How Lisa Vincent built her Ed-tech business How Too on Venture Capital through COVID

In this episode John Downes sits down with Lisa Vincent, Founder and CEO of HowToo, to unpack her journey of building a game-changing SaaS platform for digital learning.

Lisa shares the secrets behind HowToo’s rapid growth, how she used venture capital to fund her vision, and the hard lessons learned from navigating the startup world. She also dives into strategic planning, making data-driven decisions, and the power of clear communication with investors.

Don’t miss this episode packed with insights every business leader needs to hear! 

Click here to see more information including the downloads

Highlights:

00:00 Lisa’s journey: How she built HowToo

02:26 HowToo’s explosive growth and market takeover

03:50 Why the HowToo platform is a game changer

05:58 Funding strategies that fuel success

08:45 Master the VC funding game

14:54 Nail your strategy and dominate market fit

21:30 Implement OKRs to stay agile and ahead

24:51 Seize new market opportunities fast

27:13 Focus vs. flexibility: How to win at both

27:45 Make data-driven decisions that matter

29:49 Dashboards: Your secret weapon for transparency

31:21 Optimal teams that collaborate and Learn

32:57 No surprises – investor relations and communication

38:41 The key challenges in business

42:06 Final Thoughts and #CriticalFewActions™

Lisa, thank you so much for making the

time to talk with me today to share with

2

me your journey and your experiences

of developing HowToo, and how that,

3

and how being in a venture capital

funded organization affects the way

4

that you actually implement strategy.

5

So listen, tell me a little bit about

your background and about how you

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came up with Yeah, so look, I have

a background in HR and learning and

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production and started a business in

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custom digital learning services for

corporate and government customers.

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That was our savvy business and really,

a couple of years ago, found that there

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was a really good opportunity to take

everything we knew about digital learning.

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And pour it into a SAS platform, software

as a service and make it easy for other

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people in our organizations to create

their own digital learning and share their

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knowledge internally and with customers.

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And so really for me, I've

been running two very different

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businesses, one, which is very

service, more small, stable business

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growing at a certain rate per year.

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And then now working in a SAS rapidly

growing venture backed business

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very different business in terms

of running and growing that and the

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way in which we set our strategy.

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We have our metrics.

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We have our planning quite a different

approach, much more, yeah, it's

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frantic, crazy growth and focus

different team members recruit,

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different style of team that we're

building for that business as well.

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Yeah it's very exciting having the

two very different style businesses.

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Which is great.

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And so what does the platform do?

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So what it does is it makes it

easy for anyone who has knowledge

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or know how to convert it into

learning that they can share with

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others within their organization

or with outside their organization.

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And the way it works is it's got the

inbuilt learning science already built in.

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So you come in and you have an

outcome you want for your learner.

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And within the tool we've already

set up like an interactive sequence.

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That you can just pour that content

in and then share it with others.

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And and the other key, key thing about

it is that it's got all the accessibility

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features, so anybody who's living with a

disability would need inclusive learning.

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It's all built in into

the software itself.

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Wow.

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So very topical and

potentially very high demand.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So it hit about two weeks

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And yeah, we had our launch

party and then we're all.

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They were often running, and there

were a lot of organizations that

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really needed to convert what they

did face to face into an online form.

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So the timing kind of couldn't be better

in terms of what was needed in the market.

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And how did you see your subscriber

base grow and what you're expected.

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Yeah.

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So very rapidly probably a lot more

rapidly than we expected largely

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because of what was going on.

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In the world.

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And so yeah, organizations needed to get

up on up and running online very quickly.

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So we built up kind of 10, 000 subscribers

within a year, which was very exciting.

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And that was, primarily in Australia, but

now we've also launched into to the U.

54

S.

55

and where.

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Really getting some good

traction there as well.

57

And so 20, nearly 24 months in 22 months

in what's your subscriber level now?

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So it's around 15, 000 subscribers.

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And We're starting to get, we've

got probably about four or five

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customers internationally now and

really looking to grow that subscriber

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base, particularly into the U S.

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Yeah.

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Fantastic.

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And so how did you go about funding this?

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So we were very fortunate.

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We actually made a pre

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So we had a a very valued customer

who was also indicating they

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needed this sort of software.

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So we made a large presale to them that

got us up and running that gave us enough

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cash to build a minimum viable product.

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We also leveraged, the profitability

of our service business and our

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customer base and our Intel as well.

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So we managed to fund it from the presale.

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We made, we've got some government

grants and we've got an accelerating

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commercialization grant.

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A boosting family, boosting

female founders grant R and D.

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And then in April last year, we also

did a fundraise and raised two and a

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half million with three investors to

two Australian based and one in the U S.

