Eddie Reynolds

Union Square Consulting

Union Square Consulting is a GTM Strategy & Operations consulting firm. 

I spend the majority of my time:
1. Managing our Sales and Marketing Team
2. Managing our VPs of GTM Strategy & Operations Consultants
3. Providing GTM Strategy & Operations Consulting to Customers

We work with high-growth companies, primarily B2B SaaS companies to help them in five areas:
1. GTM Strategy and Planning
2. Go To Market Process
3. GTM Metrics and Insights
4. Systems Implementation and Ongoing Optimization
5. User Training and Enablement

We do this to help companies execute their Go To Market Strategy by:
1. Making sure your systems are working
2. Making sure your revenue team is using the systems properly
3. Making sure they are executing the right process to attract and retain customers
4. Analyzing the metrics to see what's working, what's not and what to do about it
5. Creating a strategy and a roadmap for all of the above to actually get it done

CEO and GTM Strategy & Operations Consultant

RevOps Corner

RevOps Corner is a podcast we produce at Union Square Consulting to share best practices for Strategic Revenue Operations. 

We do this by interviewing amazing guests, ranging from Revenue Operations Professionals to Revenue Leaders to Venture Capitalists and many other experts in the B2B SaaS community. 

We also share what we're seeing in the trenches every day in our work as Revenue Operations Consultants here at Union Square Consulting.

Listen to the Podcast on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1CM3rmelcdtm6gJVL0PtMK?si=00aae750ea7a4937
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revops-corner/id1619571311

Host

Pavilion

Executive Member

Trumid

Trumid is a Unicorn Fintech Startup that has raised over $650 million in funding to date. 

I joined Trumid right when they had achieved Product Market Fit and relaunched their application. 

My role was to manage all our Revenue Operations:

1. Systems Implementation and Management
 - Sales, Marketing, Service and Data Analytics

2. Enablement
 - Provided training and enablement to the customer facing revenue team

3. Insights
 - Worked directly with the Co-CEOs to provide daily insights on revenue metrics

4. Process Mapping
 - Mapped our sales, marketing and service processes prior to architecting systems and data

5. Strategy and Planning
 - Planned, managed and executed our revenue operations roadmap

VP of Revenue Operations

Salesforce

My role at Salesforce was to work with current and prospective customers to explore opportunities to leverage technology to find more prospects, win more customers, keep more customers and enable their business to scale.

We helped customers accomplish this by improving business processes in marketing, sales, customer service and other departments, centralizing their data in one place and building operational efficiencies. This enables them to grow faster and gives leadership more visibility to make better strategic decisions.

I accomplished this by beginning consultations with the objectives of the business and only then discussing technology. My role was to quarterback a number of resources within Salesforce and the client's team to work together to uncover the best business processes to help them overcome obstacles and reach their goals. Then, we would map out how Salesforce and related technologies could be used to execute those business processes.

Account Executive

CrossBay Capital Partners

CrossBay Capital Partners is a boutique placement agent. We raise capital for established alternative investment managers with a primary focus on private equity.

 - Sourced investments by soliciting private equity firms seeking to raise a fund
 - Distributed investments by building relationships with institutional investors
 - Designed and implemented Salesforce.com to support these efforts for the entire team

Vice President - Institutional Sales

Altvia

Altvia Solutions provides a solution, built on the Salesforce platform, for institutional investors and fund managers to manage investing and fundraising processes.

 - Managed sales process from initial prospecting to negotiation and close for new business
 - Acted as my own sales engineer to provide highly customized and tailored presentations
 - Oversaw marketing efforts by working closely with CEO and our advertising agency
 - Worked closely with implementation team to scope project 
 - Helped implementation team customize solution for each new client

Account Executive - Private Equity Solutions

Yen Capital Management LLC

YEN Capital Management assists operating companies raising capital from private equity investors.

 - Built healthcare platform from inception by growing relationships with private equity investors and healthcare companies
- Closed mandates to raise $25 million and $40 million for two pharmaceutical manufacturers

Head of Advisory Services – Healthcare Banking Team

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Business Banking provides lending and deposit solutions to small and medium-sized businesses.

- Solicited and built relationships with hundreds of independent businesses across all industries
- Achieved sales production in the top 1% of bankers in the company

Business Banking

Over +20 years in sales, customer success and marketing, I’ve developed a passion for data-driven strategy and process. I’ve always been fascinated by the edge it can give an IC or an entire company. 

Ten years ago, I joined Salesforce as an AE covering high-growth, VC-backed B2B SaaS companies. I met with hundreds of executives and revenue leaders and they all wanted this edge. They wanted to hear how Salesforce and my other customers operated, not how the software worked. 

Our consulting partners, however, were solely focussed on the software, often missing the broader strategy. This inspired me to start a unique consulting firm, merging system implementation with data-driven GTM strategy. 

Since then, I’ve seen some of the deepest ingrained revenue growth problems plaguing B2B SaaS – and we’ve developed a system to solve them.

𝘾𝙍𝙊𝙨, 𝘾𝙈𝙊𝙨, 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙑𝙋𝙨:

Does this sound familiar?

💭“I don’t understand what my data is telling me. I’m not even sure it’s accurate.”
💭“We’re getting tons of leads but they’re not converting enough to outpace churn.”
💭“We’ve spent so much money on tech, marketing, training, etc. – but there’s no ROI.”

Or maybe even…

“I don’t want to end up like those guys ☝️ How do I get in front of this?”

𝙔𝙊𝙐’𝙍𝙀 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙀

I founded Union Square Consulting to help B2B recurring revenue brands increase profitability by targeting the source of their revenue engine issues (not just the symptoms).

𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙒𝙀 𝘿𝙊

Fractional RevOps that delivers both systems implementation and go-to-market strategy.

𝙒𝙃𝙊 𝙒𝙀’𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙋𝙀𝘿

High-growth brands from Series A to C and beyond like Techstars, Luminate, and Federato.

𝙂𝙀𝙏 𝘼 𝙁𝙍𝙀𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝘼𝘾𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉

Sit down with one of my Senior Revenue Strategists for a personalized Revenue Operations Coaching Session. Walk away with advice you can use immediately.

👉 CLICK HERE: unionsquareconsulting.com/workshop

𝙎𝙐𝘽𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙄𝘽𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙊𝙋𝙎 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎𝙇𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍

Get actionable and practical tips on optimizing your marketing, sales, and customer success engines.

👉 CLICK HERE: unionsquareconsulting.com/newsletter

Wow! This guy DM'ed me an hour ago and now I have a proposal. 

I got a random connection request this morning.

By pure miracle, this guy is pitching something that is #1 on my priority list this quarter and this morning. 

However, it's still a random guy on LI.

I didn't want a meeting.
He didn't ask. 

I just responded with "how much?"

He responded with 
"Happy to share. Can I ask a couple questions?"

I'm already like....
"Ugh....he's gonna ask for a meeting."

But no, he asked me a few basic questions over DM. 

Then he sent me a full Loom walkthrough of a custom proposal. 

Holy shit!

Okay, this is how I want to buy!

(And no, if you're buying from me, I'm not selling this way. Wish I could.)

But man.....where possible......this is the way!

