The Startup Chat With Steli And Hiten

Many people want to start a side business, but don’t know how to do it.  It’s really easy to start a business nowadays, but it’s tough to keep it going. We’re going to tell you how to establish your own side business today. The points we made today: Side business owners are business owners Be proud of your business Know your skills How can you use your skills Using online platforms to advertise your skills How writing an e-book is a smart choice Why you need to take one step at a time (versus spending a lot of money) Keep realistic goals Don’t “cheat” your paying employer We invite you to join our Facebook group.  It’s great to have such an incredible group of entrepreneurs out there making it happen every day.  We’d love to hear from you; please feel free to join our Facebook group and share your experiences, challenges, and motivation with us and the rest of Startup Chat community. The post 269: Encore Episode – How to Start a Side Business appeared first on The Startup Chat with Steli & H

Today Steli and Hiten talk about how to get those first few customers when your business is just getting off the ground.  The key to that initial traction is to connect with potential customers as soon as possible. Hiten’s first course of action is to set up a landing page that allows you to collect email addresses.  There are a bunch of tools out there that allow you to do this well.  Pick the one that’s easiest for you to set up today and start getting those email addresses. If you don’t already have an audience or traffic to the site, start blogging about what you’re doing.  Driving traffic to the site this way is a great way to start getting interest in your project. Steli used a tactic that is actually one of Hiten’s favorite approaches:  doing consulting around the problem you’re trying to solve, then build tools to solve the problem that your consulting did initially.  In Elastic Sales Steli’s team they validated the concept of on demand sales teams, and within two weeks they had a pipeline 7 potential

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the challenges of being an entrepreneur in today’s ultra-competitive business world. Although there are lots of positives to being an entrepreneur, like being your own boss, working when you want to and how you want to, choosing your staff and ideally making a significant profit, there are also some difficulties that may come your way on your entrepreneurship journey. From trying to establish a brand to working really long hours, dealing with the competition and staying profitable, being an entrepreneur can be very challenging and depressing sometimes, no matter how long you’ve been in business. In this episode, Steli and Hiten address some of these challenges and share some tips on how to deal with them so you can operate an efficient and successful business. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 Steli and Hiten about today’s topic. 00:30 Why they chose to talk about this topic. 03:00 Hiten reads a text message they received from a struggling entrepreneur. 03:38

This week's episode of The Startup Chat is a special one. We feature Steli’s interview for the Inside Sales Summit, which was a virtual sales summit where we interviewed over 50 sales experts, leaders and founders, who teach their sales secrets during the summit. This episode is a follow-up to episode 256, where we published Hiten’s interview for the virtual sales summit. In this episode, Steli talks about how to diagnose your sales funnel and identify any problems that it might have, benchmarks for your sales funnel, how to do outbound and inbound sales the right way, how to improve your cold calling strategy and much more. Tune-in for tips and advice that can help you create a scalable and effective sales process for your startup. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:24 About today’s episode. 02:32 The introduction of the interview. 03:53 How to diagnose a sales funnel that is leaking leads and identify where things are going wrong. 10:05 Steli talks about whether there’s been a shift in how SAAS companies are appr

In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about NPS surveys, the importance of carrying them out and how they can be beneficial to your startup as a whole. NPS stands for Net Promoter Score and is a customer satisfaction score created by Bain and Company. When carried out properly, NPS surveys give you an idea of how your customers feel about your company. They have become very popular with startups in the last few years. However, due to the nature of the surveys, they also have some criticisms. For example, some critics point out that results are arbitrary and “made up”. Tune-in to find out more about NPS surveys, at what stage to conduct them in your startup, the importance of tracking your business’s progress through customer ratings, and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 About today’s topic. 00:35 What NPS is all about. 01:08 Some criticisms of NPS surveys. 01:45 Some benefits of carrying out NPS surveys. 02:47 The current state of NPS surveys in the startup world. 04:00 A mistake Steli made at Close.

