RS309: Growth Fundamentals Most Founders Get Wrong

RS309: Growth Fundamentals Most Founders Get Wrong

Author: RogueStartups April 24, 2024 Duration: 42:14
Alison French joins Craig behind the mic today to talk about ICP and go-to-market strategy, as well as the challenges that bootstrap founders have. We can all overcome these struggles with the right tools, systems, outlook, and determination. She commiserates with Craig about what bootstrappers have to go through and also gives some great advice for new startups and entrepreneurs.  Alison runs a boutique sales and marketing consultancy all around B2B SaaS startups. She is the Marketing Gal who got bit by the revenue bug and became passionate about helping companies scale their revenue by focusing on the intersection of sales and marketing. With over 20 years of experience in the field, she specializes in assisting B2B founders and leaders who venture into new markets. Her ultimate goal is to help you build a robust sales and marketing infrastructure that not only streamlines lead generation but also maximizes your ability to close deals. And the best part? She does all this while keeping your expenses to a minimum. Do you have any comments, questions, or topic ideas for future episodes? Send Craig an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. If you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give Rogue Startups a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Highlights: Why everyone sucks at execution. Ideas are cheap. Execution is the hard thing. Recognize how to get out of your own way and when to delegate How can you delegate cheaply Free up your time so you can do the higher-leverage tasks Getting good content writers and/or a copy editor The entire team needs to know the values and priorities of the company People discount the importance of brand research and focus ICP: marketing, content,  When you’re taking a dollar of profit and reinvesting in growth, where do you focus? Build a prospect list and then proactively nurture that small segment Versium: matched audience media The importance of retargeting Your Dream 100 Cold E-mail: a balance of who you can go after, the right time, and the right place Starting your bootstrapped B2B business today: where do you focus? Look at your prospects, laser focus on your ICP Apollo.io for data hacking Recognizing you can’t do it all Look at your tech-stack Know, instantly, who you can delegate to Throw tasks out into the world and see what happens As a founder, you’re never going to find someone who can sell as much as you Resources:  Alison French, LinkedIn LTO.com  Follow Craig on Twitter/X Castos Founder Insights

Behind every new company is a story, and Rogue Startups digs into the real ones-the messy, uncertain, and exhilarating paths founders actually walk. This isn't about polished success tales; it's a candid look at the day-to-day grind of building a business from the ground up. You'll hear directly from entrepreneurs in the thick of it, along with seasoned experts who specialize in the crucial engines of growth: sales, marketing, and product development. Conversations focus on practical tactics, particularly around scaling productized services and SaaS offerings, exploring the real "how" behind their growth hacking strategies. The value of this podcast lies in that shared experience-hearing how others navigate the very obstacles you might be staring down, and learning what moves actually led to a win. It’s for anyone who prefers the unvarnished truth of entrepreneurship over theory, offering a sense of camaraderie and a toolbox of ideas drawn from the front lines. Tune in for authentic dialogue that skips the fluff and gets straight to the challenges and victories of building something new.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Rogue Startups
Podcast Episodes
RS338:  Balancing Your Use of AI with Aaron Francis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:12
Ever wonder what's happening behind the scenes when your dev team says they're "leveraging AI"? As a non-technical founder, you don't need to understand every line of code, but knowing how AI is actually being used in yo…
RS337: Building AI Native SaaS w/ Jordan Gal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:06
Today, Craig chats with Jordan Gal from Rosie about starting a business centered solely on AI. While many of us use AI to help with our work tasks and streamline certain jobs, Jordan’s whole business is AI. They discuss…
RS336: Claude Project Deep Dive with Alison French [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:43
On today’s episode of Rogue Startups, Craig continues his AI series with founder, marketer, and Claude-user Alison French. They discuss the hesitation creators feel when working alongside AI and what Alison did to overco…
RS335: Evaluating AI Model Performance with Stuart Grey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:06
In today’s episode of Rogue Startups, Craig sits down with AI expert Dr. Stuart Grey to discuss how AI is transforming both his personal and professional life. Dr. Grey also shares how he educates his students and client…
RS334: How AI Saves Me 10 Hours A Week [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:51
Today, I’m kicking off a series on AI—how I’m using it personally and professionally to grow my business, make life easier, and operate at a higher level. Over the next few episodes, I’ll be chatting with folks about the…
RS333: Grading My Business (and yours!) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:03
In this New Year's Eve 2024 episode, we dive into a framework for evaluating SaaS businesses across eight crucial criteria. Instead of doing a typical year-in-review or making predictions, we explore how to assess the fu…
RS332: Competing with Stripe and Hubspot (ft. Geoff Roberts) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:14
Hey everyone! Just had an awesome chat with Geoff Roberts from Outseta (outseta.com). They're doing something pretty wild - basically smashing together Stripe and HubSpot into one platform for subscription businesses. Ho…
RS331: I'm Still Here... [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:23
After a 2+ month hiatus, we're back! Watch on YouTube Sorry for the pause in episodes, but thank you for tuning in this week. In this episode I talk through why the forever long break in the podcast, what I've learned in…
RS330: Product-Led Playbook with Wes Bush [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:52
Wes Bush is a leading authority on product-led growth (PLG) and is here to guide Craig through the playbook for implementing product-led strategies in your business. This episode is invaluable for entrepreneurs eager to…
How To Hire For Growth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:20
In this episode of Rogue Startups, I dug into several pressing questions from the community. From knowing when to pull the plug on a marketing channel to the debate around hiring for support versus sales, we covered grou…