✌️

CEO | GTM Strategy & Ops for B2B SaaS CROs

"What's the ROI of fixing our GTM Operations?"
I get asked this question constantly.

And every time I hear it, it feels like a slap in the face.

Here's the thing.
- You just told me your GTM is a mess
- Your forecasts are consistently off
- Inbound leads aren't being followed up on
- The pipeline is filled with dead deals
- NRR is slipping because there's no process
- No one has visibility because the systems are broken

But we can’t plug these revenue leaks until we “prove ROI?” 

Warren Buffett said it best: "You don't need to know if a man weighs 300 or 350 pounds to know that he's overweight."

When the problem is obvious, you don't need to overanalyze it.

But here's the real issue.
When your GTM is fundamentally broken, you can't even measure ROI.

Your Close Rate looks like 25%. But it's meaningless.
Some reps create opps after every meeting. Others wait for the verbal.
One group has a 5% Close Rate. The other has 85%.

The blended number tells you nothing.

You can't measure the ROI of fixing your sales process until you've fixed your sales process.

So let's think about this differently.
- What if you improved your Close Rate from 15% to 16%?
- That's $1M in additional ARR on a $25M new business goal.

That single improvement pays for your entire GTM Ops investment.

What if you improved inbound lead conversion from 1.0% to 1.1%?
- That adds $16.7M in pipeline. 
- At a 15% close rate, that's $2.5M in additional revenue.

What if you improved retention from 85% to 86%?
- On a $100M ARR base, that's $1M saved.

These aren't aggressive assumptions.
They're conservative.
And they compound.

Better lead conversion creates more pipeline.
Better close rates turn more pipeline into customers.
Better retention and expansion multiply the impact.

In tomorrow's 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰, I break down the exact math on why any improvement in GTM Ops pays for itself several times over.

But the real question isn't "What's the ROI?"

It's "Can we afford NOT to fix this?"

How much revenue are you leaving on the table with broken GTM processes?

🤔

Get the full breakdown (including the image below) in tomorrow's 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰
Subscribe to get it here: https://bit.ly/49RCm0h

✌️

How do you actually calculate the most important GTM Metrics?

Following the 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 & 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 we published yesterday, we released a 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 outlining how to calculate each of these metrics. 

We're coving the following types of metrics:

𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦

We ask questions like:
 - How efficient is our overall GTM Engine?
 - What does it cost to acquire customers?
 - What does it cost to grow revenue by $1?
 - What's the lifetime value of our customers?

We answer them with metrics like:
 - CAC
 - CAC Ratio
 - CAC Payback
 - LTV:CAC
 - Magic Number
 - GTM Efficiency Ratio
 - GTM Efficiency Margin

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦

We ask questions like:
 - Are we growing fast enough?
 - Are we growing profitably enough?
 - Do we have strong unit economics?
 - Are we producing enough cash flow?
 - Are we spending too much in sales/mktg?

We answer them with metrics like:
 - Rule of 40
 - Growth Rate
 - Gross Margin
 - Net Income
 - Etc.

𝗣𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦

We ask questions like:
 - Are we generating enough pipeline?
 - Are we generating enough inbound leads?
 - Are we logging enough outbound activities?
 - How are leads and activities converting to pipe?

We answer them with metrics like:
 - Lead Generation (MQLs)
 - Pipeline Generation (# and $)
 - Sales Activities, Meetings Booked
 - Conversion Rates

𝗣𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦

We ask questions like:
 - Are we closing deals?
 - Are we chasing the right deals?
 - Do we have real pipeline to close?

In other words, do our reps actually know how to identify real qualified sales opportunities and do they know how to take all the right steps to close them?

We answer them with metrics like:
 - Close Rate
 - ASP
 - Sales Cycle
 - Pipeline Velocity

𝗖𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦

We ask questions like:
 - Are we retaining customers?
 - Are we expanding customers?
 - Are we onboarding them right?
 - Which customers are healthy?
 - Which can we try to expand?
 - Which are unhealthy?
 - Which are at risk of churn?

We look at metrics like:
 - Gross Retention Rate (GRR)
 - Expansion $ARR
 - Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
 - Customer Health Ratings
 - Onboarding Metrics

More on this in our 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅

Read the Framework and/or get the high-res image in the link in my comment below 👇

Or comment "High Res" below (and send me a connection request if we're not already connected) and I'll DM it to you. 

✌️

𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 & 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 separate Strategic CROs and RevOps Leaders from glorified sales managers and systems admins. 

Getting accurate metrics isn’t easy though. 

Getting real Insights from those metrics is even harder.

We need to:

𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿
Start by identifying the metrics that matter for your unique GTM motion. 

To help, our 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 will have a 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 outlining the most common metrics in B2B SaaS and how to calculate them. 

𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀
Metrics are only as accurate as the process being executed. 

If our salespeople don’t know how to qualify deals, for example, our Close Rate will tell us nothing. 

We have to clearly define processes, train the team, and drive them to adopt and execute in order to be a data-driven organization. 

𝗨𝗻𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹
It’s not enough to see our Lead Conversion Rate, or Close Rate, across our entire business. 

These numbers are blended together across different types of leads and lead sources, different segments (SMB, MM, ENT), geos, products, etc. 

To see what’s really happening, we have to unblend the funnel. 

More on this in our 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆
People only execute processes when held accountable. 

To get accurate data, we need to inspect the data regularly to be sure it’s accurate. 

To get real insights into our business, we need to analyze that data regularly to spot trends and take action.

This requires the right person/people with the right skills and uninterrupted time to do “deep work.” 

CROs usually don’t have time to do this well and RevOps can’t if they’re constantly harassed with system admin requests. 

𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
As we get to this part of the year, finalizing our annual plan, it’s a bit too late. We have dirty data and have to make some BIG assumptions. 

If we’re in this boat, we need fix this for next year.

Additionally, Annual Plans aren’t set in stone. We need to track them and iterate as we hit or miss goals and milestones. 

More on this in our 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

See the Framework and get the high-res version in the link in the comment below. 👇

If you want more breakdowns like this, subscribe to our newsletter at the link to get weekly insights directly in your inbox. 

✌️

The current GTM AI frenzy reminds me of the same shiny object syndrome that drove Predictable Revenue and Outreach and Salesloft. 

It's not that any of it's wrong. 
It's that GTM leaders overlook fundamentals. 

Here's what we all saw last time.
 - Predictable Revenue came out
 - Outreach and Salesloft came out
 - And it felt like a magic easy button
 - Just hire a bunch of outbound SDRs
 - Buy and implement Outreach or Salesloft
 - Slap together some cadences and templates
 - Reps press "Send All" and watch the money roll in

And this worked for some
And this worked for some time
But response rates ended near zero

Why?

Think about the fundamentals:

 - Do we have the right ICP?
 - And the right Buyer Personas?
 - Do we know our outbound capacity?
 - As in the number of prospects we can work?
 - Have we identified the best prospects to target?
 - And have we segmented similar types of buyers?
 - And created sequences for each of those segments?
 - And trained our reps to do actual research before send?
 - And built a reporting and review engine for management?
 - To identify what's working, what's not, and what to iterate?

If yes, this approach and these tools worked very well. 

