- When you think of prolific companies,
you know the ones I'm talking about their high growth,
wildly successful, incredible brand
and almost has a cult-like following.
Companies like Apple, Tesla, Salesforce,
and if you're a marketer even Marketo.
For these companies, the one thing they had in common
was that they all built a manifesto.
These companies didn't just go out into the market
and say, hey, here's our product.
They went out in the market and created a cult-like movement
on whatever it is they were selling.
They created a cult-like movement
around a common belief
that these cult-like followers actually shared.
They actually believed in this bigger thing
this bigger change in the world
and then in the end they said, oh, and by the way
we have products that help you accomplish this thing.
If you have this belief and you agree with us,
by the way we also have these products
that help you get there.
That's what these companies did.
And the one thing they had in common is they went out
in the market and the actually published a manifesto.
Whether you call it a book,
whether you call it a commercial, Apple did that,
think different campaign, whatever it may be.
Salesforce had this no code movement
and then also wrote a book.
Marketo they wrote the book on how marketing
should have a seat at the revenue table.
They all had this belief
and this manifesto and they published it.
And that's what allowed them to kind of rise
above the competition, create a brand,
create a cut-like following and really grow fast.
So in this episode, I'm gonna be digging
into why you also need a manifesto,
how to actually create one
and how to actually help you build
a differentiated go-to-market machine.
Intro.
(upbeat music)
What's up everybody?
Welcome to unstoppable, I'm TK.
And on this channel,
I help SaaS founders like you navigate
and accelerate the path to the next stage of growth
with an unstoppable strategy.
If you are new to this channel,
welcome, it's really awesome to see you here.
I drop an episode like this every Sunday,
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So be sure to hit the subscribe button
and that bell icon right below,
so you get notified every single time
I drop an episode with the TK energy.
And if you are already part of our community,
if you're a part of my SaaS go to market coaching program
where I help you accelerate your path
to the next stage of growth.
Welcome back, it's really great to see you here.
All right.
So in this video, in this episode,
I'm gonna dig into what is a manifesto.
I believe every startup founder has a manifesto in him
or her because here's the thing,
no one just wakes up one morning
and just randomly starts a company,
that's not how it works.
You've gone through a deeper set of experiences,
you've thought deeply about the space you're in,
you have a bunch of domain knowledge
and then you decided, you know what?
I had this aha moment and this product needs to exist,
and you bring this product into the market.
What that means is that you have a unique point of view
and whether you think about it this way or not,
you are gonna be spending the next few years
convincing and highlighting
and getting other people to see that of view
so that they buy your software.
That is the biggest part of this.
The greatest threat to a startup and to your software
and your SaaS business that your building is obscurity.
Obscurity means you may have an amazing product,
but you don't actually figure out a way
to convince people to use your product,
they never even get into your product.
Obscurity is what kills SaaS businesses.
So I believe every startup founder,
needs to actually embrace the fact
that they have this unique point of view about the market
this big change that's happening in the world.
And because of that, they built this product
and they need to communicate that
and they need to actually mobilize that
through the form of a manifesto.
Some of the greatest founders in the world
have used this strategy over and over.
They didn't just try to do sales and marketing,
they didn't just try to sell a product.
They built a movement, a cult-like following
around their brand and their company.
And when those people followed them
that actually got them to actually
not only follow the leader,
not only follow the brand, not only follow the company,
they also were loyal to buying their products
over and over and over
because they all believe in the same thing
ad that's what really got them to rise up.
I've used this strategy myself with ToutApp.
We actually had a mini brand,
as we got to seven million ARR
all because we had a manifesto.
I've seen this strategy being used
at Marketo, at HubSpot, at Salesforce,
that's how I learned it.
I learned it from those amazing people that started
and built those companies.
And they were the ones that pioneered this,
but it's existed through the beginning of time.
Even Apple used it back in the day
and other companies before them used that
and so having you see strategies,
having seen how these strategies got used
both at ToutApp and at Marketo,
I'm gonna walk you through the 20 principles
you need to follow to actually build out your manifesto
and actually start to think about
how to write your manifesto,
craft your manifesto
and use it in your go to market strategy.
Super if you are excited to dig in, go ahead
and smash that like button.
And let's go into principle number zero.
So principle number zero is
let's just put a definition of what manifesto is
a great manifesto explains why you do what you do
and why your ICP should care and take action.
So what you're really trying to communicate
in this manifesto, it can't be a rant,
i has to be very specifically structured.
What you really wanna get to is why you do what you do,
this is that unique aha moment that you had
that's why you started the company, right?
And also why your ICP should care and take action.
So there's a lot that goes into this,
so let's dig into what the three core principles are.
That was principle number zero
and the definition of a manifesto.
The first thing you really have to define in your manifesto
is the who.
You need to identify who specifically this movement is for.
There's never a manifested that says
all human should go do this.
Those manifestos never rise up.
Manifestos have a way of helping people self identify.
So as soon as you read the name of the manifesto,
like, for example, I remember
I read the hacker's manifesto back in the day
when hacking culture was starting to become a big thing
and I was a teenager and I wanted to be a hacker,
it was weird.
Manifestos have a certain name
that get people to self identify, right?
So suppose you sell to salespeople, right?
One example of how you actually self identify
and call your manifesto would be,
the 21st century guide to being a sales person, right?
That's a self identifying thing,
that's starting to say, look, you're a sales person
but you wanna actually embrace the 21st century.
So here's how you embrace it and here's how you go after it.
Are you starting to get this?
So the first principle is
how do you actually give your manifesto a name
that helps people self identify
so that when they're scrolling scrolling, scrolling,
they can see your manifesto and be like,
oh, my God, that's me.
