Robin Singhvi, Founder of SmartCue, talks how about how they acquired over 30 paying customers ( of 5-6 figure ACV deals ) primarily with founder-led sales. We deep dive into his entrepreneurial journey and learn how his monthly newsletter and enterprise sales expertise are propelling SmartCue's growth! π
Hereβs what we will discuss,
π Key Metrics Discussed:
You can also watch this on youtube here,
https://youtu.be/43rQNJnh16c
so, I mean, especially in early days for any, any, uh, any
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:stage company, the credibility is not
of the company, but of the founder.
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:I mean, there is actually
no doubt about that.
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:So when I, when I go sit to the
table, yes, I represent SmartKey,
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:but they're like, okay, what, who are
you for us to be able to trust you?
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:What have you done?
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:What is your pedigree?
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:Right?
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:Uh, and, and I think that, that has
held me in good stead, I would say
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:Upendra Varma: Hello, everyone.
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:Welcome to the B2B SaaS podcast.
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:I'm your host, Rupinder.
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:And today we have Robin Singh with us.
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:Robin here is the founder
of a company called SmartQ.
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:Hey, Robin, welcome to the show.
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:Robin Sighvi: All right.
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:Thank you.
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:Thank you for having me.
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:Upendra Varma: Yeah.
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:Hi, Robin.
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:So let's help us understand, right.
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:So what your product does and why
customers are willing to pay you money.
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:Robin Sighvi: SmartQ helps teams
create interactive self serve demos
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:with the goal of improving the
quality of leads in their funnel.
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:We basically turn traditional product
demos into personalized self serve
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:journeys that will significantly
boost your lead conversions.
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:That's what smartkey does and uh,
the reason people sign up for and pay
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:us for the key reason really is that
b2b buying behavior is now starting
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:to look a lot more like b2c buying
behavior, which means that People want
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:to do their own discovery, do their
own exploration, want to get a touch
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:and feel experience of your product
before they click on the book a meeting
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:or sign up for a free trial button.
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:And you as the seller need to
enable the buyer as much as
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:possible to be able to do that.
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:Because if you do, then your
sales cycle will be compressed.
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:Your lead quality obviously is.
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:Uh, is significantly improved and,
uh, that is the, uh, the goal of every
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:highly efficient sales team, right?
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:So that's the promise that we, we provide.
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:And that's why we're able
to sign on customers.
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:Upendra Varma: Got it.
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:Right.
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:So if, if, if I'm a user of
one of your customers, right.
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:Who's using you, right.
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:So where exactly do I see this
particular automated demo coming to me
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:and automated and personalized demo.
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:Robin Sighvi: Yeah.
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:So if you are the user at,
at, at my customer, right?
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:So, so you, you will either
be a marketer, right?
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:So either a product marketer or the margin
person, or you might be part of customer
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:success teams or product teams, right?
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:And, uh, where you would see the
output of what you end up creating
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:in smart queue will vary depending
on your function, but it actually
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:goes all the way across the funnel.
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:So right at the top of the funnel,
when you were trying to embed these
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:interactive showcases on your website
or landing pages, or even inside of
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:your ads to, uh, if you're a demand gen
person, you are embedding these demos
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:inside of your cold outbound emails.
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:you're a salesperson, you're
embedding these in your follow up
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:or leave behind assets after you've
had a meeting with your customer.
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:If you're a customer support person
or a product person are using SmartQ
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:to create or augment these nodes,
your onboarding material, your sort of
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:customer enablement material as well.
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:So it spans the entire funnel.
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:Upendra Varma: So, and I'm assuming
a lot of people can use you, right?
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:So everybody under the
sun can use you, right?
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:To create product demos.
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:So I'm, I'm saying that because,
uh, I just want to understand your
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:customer base so that I could really
understand who you are trying to sell to.
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:It's to help me understand, right?
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:Uh, today.
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:Right.
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:So who are you primarily selling
to and how many customers do you
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:have on your platform as of today?
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:Robin Sighvi: I mean, so, so that,
that's an interesting question, right?