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So it's a combination of

that, our revenue growth.

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And our service business also

continues to grow and give us another

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source of funding to continue our

runway and grow our product and

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our sales and marketing efforts.

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Yeah.

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Was the the grant applications

process as well as the VC funding

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process, was that a trigger to really

drive and shape your strategic plan?

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Yeah, they all aligned together.

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So one of the milestones in our

accelerating commercialization grant was

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to raise so that was the last, one of the

last stage, latter stages of our our plan.

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And the funding for the grant was

all based on that accelerated growth.

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And to do that, we really realized we

needed to have investors for funding,

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but not only for funding for also for

connections, networks, ideas, Intel

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profile as well, building a profile.

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So many reasons.

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We're driving us to go about the

fundraise, not just the funds themselves.

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And so the work that we put into

accelerating commercialization grant

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and all of our planning and our strategy

fed in really nicely to funding process.

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That all worked really well

together and we were fortunate

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to access a lot of funding.

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Support through the government as well to

help us put that funding plan together.

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So I, I am extremely appreciative of the

government support we've had to date.

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We would not be where

we're at now without that.

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And also going through the,

the masterclass as well.

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It's been, great benefit for us.

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So all of those.

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Things have contributed

to where we are now.

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Yeah.

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And for those who don't haven't

gone through a VC funding process,

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tell me a bit more about that

process and how you approached it.

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Yeah.

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So look, the first thing

I did was I learned how to

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pitch a couple of years ago.

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So preparing your pitch deck.

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And your plan, but I did do a lot

of pitch training a couple of years

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ago, which really got me pitch ready.

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I learned how to create

curiosity with investors.

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So telling a story is really important.

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Having a clear plan for what you

what your vision and your mission is.

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Describing, what the trajectory is

in terms of your growth and what,

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what the money that you're looking

for and what the outcomes that you

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would have with your investors.

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So having all of that planned out

first and making sure that you've got

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your story and your pitch prepared.

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In advance and that you've done a lot

of practice because I learned very

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quickly that it's, there's different

types of pitches you lose, lose interest

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very quickly if you don't do it well.

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Making sure you're trained up and I can

tell you what it's a skill like any other.

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Practice and support and

training helps a lot.

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You might be good at doing

sales pitches, but pitches to

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investors are quite different.

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So learning the nuances of

that process, that was first.

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Then the next thing is determining

like really like any sales process.

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What are we trying to achieve?

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What is our target audience?

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So what kind of investors?

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So what are the criteria that

we're looking for in our investor?

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Then building out a set of

targets, then having a funnel.

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So basically working out what is our sales

process into those potential investors.

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So outreach, Finding networks, warm

leads are much better than cold ones.

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So it's really like

running a sales process.

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So you do your first meeting,

you're trying to get their

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interest, then you follow up and

then you have a second meeting.

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And then what I found is that

once you've got like a lead

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investors, a lead investor in place.

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So the lead investor is the one

where you usually set the terms.

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And they're the one that are

going to, They're going to be,

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they're going to put in usually a

higher percentage of investment.

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Once you've got them on, secure

it, then you end up having a lot of

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FOMO and you can run a really nice

little kind of sales campaign where

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quick, we're closing soon getting

those, the rest of the team on board.

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I found a lot of confidence

for the agency, doesn't it?

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It does.

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And it's committed,

therefore it's worth it.

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You will get a lot of rejection along

the way, like again, any sales process.

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So it's learning from that.

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So what I would use, I would

usually always ask, I would want

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to get a lot of feedback as to

why I didn't get to the next step.

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And sometimes it would just

be the timing's not right.

158

Sometimes they just wouldn't

have resources that were focused

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on our industry or our area.

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Or maybe it was what I did.

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I don't know.

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It's a whole range.

163

I need to tweak the pitch.

164

A lot of it, particularly in the early

stages of the startup is around your

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chemistry with the particular investors.

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How do you get on?

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Are they, do they like you as a founder?

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Are they motivated by

your mission, vision?

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A lot of it is that chemistry

that you're building.

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I think it's also your confidence.

171

Building up that confidence, being

very clear about what your goals are,

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what you think you can achieve, and

being very confident about the way you

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project that to your, to that audience.

174

Obviously there's a whole lot of

other things like your cap table.

175

So working out, what's your, what,

how much you want to raise, how

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much you have now in your cap table

and all those technical aspects.

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And then obviously all the labels as well.

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Once you.

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Further down the road.

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And you're negotiating

everything with your investors.

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But it's quite a process.

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It takes a lot of time.

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This is all I would say as well.

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It takes up a lot of your time.

185

So what are the biggest challenges?

186

So what are the things like us took

at least six months, probably seven.