I wanna learn more about that
and that new way of doing things, right?
The second piece about your manifesto is the, what.
The what is what exactly is the aha moment?
What is the unique insight?
What is the big change that you're bringing to the world?
That is a big part of your manifesto.
And once people self-identify, they'll wanna open up
your manifests and you'll have to tell them
like, hey, listen, I was in your shoes
and I've done this and I've lived this life
and I had similar experiences
and I've been in your role
and based on all of that here's what I realized,
I had this aha moment.
I realized that most people do things this way,
but really, us, these people that we're self identifying as
this manifesto, actually says here's the new way to do this
and if you can follow that opportunity
then you're gonna win just like I did.
That is the what in the manifesto,
that is the new opportunity,
that is the potential,
that is this aha moment that you had
on why you started your company.
And if you can explain that
that then people will start to follow you,
they'll find themselves nodding their head
as they're reading.
And they'll say, oh, yeah, there is something to this.
And there was an opportunity here.
And there's a different way of actually going after it.
And that's the power of a manifesto.
It explains to them and get some of them believe that
and the third is the how.
The third is how, meaning in that manifesto,
you'll start to outline like look
if you believe what I believe,
if you are who I think you are
and you actually wanna take it advantage
of this new opportunity,
here's the three or five things that you need to do, right?
Here's how you actually go after what you need to go after.
Once you do that, then people would be like, oh, my God,
I wanna do these things
and by the way, you'll say in your manifesto
we actually built out software that helps you do this.
And based on that, people will say,
oh, I wanna actually dig more into this.
Now, I wanna tell you a little bit about how this who,
what and how it comes together.
Before I do that, let me just pause here for a second.
If you're starting to see the pattern here
and how you've probably read manifestos,
if you've seen some of the best brands,
you've started to see how brands and people
and founders use manifestos
who really get your trust,
get you follow into this movement,
can I just get a, yes, in the comments below
and also smash that button while you're at it
for the YouTube algorithm.
If you are starting to see how manifesto
can actually differentiate you from your competition,
if it can actually help you rise above,
if it can help you build the most differentiated
go-to market machine,
then definitely smash that like button
so I can hear from you
and feel free to comment below
about what your thoughts are on this.
Now, let's go back to how these three things come together.
When you build out that perfect manifesto, number one,
the who, people will self identify
because they'll read the name, they'll see the math
and they'll be like, that's me.
I wanna learn more about that.
The what is you're gonna highlight what your aha moment is,
why you built this company,
why you built this product and what opportunity you saw
and you wanna educate them about that.
And the third is you are gonna explain
how they can capitalize on this secret, this unique insight,
this new opportunity, how they can actually go about it.
And the last piece of that is you are gonna highlight
how they can do all of this using your software.
That's essentially the easy button.
When you do these things in a manifesto
then people will be able to see your manifesto
and they'll be able to read it
and they'll be able to take action on it
and all of a sudden, you're gonna to start to get
a lot more people that are interested in what you're doing,
not because of just some product you built,
but because of the movement you're building.
This new way for them to do their jobs
or capitalize on this new opportunity.
And when they do that, they will first trust you
then they will follow you
and then they will want your software
because they'll want the easy button
of actually accomplishing what this manifesto promises them
and that's when it all comes together.
So that's the power of a great manifesto
to review a great manifesto
explains why you do what you do
and why your ICP should care and take action now.
A great manifesto does that.
And here's how a manifesto really falls
into the overall go to market machine,
you're building for your SaaS business.
I believe every go-to marketing machine
has three crucial things.
The first is your ideal customer profile,
the second is your manifesto
and the third is a Broadway show
that you run every week to mobilize your manifesto
getting in front of as many ideal customers as possible
so that they look at what your movement is about
and then take action.
This is something that I teach in much more detail
inside of my SaaS go-to market program.
My SaaS go-to market program is a coaching program
where I work with you to actually build out
a scalable go to market machine,
to help you accelerate your path
to the next stage of growth.
If that's you,
if you are in that state for your SaaS business
where you really want a predictable go-to market machine,
you wanna accelerate your growth,
you wanna actually get to the next stage of growth,
you wanna get leads flowing,
you wanna close more deals,
then I invite you to go check out more
about my SaaS go to market program.
All you need to do is go tkkader.com/gtm
or you can follow the link below as well.
When you go in there,
you'll learn all the details about how the program works
and you'll also find a link to apply to join.
Now, this program the better the fit,
the better the results.
So one thing that I do is I get on a strategy call with you
after you've applied and we try to figure out
if we can actually help you given where you are
in your SaaS business.
If this type of sales and marketing
will be effective for your business.
And so once we have figured that out,
then I can tell you more details
about the go to market program,
I can answer your questions and we can onboard you.
So if you wanna build a go to market machine,
a scalable one
and really excel in the path of growing your business.
If you wanna put in this manifesto strategy into play,
you want my help in growing your SaaS business,
then go to tkkader.com/gtm
or follow the link below and go ahead
and fill out the application
to actually get on a call with me
and then we can take it from there.
If you got value from this video,
be sure to smash that like button.
Also, if you have a friend,
a co-founder that would get value
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it will mean the world to us.
And last remember, I drop an episode every Sunday
Wednesday, and Friday to actually give you strategies
like this on how to grow your SaaS business
more effectively.
So be sure to hit the subscribe button and that bell icon
if you haven't already.
Lastly, remember everyone needs a strategy
for their life and their business
but when you are with us, yours is gonna be unstoppable.
I'm TK, and I'll see you in the next episode.
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