If not, they didn't, at least not for long. 
 - Not after we burned through the first batch
 - Got a <1% response rate from our best prospects
 - And had to dig for scraps waaaaaaay outside the ICP

AI is not different. 

There's no magic prompt to write the perfect message to be all things to all prospects. 

If we want AI to work, we need to master the fundamentals. 

✌️

I've had 3 back to back calls with major PE firms facing massive pressure to implement AI in GTM. 

One told me "Even if these AI tools don't add value to GTM, they add value to the company."

I had to digest that one. 

What he was telling me is this:
 - If a company implements AI in GTM
 - And it produces zero impact or improvement
 - Just saying "we have AI" increases company value

I was shocked by this!
But I really shouldn't be. 

I've spent the last +20 years working with PE/VC investors and they're just as susceptible to shiny object syndrome as any other humans.

So I get it.

Everyone is facing this pressure. 

But, as we address it, we might as well create some real value too.  

To do this, we need to master the fundamentals:
 - Pipe Gen
 - Closing and Forecasting
 - Renewals and Expansion

Within each of these is a series of basic steps. 
Unique to each market, each product, each GTM team. 

Many have not defined these steps. 
Many don't know what "good looks like"
Making it extremely hard to replicate "good" with AI. 

For those that have mastered these fundamentals. 
It's FAR easier to look through each step for use cases. 

If you need some help, check out our GTM Efficiency Pyramid. 

This will outline the fundamentals for you. 

So you can quickly get to the shiny objects AND see real value. 

Link below in the comments 👇

✌️

Outbound is not dead!
 - It's working for us
 - It's working for our clients
 - What's dead is Spray and Pray
 - It's pressing "Send All" that's dead
 - Sending generic templates to everyone

Relevant/Personalized outbound works
 - Highly targeted messaging
 - To a very narrow niche of prospects

We see this w/ our clients
 - We see the reports
 - We see what's working
 - We see what's not working

Outbound works when reps reach:
 - The right people
 - In the right companies
 - With the right messaging

Here's how to do this "at scale"

𝗜𝗖𝗣/𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘀

Most ICP/Persona definitions miss the "ideal" and cast far too wide a net, targeting broad industries and revenue ranges without getting granular enough to define the "ideal" customers. 

𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Reps have 2,000 accounts and can only cover 200. 

They're missing 90% of the best accounts and/or doing their own analytics to identify them. This is NOT an efficient use of seller's time. 

Instead, we should carefully analyze capacity and give reps the absolute best accounts they can work. 

𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Territories need to match capacity with the best accounts and contacts in our ICP/Personas, within that capacity. 

𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀

Break territories into segments so reps can focus on one person in one type of company at a time. 

Reps can share far better messaging in far less time if they're focussed on one avatar with one set of challenges. 

𝗖𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀/𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀

Define the process reps need to execute to maximize conversion rates on this extremely targeted outbound. 

Define where messaging needs to be personalized/tailored and where it can be targeted with highly relevant templates for each segment. 

𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

Train the team and use reports to ensure they're targeting the right people with the right messaging and executing the process. 

This requires active effort and ongoing coaching from management. 

𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

With this foundation in place, we can get accurate data and look at what's working, what's not, and where we can optimize the targets, messaging and process. 

Pipeline Council is just one way to do this in a more formal way. 

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Once things are working, we can scale that foundation with automation, AI, and other advanced motions. 

--------------------------

We broke this down in our 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸

👉  See the link in comments to get it. 👇

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲? 

Grab it in that same link. 

Or comment "High Res" below 
 - Send a connection request if we're not connected
 - We'll DM it to you

✌️

Improving your CRM won't fix your bad data.
Improving your data won't fix your poor reporting.
Improving your reporting won't fix your poor process.
Improving your process won't fix your poor GTM strategy.
And improving your GTM strategy won't fix your lack of focus.

Your focus is everything.

One buyer
One product
One GTM motion

Just get that right.
Ignore absolutely everything else.

If you're a $1M startup, there shouldn't be anything else.
If you're a $1B public company, you can't fix it all at once.

Your focus will lead to great GTM Strategy
Your focussed strategy will lead to great process
Your focussed process will lead to great reporting
Your focussed reporting will lead to great execution
Your focussed execution will lead to great GTM data
Data will then circle back up to further improve GTM strategy

✌️

I see a lot of CROs set up to fail.
It happens for a lot of reasons, but here's one. 

I met a CRO and CMO a little while back. 

Core Issues:
 - Pipeline mismanaged
 - Inbound leads being ignored
 - Outbound prospecting neglected

Potential customers in their ICP were raising their hands, asking for demos, getting zero response from sales. 

My 1st Reaction:
 - What is the issue?
 - You're the CRO and CMO
 - Just fix the process tomorrow
 - We can help you fix this, and fast

Unfortunately, they had other blockers. 

Second Layer:
 - The CRM is a mess
 - We have 500 custom fields
 - It's a nightmare for our reps

My 2nd Reaction:
 - We can fix this too. What's the issue?

This looked like a tech issue, but it wasn't. 

Third Layer:
 - The CTO built this
 - CRO and CMO are new
 - And CTO says he's got this
 - Except that he's slammed now

My 3rd Reaction:
 - Okay.....
 - The CTO built the CRM
 - And made an enormous mess
 - So much so that sales can't use it
 - Can't follow up with hot inbound leads
 - So you're loosing easy revenue every day
 - We need to get aligned with your CEO on this

What happened next?
 - We couldn't get the CEO into a conversation
 - We spoke with the CTO and ended as you'd expect
 - Leaving the CRO and CMO fighting to swim upstream 

The REAL Core Issue:
 - CEO is not committed to GTM

The CEO is committed to spending money
 - On a competent CRO
 - On a competent CMO
 - On a robust GTM tech stack
 - On marketing spend to drive leads
 - On salespeople to convert those leads

But the CEO isn't committed to understanding it
 - Or making sure it works

As a CEO myself, I get it. 
 - We don't have time to fix every problem

But revenue generation is never something to ignore. 

✌️

There's a good reason salespeople get paid more.
And it's not just that they're closer to revenue. 
It's also not just that it's (in theory) more measurable. 

It's about accountability. 

Think about every other job in a company. 

1. Finance
 - Customers paid late
 - "We followed up. What else can we do?"
 - They still get paid all/most of their comp

2. Product
 - Customers didn't like new features
 - They still get paid all/most of their comp

3. Marketing
 - Leads didn't convert to pipeline
 - We can blame sales for not closing
 - They still get paid all/most of their comp

Etc.

Now, contrast this with sales. 

1. Leads Not Converting
 - Even if they followed up
 - Even if everyone knows leads are bad
 - They lose half their income and/or their job

2. Customers Don't Pay Bills
 - They get clawbacks
 - Sometimes they have to chase them
 - They lose half their income and/or their job

3. Product Features Can't Compete
 - "You need to sell better."
 - "Sell value not features."
 - They lose half their income and/or their job

Sales is one of the few jobs where even when you're right, you can be wrong. 

The one job where no matter what obstacles are thrown in your way you just have to overcome them or deal with the consequences. 

The only job I know of that has more accountability than this....

Bootstrapped Founder/CEO

And sales is one of the best training grounds for it. 

Agree/disagree?

