How (and How Not) to Use Social Proof

Many – many – factors contribute to the decisions we make and how our lives are shaped, but one of the strongest influencers on our day-to-day lives is social proof. Put simply, social proof is the driving force that compels us to mimic the choices of others. It exists because, as a society, we naturally […] The post How (and How Not) to Use Social...

May 2020

Marketing and Sales in a Recession: Lessons from 2008

I started my first business in 2008, so the situation we’re in now isn’t the first recession I’ve faced as an entrepreneur. And I’ll be honest: it sucks.  Surviving the next few years isn’t going to be easy. But I always come back to one of my favorite quotes: “Tough times don’t last. Tough people […] The post Marketing and Sales in a Recession: Lessons...

Apr 2020

A Work from Home Cheat Sheet for Newly Remote Workers

If you’re one of the thousands of employees who recently joined the world of remote work, welcome to the club.  Across Mailshake, Voila Norbert, and our other Ramp Ventures companies, we have 40+ people around the world working on teams that have been deliberately distributed from the start. Over the past five years, we’ve learned […] The post A Work...

Mar 2020

How to Add Sales to Your SaaS Team Without Cannibalizing Your Marketing Funnel

Because I’ve built sales departments at multiple SaaS companies, I often get asked by other founders how they’ll know when it’s time to start a sales team. Here’s the bottom line, founders shouldn’t be doing sales. So if you’re a founder reading this, and you don’t have a sales team in place, know that there […] The post How to Add Sales to Your SaaS...

Mar 2020

How to Validate a Marketing Idea

Idea validation is the Achilles heel of success when it comes to deploying effective marketing campaigns within an organization. I’d even say it’s the biggest weak link on many teams. Part of the reason validating ideas is so hard is, simply put, because doing marketing at all is harder these days. Look at SEO as […] The post How to Validate a Marketing...

Mar 2020

How to Get Started With SEO for SaaS

I’ll be straight with you. SEO for SaaS isn’t that different than SEO for other companies — it’s not as if Google changes the rules based on the type of business you run. That said, I see a lot of SaaS founders out there who are brilliant developers or innovators, but who don’t have the […] The post How to Get Started With SEO for SaaS appeared first...

Feb 2020

Why Business “Transparency” is Bullshit

If you spend any amount of time in the SaaS space, you hear a lot from leading companies about how committed to transparency they are. And a lot of founders walk the walk. They publish revenue and fundraising numbers. They share detailed accounts of their progress on specific metrics. And they offer behind-the-scenes insights that […] The post Why...

Feb 2020

How To Leverage Live Chat for Marketing & User Acquisition

Live chat is nothing new. In fact, it’s been around since the 1970s. But it’s really taken off in the last couple years.  According to CCW, the number of website visits resulting in live chat sessions has markedly increased since 2015. Interestingly, it’s particularly popular on lower-traffic websites, with around one in seven sessions on […] The...

Jan 2020

SaaS Trends: What’s Coming Up Ahead in 2020

As a SaaS company owner and an investor through Ramp Ventures, I’ve always got my ear to the ground when it comes to future trends. And although there’s no way to predict with 100% accuracy what the upcoming year will bring, the following are a few of the trends I’m keeping an eye on in […] The post SaaS Trends: What’s Coming Up Ahead in 2020 appeared...

Jan 2020

How to Plan for an Exit with Exit DNA’s Mac Lackey

I’m passionate about sharing everything I know on SaaS business, so it’s not a huge surprise that I often hear the question, “How do I sell my company?” The answer? I believe that you don’t just decide to sell, and then make it happen. The most successful people I know make a conscious decision regarding […] The post How to Plan for an Exit with Exit...

Jan 2020