How do you build a $100M revenue business in 3 years?
That was the question my coaching client Larry asked me with a straight face.
Now, before you dismiss his question, you need to know that he just exited his previous startup a few months earlier.
So I knew he had the chops.
What a great question I thought …
… so I took some time to really reflect on all the things I’ve learned in scaling my own software companies… as well as the common traits and characteristics of other companies that had done it.
Discovered some pretty unexpected things along the way.
If you’ve ever been crazy enough to secretly (or not so secretly) ask how to grow to 9 figures in 3 short years…
You’ll want to take a few short minutes to give this a watch.
It essentially comes down to 5 elements that NEED to be in place for you to achieve rapid growth and scale at breakneck speed.
Now back to Larry.
While his goal was far from delusional…
His path to getting there was a little off.
One of the initial constraints was that he wanted to do it “without raising money”… but I quickly explained that that wouldn’t be possible, or would be nearly impossible.
We also talked about the product, the business model and the way it would need to be sold to ensure it could grow fast enough within its market.
We then talked about certain aspects of the team, and the way he’d need to build it to ensure he could free up his time at each turn to focus on the next level of challenges.
All in all, the major outcome he was trying to achieve was something that eventually could be sold, and even though I don’t subscribe to the build & flip mentality to startups, I did share how to structure the business so that it could work.
Now I know most people don’t have the aspirations, or need to build a big company like this, but I still think it’s worth understanding the mechanics.
So be sure to watch the video, and leave a comment with your biggest takeaway below… which aspect surprised you the most?
Let me know and I’ll see you next Monday!
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. (Get the free 3 videos to grow your business here.) He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter@danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
Are you an entrepreneur? Get free weekly video training here:
http://www.danmartell.com/newsletter
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
Facebook looks at daily active users.
Airbnb.com uses bookings.
At Clarity – my previous company – we obsessed over completed calls.
These are called North Star Metrics.
It’s a clear metric that your growth team focuses on to move the needle.
The key is that it captures the value created for your customers, and allows everyone on the team – and really the company – to drive this forward.
But how do you come up with the right ideas to move this number?
How do you prioritize the right metric to get your growth engine revving?
That’s what I teach you in this week’s video.
It comes down to a simple 4 part process that I was taught from one of my mentors Sean Ellis.
Once you’ve defined a solid North Star Metric (NSM), then you need to come up with actionable ideas and strategies that are going to move that number higher.
Here’s how.
I go much DEEPER into this process in this week’s video…
… as well as some common challenges that my SaaS Academy clients constantly run into.
(confusing product with growth is a BIG one that absolutely destroys momentum)
If after watching you have any questions about how to define your North Star Metric or the best way to structure your teams to move them forward, leave a comment below the video and I’ll respond there.
Here’s to your growth!
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. (Get the free 3 videos to grow your business here.) He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter@danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
Are you an entrepreneur? Get free weekly video training here:
http://www.danmartell.com/newsletter
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell
I can still remember the moment I became a millionaire.
It took 10 years of failing, getting back up, testing, iterating till finally at 27 years old it happened.
I can still remember the specific moment when I found out.
I was cruising in my broke down, decade old Jetta when my accountant Marc called me to break the news.
He was more excited for me than I was only because he knew how hard I had been working.
Also, he knew in the beginning that I almost lost it all after booking a bunch of revenue and sitting on receivables that were delayed in getting paid.
It almost killed the business.
To say it was a tough journey would be an understatement but what I want to share are the 6 skills that my mentors taught me about creating wealth.
Now, if you know me well, you’ll quickly learn that I don’t give a shit about money (hence the secondhand Jetta).
I’m not into fancy watches, cars, etc… but I do have an addiction to the latest Apple gear :).
For me money is really an opportunity to measure the value I’m creating in the world through my business, and gives me a feedback loop as to my growth as a person.
What’s even more important than dollars and cents are the skills and habits I’ve developed to get there.
So I wanted to share them in this video.
Here’s why… no matter what happens to my business, you can never take these skills away from me.
They’re mine and they continue to pay dividends.
If you want to up your entrepreneurial game, then you’ll need to become a master of these 6 skills:
Now, if you feel like you’re behind on a few of these, don’t worry about it… it’s a life long journey.
Even though I’ve read over 100 books on selling, you have access to YouTube and incredible mentors who share daily on Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
That means you can move faster than I did.
So my question to you is this…
What are you going to do to improve your skills?
Leave a comment and let me know which you want to improve with 3 actions you can take today.
If you have any questions, just post below and I’ll help provide some insights.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. (Get the free 3 videos to grow your business here.) He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited two tech startups: Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter@danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
Are you an entrepreneur? Get free weekly video training here:
http://www.danmartell.com/newsletter
+ Instagram (behind the scenes): http://instagram.com/danmartell
+ Facebook (live trainings + Q&A): http://FB.com/DanMartell
+ Twitter (what I'm reading): http://twitter.com/danmartell