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:So anyone under the sun can
use me, uh, when anyone under
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:the sun pay me TBD, right?
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:Uh, but, but the folks who do pay me tend
to be, um, uh, it's, it's a spread right
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:now in terms of, uh, enterprise customers,
which have, uh, well oiled marketing
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:teams to PLG companies or very small lean
startups, which are trying to optimize.
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:Their marketing motion so that they're
able to sort of get the best out of their
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:existing resources and, and automate
the stuff that they don't need to do.
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:So it's kind of spread across the board.
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:And of course, when I say my
customers, all of them are sending
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:some software of some kind.
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:Upendra Varma: got it.
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:And then just, just quantify this, right?
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:So how many paying customers
are we talking about today?
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:Robin Sighvi: So we have, we have about
30 odd paying customers organizations.
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:Upendra Varma: then what, how big
are these, you know, deals right now?
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:And I don't want the exact number.
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:I'm just looking for the range.
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:Are these hundred dollar deals, thousand
dollar deals, ten thousand dollar
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:deals, hundred thousand dollar deals?
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:What are we
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:Robin Sighvi: so these, these depend,
these depend on whether it's an enterprise
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:or whether it's a smaller customer, and we
have, Uh, if you see on our website, you
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:know, we have plans that appeal to younger
companies where we're giving it away for
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:400, 500 a year for a couple of users.
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:Two, you know, five to six figure
deals for larger enterprises.
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:Upendra Varma: Got it.
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:Right.
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:So it's, it's, it's still the best
is, I think the enterprise deals
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:are around 50, 60, 000, right?
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:Is that what I'm understanding?
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:And you range
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:Robin Sighvi: Yeah, I think
it, it, it, it depends.
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:Again, it depends, right?
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:It depends on the need,
depends on the function.
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:It depends on, uh, the number of licenses.
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:Uh, it
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:Upendra Varma: Yeah.
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:So I know there's going to be a spread
and I'm specifically trying to understand
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:this because I want to understand your
go to market motion after this, right?
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:So I just want to get a sense of
like how, how many, like how big
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:of like how many enterprise deals
you've cracked so far, right?
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:So if it's a lot, then maybe we'll
talk about that motion, right?
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:Robin Sighvi: I mean, when I,
when I talk about, yeah, it's,
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:it's, it's, it's 50, 50 right now.
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:Upendra Varma: got it.
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:So
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:Robin Sighvi: terms of enterprise
versus, uh, versus smaller companies.
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:Upendra Varma: got it.
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:Right.
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:And yeah,
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:Robin Sighvi: we also have a long tail
off of sort of individual creators who
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:are actually using the product as well.
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:So there's like a
significant number of those.
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:So, so, uh, GTM actually, you know,
before we get into it, that is the next
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:challenge that we are trying to solve
that, you know, which of these people
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:do we target, which are those going
to be the most value for our efforts.
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:And things like that.
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:So those are still things that
we are, uh, in active discussions
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:to figure out the right approach.
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:Upendra Varma: and then,
uh, how old is your product?
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:Like when have you launched it?
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:Robin Sighvi: Uh, the product is actually
only about four months old, maybe four
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:now, you know, we launched officially
in like May, uh, late May, and so yeah,
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:it's just been three to four months now.
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:Upendra Varma: And what
did you do at launch?
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:Robin Sighvi: Uh, so yeah, when we
say launch, it's, it's basically, you
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:know, we launched our product and,
uh, sort of amped up the product,
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:uh, tried to, we tried to create
as much buzz around it as possible.
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:Uh, used that launch to sort of, you
know, um, get our name out there in
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:front of the right customers, uh, using
that, that credibility of not just
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:launching on product hunt, but also
being part of the day on product hunt.
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:Right?
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:So using that, leaning into
that credibility, uh, to
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:open a few more doors for us.
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:Upendra Varma: Yeah.
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:So, so again, I'll just, I would
just, I just want to touch upon this.
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:Right.
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:So because a lot of people, right.