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to use inspiration to your advantage in your startup - a topic that is rarely discussed in the business world. They also talk about how “too much inspiration” can be a problem and whether your moments of inspiration should take priority over an existing strategy.   During a moment of inspiration, you may feel as if you’ve come up with a great idea that could really benefit your startup, and you may feel the urge to share it with as many people as possible.  However, ideas are fragile and although it may feel like an “ah-ha” moment, there might be major pitfalls that can occur if you actually executed the idea. Steli and Hiten talk about a more deliberate approach to dealing with moments of inspiration. They argue that, at all times, your focus must be on what’s important for your business right now. And only after that should you move on to more creative ideas that can enhance your startup. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, we talk about being a people-pleaser, the problems it can create within a start-up, and whether being one can a strength or a weakness when you are hiring team members. When it comes to hiring staff, especially customer-facing roles, you may be tempted to hire someone who loves to please other people. This can be a great thing, as people-pleasers are usually awesome people and can make great team members. However,  there’s a risk that a people-pleaser’s inclination to please others may be abused or taken advantage of by other team members, and this can lead to that person becoming very unproductive and ultimately this can hurt the company. Tune into this week’s episode to hear more about Steli and Hiten’s personal experience of working with people-pleasers, their distinction between being selfless and being a people-pleaser, what you can do to stop being a people-pleaser and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:04 About today's topic: Being a people pleaser. 00:26 W

In today’s Startup Chat we talk about email newsletters. It’s a misconception that emails are dead and no longer relevant. In fact, “Good emails are dead but great emails are alive and thriving”. We share some great tips and tricks to write a good newsletter. In sending out a newsletter, you must put in effort and provide value to your readers. Tune-in to learn how to write a great email newsletter that will further reader engagement and benefit your business in the long run. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:48 – Most startups have newsletters; of-late there is a shift towards personalized and sophisticated newsletters 02:00 – Generic emails are a thing of the past and no longer working 03:16 – A common misconception is that emails are dead and no longer serve any purpose 04:15 – You will have to interact with people who still use ONLY emails 04:59 – Think about the user experience and user journey when you are writing an email 05:11 – How can you write a GREAT email newsletter 05:11 – Use a subject

In today’s Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about big picture thinking, its importance and some ways through which you can develop this skill. Oftentimes, we find that people are so caught up in day to day tasks that they fail to stop and prioritize. Steli and Hiten talk about being mindful in order to develop good prioritization skills. Tune-in and discover how you can cultivate mindfulness and build your prioritization skills which can help you execute tasks of greater value. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:03 – Today we are going to talk about big picture thinking 01:14 – Most people struggle with big picture thinking 01:28 – Steli is great at prioritizing and showing the bigger picture to his team 02:34 – Prioritizing is a skill that anyone can pick up by cultivating mindfulness 03:31 – Go-getters continue to attack what is in front of them 04:23 – Yet, there are some people who get bogged down by intense work activity and have yet to develop those prioritization skills 05:16 – Keep your to-do

In today’s Startup Chat, we talk about account-based marketing and how this function has become increasingly relevant due to the availability of marketing automation tools. It is important to adopt a holistic view and market across the entire organization instead of marketing to individuals. Tune-in and find out how account-based marketing can provide your marketing and sales a framework which can help you sell faster. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:03 – Today, we are going to talk about account-based marketing 00:45 – The term “account based marketing” is bringing to the surface what people have been doing forever 01:32 – Instead of marketing to individuals, you are marketing to businesses 02:33 – There are often redundancies within an organization as the same instructions are sent out to sales, marketing and product teams 03:04 – Bring a framework to what marketing and sales people have been doing for a long time 03:33 – Adopt a holistic approach which making a sale 03:52 – This holistic approach

