The first time Katie, my instructor, introduced the 'horse's gait,' it completely went over my head. It was my third time on a horse. The word landed, but the meaning didn't. So I made a mental note. As soon as I was done with my training, I typed those words online to find out what exactly a 'horse's gait' is. I kind of got it. Kind of didn't. It was a bit too abstract. It wasn't until a few lessons later that I literally made my horse Fred change gait — from a walk to a trot — that it all...
12 days ago • 2 min read
“60 days. 90 days. Sometimes 180 days or more. That's how long it takes to close our deals.” Depending on the product and the size of the account, that's the reality for most sales-led B2B SaaS companies. This is where leaders come to me. “Is there a way to shorten this?” Some of that length is unavoidable—buying committees, procurement, legal review. That's just enterprise reality. Lean in… here's the good news: There is a way. Some of that length is compressible. You can have shorter sales...
19 days ago • 2 min read
My grandmother hummed while standing over the stovetop. She was stirring something. Something that filled the whole kitchen with an intoxicating scent of toasted sugar and warm butter. There was a magnetic pull. I had to see what she was making. So I joined her, watching as she stirred sugar, cream and butter in a pan. The mixture slowly formed soft bubbles, deepening into a rich, golden colour. Then transforming into a deep amber. “Caramel,” she said, handing me a spoonful of the smooth,...
26 days ago • 3 min read
In B2B SaaS, there are only three ways to grow. Today, I’m taking you on a tour of all three in our red double-decker bus. At each stop, the bus doors open onto a different company. A different motion. A different world. Buckle up. It’s going to be a fast ride. *beep beep* Your first stop: Pure Sales-Led Growth (SLG) The doors open and you walk into a glass-walled office. Rows of desks. Headsets on. Everyone is talking. The energy is electric, competitive, alive. On the wall, a leaderboard...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Wednesday. 10:30 am. I'm walking across a 35-acre pasture with a lead rope and halter in hand. Cloudy day. Surprisingly cool before the afternoon heat takes over. A Wren somewhere nearby singing its heart out. 'Chewie chewie chewie.' The pasture is divided into several lots with post and board fences weaving through the lush green grass. I have to walk to the furthest lot from the barn. Carefully. Because poop. I'm on a mission to find Fred. A 12-year-old American Thoroughbred horse. Dark...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
“I don't care about the 14. I care about the 4.” The kind of truth only a 40-year veteran boldly owns. A conviction. One that defied everything I saw around me. And that most people in this industry haven't figured out yet. For the longest time, there was one metric that was the gold standard of success in B2B SaaS. The one I was taught to reach for. The one every leader in the room was chasing. In gatherings, the respected nod that came when people realized who had the biggest number. That...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
During the London 2012 Olympics, the roaring crowd witnessed something for the first time. Something the world had never experienced before in the Men's 4x100m Relay. It was a sweltering August afternoon. The air was thick with anticipation for a race between eight of the world's best sprinting teams: Canada, Australia, France, Japan, United States, Jamaica, Netherlands, Trinidad & Tobago. When the starting pistol fired and 80,000 voices erupted as one, they witnessed Jamaica's legendary...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
He had chosen a corner table. Away from the door. Away from the noise. Hands wrapped around his coffee mug, gazing down…the way people do when they're deciding how honest they want to be. When they're about to say something…something they wouldn't say in a boardroom. The rich smell of coffee filled the room. The café he chose for us to meet was the kind of place that invited honesty. Quiet enough to hear each other. Far enough from the office that the walls had no ears. He looked up. His eyes...
2 months ago • 4 min read
"I go to bed thinking about MQLs...I wake up thinking about MQLs...I look into my cereal bowl... and my Alpha-Bits spell out 'MQL.'" A tenured B2B SaaS marketing executive confided in me. The obsession was real. More MQLs in the pipeline mean more demos booked. And demos mean more real conversations about pricing, contracts, and getting this thing live. But it isn’t just that. For this B2B SaaS marketing executive, it's also very personal. Doing well means hitting the target. It means nods of...
2 months ago • 4 min read