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:They just want to launch on product and
they want to be the product of the day.
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:Right.
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:They can't.
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:Right.
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:So, so what, what has worked for you?
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:What did you do there?
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:Robin Sighvi: Uh, so, so
interesting enough, we actually
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:launched on product hunt twice.
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:Um, one was, I think, uh, last.
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:September and then this, uh,
this may, uh, April, May launch.
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:And the first time around, it was
truly just brute force because it
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:was literally just me and a couple
of interns trying to make it happen.
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:Uh, this time around, we kind of
just took those learnings, tried to,
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:you know, make a playbook of sorts.
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:Uh, and then try and execute that even
so, uh, being number one on product
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:front is actually a lot of luck.
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:Uh, I'll be, I'll be honest and say that,
that, you know, yes, you can put in a
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:lot of effort, but if you know, a YC
company or if a well funded company comes
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:in the door, the odds are that you're
not going to get the catch up, right.
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:It doesn't matter whether
they're number one or not.
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:Uh, what matters is if you can get enough
people to know about the fact that you've
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:launched and, uh, more people having sort
of affinity or recognition of the brand.
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:Upendra Varma: Yeah.
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:So what, what, what
worked for you this time?
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:Right.
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:So any insight there, right.
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:So just one, if you were to pick.
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:Robin Sighvi: Uh, there
were quite a few, right?
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:So, so this time around, you know,
we had our email list in order.
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:We had, uh, you know, our Slack
approaches and all the WhatsApp
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:groups and stuff like that in order.
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:We also ensured that we, we, uh, gave
people a heads up the last time around.
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:We just launched and told people on the
day of launch, whereas this time around
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:we had like a month long plan that, Hey,
so first go on the coming soon page,
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:create discussions on Product Hunt itself.
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:You know, a, a small thing that actually
worked, uh, and I think a lot of
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:people should do, is you go on product
hunt, uh, stay, you're coming soon.
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:So there's an option to go on there
and say that you're coming soon.
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:Then start commenting on a lot of
other top products during that, that
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:month because when you do, it shows up.
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:You show up as coming soon and
a lot of people go and sort
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:of sign up to get notified.
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:That actually led to a lot of, uh,
people signing up to get notified
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:and that, I think that gave us
a, uh, a bit of a boost as well.
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:Which was new for us this time around.
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:Yeah,
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:Upendra Varma: it.
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:And that's wonderful.
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:Right.
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:So what, what did this
product and bring, right?
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:So how many signups did you get
in like as a result of this?
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:Robin Sighvi: yeah.
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:So, so this is interesting, right?
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:Because, uh, one question is how
did you launch in product front?
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:But I think the more interesting
question is that what did you get
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:out of the product front launch?
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:Uh, and, and the of people.
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:And for us, it was, it was more of that.
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:There is a company that is doing
some very interesting stuff
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:in the demo automation space.
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:We got a bunch of signups, but
like a lot of other companies.
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:Not all of them were good quality
signups, if you will, right?
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:Uh, but that kind of gave us impetus
to sort of then go find the right
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:communities, find the right people.
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:A lot of technical folks or product folks
who hang out on product hunt found us and
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:then referred us to their marketing teams.
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:Right.
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:So in that sense, Product Hunt worked
really well, but I wouldn't like
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:necessarily quantify success on Product
Hunt as a number of signups that
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:got on Product Hunt, to be honest.
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:Like we got thousands of signups,
but that doesn't really matter.
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:Upendra Varma: Got it.
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:Right.
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:So, so over the past four months, right,
after you launched on Product Hunt, right.
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:So what have you been doing in
terms of, you know, strictly from
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:a top of funnel perspective, right.
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:What's been working for you
in terms of lead discovery?
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:Robin Sighvi: Yeah.
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:So like I said, we're
still very early, right?
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:So, so our primary go to market
is still FounderLed, which is me.
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:Right.
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:Uh, you know, I have a monthly
newsletter that goes out to a few
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:hundred people, uh, that actually has
been my biggest lead gen engine, because
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:these are people who've been aware
of and been on this journey with me.
