PinnedThe Three-Legged StoolThe platitude A common start-up axiom is that “Customer success begins in the sales cycle”, yet a cursory look at how most start-ups conduct their sales discovery reveals that this is (unfortunately) almost always a platitude. The reason for this does not lie with any one individual or team but…Customer Success7 min readCustomer Success7 min read
PinnedAvoiding management debt“Voodoo hiring” One of the best ways to improve the performance of any business is to improve the quality of talent in its workforce* yet hiring is the one area of business that continually resists being systematised. A lack of a systemic approach to hiring often results in managers relying on their…Customer Success6 min readCustomer Success6 min read
PinnedThe missing piece of software salesSales orthodoxy Almost every aspect of building and running a Software business has been studied, measured, and systematised over the years, none more so than building and running a commercial organisation. If we were to compare the sales team of a contemporary, subscription-based SaaS start-up to a perpetually licensed on-premises software business…Crane Perspectives6 min readCrane Perspectives6 min read
PinnedBuilders vs ScalersScaling pains Hiring for roles outside of their area of expertise is one of the biggest challenges start-up founders face. The early phase of a software start-up is usually characterised by rapid product experimentation, selling to “friends and family” and a lack of formal structure or processes. …Crane Perspectives5 min readCrane Perspectives5 min read
PinnedThere’s no such thing as post salesAt Crane we absolutely love working on all things Go to market with early stage European Enterprise software startups. What founders, startup executives and (especially) investors typically mean when they refer to “Go to market” is how best to plan, organise and utilise your (often limited) resources for effective Sales…Crane Perspectives6 min readCrane Perspectives6 min read
Oct 3The key to repeatable salesThis is the first in a series of articles based on “Crane Foundations”, an instructor-led course on how to build founder-led go-to-market, originally created for early stage B2B companies in the Crane portfolio The counterintuitive “why” As the founder of an early stage start-up who has raised, or is looking to raise an…Startup8 min readStartup8 min read
Nov 16, 2022The problem with Customer SuccessOngoing confusion One of the hallmarks of software start-ups in the last decade has been to accelerate growth through easy access to inexpensive capital. Fuelling growth this way has made it easier for start-ups to mask inefficiencies, delay profitability and to address business problems by simply adding more headcount. This…Customer Success9 min readCustomer Success9 min read
Apr 23, 2021The Everything DepartmentThe path to scaling In an early stage software business, getting to “product market fit” as quickly as possible is one of the key milestones for founders. It is only then that revving up (and professionalising) the commercial engine can really begin. An inability to build the right commercial engine in a timely manner…Customer Success6 min readCustomer Success6 min read
Apr 9, 2020Taking care of (existing) businessIt’s hard to believe but it’s actually only been a few weeks since the rhythm of life and business has been well and truly disrupted. As we all begin to get over the initial shock and start to adjust and adapt to new ways of working, taking care of existing…Customer Success7 min readCustomer Success7 min read
