Kellblog
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Kellblog covers topics related to starting, leading, and scaling enterprise software startups including corporate strategy, marketing strategy, messaging, positioning, management, go-to-market models, SaaS metrics, operational metrics, and venture capital (VC) financing.
Kellblog
1w ago
A critical part of the CEO’s job is realizing when it’s time to sell the company. I’m not talking about the easy cases, like when you’re in year five of running a PE-backed company, and the numbers suggest an exit …
The post The Paradox of Saying, “It’s Time To Sell The Company” appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
It’s always fun to go back and look at my stats, and my best-of page (which amazingly came in at #11) is getting sufficiently long that I need to find additional summarization mechanisms. So this year, I thought I’d share …
The post The Ten Most Read Kellblog Posts in 2024 appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
Of all the dime-store clichés that pass for business strategy, the one I hate the most is, “run your own race.” Why? Look, it’s not a bad response to an interview question. It’s arguably a very good one. But it’s rotten …
The post Please God, Don’t Run Your Own Race appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
Since many of you are in the midst of presenting your annual marketing budgets to your CEO, CFO, and board, I thought I’d write a quick post to remind people what board members actually care about when it comes to …
The post Board-Level Questions On The Marketing Budget appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve joined the board of Techwolf, a Belgian HR tech company backed by a slew of top venture capital investors including Harry Stebbings’ 20VC, Future of Work boutique Acadian Ventures, vertically-focused SemperVirens, and European-focused Felix …
The post Why I’m Joining the Board of TechWolf appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
If you’re VC-backed, you might well have taken some venture debt to top up your last financing round. If you’re PE-backed, it’s probable that your PE sponsor took a material amount of debt — e.g., 1-2x ARR — to help …
The post Why Your CFO Should Be The Customer Testimonial On Your Debt Provider’s Homepage appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
Sometimes. But make sure it’s not out of laziness or ignorance. Increasingly, you’ll hear the term “business outcomes” popping up in software marketing. While I initially loathed the phrase for its vagueness, over time I’ve come to believe that, much …
The post Should Marketers Say “Business Outcomes”? appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
1M ago
Back in October, I did a live workshop with my second cohort in the Balderton Launched program in London. I sat down intending to use the slides from my first session, but — always one to go with the flow …
The post Five Success Principles For Startup Founders appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
2M ago
I’ve often quipped that board observers should be like Victorian children: seen and not heard. While that might sound obnoxious, it’s not if you understand how hard board seats are to come by and the process through which you get …
The post The Proper Role of the Board Observer appeared first on Kellblog ..read more
Kellblog
2M ago
While I don’t do politics on Kellblog, I do analyze messaging, including political messaging. My point is not to change your mind on a given issue, but to study what works in the major leagues [1]. Towards that end, I …
The post Seven Messaging Lessons from the 2024 Election appeared first on Kellblog ..read more