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:And now that they see that, okay, you
know, we've gotten to a meaningful
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:place in terms of product, in terms
of funding, in terms of, you know, uh,
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:closer to PMF, I wouldn't say at PMF.
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:I've been getting a ton of messages
every time I send out this monthly
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:newsletter, just from them, right?
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:Uh, which is great because these
are, these are highly qualified leads
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:Upendra Varma: talk about
this newsletter, right?
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:So when have you been building this?
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:Like, when did you start?
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:And like, who are these people?
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:Who are these audience?
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:Robin Sighvi: yeah, so this started
when I launched the company and
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:that was back in October 2021.
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:And, um, I'm a first time founder.
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:I worked in enterprise.
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:I've worked across a number of different
startups, but sold to enterprises
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:for the past 10, 12 years in the US.
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:And so I've been fortunate enough
to have like a small set of trusted
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:advisors, friends, you may call them.
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:And I figured that, hey, you know what,
this, this is, this newsletter was kind
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:of a safe space for me where I would tell
them of all the things that I messed up.
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:All the things I had no idea about
and all the things that I was taking
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:a shot on the dark end, right?
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:And then it, it became a way for a
solo founder like me to have like this
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:informal, but very vested group of
advisors, uh, who always kind of supported
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:and, and, uh, led me down the right path.
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:As I started talking to other
customers, other prospects, uh,
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:fellow founders, uh, who I felt,
you know, resonated with me and, and
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:really kind of wanted to support me.
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:I started to add them to the
newsletter with their permission.
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:And now, yeah, like I said, it's
about, you know, a couple hundred
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:people, but each of them, I know
personally, you know, I could pick
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:up the phone and talk to them, but.
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:Especially being a founder,
you just rarely have time.
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:And so for me, this is, this is actually
the one thing every month that I have
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:to do without fail that, and that
is drafted by me and not like an AI
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:or like a ghostwriter or whatever.
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:This is the one thing that, that, that,
that I have to do without fail and
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:I think it has paid off in schools.
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:Upendra Varma: How is it
attributing to this user growth?
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:Are they, are they the ones who,
who's trying out your product?
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:Are they referring you just
because they wanna help you?
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:Like how is that, you know,
funnel getting closed?
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:Robin Sighvi: Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:So, so it is, while there are a subset
of those folks who've ended up using
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:SmartQ at their organizations, uh,
the bigger vote of confidence is that
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:they've been referring me to other
companies saying that, Hey, you know what?
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:I think this is a really good product.
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:Not that, Hey, I know this
guy and he's a good guy.
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:So you should talk to him.
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:The vote of confidence is for the
problem that I'm solving and the product
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:that I've built to solve that problem.
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:Right?
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:So that's, that's the kind of warm
introductions that are happening.
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:Uh, and, and, you know, I'm kind
of glad to say that 90 percent of
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:my customers right now are folks
who I never knew before, right?
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:It's not that, you know, I knew this guy,
so he used SmartQ and now he's paying me.
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:There are a few of
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:Upendra Varma: how many of them
can you actually attribute to
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:this wonderful effort of yours?
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:Robin Sighvi: Uh, yeah.
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:I mean, like, uh, you know, out of
the 30, 40 enterprise customers that
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:we have, I want to say at least half.
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:If not more have come from
this specific channel, right?
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:So a lot of my revenue is
actually due to that channel.
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:And then the other, I mean,
you're talking about go to market.
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:The other thing that's worked for me
is a twofold approach on LinkedIn.
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:One is sort of trying to write content
and establish thought leadership on
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:LinkedIn, setting myself up as, uh, you
know, someone who is involved and deeply
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:ingrained in the sales enablement, buyer
enablement, demo automation space, uh, and
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:also You know, on a more tactical level,
like a lot of cold out in general, right?
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:So that's, that's the
channel that's worked for me.
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:Now, the challenge is that how do I
move from being founder led to having
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:a true GTM motion in place, right?