187

It's making sure you have the time

to dedicate to it because difficult.

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So if there's two founders, it

can be quite handy to have one

189

who's focused on the business and

one who's focused on fundraising.

190

And then maybe the one who's

focused on business just

191

comes in at the latter stages.

192

We, with my business partner,

we did a bit of a split.

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So We're split up running the

business and split up running.

194

I led more of the fundraising, but

then knew that my business partner

195

was focused on more of the day to day.

196

You do need to think about how

you're going to resource it.

197

And would you describe that as being

something like a full time job?

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Almost.

199

Yeah, probably 70%, 75

percent of your time.

200

Cause if you're not on it

like any selling, yeah.

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If you're not responding quickly, if

you're not keeping all of your leads

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up to date, if you're not spending

the time, looking at their questions.

203

They ask a lot of questions.

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So the other thing that you do is set up

a data room with all your data in there.

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So you get a lot of efficiencies

with all your typical questions.

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And so there's a lot of processes

you can set up, but yeah.

207

And I think once you've done it once, I

think the next time we raise will be a lot

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easier because I know, the process because

you're learning a lot through the process.

209

And did you use Pow2 as your data room

repository or did you use another tool?

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We did use another tool, but just

because Pow2 is probably not, but

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yeah, it's a great idea though, John.

212

Might do that next time.

213

Great idea.

214

The other thing the investors

wanted to do is obviously spend

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a lot of time in the software.

216

So they, you spend a lot of time

with them, taking them through what

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it does and getting them on the

trials and getting them because for

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us products for our investors, the

product and the software was a really

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key part of their decision making.

220

And they also wanted to talk to customers.

221

And get some testimonials and refer,

They wanted to make sure customers

222

are getting value for what we do.

223

And so tell me a bit more about

the the strategic planning process.

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A large, in addition to the tool, a large

portion of what was being sold to the

225

funding parties was your plan and your

vision as to what was going to happen.

226

But more importantly, how

you were going to get there.

227

How would you say that was different

from say your services business.

228

So I think for us the go to

market, so the product market fits.

229

Describing the whole market that we

were targeting was really critical.

230

What is the size of the market, the

total size, the total addressable

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market and so I suppose building

up a vision of what's possible.

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And making that clear, cause that's

really critical to an investor.

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They want to see.

234

A very large potential market.

235

And that wasn't just for us.

236

So in the past, my planning has been

more around an Australian market for a

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venture backed SAS platform, the globe,

particularly with a high volume sort

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of selling process the market size.

239

is really important to clarify

for them and to talk about

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that in a monetized form.

241

Financially what does that

look like is really key.

242

Other key aspects, which I think

is important with any planning

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is when you fit in the market,

what are your differentiators?

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So how are you different from others?

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And it's really emphasizing that it's

providing a lot more detail perhaps

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than what I've done before, because

for them they want to see that you can

247

stand out against the competition and

get that conversion for your sales.

248

Other key, so market competitive

landscape, how you're different,

249

what's your key differentiators

and really fleshing that out.

250

What's your traction today has been.

251

So you put your proof.

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Where have you been?

253

What have you achieved?

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And then how can you translate

that with a go to market strategy?

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And probably for me, in some ways, in a

startup, it's a lot of trial and error.

256

So they want to see that, yes, we

have this go to market strategy, but

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we're agile and flexible and clever

and talented to adjust and adapt.

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As we go and that's probably another key

differentiator and difference, sorry,

259

between a more stable business because

more stable business, you're talking

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to what you've achieved in the past.

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And then how you're

leveraging that and growing.

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We had to leverage a service

business, the expertise we had in

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that, what we'd achieved so far in

our business, how are we going to

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leverage that for the future and what

our team looks like to achieve that.

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So that I found that different.

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And then the other thing that

constantly came up was, What

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are our metrics for success?

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And they were really quite

different to what I've been used to.

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Us it's conversion.

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So it's like number of new leads

or new trials, our conversion

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rate, our average revenue per

customer, a month on month growth.

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Lifetime customer value.

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So it's really honing in on what are

those metrics that's going to demonstrate

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what we've achieved so far and how

we're going to produce that significant

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month on month growth in ARR or annual

revenue recurring revenue, cause that's

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what it's all about for an investor.

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How are you going to achieve that?

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And with a smaller, with a

smaller startup, you don't often

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have a lot of that data yet.

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So it's how are you going to build

up that data dashboard and how are

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you going to build that growth?

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And how are you going to use

product as a driver for growth?

283

Yeah.

284

So let's unpack this a little.

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So when we think about how to,

there's, A whole raft of online

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learning systems available at

the moment in the marketplace.

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So what do you see as being the

key differentiators of HowTo?

