’s the lack of the right tools and processes. Sales and marketing teams often rely on outdated workflows: ❌ Email threads for feedback. ❌ Version control nightmares. ❌ Templates scattered across platforms. This leads to delays, miscommunication, and materials that don’t hit the mark. Clatter flips the script by centralizing collaboration and streamlining the entire process. With our platform, teams can create, edit, and approve tailored sales collateral in record time—all while keeping it on-brand. What outdated workflow myth is holding your team back?

3

4 Comments

Great read on the state of SaaS in 2024. Biggest take-aways (especially GTM): - 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: ARR growth is at its lowest in years, with companies relying more on expansion than new logos. - 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Sales efficiency has dropped, with the net magic number falling below 1.0x for the first time. - 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗜𝗣𝗢: More SaaS companies are achieving profitability before going public. - 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀: Free Cash Flow (FCF) margins are improving, but the "Rule of 40" remains stagnant. - 𝗔𝗜'𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: GenAI could shift the "Rule of 40" to the "Rule of 60," but this is expected in 12+ months. - 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: ARR per FTE is up, but operational costs per employee are rising due (inflation and AI investments). Report by Claire Davis and Emre Garih at ICONIQ Capital #tech #startups #saas

141

21 Comments

Do you have sellers that struggle with asking for large dollar amounts? Here's a super easy fix: 1. Find a friend who works in finance at your company (if reasonably sized) or an equivalent size company that you sell to. 2. Get them to share an example budget with you 3. Walk through it together line by line You will quickly realize that most companies waste 30x what your solution costs on things with low ROI. Now, work on a narrative to move money from those things to your solution. Then, practice it. Then use it on prospects and customers. Then watch your deal size go up. Try it, it works.

13

2 Comments

Summary of conversations at conferences about AI in commercial functions: Person a: what are you using AI for in your business? Person b: 🤷‍♂️ we tried to make a super cool predictive model but our data was too dirty. Also our revops team was understaffed. I did ask ChatGPT4 to make me a list of restaurants to visit at this conference. Person c: that’s weird, I asked it to make me a picture this morning Person a: 🙋‍♂️ still wondering….what are you using it for in your business again? I believe that AI will ultimately be really helpful to many different business functions. We’re in the very early innings, though.

17

11 Comments

Every SaaS tool claims to be "𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹" But here's the uncomfortable truth: Most sales teams spend 80% of their budget on tools that drive 20% of results. We're obsessed with tracking activity (emails sent, calls logged) while ignoring what actually matters: outcomes. In this week's Enabled, I break down: 1. Why your tools are silently killing your ROI 2. The real cost of tool bloat ($28,000/rep annually) 3. How to calculate if your tech stack is actually worth it Plus: The difference between looking busy and being effective. Read the issue here: https://lnkd.in/eTqV8fYy

25

9 Comments

Most sales leaders focus on their top performers. But your best reps will crush quota whether you help them or not. Here's the uncomfortable truth about scaling revenue... Your top 10% will succeed despite you. They'll figure out how to sell your product and close deals even if you give them zero support, no collateral, and an undefined ICP. But you can't build a scalable revenue engine on top 10% talent alone. It's just math. Even with a rigorous interview process and strong recruiting brand, our 12-month retention rate at Levelset was around 55%. And that was GOOD. The key to scaling isn't finding more unicorns. It's raising the floor for everyone else. That means writing down exactly what success looks like. Not just hoping good people will "figure it out." I learned this the hard way. For the first 4 years (or so), we closed deals almost in spite of ourselves. No real sales playbook. No defined process. Just talented people working hard. When we finally documented our exact process - from first touch to close - our ramp time plummeted and consistency shot up. The uncomfortable truth? Most founders spend way more time recruiting than preparing to train and support their hires. Your playbook doesn't need to be fancy. Start with one document: "How to Run a Demo." Make it painfully detailed. Your top reps will hate it. Your new reps will love you for it.

42

6 Comments

"B2B buyers engage with 3-7 pieces of content before talking to a sales rep." (Kurve, 2024) This means you need more TOF awareness content to get more B2B buyers. Cold-outbound or SDR services alone are not enough anymore. You need to: - Educate your prospects on what you do. - Create more noise than your competition. - Showcase your industry-leading insights. - Reinforce your messaging & stay top of mind. - Position yourself as the only & go-to in your market. - Build multiple touch-points through content marketing. - Address common pain points and provide solutions early. - Ensure content speaks directly to their current buying needs. We're currently helping our clients sign the likes of Nvidia through our Content & Outbound System. If this post caught your attention, you can book in and hear about our strategy 1:1 here: https://lnkd.in/gu5n57sd

111

129 Comments

🧪 CRO Case Study Episode 54 One A/B test → 930K plus revenue 🚀 Swipe to learn how one A/B test added over $930K to our client's annual revenue. The Results Breakdown: +$77,558 per month +$930,696 per year (forecasted) +$0.58 revenue per session Bookmark this!

