Alex Newmann 🥷

6 BDRs started this week at an enterprise SaaS company we work with. We sat down with one of their top AEs and peppered him with the questions below. It was a type of conversation where you could feel how much value everyone in the room was getting.  If you're onboarding BDRs, get them in front of closers early. Being able to reverse engineer the sale is one of the most valuable things they can do during ramp. Here are some questions every new BDR should be asking AEs: On targeting: → Besides title, what tells you someone is actually the right person to reach out to? → What signals make you excited about a deal vs. skeptical? On the sale itself: → Can you walk me through how you demo? What do you hit first? → How do you position us against [competitor X] and [competitor Y]? → What objections come up most often and how do you handle them? → What's a red flag that tells you a meeting isn't worth taking? On ramping faster: → What should I be studying so I can hold my own with a VP or C-level on the first call? → What do our best customers have in common? → What's something you wish you understood earlier about our buyers? Your BDRs are going to learn a lot in these meetings.

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The COO Talent Shortage in Midwest SaaS Building SaaS in the Midwest? Talent pools dry up fast for COOs who get both regional ops and global scale. But here's the edge: Target hidden gems from PE networks, not just coastal elites. I partnered with a 150-FTE Midwest firm last year. Sourced a COO from a similar setup. They streamlined supply chains, cut costs 20%, fueled expansion. In Midwest SaaS, COOs win by blending local grit with enterprise vision. Ignore the shortage, and your growth stays local forever. How are you navigating COO hires in non-coastal markets?

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You don’t need a dashboard to know your #revenue system is off. If you’re the CEO, you feel it. If you lead sales, you see it. If you’re in the trenches, you live it. It shows up in pipeline meetings full of guessing instead of clarity. In forecasts that miss by 10% or more and no one knows why. In investor updates filled with hope instead of data. A broken revenue engine doesn’t just miss targets. It leaks trust, time, and traction. You’ll see it when: • Forecasts are vibes, not math • Sales calls feel like improv • Strategy sessions are reactive, not decisive A healthy #revenuesystem is disciplined. It’s built to catch issues before they catch you. If your team meetings sound like a news report instead of a decision room, it’s not time to scale. It’s time to rebuild.

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Scaling isn't hard. Scaling without culture is. Most founders obsess over growth metrics. ARR. Headcount. Funding rounds. But they forget the invisible foundation that holds everything together. Culture isn't ping pong tables and free snacks. Culture is belonging. And belonging comes from one thing: Cadence. The Monday email you send to your team. The weekly culture call where someone shares a book they love. The consistent appreciation you show for the janitor and the COO equally. Every Monday. Every week. Every interaction. When systems break (and they will), culture forgives. When you write that email on a bad day... Culture gives you the benefit of the doubt. When market conditions shift... Culture rallies around the vision. Here's the truth most leadership gurus won't tell you: You can't define culture before it happens. You can only build it through the daily cadence of communication and care. I write my top 10 wins every Friday. We used to have 30-minute culture calls every week. Someone would share one thing they loved. Could be a book, a story, a Wikipedia page. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. Transformative? Absolutely. While your competitors chase vanity metrics... You're building something that scales infinitely: People who believe in the mission more than the paycheck.

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In Software as a Service, closing a bad-fit deal is worse than losing one. In one-off, transactional businesses, sales people are often incentivized to just close the deal. Even if it’s not a perfect fit. We’ve all been on the receiving end of that. It sucks. And honestly, that’s a big reason sales has a bad reputation. But SaaS is different. In a repeatable, subscription-based model, pushing a bad-fit deal does more harm than good. Why? Because the math doesn’t work. Quite often, the customer acquisition costs isn’t paid back within few months. If the customer churns early, you lose money. Simple as that. So the only thing that makes sense is long-term value. You need customers who actually benefit from your product. Customers who stay for years. Customers who are happy. That requires a completely different sales mode. It’s not about convincing. It’s about understanding. In consultative SaaS selling, you have to be clear about who you can truly help, and who you can’t. That means asking real discovery questions. Digging into the business. Being honest when there isn’t a strong fit. And the funny thing is: saying “no” is often the best sales decision you can make. Why am I sharing this? Partly to help our sales team book meetings. A lot of people are hesitant to talk to sales (also ours) because they’re afraid someone will try to force a deal on them. In SaaS that would make zero sense. We will not sell to you if there’s no clear value. We ask a lot of questions first. We want to understand your business. And only if there’s clear ROI do we suggest moving forward. We don’t push. It’s bad for your business, and it’s bad for ours, to work together if it’s not a fit.

