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Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 

@jasonlk

May 3

We’re in the second year of the VC Downturn. No need to pity your VCs. But it does add … stress.

Here are my best 10 ideas to keep your board and investors calmer, happier — and on your side. It’s worth these relatively small investments of your time:

🔽🔟🔽

#1: Respond to emails

You don’t need to take their suggestions. But reply. Many founders just don’t reply to emails from their investors. Think of them as quirky, large customers. You don’t have to do what they ask. But reply promptly if possible. If you don’t — they worry.

#2: Send out monthly updates — quickly

Few things instill confidence more than a crisp, metrics-filled monthly investor update right after month ends. Don’t make it complicated. Use a format that takes you no more than 15-20 minutes. The “final” update can come later.

Read 12 tweets

Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 

@jasonlk

Apr 29

New sales reps are taught … a lot of things they shouldn’t be. And it leads to a lot of lost revenue.

10 Things New Sales Reps Are Taught. That Maybe They Shouldn’t Be:

🔽🔟🔽

#1: “Be careful of prospects that waste your time.”

Yes, your time is precious. But this is backwards. Almost no one wants to waste a salesperson’s time. Talking to sales isn’t fun. A prospect inbounds because they have a need. Treat them with respect. Watch your sales go up.

#2: “It’s OK to not really understand a key feature.”

There is no excuse, folks. Don’t talk about a product or feature you haven’t used. Don’t be so lazy. This is SaaS. Fire up your web browser and actually try it. And for real. Use it as if you were a prospect / customer.

Read 11 tweets

Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 

@jasonlk

Apr 27

I’m not sure who decided the renewal should be a time of high tension with your customers.

But it has become that. An NPS damaging moment each year.

Really, it should be a non-event, done right. In fact, it should take no work at all. Done right.

Every renewal has now become a time of dread.

How much will a vendor attempt to raise prices, without even a heads-up?

Will will be threatened with a shut-off if we don’t pay dramatically more?

Will we be told we have to buy a more expensive edition we don’t even need?

Now, in many cases, the last person we want to talk to is “Customer Success” or “Account Management”

They have become the VP of Rip Offs and/or Undesired Upsells and/or Threats to Turn It Off

Not the ally of the customers

Read 4 tweets

Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 

@jasonlk

Mar 25

I think YC encouraging its founders to raise at a high price even in today’s market is smart

Yes, it may decrease the odds some can raise another round, or make it harder. VCs have a point there.

But …

If the YC brand allows them to raise a lot more capital than otherwise, then that money can extend those seed rounds for 12, 18, even 24 months longer than usual

Assuming they don’t materially increase the burn rate

The Series A market is just brutal out there. Brutal. Not as brutal as Series B, but brutal.

So if you can hack a brand + higher valuation to raise lot more, e.g. $4m instead of $2m, or $3m instead of $1.5 … and you don’t increase your burn (yes this requires discipline) …

Read 9 tweets

Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 

@jasonlk

Mar 24

A lot of VCs are right now at cognitive overload

There’s no need to be sympathetic (at all), but it’s something to be aware of when you see VCs acting … differently

Here’s what’s happening:

2021 was An Age of VC Hubris. Everyone was a genius, and some of the best that had big cash exits actually quietly moved on.

2022 was Crisis Mode. It was a terrible time in VC, especially for anyone Series B or later. But folks know what to do in a crisis. You focus.

2023 is Overload Mode. Most established VCs are actively managing ~20 investments. Some died last year, so be it. But now, there are likely 10 that are >all< consuming massive time.

Stress, running out of money, yelling, execs leaving.

Read 8 tweets

Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 

@jasonlk

Mar 15

"#1. Investing in a startup with strong early traction ... with a good but not great CEO."

saastr.com/10-of-my-top-s…

"#2. Investing when you aren’t sure but someone else really successful is investing.

You gotta do your own homework. All of it. Not just some."

"#3. Investing when it’s something you don’t quite know.

I haven’t been that successful in investing outside of SaaS, even in founders I knew were good. Others can make this work, but not me."

Read 5 tweets

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