🤔

Most companies define ICP too broadly. 

They look at who they've already sold to.
Pull a report from the CRM.
Filter by company size, industry, revenue.
Call it done.

That's a smart place to start.
But a dangerous place to stop.

Because our easiest wins aren't always our true ideal customers.

We recently had Brady Jensen, CEO of Clear Go-To-Market, on our podcast to talk about how to actually validate ICP.

Not just define it. Validate it.

Here's what he told us:

ICP isn't something we engineer in a conference room.

It's something we discover through direct conversations with the people we're trying to sell to.

Not just our best customers.
Not just the people already in our pipeline.
But the prospects who match our criteria and haven't yet bought.

Brady's process is straightforward:
- Start with a hypothesis based on who buys fastest, expands most, stays longest
- Talk to people who fit that profile
- Test whether they experience the problem
- Test whether they value the solution
- Test whether they would actually buy

You're not just looking for fit.
You're testing for signal.

And here's where most companies fail:

They define ICP once and freeze it.
They don't pressure-test it in the real world.
They don't learn from the "no's."

"You have the ability to learn a ton from people saying 'no'," Brady explains. "Oftentimes, the 'no' is not 'I don't like your product.' It's 'I don't believe I have the problem you say I have.'"

That feedback loop between our ICP hypothesis and the market's response is where high-leverage refinement happens.

But it only works if we're disciplined enough to say no to the wrong customers.

Even when we need the revenue.
Even when the deal is right there.
Even when leadership is pushing for more logos.

"The problem we often see is organizations will just sell to everybody," Brady says. 

"And then they have a bunch of unhappy customers, and they're like, 'I don't know why they're unhappy.' Well, because they were never a good fit."

That lack of discipline trickles down through the entire organization:
- Product builds for the wrong use cases
- CS struggles with misaligned expectations
- Onboarding becomes custom every time
- Renewals suffer
- Team morale tanks

And the biggest thing I've seen from making this mistake myself:

You're less valuable to the right buyers
 - You've underinvested in your real ICP
 - The product isn't as good for them as it could be
 - Nor the marketing materials and sales messaging

Real GTM clarity comes from pairing data with direct customer conversations.

When we understand our buyers really well, we can build a business that serves them really well.

How often are you validating your ICP assumptions with real buyer conversations?

🤔

Read more in tomorrow's 📰 𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛  📰

Or listen to the full episode on the🎙𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩🎙

See comments below for links 👇

✌

What's the first thing I'd do as a new CRO?
I'd hire VAs for every person in GTM

Yep, my first thing would be hiring VAs
 - It wouldn't be AI
 - It wouldn't be fixing the CRM
 - It wouldn't even be the annual plan

All of those things are important. 

But I'd hire a VA for every single person in GTM
 - VAs for every AE
 - VAs for every BDR
 - VAs for every AM/CSM
 - VAs for every marketer
 - VAs for everyone in RevOps

Let's say this costs $10/hr.
That's net, not gross.
No office space.
No benefits or taxes.
Just a straight $10/hr.

Now, imagine the immediate impact.
 - AE has a $1M quota
 - How much time do we need to save?
 - To justify $10/hr for a VA? 
 - AE costs $500/hr in sales quota
 - So a VA needs to save them 1 hour
 - For every 50 hours that VA works for them
 - That's some pretty obvious ROI right there

How about the BDR? 
 - Half that? 25 hours?

How about the AM/CSM?
Or the marketing manager?

Just imagine if the VAs were:
 - Trained in using ZoomInfo/Clay
 - Trained to do basic things in SFDC
 - Trained to do basic things in Hubspot
 - Helping to do manual account research
 - Helping to manually create prospect lists
 - Helping to schedule and confirm meetings

Well I don't have to imagine. 

I've been doing this for ~9 years. 

I've had multiple VAs
I also have a NYC based EA

I cannot even describe the ROI we get. 

And after doing this, I can do the bigger things. 

Knowing what good looks like, we can look at each task and leverage AI. 

But there are always gaps with the AI. We need a "human in the loop."

Do I want that human carrying a $1M quota?

Or do I want someone at $10/hr doing the first pass?

🤔

There's a reason CROs aren't getting what they want from RevOps.

I was on a call like this the other day... 

CRO:
 - RevOps is purely reactive
 - They're not bringing me insights
 - They're not driving revenue growth
 - RevOps doesn't have any North Star

Me:
 - Who do you have on your team

CRO:
 - We have a Salesforce Admin
 - We have a Marketo Admin
 - And we have another admin

Me:
 - Who does RevOps report to?

CRO:
 - They report to this person
 (This person has zero GTM experience)

Me:
 - Asks detailed questions about GTM

CRO:
 - We have poor pipeline hygiene
 - No one trusts it and we can't forecast
 - We're very inconsistent with outbound
 - We don't follow up with inbound leads well
 - We are using over 40 different GTM tools now

Me:
 - I see the issue
 - Unfortunately we're at time
 - I'd like to schedule another call
 - To narrow in on the key priorities here

CRO:
 - Yep!
 - Work with {name} on that.
 - I'm really slammed at the moment. 

Me:
 - The person with zero experience in GTM?

Huh?

🤔

Let me share the real issue here:

1. RevOps has no North Star
 - Because the CRO has no North Star

2. RevOps is purely reactive for a few reasons
 - The CRO isn't investing time with them
 - They also don't have the right experience
 - And reporting to someone with GTM experience

3. There's no prioritization
 - Admins spend all day in tools
 - Because that's what admins do
 - And even if they wanted to stop
 - There's no prioritization to guide them
 - They're flooded w/ requests to update tools
 - With no clear priorities to decide when to say no

4. The GTM Process is broken
 - And none of these folks can fix it
 - Pipeline is a mess bc of the sales process
 - No amount of SFDC config will fix this issue
 - You have to change the process and train people
 - Then you have to drive them to change their actions
 - And I've never once seen an SFDC Admin do this alone

✌️

This guy DM'ed me and I had a full proposal an hour later. 
And I just signed a contract with him.

This was the smoothest buying experience.
 - I get a LI Connection Request with a DM
 - I'm actively searching for this solution
 - I accept it and respond to his DM
 - But I don't know this guy at all
 - I don't want to "jump on a call"

I ask if I can ask questions over DM
 - He says yes
 - So I hit him with questions
 - He asks me some questions too
 - We're essentially into a disco session
 - But then I have to jump into a meeting

When I get back
 - I have another DM
 - With a link to a full proposal
 - With a personalized video walk through

I'm basically sold at this point
 - He understood all my needs
 - The proposal reflected those needs
 - The pricing was very fair and attractive
 - And he shared more details in his video
 - He shared past successes, testimonials, etc
 - He built a lot of credibility in this ~5 min video

So I was sold
 - But I was vetting 3 vendors in total
 - So I took a couple of weeks to evaluate
 - And circled back and signed with him last week

This is how we all want to buy
 - Meet me where I'm at
 - Ask thoughtful questions
 - Answer my questions asap
 - Share details as soon as possible
 - Make it very easy for me to buy from you

✌️

How do you flip a GTM motion from 95% outbound to 95% inbound?

And close deals 4x faster than your competitors while doing it?