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So the key differentiators are that it's

not designed for learning designers.

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It's designed for anyone

who has knowledge.

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And what it does through the

smarts of the software, it enables

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that conversion of knowledge into

really high quality learning.

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So it's really like a creative platform.

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So in the same way, we might talk

about TikTok or other platforms that

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are used for other types of creation.

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How to is really the enabler for

the conversion of knowledge Into

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really effective learning that's

shareable within organizations

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and outside of organizations.

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So it, what it does is it

speeds up the creation process.

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It means you don't need learning designers

and digital designers to create content

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and it reduces the knowledge drain.

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So I suppose like candor of learning,

it's often to be described as it's a easy

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way to convert knowledge into learning.

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But also learning that's inclusive.

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So creating accessible learning

is actually quite difficult.

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It's quite technically challenging.

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And there's a lot of specific technical

requirements around if you've got

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a screen reader, if you can't see,

then there's all these sort of

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technical issues you need to build in.

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What we've done is built that all in.

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So basically when you

create content in how to.

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There's an assurance that content

will be inclusive and accessible.

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And for, large corporate and government

agencies, that's actually super critical.

313

We've just been talking to one very

large SAS platform CRM actually in the U.

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S.

315

And they said that just recently,

they're coming on board now to

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use how to in the coming weeks.

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They said that, the accessibility

for them was the, it was a learning

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science, but actually the accessibility.

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Was super, they hadn't found anything

that could any other tool that could

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create accessible content the way how

to does, and it's become really critical

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now in organizations that want to make

sure, because it's like learning has

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actually become a human right now.

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If you can't actually access learning.

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It's very hard to be successful,

so making sure and assuring

325

that's actually accessible and

inclusive learning is really key.

326

Yeah.

327

So we've talked a couple of

things about metrics and so on.

328

Do you want to talk a little bit

about how you use OKR and dashboards?

329

Yeah.

330

So we realized that traditional planning

processes weren't going to quite

331

work for us as a rapidly growing SAS.

332

Scalable bench back business, so we looked

at objectives and key results as being

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a good method for us to do our planning.

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So the way we do so objective,

the difference between objectives

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and key results as opposed to

maybe KPIs and is that they just

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keep, they do keep changing.

337

So they're not set in stone,

like maybe a KPI might be.

338

Cause we need to constantly look at

new ways of monitoring our business.

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So the way we do our planning for OKRs

and by, by no means is this perfection.

340

And it's a continual process for

us and we're still evolving it

341

to get it to a place where it's,

but this is the way we do it.

342

So we pulled together the leadership

team first and we workshop,

343

what are our key objectives?

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So what are our goals?

345

For the coming, we, we

do 12 months in advance.

346

So then we do a workshop to

identify what those goals are.

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And then we translate within,

we say, all right how do we

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measure those in key results?

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So what are the key measurements

that are going to show us that

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we're achieving those objectives?

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So as a team, as a leadership team,

we identify those for the year ahead.

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So what are our OKRs for the year ahead?

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Then we workshop the quarterly OKRs

because each quarter it does change, so

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we break it down into, based on those

objectives for the year ahead, what do

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we need to achieve for the next quarter?

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So we set our objective and then

our key results for the upcoming

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quarter, then that translates into

team OKRs and kind of individual OKRs.

358

We like to put them on the wall.

359

I think we've had most success where

we put them on the wall of the office,

360

which of course we haven't been in much.

361

So we put them, that was actually

really good having them up all the time.

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We also put them up digitally and we

refer to them at our team meetings

363

because the other thing that we wear.

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These things fall down if they're

not embedded in our cadences,

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our regular cadences and rhythms

week in, week out within the

366

business and in our one on ones.

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So we bring up our OKRs and

our one on ones as well.

368

So I think for us, so it's translating.

369

I learned a lot in the masterclass, but

it's translating some of those ideas.

370

into something that's a little

bit more appropriate for a more

371

agile, rapidly changing business

that needs to shift and move the

372

ebb and flow with what's going on.

373

For us, it's a real challenge between

focus because focus is key, but agility.

374

And I still find that quite a challenge.

375

We need to be focused.

376

But we also need to be very

agile and I think where you

377

can fall down in the startup is

it's just way too much going on.

378

So I can't help just focus.

379

Yeah.

380

So would you like to

give an example of that?

381

Okay.

382

An example is we're rolling out our

plan into the U S and we've set it so

383

we were very fortunate to do the US

landing pad to go into that market.

384

So our plan was to, first of all, employee

sales debt development representatives

385

to target into that market first.

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And we were going to go for the

West coast of the US and California.

387

And then as we started that process.