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Founders, working 90-hour weeks isn’t leadership.  It’s a liability. Your time is your most valuable currency. If you’re: ✘ buried in emails ✘ calendar chaos ✘ logistics… You’re robbing your company of your greatest asset: your brain at its highest level. That’s where an Executive Assistant changes the game. A great EA doesn’t just “take tasks off your plate.” They: ► Create clarity by aligning your schedule with your strategy ► Protect your focus so you can scale, not spiral ► Filter the noise so your energy is spent on what moves the needle Founders, your role is vision and growth. Your EA’s role is making sure nothing distracts you from it. Because burning out at 90 hours a week isn’t heroic - It’s avoidable. ------------------ Have we met? Hi, I'm Colleen. An Executive Assistant helping founders reclaim their time so they can do what matter.  Let's connect.

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No buyer closes their first LOI. Not one. The first 10–20 deals are tuition, paid in diligence costs, late nights, and hard lessons. Here is what usually happens: - Broker add-backs hide real costs. - Customer churn looks low until you see cohort data. - Lease renewals carry risks no one explained. These are scars, and they make you sharper. The mistake is not losing a deal. The mistake is failing to do the autopsy. By the time you have reviewed 75–100 businesses, you stop being impressed by CIMs and start scanning for risk patterns. That is why the buyers who endure eventually close.

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The difference between hiring a real fractional finance partner vs. just another outsourced bookkeeper? It’s the difference between scaling your company… or scrambling at tax time. Here’s how it plays out: Fractional Finance Partner 😎 Helps you scale 😎 Ties reporting to strategy 😎 Answers before you ask 😎 Understands your business model and strategy 😎 Supports you at every stage Outsourced Bookkeeper 🤷‍♂️ Helps you survive 🤷‍♂️ Focused on past data 🤷‍♂️ Only responds when chased 🤷‍♂️ Understands QuickBooks....maybe 🤷‍♂️ Outgrown the moment you grow We work with founders who don’t just want clean books. They want clarity. They want confidence. They want a team that grows with them. If that sounds like the kind of support you’re looking for, happy to show you how we work.

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It's virtually impossible for me to recommend software that locks you out of your data when you're no longer a customer. It's the epitome of maximizing profit over people. It costs a company virtually nothing to simply allow you to view and export what you put into their system. If anything, you could tie that into a workflow that allows you to reduce your server costs long-term by getting their data out of your cloud storage. These types of companies kick you on the way out. Oftentimes when you cancel a software/service, you can't afford it anymore. It's ridiculous to need to pay them hundreds of dollars for the privilege of accessing what should already be yours. I'm sure this is covered in their Terms and Conditions, but those are just documents for their CYA and to screw you.

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We’ve helped CFOs collect millions in cash by being hands-on and scrappy. Here’s why it works: In the early days of building Invoice Butler, I worried that being “new” would work against us. That customers might hear it as “unfinished” or “too risky.” So I tried to manage that perception in sales conversations. The thing is...now, we actually have: > PMF > Paying customers > Actual work happening Still, on a recent call with a customer, I found myself downplaying what we were actually doing. But the client said something that changed how I think about being “new.” He told me they wanted us to be new. To him, new meant: - A shared Slack channel instead of email so we'd be accessible - Hands-on AR and collections - Fast & informed responses - A team that actually cared about them vs a big company that didn't He compared it to other vendors they’d worked with: Bigger companies may seem like they have more polish, but little follow-through once the contract is signed. So yes, he liked that we were early, new, and small. Because being new meant we cared. And in the end, we showed him real outcomes. That’s what mattered. ----- PS: We’re on a mission to automate B2B cash collections for good. If overdue invoices are draining your cash flow, we will jump the gun :) (link to book a demo in the comments👇)

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That rogue rep is killing your scalability. I had Stephanie Valenti on the podcast. She's the Sales VP at Bill.com. Over 200 reps. $1.5B in revenue. And she said something most leaders don't want to hear. "That rogue person is really good. They're a unicorn. You want them. You're like… I don't care. They're gonna be a bull in a china shop. They're gonna do whatever they want. I don't care. I want them." But here's the problem. That is not repeatable. You can't scale a team off one person who does it their way. You can't build a system around a unicorn. Stephanie's take? It starts in the interview process. Are you choosing the right people on your team that are open to… if you follow A, B, and C, you will be successful? That's the question. Because the best sales orgs aren't built on talent alone. They're built on people who can execute inside a system. Talent without process is chaos. Process without talent is mediocrity. You need both. But process comes first. — Watch the rest of this convo here: https://lnkd.in/gRuuT_Sa Or listen here: https://lnkd.in/gQdYkfNu Or here: https://lnkd.in/gEBm8bHg

