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B2b Growth

4 claims6 moments5 on the cutting room floor
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Lenny's Written Position

In HubSpot's early days, over 30% of customers came from demand generated by blog posts, and they think of competitors as other media outlets rather than other SaaS brands.

Originalobservation0 connections

Only three strategies account for every B2B company's earliest growth: tapping your personal network, seeking customers where they are, and getting press -- and almost every company uses the first two simultaneously.

Originalframework0 connections

Having a strong personal network is an even bigger advantage in B2B than B2C because early customers need to trust you, which is why connector investors or incubators like YC are so valuable.

Originalobservation0 connections

100% of bottom-up B2B companies eventually layer on a sales team, and waiting too long to do so often leads to competitors firewalling you out of enterprise segments.

Synthesisobservation3 connections
2 supports1 extend

Podcast Moments

Geoff Charles00:00:00
“And that product is moving in billions of dollars a year.”

Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product) · Geoff Charles

Sri Batchu00:00:00
“I do think there's actually a general path that most B2B companies take and should take. My view is you start off with founder-led sales, the early team needs to know how to actually sell.”

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor) · Sri Batchu

Sri Batchu00:00:00
“Then you hire your first couple of salespeople, then you start some very low cost targeted marketing efforts. So whether it's content, community, small scale events, and then PR, after all of that is when you start paid and brand effort.”

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor) · Sri Batchu

Sri Batchu00:00:00
“The reason for the progression the way I've described it is the channels get more expensive as you go farther along and they get more effective as you understand more about your customers.”

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor) · Sri Batchu

Merci Grace00:05:00
“The most common mistake with product-led growth is thinking it means you don't need sales. Product-led growth is about using the product as the primary vehicle for acquisition, expansion, and retention. But sales still plays a critical role, especially as you move upmarket.”

Merci Grace (ex-Head of Growth at Slack) on PLG, interviewing, storytelling, building a diverse team, hiring salespeople, building a growth team, and much more · Merci Grace

Elena Verna00:00:45
“Freemium is always better than free trial for B2B companies. With a free trial, you're creating artificial urgency. With freemium, you're letting the product prove its value. The best B2B products can afford to be patient because they know the value will compound.”

Elena Verna on how B2B growth is changing, product-led growth, product-led sales, why you should go freemium not trial, what features to make free, and much more · Elena Verna 3.0

Cutting Room Floor

Guest insights on this topic that Lenny hasn't (yet) written about in his newsletters. Potential material for future posts.

Geoff CharlesUnsynthesized
“And that product is moving in billions of dollars a year.”

Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product) · Geoff Charles

Sri BatchuUnsynthesized
“I do think there's actually a general path that most B2B companies take and should take. My view is you start off with founder-led sales, the early team needs to know how to actually sell.”

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor) · Sri Batchu

Sri BatchuUnsynthesized
“Then you hire your first couple of salespeople, then you start some very low cost targeted marketing efforts. So whether it's content, community, small scale events, and then PR, after all of that is when you start paid and brand effort.”

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor) · Sri Batchu

Sri BatchuUnsynthesized
“The reason for the progression the way I've described it is the channels get more expensive as you go farther along and they get more effective as you understand more about your customers.”

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor) · Sri Batchu

Elena VernaUnsynthesized
“Freemium is always better than free trial for B2B companies. With a free trial, you're creating artificial urgency. With freemium, you're letting the product prove its value. The best B2B products can afford to be patient because they know the value will compound.”

Elena Verna on how B2B growth is changing, product-led growth, product-led sales, why you should go freemium not trial, what features to make free, and much more · Elena Verna 3.0