We recently had Aviv Canaani, CMO/CRO of Datarails, on our Podcast, to break down how his team built a revenue engine that grew new sales 90% YoY.

Here's what they did:

They engineered speed into every part of the motion.
- Five-minute SLA on demo requests
- Next-day AE availability
- Sales cycles a third of the industry average

They built predictable forecasting systems.
- Every dollar mapped to meetings, opps, revenue
- Conversion rates tied to historical data
- Quarterly targets they could actually hit

They treated GTM like a factory, not separate departments.
- Marketing, sales, RevOps as one machine
- Each team doing their part
- No silos, just coordination

The result?

AEs stopped prospecting. They didn't need to.

The inbound engine was feeding them qualified pipeline.

And their biggest deal in company history?

The lead source was ChatGPT.

This isn't about copying someone else's playbook.

It's about thinking like a systems builder instead of a department head.

When you connect every lever, 
- From inbound to outbound
- From content to conversion
- From SDR to AE...
…you don't just grow faster.

Your revenue becomes more predictable.

How repeatable are your systems today?

🤔

More on this in tomorrow’s 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰
Subscribe to get it here: https://bit.ly/49RCm0h

Listen to the full podcast episode on 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 📰 here: https://bit.ly/4agM6Bo

✌️

How do you get an ROI from GTM Ops?
A 0.6% improvement in Close Rate could be enough. 

That's it!

We’re often held back in GTM. 
 - We have broken processes
 - Our team isn’t executing consistently
 - And we don’t have visibility into our GTM

But we can’t get budget to fix it. 
 - Because hiring a sales rep has a “clear ROI” (in theory).
 - And GTM Ops feels harder to measure. 

Let me share a simple way to look at this.

Say we expect to close $25M in new biz w/ a 15% Close Rate.
 - If we improve Close Rate to just 15.6%...
 - We would close an additional $1M in ARR

Here’s the math:

$166.67M of Pipeline
x 15% Close Rate
= $25M Closed Won ARR

$166.67M of Pipeline
x 15.6% Close Rate
= $26M Closed Won ARR

ROI => +$1 million of additional ARR

Now, let’s look at our current situation:
 - Pipeline is very messy
 - Reps chasing unqualified deals
 - Reps are way too busy as a result
 - Reps missing critical steps in sales process
 - We’re not getting access to the right stakeholders
 - We’re not asking the right questions in the journey
 - Mgmt has zero visibility into this in pipeline reports
 - So it’s harder for them to spot these issues in real time 

Could fixing this improve Close Rate by 0.6%?

The answer is pretty obvious.

Now, what about the rest of GTM?
 - Our inbound lead conversion?
 - Our outbound prospecting conversion?
 - Our onboarding, health, and renewal rates?
 - Our generation and closing of expansion opptys?

This is an EXPONENTIAL RETURN
 - More qualified leads
 - More qualified outbound mtgs
 - Higher conversion rates for both of them
 - Means more qualified pipeline for us to close
 - With higher Close Rates, ASPs, and shorter cycles
 - Means more new business this year and the next
 - With higher renewal rates and more expansion opptys
 - Meaning more revenue from each new customer
 - On top of more new customers

It’s all pretty obvious.

And yet, I see GTM teams NOT fix these issues.

Because they’re worried about the ROI…..?

🤔

But I get it.

We get asked this question, because CROs, CEOs, CFOs, get asked this question. So we broke this down in fine detail, with math and visuals, based on EXTREMELY conservative assumptions, to help everyone map out the ROI in GTM Ops. 

Check it out in yesterday’s 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰

Get it here: https://bit.ly/3M6IbQu

✌️

Most CROs are stuck playing Whac-A-Mole.

Pipeline dips. They panic. They spin up new campaigns.

Deals stall. They blame the team. They change the comp plan.

Forecast misses. They scramble. They push harder on the same broken levers.

This is what happens when you lead departments instead of building systems.

We recently had Aviv Canaani, CMO/CRO of Datarails, on our podcast. 

His team grew new sales 90% YoY.

Not because they worked harder.

Because they stopped thinking like department heads.

Here's what that actually means:

They connected the entire revenue chain:
- Marketing didn't just generate leads
- They mapped spend to meetings to pipeline to revenue
- Sales didn't just work opportunities
- They fed insights back to optimize the top of funnel
- RevOps didn't just run reports
- They turned data into capacity planning decisions

When meeting volume spiked, they didn't let it become a bottleneck.
They pushed HR to hire faster.

When demo requests came in, they didn't let them sit.
They built a five-minute SLA and next-day availability.

When forecasting felt like guesswork, they didn't accept it.
They built conversion benchmarks tied to historical data.

Every part worked together.

Like a factory line, not separate departments.

Most revenue leaders are optimizing individual functions:
- Better marketing campaigns
- Better sales training
- Better CS processes

But they're not connecting them into one engine.

So when one part improves, another breaks.

When demand spikes, capacity can't handle it.
When data is needed, it's not trustworthy.

That's the difference between tactics and architecture.

Tactics fix today's problem.
Architecture prevents tomorrow's fire.

Are you building systems or managing departments?

🤔

More on this in our last issue of 📰𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰
Get it here: https://bit.ly/4inXUXG

Listen to the full podcast episode on 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 📰 here: https://bit.ly/4rgmRYO

✌️

Nothing feels more meta than consulting in RevOps while operating as CEO and CRO in my own company. 

RevOps
 - We work with CROs and CEOs
 - We try to help them build processes
 - We try to help them get insights from data
 - We try to help them use data to plan better
 - We try to help them build a repeatable machine

CRO
 - I try to practice what I preach
 - We've built all these processes here
 - We have all the data our customers want
 - We review that data in our weekly team mtg
 - We plan carefully based on this data 

CRO (Small Business)
 - I don't have a big team
 - So I'm also selling and marketing
 - And also doing some CS work as well
 - Working on the front lines every single day
 - I'm creating marketing content all by myself
 - And also working with our team to create more
 - And tracking all marketing through to won revenue
 - And taking inbound leads, selling, closing deals myself
 - And outbound prospecting and pipeline mgmt every day
 - And hiring, training and managing our salespeople as well
 - And tracking our NRR and working with my SVP of Delivery

CEO
 - And then I step out of GTM
 - And it's the same types of things
 - How is the rest of the business working?
 - When do I work ON the business, not just IN it?
 - Do we have defined processes and metrics in place?
 - What are we spending and what revenue is it generating?

And ALL of this comes down to just a few things.

In somewhat reverse order of importance:

1. Process
 - Do we have clear process?

2. Execution
 - Are we executing that process?

3. Efficiency
 - Is this profitable?

4. Focus
 - Are we focused on the right things?
 - Or trying to do too many things at once?

Notice I didn't mention strategy. I still don't know what that word means. I think, whatever it is, it comes from focus, from thinking about the same thing day after day after day until you figure it out, or decide to walk away. 

✌️

Your outbound motion isn't working.
Is it a message problem or an audience problem?

Most teams assume it's the message.

So they rewrite the sequences.
Test new subject lines.
A/B test the CTAs.

But the real issue is simpler.

They're targeting the wrong people.

Brady Jensen, CEO of Clear Go-To-Market, puts it this way: "If your outbound motion doesn't work… you either have a message problem or an audience problem."