388

We realized that there was actually

more of an opportunity through some

389

leads that came in through inbound

market, like marketing leads to

390

more focus on some partnership.

391

and pivot more towards partnership model

and into a different region of the US.

392

So it's just an example.

393

So what happens to us all the time

is we understand our market more, we

394

understand our audience and our customers.

395

Then we need to change because what we're

doing, we plan to do it this way, but as

396

we do it, we realize, Oh, actually, this

is where we're getting more traction.

397

So we need to just pivot

a bit and focus on that.

398

Another example is that we've

just, we've discovered a really

399

good opportunity into a particular

industry to create a suite of content.

400

And at first to keep that very

wide because we also create

401

content to go into our platform.

402

So as well as creating, having

created tool, you can also have the

403

content that you buy in the tool.

404

And we were first going

to go down one path.

405

Then we discovered as we brought

on new customers, Hey, there's more

406

of an opportunity here to explore.

407

This looks more like where we've got

more traction and more opportunity.

408

So the product does pivot

and grow and develop.

409

As we understand our customers

more and our opportunity more.

410

So it's quite fun, but you've got to

be careful that you don't do too many

411

things all at the same time, which we

probably do, we have to keep focused.

412

So the critical few actions was

really good for me because as a

413

founder of business that has so

many opportunities, I am definitely

414

someone who can fall into the trap of.

415

Hey, let's do this and

I have to be focused.

416

So the critical few actions combined

with our chaos, which is, they're

417

really quite similar is really,

it was really important for me.

418

Yeah.

419

Cause I guess as you were saying, there's

a tension between focus and being agile.

420

Yeah.

421

And I guess part of that tension is

every time there's either a good idea

422

or there's a new market opportunity

or there's a new, there's new feedback

423

that's coming from the system or from

the business that, cause the business is

424

trying to teach us something every day.

425

If only we can listen to it.

426

Then the opportunity is for us to

become unfocused because we're actually

427

focused on too many other bits and

pieces or we're being so dynamic

428

that we're just creating noise.

429

Yeah, exactly.

430

So data is probably the other

best friend of our business.

431

So we've built in some really

great software in the middle of

432

our ecosystem in our business.

433

So this software called

Segment and Mixpanel.

434

And so Segment allows us, it draws

in the data from our product.

435

It draws in the data from

our marketing and sales.

436

And then we feed that into

other software like Mixpanel.

437

where we actually do a lot of analysis as

to if we do this, what's the ROI on this?

438

If we do this, what's the ROI?

439

So doing some really nice.

440

analysis of not just based on the gut

feeling, gut is important, but really

441

checking things against the data.

442

And I think that's probably the biggest

thing I've, another big thing I've

443

learned is that to ensure that those

decisions are being made based on

444

the data and asking our customers.

445

So now we've got so if we're thinking

about a new feature for our product,

446

We'll put a little in app questionnaire

and we'll base it on the answers

447

to that, not on a gut feeling.

448

And yeah, so really digging

into the, to the data and.

449

Helping that driver decision

making and yeah, working out what

450

would lead to a better increase.

451

Really?

452

It's about revenue growth.

453

And it's pulling together the team

across sales marketing product.

454

to look at together.

455

How can we generate that increase?

456

If we make these tweaks, which tweaks

are going to get the best results.

457

And of course, having done

that, you can then test to see

458

whether your hypothesis stood up.

459

Yeah, exactly.

460

We've got great examples of that, like

a sign up page, we did one little tweak.

461

And it reduced the sign up, like the

conversion rate we tweaked it back

462

and made a few other changes and it

popped right up, but you've got to

463

give yourself enough time to assess.

464

the outcome of that change and not

be too impatient to see the shift.

465

And speaking of impatience,

dashboards are all your dashboards

466

electronic or put together?

467

Through Excel spreadsheets

or through some other form.

468

And who's exposed to them?

469

So we've got a whole lot of,

I've got a ton of dashboards.

470

The overall company

dashboard is still in Excel.

471

And, but it draws.

472

the data because that's really a

summary for us of what are the most

473

important metrics that we're tracking.

474

And unfortunately now we still

are doing those a little bit

475

manually but everybody sees them.

476

So everybody in the business has

access to those and we review

477

them together on a regular basis.

478

And we have a look at a leadership team.

479

How we're performing and what

we can do to improve things.

480

And as an overall business, we look at

those on a more kind of regular level,

481

we have dashboards across a product.

482

Our marketing and our sales.

483

And then we're looking at them more

specifically at a ball kind of micro

484

level around things like, from the

sales, obviously it's about our

485

deals and our conversions product.

486

It's more around products.

487

Cause we have PQL.

