Episode 146

146 Janet Giesen - From Goals to Gold: Unleashing SaaS Launch Success

In today’s SaaS Fuel Expert Series, we dive deep into the art and science of launching a SaaS product with our special guest Janet Giesen.

Janet drops some serious wisdom on how to set goals and measure success – whether you're gunning for instant revenue or playing the long game with media coverage and investor allure. She also walks us through the intricacies, urging us to explore into our target demographics and sales segments.

We dig deep into the strategies, the planning, and the crucial steps that can make or break a launch. So buckle up, SaaS enthusiasts! Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of insights, strategies, and a few laughs along the way. Let's dive in!

Key Takeaways

00:00 Creating agile, future-proof companies with premium valuations.

04:08 Seek diverse input, rapidly prototype, and test.

09:08 Launch success depends on cross-functional collaboration.

10:24 Research is crucial for new products, and pivot strategies.

15:12 Understand buyer's purchasing behavior for go-to-market.

18:35 Relevant business models are crucial for partnerships.

22:00 Unveiling AI capabilities, and repositioning cloud offerings.

25:29 Creating an effective launch process through cross-department teamwork.

29:50 Substance over hype, addressing customer's smart questions.

33:20 Tech can be ahead, the market needs to catch up.

35:24 Optimize resources for effective startup launch strategy.

39:51 Ensure clear communication and evaluate success effectively.

43:20 Brand strategically and differentiate critical features.

44:38 Having a press agency or person for newsworthy content.

Tweetable Quotes

"You really want someone that's leading this launch effort, someone who's inherently cross-functional Because you really want the 3 legs of this stool to be working together in the launch, product, marketing, and sales." — Janet Giesen 00:09:12

"You really need to know how your buyer likes to buy because then that will determine your go-to market." — Janet Giesen 00:16:07

"So you're not only navigating your own org to make sure you have the right stakeholders, you're navigating your partner orgs as well to make sure they're all on board. They'll launch with you."— Janet Giesen 00:17:40

"It's almost finding a way to do a more grassroots launch depending on the amount of funding because you really have to figure out how to optimize for the funding you have and how big you wanna go." — Janet Giesen 00:35:35

"Rather than say it should be a percentage of revenue, I'd look at what are your goals for it, then what are the tactics, and can you get to an ROI on those tactics." — Janet Giesen 00:37:55

"The big companies are afraid of being outmaneuvered by small ones. Every single business stage has strengths and weaknesses. So wherever you are, maximize your strengths." — Jeff Mains 00:01:18

"Growing bigger doesn't mean losing your startup soul. And it's something that I never ever wanna lose no matter how big companies get." — Jeff Mains 00:01:57

"Encouraging a diversity of thought across roles and backgrounds fuels reinvention. Create a culture and feedback channels that welcome ideas from the entire company because those closest to the end-user or the client day to day usually have the best insights." — Jeff Mains 00:04:35

SaaS Leadership Lessons

1. Embrace Relentless Reinvention: Stay agile, nimble, and relevant regardless of company size. Constantly reinvent and innovate to stay ahead in the highly competitive SaaS market.

2. Define Clear Launch Goals: Before planning a product launch, define specific and measurable goals. Determine whether the focus is on immediate pipeline and revenue or long-term awareness and disruption of competition.

3. Collaborate Across Functions: Effective communication and collaboration between product, sales, and marketing teams are crucial for identifying valuable features and technologies, incorporating market feedback, and achieving successful product launches.

4. Engage Key Stakeholders: Involve the founder, a dedicated launch team, and the right people from various departments in the planning and execution of product launches to ensure alignment and coordination.

5. Partner Program Success Factors: Launching and managing partner programs requires influencing partner organizations, relevant business models, partner investment, and committing sales team buy-in by aligning incentives and making it easy for them to sell.

6. Coordinate Technical Readiness with GTM Strategy: Challenges in coordinating product launches include aligning technical readiness with go-to-market strategy and ensuring all components work together seamlessly.

7. Budget with a Purpose: When determining the launch budget, align it with specific goals and tactics. Focus on generating a return on investment (ROI) rather than setting a percentage of revenue.

8. Measure, Evaluate, and Adapt: Success of the launch can be measured by aligning the goals with specific tactics and evaluating the ROI compared to existing marketing campaigns. Flexibility and adaptability are crucial based on the evaluation.

9. Substance Over Hype: Differentiate through substance over hype - demonstrate dependability, and transparency, and address pain points. Substance and reliability are key in the highly competitive SaaS landscape.

10. Utilize Technology for Advancements: Leverage advanced technology such as AI-powered presentation deck-building tools and fit-for-purpose launch planning software for efficient and successful product launches.