The Exchanges

Q Okay. Are you, so are you planning to raise this year or next year? I should say next year. It's December now.

A Uh, yes, actually, Nathan, I, I am hoping to raise a seed because, uh, we now have the confidence that what we're building has legs. It works. Uh, clients are liking what they see. They're seeing value in it. So now, uh, what, what I need to do, what I really want to do is start building, uh, you know, a really strong team. Both on the dev side and on the go to market side. And to be able to do that, um, you know, I think I, I will need some capital to do that. So unless there is, uh, a significant event on the revenue side from, uh, you know, a few large customers, I feel like, uh, I might go back into the market or raise a seat.

AI assessment note: “I am hoping to raise a seed because, uh, we now have the confidence”

Q Well, quantify that. What do you mean when you say enterprise sales teams? Usually people quantify these by cohorts based off ACV cohorts.

A Um, well, you can, you can think of it in ACV, but, uh, it has to, You have to be selling a complex product to multiple different buyer personas. A good example, uh, is the health tech industry, right? Complex product in itself from a software perspective, but also complex from a compliance perspective, from a clinical perspective. And then the complexity is also in the buyer persona that they're selling to. So if they're selling to payers or insurance companies or hospitals or, uh, pharmacies or large employers, they're going to, Have to sell different. They're going to showcase their solution differently. And so that's where you want to ensure that you're able to bring in consistency in your product demos across teams, and you're able to personalize those demos based on the buyer persona that you're pitching to.

AI assessment note: “You have to be selling a complex product to multiple different buyer personas.”

Q Interesting. Well, so you got that deal done. Um, and then I guess fast forward today, how many customers are you working with?

A So, you know, interesting since the last time we spoke, I had six customers, I had an MVP. Uh, we started implementing and rolling out the MVP to our customers, uh, realized that, uh, the product was failing and the nature of our product was such that, you know, it was working alongside sales reps when they were doing live sales demos. It could not crash, right? If it crashed, it instantly lost the confidence of the rep. And so we went back to the drawing board, re-architected the entire product, relaunched it this past September. So just two months ago, and we're back at, you know, six, eight customers now, a few paying others in pilot. And, uh, yeah, so, so, but what we're seeing is that the usage is better, a better customer response. They're seeing value out of it. And we're actually seeing customers use us for not just the use case we intended it for, but also other functions inside of the company. So that's, that's good validation for what we're building.

AI assessment note: “we're back at, you know, six, eight customers now”

Q And so why do you feel like you're worth ten million dollars today, or the company's worth ten million dollars today?

A Uh, well, one is we, we have, uh, satisfied customers, referenceable customers, right? I think that's the biggest thing. Um, the second is that we've actually proven that, you know, we can run a lean team. We can pivot when we need to, uh, we can actually deliver a product, uh, and, and actually go to market, not just build a product in silo, right? So for example, in September, when we launched, we launched our product hunt. We actually ended up being product of the day for, you know, a solo founder running a super lean team, no marketing team behind it. Um, you know, I was pretty, I was pretty pumped about that. Right. Uh, and then how did you do that?

AI assessment note: “one is we, we have, uh, satisfied customers, referenceable customers”

Q Yeah, but no, don't, don't, don't give me a generic. Tell me actually who you targeted. Like what, what were, what were all those things for you?

A Uh, friends and family, the community. So even before, like a few months before we launched, we knew we were going to launch. So we, we started to put the word out that, Hey, we're going to do this. We're going to need your support. Uh, this is what we're doing. Uh, started Uh, you know, attending meetups and events and things like that. Uh, in my newsletter, uh, I, I made sure to mention it every time I, I sent a note to, to folks in my newsletter that this we're doing the day off, you know, we had some automations going on that. 24 hours, uh, on the, on the, at the stroke of midnight Pacific, when we launched note goes out to X number of people every six hours and notes. Oh man. How many? At least a couple thousand people.

AI assessment note: “friends and family, the community. So even before, like a few months before we launched”

Q So when do I get my 20% affiliate commission? I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. No, that's great. I love hearing that. Okay, good. So you're, you're taking a target approach in SaaS groups. Um, well, we'll actually, no, maybe not SaaS groups. What specific SaaS Slack groups are you going to target if you keep using that as a channel?

A Uh, so, so I'm trying to target, uh, sales enablement SaaS groups and trying to target a product marketing SaaS groups because, uh, you know, it's, it's interesting that This function of building, maintaining, creating, and delivering demos resides in different functions in different companies, depending on their stage, depending on the industry. So whether it's a sales enablement function that, that, that manages that process sometimes in, in a little more mature companies. Uh, and in some other companies, it's a, it's a hybrid of product and product marketing teams that actually are responsible for doing it. And then there are just sales teams, which have like sales engineers or solution consultants Uh, that actually manage and create these demos. So I'm trying to target, you know, these type of roles at SAS companies and trying to find Whether Slack channels or LinkedIn groups, uh, where I can actually, you know, spread the word and, and get some interest going.

AI assessment note: “I'm trying to target, uh, sales enablement SaaS groups and trying to target a product marketing”

Q So when do I get my 20% affiliate commission? I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. No, that's great. I love hearing that. Okay, good. So you're, you're taking a target approach in SaaS groups. Um, well, we'll actually, no, maybe not SaaS groups. What specific SaaS Slack groups are you going to target if you keep using that as a channel?

A Uh, so, so I'm trying to target, uh, sales enablement SaaS groups and trying to target a product marketing SaaS groups because, uh, you know, it's, it's interesting that This function of building, maintaining, creating, and delivering demos resides in different functions in different companies, depending on their stage, depending on the industry. So whether it's a sales enablement function that, that, that manages that process sometimes in, in a little more mature companies. Uh, and in some other companies, it's a, it's a hybrid of product and product marketing teams that actually are responsible for doing it. And then there are just sales teams, which have like sales engineers or solution consultants Uh, that actually manage and create these demos. So I'm trying to target, you know, these type of roles at SAS companies and trying to find Whether Slack channels or LinkedIn groups, uh, where I can actually, you know, spread the word and, and get some interest going.

AI assessment note: “I'm trying to target, uh, sales enablement SaaS groups and trying to target a product marketing”