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:So those, that's, that's something that
I'm figuring out, figuring out as I
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:Upendra Varma: Yeah.
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:And then just help, help us understand
it, the sales cycle so far, right?
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:I mean, you might have closed, you know,
10, 10, 10 to 20 of these deals, right?
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:So however big they are, right.
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:So how have you managed to close this?
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:I mean, what happened there?
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:Robin Sighvi: So, so like I
said, right, so I've, I've done
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:enterprise sales on my life.
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:Like that's the, interestingly
enough, a lot of people.
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:I've advised me to go the
PLG route for smart queue.
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:And while that could potentially work,
I don't know anything about PLG, right?
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:What I do know is the
enterprise motion, right?
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:And that, that, that, and I'm sure
all the sales are like that, but
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:especially enterprise sales are all
about being diligent, being proactive
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:and just being very methodical, right?
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:It's like when you're following,
you know, when you, when you
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:think of a prospect becoming, you
know, going through your funnel.
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:It takes a while, right?
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:Like there, there are times when, you
know, I spoken to someone about eight
333
:months ago and I just nurtured him,
nurtured him, nurtured him, nurtured
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:him for eight months, as opposed to
when you think of like, you know, a
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:lot of cold email sequences, like six,
eight, 10, and you're done right over
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:the two months, three month period.
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:But in enterprise sales, it's, it's
not that you just have to keep engaging
338
:them and not with, Hey, can we sell now?
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:Can, can you buy now?
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:Can you buy now?
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:It's just more about
relationship building first.
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:Uh, establishing that level of trust
confidence that, you know, Robin
343
:actually knows what he's talking about
of the problem that he's solving.
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:And, and he is, he is knowledgeable
enough to understand my problem, right?
345
:So once I, once you're able to do
that, then you bring them to the table.
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:And then when you bring them
to the table, you know, it's,
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:it's a pretty straightforward
sort of, in the, in the sense.
348
:That, you know, there's processes
that you have to follow to sort
349
:of get them over the line, right?
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:So whether it is following up
consistently, sorry, go ahead,
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:Upendra Varma: yeah.
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:So Robin, so have you raised
any external funding so far?
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:Uh,
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:Robin Sighvi: I went through an
accelerator program and I also raised
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:a little bit of funding from some
angels from my network back in the US.
356
:But, but not a whole lot, very small.
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:And that
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:Upendra Varma: So, so I'm
asking you this question, right?
359
:Because one of the things that I've
observed a lot of founders do, right?
360
:So they start a company, right?
361
:So, and they're going through
this enterprise, enterprise
362
:sales motion, the top of funnel,
yes, they can handle, right?
363
:A bunch of cold emails, you know, a
bunch of cold outreach on LinkedIn.
364
:You can get there, right?
365
:But everything else after
that, it falls apart, right?
366
:Because they'll say, okay, you're
not credible enough that I go and
367
:close a 20, 000 deal with you, right?
368
:So like, what's working for you?
369
:Just talk us through that, you
know, process and you know,
370
:what's really working for you and
what, what are we missing here?
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:Robin Sighvi: So, so it's
interesting you say that because my
372
:challenge is actually the reverse.
373
:Like I, I, I stay awake at night that
my funnel is not full enough, right?
374
:Because my confidence in, in
my sort of, in my ability is.
375
:That if someone comes to the door,
I'll be able to close a deal with them.
376
:And it's also interesting, you know, what
enterprise deals are for smart Q versus
377
:what I used to sell, like, you know,
going from million dollar deals to, you
378
:know, 20, 30, 40, a hundred, 200 K deals.
379
:These are actually smaller size deals.
380
:So, so for me, I'm like, man,
this should not be a big deal.
381
:Uh, but so I have the reverse
problem where I'm like, okay, yes, I
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:Upendra Varma: then, but back
then when you were selling
383
:million dollar deals, right?
384
:I mean, you must have this
fancy product out there that
385
:everybody in the world knows that.
386
:I mean, you, you were dealing
with a different spectrum, right?