In today’s Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about product marketing (the cross-section between sales, marketing and product) and discuss how this business function is defined differently across different organizations. Steli shares his approach to product marketing and how he is ready to step up his game in this department. Tune-in and get insights that will help you determine how to integrate this important function into your organization. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:03 – Today, we are going to talk about Product Marketing 101 00:43 – Send out an email to Steli if you feel that you are the right product marketer for his organization 01:15 – Product marketing has different definitions 02:00 – It’s in a weird position that crosses sales, marketing and product 02:23 – “Product marketing is the art and science, conveying to people what your product can do for them with the goal of engaging, conveying and retaining” 03:04 – Difference between positioning of a company and product 03:11 – Often bra

In today’s Startup Chat, we talk about Hiten’s recent article, Why Trello Failed to Build a $1 Billion+ Business. Trello was recently sold for $400 million. Hiten’s article expressed that Trello could have been a much larger business had they monetized earlier on, focused on greater productization and thought about ways to ensure greater client stickiness. Tune-in as Hiten and Steli discuss how sound strategizing would have ensured a much larger topline and a greater customer base for this much loved company. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:03 – Today we are going to talk about why Trello failed to build a billion dollar business 00:28 – Hiten recently wrote an article that expressed his thoughts about Trello and how it was one of those rare businesses that could have become much larger than it did 01:51 – With minimal effort, Trello could have been HUGE 02:02 – Hiten wrote this article with good intentions since he cares deeply for Trello 02:51 – If someone criticizes you because they want you to do we

In today’s Startup Chat, we talk about the various challenges involved in scaling service businesses. It is common for service businesses to fold when faced with certain challenges—like maintaining consistent quality and client churn. However, if a service business is able to work through these challenges and scale up, you can achieve success and healthy profit margins. Tune-in as Hiten and Steli provide insights into how you can rise above these seemingly insurmountable challenges and take your service business to the next stage. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:05 – Today, we are going to talk about the various challenges involved in scaling service businesses 00:51 – This topic is particularly relevant since quite a few people are either shutting down their service business or are considering starting a new one 02:20 – It is incredibly hard to find good people that meet client expectations 02:50 – Often businesses run into challenges as experiments fail, data is not conclusive and investor pressure moun

The Inside Sales Summit is a virtual summit where about 50 sales leaders talk about the best practices, tips, and strategies that have put them on the road to success. To get access to the Summit, simply go to www.InsideSalesSummit.com and submit your email. Hiten Shah gives listeners a sneak peak into topics that will be discussed at the Summit including: how to perfect your sales funnel, outbound sales for SaaS companies, and how adding value needs to be your number one priority for success in sales. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:18 – Today’s episode is an exclusive interview with Hiten regarding The Inside Sales Summit 00:28 – There will be a virtual summit, Inside Sales Summit, where around 50 sales leaders will share their tips for success 00:49 – Learn more about the summit here: www.InsideSalesSummit.com 01:08 – There will be NO upselling, just GREAT sales content! 01:34 – EXCLUSIVE offer for The Startup Chat listeners: EARLY access to Hiten’s interview 03:00 – Curating and perfecting the sal

When a business grows and scales up, it’s very easy to lose touch with the lifeline of your business—the customers. Many people begin to outsource their customer support and the gap between the CEO or founder with the customer grows wider and wider. Steli and Hiten warn against the tendency to forget about the importance of retrieving those customer insights. Since customers ultimately drive our success and inform us of how we can improve, Steli and Hiten talk about the different ways we can keep the connection going strong. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: tips on how to stay close to your customer 00:38 – Customer intimacy is what Steli and his team discussed on their team retreat in Dublin 01:28 – Hiten’s tip if you’re in sales: consider getting a sales call 02:06 – “Sales calls give you one type of insight” 02:32 – Doing customer support is also useful 03:27 – For Hiten, customer support is key 04:00 – In Close.io’s first year, Steli’s team answered customer tickets the whole

