“To be a salesperson, to be a go-to-market leader, and come in to something where people are truly finding value and shouting it from the digital rooftops, that’s something you can work with.” – Mark Roberge & Kyle Parrish in today’s Tip 1610
How do you find the right next role?
Join the conversation below and check out the links!
The Science of Scaling Podcast
Mark Roberge on LinkedIn
Kyle Parrish on LinkedIn
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from a new podcast called The Science of Scaling. It’s hosted by Mark Roberge – who you might know as the founding CRO at HubSpot, co-founder of Stage 2 Capital, or as a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. Each episode of The Science of Scaling gets super tactical on how to scale your sales and revenue. And episodes feature this really unique, “stop the tape” feature where Mark literally pauses the interview to jump in with a deeper breakdown of the different points being made by the guest. You’ll hear that happen here as he talks with Kyle Parrish, The VP of Sales at Figma:
Kyle Parrish: When I started to look for my next role in Figma, like you said, I think you’re looking for something where you see some big trends or some trends that I was following the rise of design in technology that was disrupting some of the biggest markets out there. Early on, the former COO would just talk about the user love, the community around Figma. Even then, which was pretty nascent in 2018, people were just ecstatic. To be a salesperson, to be a go-to-market leader, and come in to something where people are truly finding value and shouting it from the digital rooftops, that’s something you can work with.
Mark Roberge: Hey, folks, it’s just Mark here. That point Kyle made, that’s an important one if you’re out there looking for the next Figma as a PLG company. PLG has been really hot, I would say, over the last 10 years. Current macro conditions make it a little more challenging, but I’m still extremely bullish on the long-term impacts of PLG. It’s not applicable everywhere, though. And Kyle, he brings up an important point around disrupting a field. And I’ve written about this. If the category already exists and is understood, but it just hasn’t been PLG’d, quote-unquote. It’s just easier for someone, Oh, yeah, I’ve used CRM. Oh, cool, a free CRM. Oh, yeah, I’ve used a designer tool. Oh, cool, a free designer tool. I already get the category. That’s something to think about as you look for the next winner. The other thing that’s hidden in his discussion there that is so key and it’s critical for me as an investor in PLG is the first question I ask. It’s not like revenue. Believe it or not, it’s wow retention, weekly active user retention. Fine, you signed up 100 customers in the second week of November, and now it’s four months later. How many of those 100 customers still use the tool? If you dive into the depths of PLG execution, that’s key. And that’s, I think, what Kyle means by creating value, creating end-user value, that’s what you want to look for.
Scott Ingram: You can listen and subscribe to The Science of Scaling now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts and of course, we’ve got those links for you at DailySales.Tips/1610. Once you’ve been over there, be sure to come right back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!