387
:So now you are this solo founder
or you do this founder, you
388
:just got this new company.
389
:I mean, it's just brand new, right?
390
:So there is no credibility or, I mean,
or how are you building that credibility?
391
:Like, so what's like, that's,
that's what I'm talking about.
392
:Like, and how are you overcoming those?
393
:Robin Sighvi: So, I mean, especially
in early days for any, any, uh, any
394
:stage company, the credibility is not
of the company, but of the founder.
395
:I mean, there is actually
no doubt about that.
396
:So when I, when I go sit to the
table, yes, I represent SmartKey,
397
:but they're like, okay, what, who are
you for us to be able to trust you?
398
:What have you done?
399
:What is your pedigree?
400
:Right?
401
:Uh, and, and I think that, that has
held me in good stead, I would say.
402
:Um, so far.
403
:Um, so, so yeah, I mean, I, I, I
unfortunately don't know the answer
404
:to the problem that a lot of other
founders face, but I would love to learn
405
:from them how to fill up my top of the
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:Upendra Varma: But I think you
in a way answered it, right?
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:So you talked about positioning
yourself as a thought leader in
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:that particular space, right?
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:So I guess you must have raised a
couple of rounds of funding or, or,
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:you know, a couple of known angels that
may be adding credibility over there.
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:And you obviously are an expert
at enterprise sales, right?
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:So maybe that is helping you out.
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:So, but yeah, that's, that's a
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:Robin Sighvi: It's the
whole package, right?
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:I mean, there's a,
there's a lot of things.
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:I think we said it, but it's about, uh,
it's about positioning and the brand that
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:you cultivate, even if it's early on.
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:Upendra Varma: And Robin, like
how big is the team today?
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:Robin Sighvi: A team is very mean
get about three people and then.
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:A rotating door of interns
and contractors as well.
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:Upendra Varma: Who's building,
who's building the software?
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:Robin Sighvi: Yeah, so my CTO and
my other team, which is augmented
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:with external folks from time to
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:Upendra Varma: Got it, right.
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:So what's, what's the next big, you
know, milestone you're targeting
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:and how do you intend to get there?
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:What's the vision?
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:Robin Sighvi: Yeah, yeah.
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:And the next big milestone is twofold.
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:One is we need to have 100 organizations
on SmartQ by March of:
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:Upendra Varma: That's a million dollars
in revenue you're talking about, right?
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:So a hundred, a hundred deals around
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:Robin Sighvi: Uh, probably more, uh,
probably more, uh, but, uh, but yeah,
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:so like, that's, that's the goal that if
we hit a hundred, uh, you know, specific
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:sized organizations giving us a specific
revenue, then I will be a very robust
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:and healthy, uh, company, uh, which,
which will allow us to, to choose our
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:path, you know, which is either raising
more funds on our own terms, hopefully.
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:Or being a very, very sort of, uh,
robust and, and, uh, viable, uh, uh, you
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:know, business traditional or otherwise.
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:Upendra Varma: Yeah.
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:And then, and you intend
to do that all by yourself.
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:Like in terms of, you know,
selling all of these deals.
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:Robin Sighvi: I mean, of
course, we'll have a team.
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:We will definitely need a team to do that.
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:Uh, you know, a part of, part of
the activities that are happening
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:right now is figuring out the motion
that, okay, how do you go from from
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:the lead to, uh, a proper, uh, sales
engine or an organization, right?
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:So what are the processes?
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:Like I, I, I spend, I spend a lot of days
and especially weekends going through all
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:of the calls that I've done and trying
to find patterns and a process that I
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:can document for whoever I bring, like,
like my first SDR, SDR of our, my first.
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:So, so that's the, that's the obvious
next step that we need to bring the
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:team both on the, on the GTM side of the
house and on the tech side of the house.
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:Upendra Varma: got it.
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:Alright Robin, thanks for
taking the time to talk to me.
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:Hope you scale SmartQ to
much, much greater heights.
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:Robin Sighvi: Thank you.
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:This was great.
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:I enjoyed it.