488

So product qualified leads product

traction and marketing more around,

489

leads conversions and all those

sorts of things, but they all feed

490

into overall business dashboard.

491

And that's about it.

492

I'm actually really open also

about everything right across

493

the team in terms of revenue.

494

And it's quite transparent.

495

I'm actually being more

and more transparent.

496

To the business.

497

I'm really sharing, for example, with

the product team, this is this product

498

feature we're working on the plant.

499

It's like a theme builder.

500

We're planning to put all our

enterprise customers on this.

501

This is going to be added to that.

502

Then we're going to move all

of our kind of one subscription

503

subscribers up to enterprise.

504

That's a five time revenue

gain from just that feature.

505

So the potential of that feature

for the business is huge.

506

This percentage increase.

507

For our revenue.

508

And if they can see that I also,

we also do things like make sure

509

product are really aware of new

customers, what they're telling us,

510

net promoter score, all those things

so that we're all together in this.

511

So we understand, okay my part of

this picture, and that's, what's

512

great about a smaller product

business like as a software business,

513

you can have a significant impact.

514

Through your ideas, your work,

your contribution and in a way that

515

you can't in a huge huge business.

516

Because retention is a challenge as well.

517

I haven't even talked about that,

for businesses like ours, people

518

want to come and coach our people.

519

So one of the things that we have

that's quite different is A much

520

closer connection to the business and

what our mission is all about and what

521

we're achieving and what you can learn.

522

Oh my gosh, learning.

523

So everybody in our business is, yeah,

has a plan around their learning.

524

And ensuring that's aligned to

where the business is going.

525

And again, that's what

our business is all about.

526

Yeah.

527

And how much visibility do you give

your your investors of your dashboards

528

or do you report differently?

529

So they get a full visibility to

overall company dashboard, which

530

has around 25, 30 metrics in it.

531

We've got the top ones and

then we do filter down.

532

So they get a copy of that every month.

533

Obviously, they get all our

financials, our updates across

534

each of the key areas of business.

535

I also bring our team leads like a

leadership team members in to talk about

536

different parts of the business with

them, give them a lot of connection there.

537

And then, they've actually, yeah,

anything they want, they can access.

538

So any specific.

539

Because they're actually sometimes

they'll, I've got some investors

540

that are more interested in

the marketing side of business.

541

Some of them want to sit in on a sales

meeting, fine, come along in the US,

542

if you want to come, I don't mind.

543

I've opened it quite transparently

in terms of what's happening.

544

The good, the bad, the ugly.

545

Yeah.

546

And you talked a bit about cadence.

547

Tell me a bit about the cadence

that you have internally.

548

I take it that from a leadership time

perspective, you're having huddles

549

on a semi regular basis or erratic.

550

Yeah.

551

How does that work?

552

How do you keep them all aligned

when things are moving fast?

553

Yeah.

554

And focused and agile.

555

So we have quite a few different cadences.

556

So from the top sort of from the

leadership team, we meet every fortnight.

557

And that is really to do updates on

what's happening across the business,

558

how we're tracking against our metrics,

our OKRs, we would do sort of special

559

sessions sometimes on learning,

retrospectives, so we mix it up a bit as

560

a team and do that on a fortnightly basis.

561

Then we have a more in depth workshop

on a quarterly basis around our OKRs.

562

So at the end of one quarter, we'll be

planning for the upcoming, coming quarter.

563

And that's more of a workshop

over lunch and activities.

564

I like to do a retrospective at the

end of quarters as well, just to,

565

a bit more of what went well, what

we can improve on, what have we

566

learned, what do we take with us?

567

So that's a leadership.

568

leadership team level product

team have a daily stand up.

569

Then we have regular cadences around

our product planning prioritization.

570

We do retrospectives as a product team.

571

So there's a lot going

on that side of things.

572

Always interested in how do we

continually learn and feed that into

573

the next sprint planning process.

574

Sales and marketing.

575

We have a weekly full sales

and marketing stand up.

576

That was on a Monday morning.

577

We'll go through our results from

last week plans for this week.

578

A lot of data we share a bit of helping

each other plan for the week, and then

579

we have a daily stand up in sales.

580

Other teams have no regular stand ups.

581

So yes, there's a lot of meetings and

gatherings, and I think that's why.

582

As a team, having some face

to face time is important.

583

So we continue to have an office.

584

We're not a full remote team.

585

We are a hybrid team.

586

And it's interesting with a continually

changing and evolving team, having time

587

together is actually hugely beneficial.

588

We work well remotely, but we, I

never, I don't think, We're ever

589

going to lose that face to face time.

590

And so the face to face space we

chose was somewhere where it would

591

be a really great place to be.

592

So we're in a shared working space.

593

We've got our own separate office

and, there's coffee on demand.