9

2 Comments

Every CRO and VP of Sales I know is obsessing over "efficiency" right now. 📈 ⚡ Definition: "How do I get my sales org performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort?" 🤔 The problem is they're optimizing every single part of their funnel and sales process EXCEPT for the part which matters most. How their sellers are showing up each day🧠 Data on how sellers are showing up in 2024: - 82% of sellers are stressed or highly stressed. - 70% of sellers struggle with mental health. - 70% of sellers are experiencing fatigue. - 69% of sellers have trouble sleeping. Time and effort will ALWAYS be wasted and "efficiency" will never be achieved, if your people are showing up in a 💩 state mentally and physically. If I phrased the same numbers above as: - 82% of your leads have wrong emails. - 70% of your cold emails end up in spam. - 70% of your demos no show. - 69% of your deals are lost to competitors. You would be freaking the f*ck out. 😬 So this is a nudge that you need be freaking the f*ck out about how your salespeople are showing up each day... Because it's not good. 📉 Good news is I'm delivering FREE 60 minute workshops to sales organizations during the month of May to make teams healthier, adaptable and more efficient. If you're interested - send me a DM. I only have capacity/bandwidth for 5 more clients so act now.🔥🔥🔥 ***Sales orgs must be +15 people to qualify***

54

35 Comments

No, using signals will not improve the effectiveness of your outbound motion. Not unless you do these two things extremely well: 1) Think deeply about the day in the life of your sellers 2) Use automation to solve for end-to-end workflow optimization Here's what I mean by this: 1️⃣ What does the day in the life of a seller look like? It’s easy for an outsider looking in to say “this is how we’re doing this, here’s where you can find the data, here are the steps you need to follow, here’s the process to follow.” But you have to be conscious of what your reps are already doing day-to-day. Chances are, your sellers already have 88 different tasks on their plates. How reasonable is it to add one more…and then another…and another? Even the most well-laid processes will fail if think about them like building blocks you keep stacking higher and higher. Eventually, the whole workflow will start falling apart because reps can’t keep up. The most obvious solution is to use automation to lighten the load. 2️⃣ Are you using automation as a prop or as a foundation for your workflows? Automation as a prop = automating some manual tasks to simplify a process Automation as a foundation = develop end-to-end automation that ensures a process is completed The former is a helpful, but short-sighted, approach to help reps with day-to-day work. The latter focuses on operationalizing and optimizing entire playbooks to achieve an objective. SIGNAL + ACTION = REVENUE 💰 Identifying signals is only half of the equation. You must think through the action every signal should go through from end to end. This is what will ultimately generate revenue.

28

2 Comments

SaaS Operators…can you pass the Nathan Latka podcast test❓ I’ve spoken with a lot of SaaS founders, CFO's, etc. from $3M ARR to $200M ARR who cannot pass his test. What is Nathan’s test? Asking you on the spot about specific SaaS metrics. Seems simple. Don’t find yourself not being able to answer financial and metrics questions when talking to your Board, investors, and potential investors. Or on a podcast! Can you pass the Latka test? I had a student in one class who specifically wanted to avoid “embarrassing Board questions.” 😯 To help you on your SaaS metrics journey, download my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework below. It's an instant download…no email asks or paywalls. I teach my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework to my students at The SaaS Academy. And I implement this metrics framework for my SaaS clients. Why is this framework important? 1) Use this as your roadmap to implement your metrics 2) Right metrics at the right stage 3) Data-driven decisions 4) Better capital allocation 5) Understand what is working, what is not working 6) Answer Board and investor questions 7) Implement a repeatable metrics process; no fire drills! Download the framework here: https://rpb.li/LqK Learn more about my SaaS metrics course here: https://rpb.li/NUdSnK Please like this post if you find value in my framework. And tag a friend 🙋 who might find this useful. #SaaS

1

SaaS Operators…can you pass the Nathan Latka podcast test❓ I’ve spoken with a lot of SaaS founders, CFO's, etc. from $3M ARR to $200M ARR who cannot pass his test. What is Nathan’s test? Asking you on the spot about specific SaaS metrics. Seems simple. Don’t find yourself not being able to answer financial and metrics questions when talking to your Board, investors, and potential investors. Or on a podcast! Can you pass the Latka test? I had a student in one class who specifically wanted to avoid “embarrassing Board questions.” 😯 To help you on your SaaS metrics journey, download my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework below. It's an instant download…no email asks or paywalls. I teach my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework to my students at The SaaS Academy. And I implement this metrics framework for my SaaS clients. Why is this framework important? 1) Use this as your roadmap to implement your metrics 2) Right metrics at the right stage 3) Data-driven decisions 4) Better capital allocation 5) Understand what is working, what is not working 6) Answer Board and investor questions 7) Implement a repeatable metrics process; no fire drills! Download the framework here: https://rpb.li/LqK Learn more about my SaaS metrics course here: https://rpb.li/NUdSnK Please like this post if you find value in my framework. And tag a friend 🙋 who might find this useful. #SaaS

4

1 Comment

A weak GTM strategy KILLS interest in an acquisition. How to know if your GTM is deal-ready? You need a scorecard. Here's what buyers actually look for. P.S. Follow me for more content like this.

52

27 Comments