Here's how to tell the difference.

If you're reaching out to people who:
- Don't believe they have the problem you're solving
- Don't think the problem is worth solving
- Aren't actively looking for a solution

No message will fix that.
You're talking to the wrong audience.

This is why ICP validation matters.

It's not about building the perfect persona deck.
It's about testing your hypothesis against real market resistance.

Brady's approach is straightforward:
- Talk to prospects who match your ICP criteria but haven't bought yet
- Don't pitch. Listen.
- Look for patterns in the "no's"

"You have the ability to learn a ton from people saying 'no'," he explains.

The friction you hear tells you:
- Whether they recognize the problem
- Whether they've tried to solve it before
- What triggers them to evaluate new solutions
- Who inside their org feels the pain most

That feedback loop between your ICP hypothesis and the market's response is where the real refinement happens.

It's how you avoid building strategy around people who look right on paper but aren't ideal customers in practice.

And it's why your outbound motion is actually a discovery tool.

When prospects consistently say no, they're telling you something.
The question is: are you listening?

What's your outbound response rate telling you about your ICP?

🤔

More on this in the latest 📰𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰
Listen to the full podcast episode on 🎙𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚🎙

Links below in the comments 👇

✌️

There’s a BIG hidden cost to complex comp plans. 
Reps lose motivation because they don’t understand them. 

Any more than 3 variables loses reps. 

Let me walk through a personal example.

Variable 1:  You earn 10% of all contracts.
 - Simple enough
 - If I close a $100K deal
 - I get paid $10K in commission
 - That hits my bank on February 1
 - And I can book that ski trip if it closes!

This is motivating for a rep.
They can visualize the outcome.

Variable 2: 5% for one-time deals
 - So now it’s….
 - 10% for recurring
 - 5% for one-time deals
 - My deal was $80K SaaS
 - And 20K for implementation
 - So now it’s…
 - Harder to do the math
 - 10% x $80K = $8K
 - 5% x $20K = $1K
 - Total = $9K

Okay, I got there.
The ski trip could still be on!
Let’s close this deal as soon as I can!

Variable 3: 2X boost for multi-year
 - So now it’s….
 - 10% for recurring
 - 5% for one-time deals
 - And another 10% for 3yr deals
 - Okay, so I’ve got that in my deal here
 - 10% x $80K = $8K
 - 5% x $20K = $1K
 - 10% x 80K = $8K
 - Total = $17K

Alright, that was harder to calculate but I’m still here. 

Variable 4: 1.5X boost if Product X is included
 - Okay, I give up.
 - I’m working 15 deals
 - Some have Product X
 - Some have multi-year
 - Some have implementations
 - But I’d need an excel sheet to do this math

I personally experienced this as an AE at Salesforce.
 - We got comped on….
 - Percent of Closed Won $
 - Accelerators at different levels of quota
 - And more accelerators for multi-year deals 
 - And some other stuff that I never remembered

I vividly remember some spiff where I was like….
“I have no idea if focusing on this will make me money or cost me money so I’m just going to ignore it and keep my head down and work the plan I understand.”

And FWIW, I am a math nerd.
But I couldn't justify spending all day in Excel
When I had an extremely difficult quota to hit

This is a common comp failure we see.
 - Companies over-engineer comp plans.

The other common failures?
- No deal reporting standards (every rep records deals differently)
- No commission cutoff process (deals close after payroll runs)
- No formal approval chain (nobody knows who approved what)
- No process documentation (comp rules exist in someone's head)

And all of these stem from that complexity. 
Reps are confused.
Managers are confused.
RevOps is also confused.
Finance is confused as well.

So, instead of motivating reps.
We’re frustrating them and burning valuable time. 

What’s the worst comp plan you’ve seen?

🤔

More on this in yesterday’s 📰 𝙂𝙏𝙈 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 📰

We broke down the common mistakes companies make building commissions plans and how to fix them.

Get it in the link below in the comments 👇
Or click “View my blog” at the top of this post 👆

✌️

Country Director @ AVODA Group UG | Executive MBA @ Quantic | Helping Christian entrepreneurs and business owners launch, build, and grow their faithdriven ventures

AVODA Group empowers faith-driven entrepreneurs in Uganda as part of its mission to drive transformative social impact. As Country Director Uganda, the role focuses on training, funding, and advising SMEs to address growth and scaling challenges through strategic planning and innovative market solutions.  

Drawing from an Executive MBA from Quantic and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from African Business Institute, the work emphasizes strategic thinking, management, and leadership. Previous roles as CFO and Content & Marketing Director have shaped a values-driven approach to fostering sustainable business growth.

Joshua Pi'Rwot

Let’s connect at the Norrsken East Africa Africa Week! 

#AfricaWeek #Startups #Investments #ESOs

li_at

JSESSIONID

Helping entrepreneurs and business owners launch, build, and grow their dreams with faithdriven resources.

Beyond the Founder: How Operators Help Build Successful Startups Innovation & Impact

Seni Sulyman , Founder & CEO, Talstack  

Anthonio P. , Colepin Advisory Services  

Sara Leedom , COO, Inkomoko  

Charles I. , Chief Commercial Officer, Startbutton Africa  

Founders often get the spotlight, deservedly. But behind every fast-growing company are operators, the senior leaders who play a critical role in helping founders build successful ventures. This session dives into what great operators actually do: how they take on key roles, create structure from chaos, build trust within teams, drive performance, and enable growth. Hear from experienced leaders who’ve helped startups scale at different stages of growth, and learn what it takes to thrive as (or hire) a high-quality operator.

Norrsken Norrsken East Africa Norrsken VC  

#startups #growth #chiefoperationsofficers #operators

The Uganda SOZO Summit 2025 themed “Unlocking Uganda's startup ecosystems potential: Co-create . Co-innovate . Co-thrive with Japan” happened last Friday. 

An incredible event of regional connection of startups, corporates, ecosystems builders, venture builders, VCs, and policy makers. 

Organised by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Uganda  in collaboration with Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives implemented by Hindsight Ventures .  

The Japanese foreign policy for #Africa has got a rebrand, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced a shift in Japan's Africa policy from "aid to investment" ( 支援から商業へ) to foster trade and private sector growth, he said at the TICAD 9 conference. He emphasized working "hand-in-hand" with African partners, highlighted projects like the Nacala Corridor, and proposed an Indian Ocean-Africa Economic Zone initiative to build a new economic corridor. 

Jun Shiomitsu CEO AVODA Group (AVODA Institute of Entrepreneurship ) delivered an amazing keynote on the past, current status, and future of business collabroation between Japan and Uganda. He highlighted efforts being made to grow and scale this collaboration through initiatives like the SOZO Summit. 

My favorite part was having conversations with founders and their startup teams. 

Chatting with Cirus Sumika  of Sumic IT Solutions Ltd  reminded me of the thing that has been crawling at the back of my mind for a while, to work with Japan, and other Eastern nations, we need to build trust. 

If you want to learn how to get engaged with the East, one more contact to put on your list is Cyrus. 

He has managed to work with several companies who need IT services and is currently exploring building relationships in China. 