594

There's beer in the afternoon

because we need to compete

595

with that kind of environment.

596

And.

597

Having somewhere fun, a destination,

because you almost have to draw them back.

598

Not so much, I think generally I

think they're happy to come in,

599

but it needs to be a place that

you want to be, have fun, feed it.

600

We have a lot of younger, team members.

601

They don't want to be sitting in

their bedroom on Zoom all day.

602

They want to come and

collaborate and be together.

603

Learn together.

604

Yeah.

605

So the daily standup cadence, how

important is that level of frequency?

606

That, that's, that has carries

with it a fair amount of overhead.

607

I take it.

608

Are they long, short, no.

609

Sure.

610

Structured.

611

So daily structured, very tight.

612

So very tight format.

613

Five to 10 minutes max.

614

Yeah.

615

So it's a daily huddle.

616

Yeah.

617

Yeah.

618

So it just keeps, so the two areas of

the business where it's particularly

619

important is product just to keep

people in, particularly if you're

620

not together in the office, but

that's 10 minutes, 10 minute huddle.

621

Sales.

622

Those are the two areas that, that

daily huddle is pretty critical.

623

So it's worth it and it's not just

for the it's the morale, keeping

624

the team particularly for sales.

625

Cause we want to hear those

great results from yesterday.

626

It's all about activity and outcomes

and same with product is keeping people

627

on track, keeping people excited.

628

And the other thing we've

been doing lately is.

629

A show and tell for a larger, like for a

longer huddle sometimes so people can see

630

under the bonnet of what people are doing.

631

So that continual sharing of learning

the team, it changes all the time and

632

we continually look at how we improve

these cadences because what worked last

633

year is not going to work this year.

634

It's not going to work, not

even next month or next quarter.

635

So people do need to get used to change.

636

And I do recruit people that cope with

a need, a need for being adaptable

637

and being really focused on learning.

638

And so just to wrap up things

that have worked well and things

639

that haven't worked well from a

strategy implementation perspective.

640

So I think okay, us have been a good

strategic initiative for us as a business.

641

I can't say that we have.

642

Completely nailed it, but I think

it is a good methodology for us.

643

And doing that as a team, as a leadership

team, and then flying that through

644

the business has worked well for us.

645

I think a dashboard's been brilliant

and the regular review of that.

646

And I think for me, the

critical few actions.

647

have been really a valuable habit because

it's a habit that goes a little bit

648

against my brain I'm naturally someone

who more it's going to be potentially

649

distracted by the opportunities.

650

So for me, I do need to be focused.

651

Otherwise everything is a chaotic mess.

652

So that's been important.

653

If I did nothing else, what

would have the biggest impact?

654

What are things that haven't worked so

well from an implementation perspective?

655

So we have struggled a little bit

with some of our structure, thanks.

656

So the way which, so I think what I've

realized is at first I thought in a

657

business like ours, we'd have sales

marketing product and they would run in

658

a way in their lanes and run their shows.

659

What I've realized is that the

bringing together of those three

660

areas, particularly in a business

like ours and working together as

661

a team on combined objectives and

combined strategies is absolutely key.

662

And having that alignment together,

because none of those areas can

663

run as their own little island.

664

That's probably one thing I've

learned and probably strategically

665

ensuring that I get Yeah, focus.

666

I think that other thing is finding

the right people is absolutely key and

667

not keeping them if they're not working

out, which I think I do pretty well

668

at, but it's still a continual work

in progress, but there's nothing more

669

important than getting right people.

670

Yeah, I think that's a consistent

theme I see across all build all

671

businesses, but also that ability to

actually be fair and decisive quickly.

672

Yeah.

673

All too often people delay.

674

Yeah.

675

20, 000 a month.

676

That's it.

677

And it's an expensive procrastination

and avoidance process.

678

Yes, it is.

679

And if you think maybe they'll get better.

680

Actually one of the things I find the

most difficult decision to make is

681

around team member who's inconsistent.

682

So someone who's brilliant one minute and.

683

Terrible.

684

The other.

685

That is actually where I

find it very difficult.

686

That's where I go up and down.

687

But even that inconsistency in itself

is it's impossible to get the outcomes

688

you want because you can't actually,

you can't have the confidence.

689

Who am I going to get today?

690

So yes, making those pretty quick

decisions, even if they're sometimes

691

brilliant, if they're not consistently

at the standard that you need them

692

to be you're going to so wish that

you made that decision much earlier.

693

Yeah.

694

And and in the same vein things

that you've done well or not done

695

well with your equity partners.

696

Where have they added the most value in

the least and created the most distraction

697

might be a different way to look at it.

698

Yeah.