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I spoke with over 15 SME leaders last week about the topic of scaling. One from $1M to $10, and another $50 to $250M. There is a common misconception that "change" and "transformation" are interchangeable terms; however, they are not. "I'm trying to really figure out how to stop reacting to 'change' and drive transformation" Well, here is the difference: Change that happens to you. (A recession. A competitor. A market shift.) Transformation happens because of you. But if you don’t drive it, guess what? Nothing happens. 99% get stuck, debating if AI is a competitor, what's the "best tool"? When it’s actually the accelerator to your North Star, but you need a North Star. Your clients are soon asking: “Why isn’t this cheaper with AI?” “Why do I need this consulting service if I can use ChatGPT?” The problem isn’t finding the best tool. It’s the ideal high-margin workflow. The real winners won't only adapt, they will take this time to imagine & reinvent, i.e AI + Consulting, not or something else.... Start by defining a real North Star and building Zero-Admin ™ workflows that leverage the power of something new, enabling Super-valuable humans to create real value. That’s how you go from $50M → $250M. Not by doing more of the same. By transforming how you get work done. Transformation feels hard. But here’s the truth: no one feels ready, as it's a process that's a good thing! You can keep the lights on and transform. You need the right system and the courage to lead it. In this week's article EQ app I outline a Free 3-step framework to imagine. #BeUnique #Leadership #AI #Transformation #ZeroAdmin

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If you're thinking about hosting a user conference, the math is increasingly working against you. Think about how many more tools you're using now vs 5-10 years ago. Consider the exponential growth of the revtech market serving GTM each year. Every one of those companies has thought about doing a user conference. Events remain a critical part of many company's go-to-market motion for good reason. They work! I know one company that has double attendance for their conference every year for four years now. And 100 percent of customers who attend renew. Are there attribution and correlation questions there? Yes. And who cares! The best events with the best reputations earn a spot on your customer's coveted calendar. The allure of inviting your happiest customers to come together in person is strong. But just because you build it doesn't mean they'll come. They're only going to get on a plane so often. Consider your own bar for attending a user conference when planning your own. Consider the invites you've received and turned down. My advice is to start small. Local user groups and regional events. Make those unforgettable and FOMO-inducing. Build a reputation for producing must-attend events at a smaller scale. That'll convert people willing to get in their cars for you to get on a plane for you. 

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Most outbound has become just noise. 🤷‍♂️ smash 1,000 leads into your sequence 💣 Hit Send 🙏 Cross fingers That isn't strategy. Thats basically hope in a trench coat. The pray and spray crew love some activity metrics but ACTIVITY ≠ PIPELINE. Not if it's the wrong message. To the wrong person. At the wrong time. Here's the shift: 👉 stop chasing everyone. 👉 start targeting people who actually give a shit. et voila you have intent-based outbound. It's not about volume. It's about timing, relevance and context. 50 warm signal over 5,000 cold 'maybes' any day. It's more systematic and sometimes slower to build. It's definitely harder to fake. But is actually works. Lets help prevent your sales teams crying by Wednesdays. Fix your targeting. Fix your growth.

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I talk to people who lead SaaS growth teams all day, every day. And within one call, I can usually tell who’s going to crush it - and who’s going to struggle. Here's the difference... Some teams build around ideas - chasing what’s new, shiny, or urgent. The best build around systems - clear rules, rituals, and shared ways of working. (Being on linkedin doesn't help btw - this place is full of amazing ideas. Posts about systems don't get much love.) But here's the truth. Ideas can help you solve a few known problems. But the right systems help you solve problems you haven’t seen yet. Here are 5 systems every high-performing growth team uses 👇 1. Install a knowledge system Write down how your team works - strategy, ownership, decision rules. If everything lives in your head, progress stops when you do. 2. Build a decision system Define 6–8 rules for how your team makes tradeoffs. That’s how people make good calls without you in the room. 3. Create an ownership and accountability system Use a simple RACI to decide who’s Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed across your growth model. This prevents turf wars w other depts. 4. Run an operating system Weekly planning, monthly retros, quarterly reviews. This structure creates speed. 5. Build a learning system Document every test. Share what worked and what didn’t. That’s how learning compounds. Want to see what this looks like in practice? I broke it all down (with examples and templates) in my latest YouTube video 🎥

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YOUR PARTNERS DON’T CARE ABOUT REV SHARE. They care about leads. Here's the uncomfortable truth: Most partnership programs are a one-way street. Take their referrals.  Pay their commissions.  Ask for more leads. But never send anything back. Less than 50% of partner programs consistently send leads back TO partners. How can you call it "mutually beneficial" when it's completely lopsided? Meanwhile, your best partners are drowning in demand. Every partner program promises "mutual value." Every vendor wants access to their accounts.  Every SaaS company wants their attention. Few deliver. Guess who gets prioritized? The ones that give to get. The writing is on the wall. Smart partnership leaders are building real reciprocal value into their programs. The rest are going to get left behind. P.S. EULER is launching something BIG next week at HubSpot INBOUND that will make this easier than ever before. Stay tuned!

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