In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the best practices to launch your product. Hiten uses his own launch of Draftsend as the basis of this discussion—a new platform that allows users to create and share their interactive presentations. Listen as Hiten gives listeners a behind-the-scenes take on a very unique and successful product launch where he leveraged social media and invited customers to take part in the launch itself. Tune-in to hear Hiten’s process firsthand and to learn how you can adopt these extremely wise strategies. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: how to launch your product 00:34 – Hiten recently launched Draftsend 01:47 – Steli congratulates HIten for Draftsend’s launch success 03:01 – Draftsend’s launch was all over social media 03:13 – Draftsend is a platform that allows you to create and share interactive presentations; you upload a pdf and audio and Draftsend acts a viewer 03:23 – “It feels like a video, and people are able to listen to a presentation” 0

In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten discuss the need to start a blog. Hiten is often asked if it’s wise to start a blog and how to begin the process. Blogging can generate an online presence for one’s products and services, but does that mean it will benefit every kind of business? Steli and Hiten address this question and more. Tune-in to find out if you’re cut out for creating a blog and the scenarios for which a blog may not be worth it for you. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:26 – Today’s topic: the need to start a blog 01:18 – “You don’t need to have a blog” 01:25 – Hiten believes that everyone thinks they need to have a blog because everyone else is blogging 01:47 – People build their products’ online presence via a blog 02:07 – There is also potential Google search traffic they can get from their blog posts 02:56 – Steli started their blog in 2013 03:43 – If you can write one post a week to build your brand, then you can create a blog 04:10 – If you see the SEO opportunity from Google searc

In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten tackle branding for your startup. It’s a common assumption to think branding is important for ALL types of businesses. Steli and Hiten challenge this notion and explain why certain businesses need to focus more of their attention on their branding. They explain how your “branding” is different from your actual brand and outline why your copy is the best place to start to establish your company’s voice. Tune-in to find out whether branding should be your priority and how to tap into your strengths to create your brand. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:24 – Today’s topic is branding 01:15 – “Branding only matters if and when the customers will care about branding” 01:41 – “Branding” is different from one’s brand 02:18 – If you’re a B2C business, branding matters more as opposed to those who are a B2B business 02:48 – Intercom didn’t care about branding until they were many years into their business 03:03 – MailChimp, on the other hand, cared about branding from the sta

In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten discuss how startups can enter the US market. There are several myths that say tapping into the US market is the answer to a startup’s success. While this may be true for some, does that mean one needs to relocate to the US in order to grow? Steli and Hiten argue that not only is moving to the US a nuisance, it is also UNNECESSARY for growing your US client base—especially if you’re a SaaS company. Tune-in to learn when moving can be beneficial for you and why it’s important to prove your product or service in your own country first. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:26 – Today’s topic is entering the US market with your startup 01:09 – Hiten is approached often with questions about entering the US market 01:24 – Steli believes you do NOT need to move your life to the US to be able to enter the market; it’s not necessary 02:05 – It’s more than possible to start your company where you are and build your brand and customer base in the US 02:28 – Entrepreneurs don’t realiz

In today’s episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the benefits of using freemiums (free plans) for your startup. SaaS companies are known for implementing free plans and with good reason—it’s an incredible way to get people hooked onto your product or service. Tune-in to learn the pros and cons of implementing freemiums and how to turn your free users into paying ones! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:03 – Today’s topic is freemium 00:37 – The first episode about freemium was The Startup Chat’s 3rd episode 00:58 – Listeners say the freemium episode was one of the best episodes of this podcast 02:21 – Hiten’s opinion of SaaS companies having freemiums has only grown stronger in the last two years 02:31 – If you have a SaaS business, you NEED a free plan 03:39 – “If people start using your product, why would you ever want them to stop?” 04:08 – A free plan helps you bring people onto your platform 04:19 – Without a free plan, you are missing a growth opportunity 05:04 – Having free users is a long-ter