Franco Ieraci’s Post

Just kicked off my GrowthX® journey this weekend, and one major insight hit me right away: many first-time founders are sabotaging their growth by rushing into their GTM before achieving PMF. As a SaaS investor who speaks with hundreds of startups every month, I’ve seen this play out time and again. Founders often skip the fundamentals and end up paying the price! Until you hit 𝐏𝐌𝐅, your GTM needs to 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩, 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, & 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧. How to go about it? Simple: 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬. Too many founders skip this step, rely on agencies, start building out content calendars, or jump into performance marketing—missing out on quick critical insights that are key to getting to PMF. Get this right, or risk going after the wrong ICP and delaying your PMF.

Me and Milo McConaghy making our 4 millionth decision of the morning as startup founders When my co-founder and I first started working together, we were way too polite. We’d say a lot of things like: "Let's think about it" "We can discuss it next week" "Maybe we should sleep on it" Know what happened? Nothing. For weeks! There are 3 real costs of slow decision-making between co-founders: - Lost momentum - Missed opportunities - Team confusion So we changed our approach. Now, before ANY meeting, we (or at least one of us) comes prepared with: ✓ Clear problem statement  ✓ Proposed solutions ✓ Timeline for action  ✓ Required resources Example:  ❌ "We should look into our pricing strategy"  ✍️ "Our current pricing is causing X% customer churn - I suggest we test a new tiered model next month. Here's my draft plan..." This is usually met with an impactful and infamous “👍”  (the liquid gold of foundership) Approaching decisions this way: - Cuts meeting times in half - Forces clearer thinking - Allows for faster and easier decision making - Keeps momentum going Ensuring everybody gets that “👍” as fast as possible 😅 What's the longest you've sat on making a business decision?

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻 This guide provides actionable strategies for SaaS founders aiming to build billion-dollar businesses. Key takeaways include: 1️⃣ Key Metrics: Understand and track MRR, ARR, CAC, and LTV to measure and optimize growth. 2️⃣ Product-Market Fit: Ensure your product solves a critical need and resonates deeply with your target audience. 3️⃣ T2D3 Growth Model: Triple your revenue for two years, then double it for three to scale rapidly. 4️⃣ Operational Efficiency: Balance aggressive growth with streamlined operations to achieve sustainable success. 5️⃣ Investor Insights: Learn what investors look for in a high-growth SaaS startup and how to present your value proposition effectively. PS. check out 🔔 for a winning pitch deck the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel https://lnkd.in/ejp-Bhnu

Calling all Founders, CEOs, NEDs, CFOs or Investors who are on your scale-up Product journey. Firstly, congratulations on building your organisation, getting past the early pains of finding that elusive market fit, and winning some great customers! Chapeau! As CTOs who have worked with scaling businesses we often have pretty strong ideas on what needs to happen next, we've often seen the good, bad and indifferent of tech businesses. BUT we see the world through the CTOs lens, not the eyes of the founder or investor. 💡 So, the million dollar question - what keeps YOU awake at night in your scaling journey? Would love to hear your thoughts on this as it would help me and others in the tech community be able to engage better on the journey we are all on.

Death rattle or rain delay? I was *this* close to closing a 6-figure deal… …then poof! 🪄 The client disappeared. 👻 Well, more accurately, stopped responding to my emails. Then, a few months later, a Zoom request. Come to find out, Stellar was (is?) their #1 choice, but they had to freeze marketing and regroup. Phew! Just a rain delay. Hey, I work in biotech. I’ve seen some sh*t. I’ve designed websites for $2B “instant small cap” IPOs and, on the flipside, for startups that just withered away. But I’m a creative – I exist to find clever ways to get clients out of a jam or just headed in the right direction. And listen, I’m fine with a prospect taking all the time they need to find the right fit, it’s just when the communication stops, I start to wonder: death rattle or rain delay? Have a great weekend!

20 Lessons From 20 Different Paths to Product-Market Fit — Advice for Founders, From Founders

Zero to 1 How do you go from Zero to 1 in building your startup? • Focus on finding clear market pull and iterate until you identify the right customer pain points. • Do more for fewer customers initially, rather than trying to serve too many use cases. • Get "messy" by deeply engaging with early customers and understanding their needs. • Leverage referrals, partnerships, and a "Trojan horse" business model to expand reach. • Emphasize execution and rapid learning velocity as a founder. • Data and metrics are important but need to be balanced with the scrappiness required in the zero to one stage. • Avoid becoming overly data-driven too early; focus on finding product-market fit first. • Track key metrics to inform decisions but not dominate strategy. • Achieving "one" signifies a point of repeatability and scalability in the business model beyond initial founder-led traction. Let’s see how I use this to help founders connect at Co-Founder Connect! If you’re a founder or just interested in this space, join me and 200 founders at our next networking event https://lu.ma/wl61ozha

Raising capital? See an advice from Mark Andreessen Build your product FIRST. 🚀 Here's why: - Calling card: Your product speaks louder than your resume - Proof of execution: Shows you can deliver, not just dream - Chicken-egg solved: Product first, then funding Thanks Chris Tottman

Is there a product? ✅Is it useful? ✅Will it change the industry? ✅Is it scalable? ✅ Superintelligence Computing Systems

Only someone who has been through the zero-to-one journey understands the ups and downs of building something from scratch. There's nothing like connecting with other founders who've been there, done that. They can give you advice, support, and a sense of community so you don’t have to navigate it alone. I’m excited to share that I am a founding member of the Zero to One Collective Forum Ventures! I’m bringing my expertise of Product Development and Sales Enablement/ Talent Development to the stellar community of advisors to give back to the awesome B2B SaaS founders. DM me if you're a zero-to-one builder interested in joining the community because together we can ensure that new founders have the resources they need to make outstanding products that benefit us, our society and our economy. #forumventures #startupecosystem #advisory