Thread: Had a 90 min walk with a founder asking for advice. The good: i) Strong growth. Triple digit annual growth as a sub 10M ARR company - check ii) Runway. 6-8 qtrs of cash - check iii) Valuation. Should easily clear last round post at conservative 10x ARR - no down round!
The challenges: i) Scaling sales. Tenured reps rocking it, new reps not so much. Suggested it's time to crystallize the play book, especially around how to ID a real deal. Could take a few quarters to work out.
ii) Management. At 100+ employees the VPs need to be manager of managers. Not all are ready. CEO needs to learn to groom managers of managers, start to be more hands off, still be in details but focus on alignment and accountability.
iii) distributed leadership across 3 international offices. Doable but commit to two+ hour video conf every week supplemented by monthly face to face with dinner
iv) Board. Don't rush to add independent, what you need next year may not what you need now. Start cultivating relationships with next round investors, find someone you like.
v) Segment. Confirm the target segment you want to pursue and focus, yes don't define too narrow, but more important to not chase things outside the target. And of course, enjoy this next phase! #theclimbtoabillion.
