Provocative commentary on the tech industry for entrepreneurs and executives
July 29, 2022
Among other promised benefits, the SaaS business model liberated customers from the risks of signing up – and paying – for software before realizing any of the anticipated benefits, as occurred under the prior perpetual license model. How has this new business model, touted as being more aligned with customer needs, changed the way large organizations adopt, and vendors sell – and what if any factors have remained the same?
June 21, 2022
In recent years the acronym “ICP” (Ideal Customer Profile) has become part of our marketing lexicon, spawning a cottage industry of experts and consulting firms advising entrepreneurs and executives on how best to pinpoint their go-to-market strategy. As sometimes happens with new concepts, there can be a tendency for recommended methods and templates to become a tad over-complicated. The problem is, if it turns out to be too difficult for marketing and sales teams to apply the newly defined ICP effectively in their prospecting activities, what then?
May 5, 2022
In recent years the acronym “ICP” (Ideal Customer Profile) has become part of our marketing lexicon, spawning a cottage industry of experts and consulting firms advising entrepreneurs and executives on how best to pinpoint their go-to-market strategy. As sometimes happens with new concepts, there can be a tendency for recommended methods and templates to become a tad over-complicated. The problem is, if it turns out to be too difficult for marketing and sales teams to apply the newly defined ICP effectively in their prospecting activities, what then?
February 1, 2022
These days successful platform businesses are the envy of every tech CEO and investor. Yet, most tech companies are still designed as linear product businesses, selling their offerings to one customer at a time, and then pursuing the next prospect. At best this design constraint delays their success, at worst it condemns them to failure as a platform. To succeed, it’s vital to adopt an ecosystem perspective, with orchestration and curation as critical competencies.
June 4, 2021
It’s a mystery to me why so many B2B SaaS sales teams fall so far short of doing justice to the potential value of their offerings for addressing complex or painful problems. To illustrate just what I mean I have a true story to share – let’s call it the Story of Company A and Company B.