The trust building process requires, more than anything, that you have proof of relationship. Proof of work is considered the very basic foundational and obvious — as it should be. Reach out to him.

#SOZOSummit #JICA #Collab #Startups #Ecosystem #VentureBuilding #entrepreneurship #founders

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 30-𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙏𝙑 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙩𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙪.

LINK: https://lnkd.in/dbqArdgh

___________

If you are an entrepreneur looking for a solid faith community to walk the journey with you in founding your business, send me a DM.

You can also 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 2026 𝘼𝙑𝙊𝘿𝘼 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙉𝙊𝙒.

It starts Jan 24th 2026.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗬 𝗡𝗢𝗪: https://lnkd.in/dFyx7Vrb


#fiatlux #faithdriven #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #businessstartup #businessmentor #businessideas #businessinsider #businessadvice #businessgrowth #businesssuccess #businessstrategy #kingdombusiness #faithdriven #faithdrivenentrepreneur #FaithDrivenInvestors

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮?

#AfricaWeek

Looking forward to several conversations on startups, entrepreneurship, capital, and investments in Africa. 

Norrsken Norrsken East Africa

Stories that scale: Maximising the #Power of Narrative in African #Innovation & #Impact

@Dalimare Dosunmu, Journalist, Rest of World  

Tage Kene-Okafor, Africa & Middle East Reporter, TechCrunch  


Ondiro Oganga , Correspondent, Bloomberg  

Olugbeminiyi Idowu Founder, Talking Drum Communications  

In Africa’s innovation ecosystem, narrative shapes investment, trust, policy, and culture. This panel examines how the stories we tell (and the ones told about us) influence what is possible, and how founders can cultivate the “perception dividend”: the compounding advantage of being understood early and understood well.

Norrsken Norrsken East Africa Norrsken VC

1 Year / 2 Countries / 2 Grads / 3 Cohorts 

Extremely grateful for the amazing work being accomplished in creating a bold community of business people excited about @avodabiz vision in East Africa. 

This month, brace for the great stories of transformation that will be coming from Tanzania and Uganda.

Unleashed Africa Social Enterprises Real Interactiv Inc. INOZA AVODA Institute of Entrepreneurship  



#celebration #gratitude #grateful #entrepreneurship #fiatlux #entrepreneur #vision #expansion #fartogether #goingfar #building

Angel Investing in Africa — What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next

Philip Gasaatura, Managing Partner, Open Space Capital  

Yewande Odumosu, Partner, HoaQ  

Amon Munyaneza, Managing Partner, Kavumu Capital LLC  Capital

Laura Davis, Co-CEO & Managing Partner, Renew Capital  

Martin Warioba, Founder & Managing Partner, Warioba Ventures  

Angel investing on the continent plays by a different rulebook. Markets are fragmented, data is thin, regulations are uneven, exits are rare, and most businesses are built on cash flow long before they’re built on code. 

In this session, Yewande Odumosu, Amon Munyaneza, Laura Davis, and Martin Warioba unpack what it really takes to spot promising founders, make smart early bets, and structure deals that survive Africa’s realities.

Norrsken Norrsken VC Norrsken East Africa

⛔ 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙎: 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱? 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽

As a parent, you recognize your teen's creativity and enthusiasm; 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙂𝙤𝙙-𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨.𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨. 

What if they chase fads, experience discomfort from uncertainty, or overlook their genuine calling? 

The strain builds—with technology changing everything, most children will have professions that do not yet exist, leaving them unprepared and unhappy.

Enter the "𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚" 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥, a three-day solution from December 15th to December 19th, 9am to 1pm, where experienced facilitators lead workshops on identifying strengths using the "Working Genius" assessment, sharing faith-driven entrepreneur stories, and fostering resilience and integrity. 

Your teen will study 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱'𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, resulting in firms that praise Him and influence others.

For only 125,000 UGX, provide your youngster with lasting skills for success and significance. 

Sign them up now: https://lnkd.in/d54YFfXk
Call or WhatsApp: +256 787 342688

Ms. Janai Jiwani Doreen Nkwenge Mwalimu Martin Amanya AVODA Institute of Entrepreneurship Faith Fetaru Ken Roberts 

#FaithDrivenEntrepreneurshipforTeens #Teens #Parents #Parenting #FaithDriven #Entrepreneurship #FaithDrivenParents #PurposeDriven #Purpose

Introducing our panelist’s for an interesting panel on the topic “Attracting Investments: Unlocking Potential to Scale”at #Uganda SOZO Summit 2025.

- Dan Karuga , Member, SC Ventures  
- Fiona Kiruja, Programs Manager, African Angel Academy , ViKtoria Ventures  
- Alice Kampire Muwonge, CFO, Ortus Africa Capital  
- Moderated by Noah Mesfin , Venture Lead StartHub Africa  

Be there to hear them speak and to interact with them!

Register here to attend : https://lnkd.in/dWXeWwuy

#EcosystemGathering #VentureBuilding #Growth #Entrepreneurship #Startups

Introducing our panelist’s for an interesting panel on the topic “Attracting Investments: Unlocking Potential to Scale”at Uganda SOZO Summit 2025.

- Dan Karuga, Member, SC Ventures
- Fiona Kiruja, Programs Manager, African Angel Academy, ViKtoria Ventures  
- Alice Kampire Muwonge, CFO, Ortus Africa Capital  
- Moderated by Noah Mesfin, Venture Lead StartHub Africa  

Be there to hear them speak and to interact with them!

Register here to attend : https://lnkd.in/dWXeWwuy

Ajay Ramasubramaniam Ruth Mbabazi OKETTAYOT VINCENT OKEMA - MBA - Keren Grant Jagruti Bista Hillary Anyomi Rose Urassa Sean Ssali Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Susan Namyalo

We are delighted to announce our speakers for the 2nd panel discussion of the at Uganda SOZO Summit 2025: "Building for and from Uganda" 

Wamambe Christian, Country Director, SafeBoda  
Lamony Steven, Managing Director, Jumia Uganda  
George A. Ssamula, Co-Founder, TowerCo of Africa
Lorraine Mutambiranwa, COO, Numida (YC W22)  (YC W22)
Jagruti Bista, Co-Founder, Hindsight Ventures  (Moderator)

Be there to hear them speak and to interact with them!

Register here to attend : https://lnkd.in/dWXeWwuy

#venturebuilding #vcs #smefinance #ecosystem #entrepreneurship #startups #founders

We are delighted to announce our speakers for the 2nd panel discussion of the at Uganda SOZO Summit 2025: "Building for and from Uganda" 

Wamambe Christian, Country Director, SafeBoda
Lamony Steven, Managing Director, Jumia Uganda
George A. Ssamula, Co-Founder, TowerCo of Africa
Lorraine Mutambiranwa, COO, Numida (YC W22)
Jagruti Bista, Co-Founder, Hindsight Ventures (Moderator)

Be there to hear them speak and to interact with them!

Register here to attend : https://lnkd.in/dWXeWwuy

Ajay Ramasubramaniam MBABAZI Ruth OKETTAYOT VINCENT OKEMA - MBA Keren Grant Hillary Anyomi Sean Ssali Rose Urassa Susan Namyalo Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Jonathan Ntege Lubwama

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵, 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳: 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Because many entrepreneurs focus on their idea, not the customer.