699

My, my investors, I couldn't

be happier with them.

700

I think they're absolutely brilliant.

701

I, the things that have been good,

really I've been happy about is

702

tapping into their network early.

703

So I, they've created some

great opportunities for us.

704

through that network.

705

So not being scared to

ask for their input.

706

I, so I think that's been really good.

707

So their network, tapping into the network

has been probably the number one value.

708

I think being open with them.

709

Has been really good.

710

I think you move from this place

where you're pitching to them all

711

the time and showing your best self.

712

Yeah.

713

And I've learned to just be

a lot more frank and open.

714

And I think I've got better outcomes

from being more open with them.

715

So that's been good.

716

So I think, yeah, I moved from

wanting to please them to wanting

717

to be more open with them.

718

I still want to please them,

but I can't bring them on board.

719

Sorry.

720

Also being open to counsel from them.

721

Yeah, exactly.

722

And then I think bringing my team on board

with them, so bringing them in with them.

723

So that's been a really good thing,

bringing my team into board meetings.

724

Getting them involved, having

them collaborate directly

725

with the board members and the

investors has been really good.

726

So in terms of things that I haven't

done so well, I suppose it's just,

727

I haven't done enough of those

things early enough, probably.

728

So now I'm comfortable with, it

takes a while to warm up the process.

729

I think.

730

Yeah, I think you're working, I think

seeing them as your partners to where

731

you need to go and they want to help

and they want to, and so leveraging

732

those opportunities and bringing

your team in to that process as

733

well, being two things I've learned.

734

Yeah, there's quite a transition,

both in activity and in mindset.

735

Yeah.

736

Going from basically a hardcore

sales process to then actually

737

turning it into a partnership.

738

Yes that's mutually respectful and

mutually beneficial and sharing.

739

Yes.

740

And I don't think that comes

naturally to anyone until they've

741

done it a few times and possibly,

depending on the participants.

742

It might not happen so easily anyway

but from what you're saying, that's one

743

of the real imperatives of harnessing.

744

Thank you.

745

Your equity partners.

746

Yes.

747

How important is communication to them?

748

Yeah, really important.

749

So I'm constantly in touch with them.

750

And I want to know, what's going

and where the challenges are.

751

I don't want to give them any

surprises at the board meeting.

752

So I try and preempt any,

anything prior to that.

753

So that, and I try to.

754

Even if something isn't a problem

now, I want them to know early.

755

And and I think then they trust

me more that I'm upfront, honest

756

and straightforward with them.

757

And then, then they don't

have to guess or wonder.

758

And then I can also get them

involved in any ideas they have

759

to help solve the problems.

760

Cause it's constant

problems and challenges.

761

The other thing I would also say is

they're going to tell you a lot of things.

762

They're going to come up with a

lot of ideas, but at the end of the

763

day, you're running the business.

764

Always take on board their feedback

with respect and interest and curiosity.

765

But at the end of the day, there's

no one that knows the business

766

more than you do in your team.

767

So you take that on board and some things

you may implement that they've suggested

768

it and plenty of the vast majority you

won't, but it might, the idea might

769

then spark something else that you do.

770

So that would be, cause again, at the end

of the day, you're running the business.

771

Not the investors.

772

And that's what they're, that's

what you're charged to do.

773

So their ideas are ideas and you

may or may not take them on board.

774

Yeah.

775

And in that transition, you've probably

gone from what 75 percent of your

776

time to pitching to them to what 25

percent of managing and seeking input

777

from them or more 25 would be the max.

778

Yeah.

779

Much less.

780

So yeah.

781

And there's all different ways that

they like to some like to have a Slack

782

channel that they interact with you.

783

Some like WhatsApp, some

like something else.

784

So you just find the

channels that work for them.

785

And they never, they're always,

very keen to hear from me.

786

About things I need from

them always came to help.

787

So I would also say, always think

about how they can help you to

788

get to where you need to go.

789

Or the other thing I found a

benefit is they also have large

790

cohorts of other companies.

791

They invest in that for you as a founder

is a huge resource of other companies.

792

You can.

793

tap into and talk to.

794

And they're always keen to introduce

you to, to other businesses.

795

And a good idea is to think about talking

to people who are ahead of you down

796

a certain road and talk to them about

what they did in those circumstances.

797

How can you learn from that

and maximize the impact?

798

The, efficiency is to, as to where

every bit is different, but, those

799

insights are still really valuable.

800

Lisa Vincent, thank you for sharing

your insights today and the insights

801

that you've gained from your journey

with how to I wish you all the very best

802

with the global domination strategy.

803

It sounds like how to's

in very good hands.

804

Thank you so much, John.

805

Appreciate your time.

806

Thank you.