Your product isn’t for everyone—it’s for the ones willing to pay with their time, trust, and loyalty.

If you skip this, you’re building a distraction, not a business.

Clarity on your true audience fuels focused messaging, better product-market fit, and sustainable growth.

Stop trying to appeal to all.

Start understanding who deeply needs what you offer.

That’s the real secret to scaling without burning out.

Take a moment to reflect. Who are you genuinely serving, and how well do you know them?

Uganda SOZO Summit 2025, presented by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)  Uganda and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Uganda, here is the official program.

The Summit will take place Friday, 28th November from 8:00 AM at the National ICT Innovation Hub, Nakawa. 

Join us as we convene the regional startup ecosystem to co-create, co-innovate, and co-thrive. 

Explore the speaker lineup and register here : https://lnkd.in/dn7mejJW

#ecosystem #ecosystemgathering #growth #partnerships

Uganda SOZO Summit Agenda

In case you’re curious about what to expect at the upcoming Uganda SOZO Summit 2025, presented by JICA Uganda and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Uganda, here is the official program.

The Summit will take place Friday, 28th November from 8:00 AM at the National National ICT Innovation Hub. 

Join us as we convene the regional startup ecosystem to co-create, co-innovate, and co-thrive. Explore the speaker lineup and register here : https://lnkd.in/dn7mejJW

Ajay Ramasubramaniam Ruth Mbabazi Jagruti Bista OKETTAYOT VINCENT OKEMA - MBA Susan Namyalo Sean Ssali Rose Urassa Jonathan Ntege Lubwama Keren Grant Hillary Anyomi Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Arthur Mukembo Dan Karuga Fiona Kiruja Grayson Julius Edwin Bruno Victor Maina Jun Shiomitsu Wamambe Christian Lorraine Mutambiranwa Noah Mesfin Donald Maasa Lamony Steven George A. Ssamula Fred Zake Simon Desjardins Olga Naiga Timothy Mugenyi Humphrey Lutakome Joseph Paul, MD Vinod Rustagi Dr. Dennis Aguma Dr. Caroline Ayuya Muaka Diana Nandagire Ntamu KAGATA Joe Bernharldets Medard Twinamatsiko Mercy Kimalat

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱, 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁:

Trust is our assessment, based on past experience, of the likelihood we will get the results we believe we have been promised

Domains of Trust
1. Sincerity – Are private conversations and public conversations consistent?
2.  Competence – Do capabilities and capacity match the promise made?
3.  Reliability – Over time, have promised results been delivered?

Creating Trust
1.  Open conversations of trust
2.  Make clear grounded promises and fulfill them rigorously
3.  Tell the truth
4.  Offer thanks (from the mood of gratitude)
5.  Responsibly complain to those who do not fulfill their commitments.

📌 Bezos returns to the trenches as co-CEO of $6.2B AI startup Project Prometheus

According to The New York Times, Jeff Bezos is taking on his first operational role since leaving Amazon, becoming co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI startup that has already secured a massive $6.2B in early funding.

🖱 Bezos will lead the company alongside Vik Bajaj, a physicist and former Google X executive, signaling that Prometheus aims to fuse deep science with frontier-model engineering.

🖱 The startup focuses on “AI for the physical economy,” building systems for aerospace, manufacturing, automotive, and advanced computing, areas tied tightly to Bezos’s long-term industrial and space ambitions.

🖱 Prometheus has quietly hired top talent from OpenAI, DeepMind, and Meta, assembling a 100-person team before even launching a product, an unusual scale that mirrors its outsized funding.

🖱 The company’s backers see industrial AI as the next trillion-dollar frontier, where software isn’t just generating text but redesigning machines, factories, and physical infrastructure.

Bezos isn’t merely backing another AI lab, he’s positioning Prometheus as a deep-tech powerhouse that could reshape how the physical world itself gets engineered.

A #robot vacuum that doubles as a real-time metaverse scanner

A new “metaverse-grade” (https://maticrobots.com/) robot vacuum is making the rounds online not because it cleans well, but because it can reconstruct full 3D environments in real time using onboard AI.

🔸 The design stands out immediately: #rugged, #futuristic, and equipped with oversized wheels that let it climb over obstacles and even operate outdoors.

🔸 The real magic is in the head-mounted sensor array, a voxel-based neural pipeline running on NVIDIA Jetson Orin, generating photorealistic 3D maps as the robot moves.

🔸 With a bit more resolution, this is essentially a portable metaverse scanner, capturing full spatial meshes of homes, offices, and outdoor areas on the fly.

🔸 The entire software stack is built in #Rust, includes day/night SLAM, dynamic obstacle detection, and low-latency path planning, letting the robot squeeze into tight corners and navigate complex spaces.

If robot vacuums become high-fidelity #3D mappers by default, the real #metaverse #hardware #platform might quietly roll in from under our furniture.

Great conversations and great connections! 

Excited for Day 2. 

#BePartoftheSolution

Innovation Policy | Ecosystem & Venture Build | IP’25🇸🇪 | JICA Fellow 🇯🇵 | Trade Ministry 🇺🇬

#Day1 at Africa/Week 2025 by Norrsken at their breathtaking eco-campus. The energy palpable, with a world-class audience of founders, investors, and policymakers from across the globe, all united to #BePartOfTheSolution.

One discussion that particularly stood out was the future of money #STABLECOINS

The consensus, stablecoins are the first cryptocurrency to achieve undeniable product-market fit. The utility has come of age, with Nigeria already leading the charge.

The primary use case is cross-border transactions. Stablecoins are rapidly becoming the silent, efficient engine powering remittances and trade, reducing friction and cost in a way traditional systems have failed to do. Most end-users already enjoy the benefits, often without realizing stablecoins are working in the background.

The critical conversation now shifts to regulation. The ecosystem isn't asking for heavy-handed rules but for clear guidelines that foster innovation while ensuring security. The call is for collaborative frameworks that allow this transformative technology to flourish, unlocking immense economic potential across the continent.

A huge thank you to the Norrsken team and all the thought leaders for curating such profound dialogues.

#AfricaWeek2025 #AW2025 #Stablecoins
Joshua Pi'Rwot Robert Bob Okello

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵?

It's not just about having a great idea or funding.
It's about mastery in customer development and relentless focus on the experience.

Many founders underestimate the power of understanding their customers deeply before scaling.

They chase growth without building a solid foundation of trust and value.

If you skip the human-centered design and skip listening, you're building on quicksand.

Your competitors might overlook this, but that’s your edge.

Stop obsessing over every shiny feature and start obsessing over your customers’ pain points.

The future isn’t just innovation—it's about emotional connection and trust.

Are you building for the people, or just for a quick win?

Focus on the human side, and the growth will follow.

Take that seriously today, and watch your startup become unstoppable.

What’s one customer insight you’ve overlooked that could change everything?

Drop it below and let’s discuss how to turn that insight into your next big breakthrough.

#fiatlux #faithdriven #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #businessstartup #businessmentor #businessideas #businessinsider #businessadvice #businessgrowth #businesssuccess #businessstrategy #kingdombusiness #faithdriven #faithdrivenentrepreneur #FaithDrivenInvestors

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