- When it comes to driving growth for your SaaS business,
the biggest thing is your go-to-market strategy.
We talk about this all the time in this channel.
We talk about this, this is something we obsess over
inside of my coaching program, when I work with founders.
Here's the thing though.
Sometimes, sometimes, it can get way too complicated,
and just way too overwhelming, and that's very normal.
And so in this episode,
I wanted to go back to basics.
I wanted to go back to the three core principles
that every founder, every SaaS founder, every SaaS CEO,
every SaaS leadership team,
every SaaS marketer needs to know
to drive growth for a SaaS business.
So I'm gonna walk you through these core principles,
we're gonna go back to basics.
And sometimes I've found in my career
that when you go back to basics,
you're able to actually move faster.
So that's what we hope to do,
we hope to unlock growth for your SaaS business.
Intro.
(funky music)
What's up everybody.
Welcome to Unstoppable, I'm TK.
And on this channel, we help SaaS founders like you
grow your SaaS businesses faster,
with an unstoppable strategy.
Now, if you are new to this channel,
welcome.
Be sure to hit the subscribe button and that bell icon,
because I drop an episode every week on Sunday
with actionable strategies on how to grow your SaaS business
with the TK energy.
Now, if you're already part of this community,
if you're part of my coaching programs,
first of all, my people welcome back.
Second of all, you might've noticed something.
You might've noticed I just said we drop a video every week.
So we're making some changes.
We just hit 15,000 subscribers.
And, you know, I think of our channel
as a bit of like the little big niche.
15,000 is not a huge number, but it's a huge number,
given that we're focused purely on B2B SaaS founders,
and leaders and marketers and salespeople too.
So it's a little big niche.
And, you know, as we've hit this new inflection point,
couple of things have happened.
One, we just have more people watching videos,
and we have more videos than ever before.
So that's there.
Second, I have more people inside of my coaching programs.
We have over a hundred founders now.
And so I had to kind of go in and look at the data
with my team and really understand like,
cool, how do we spend our time?
What do we double down on?
What do we pull back on?
What's the most effective use of our time?
And something crazy has happened over the last few months.
We've found that the more in-depth videos that I do
and the more I just like really share my stories
from the trenches, the more you guys like it.
You watch more, or you like more, you share more,
all those metrics.
The more of those videos that we do, it means that the less
of like the really detail oriented videos we need to do,
because those are really where the coaching program thrives.
And so the more we've done,
like the really story level videos, the more we've done well
with more people joining the coaching programs
and the more people that have joined the coaching program,
the more success people I've seen.
And so there's this thing of like,
cool, like, well, how do we spend our time?
One of the big changes that we're gonna be testing out is
we're just gonna do one episode a week now,
in the YouTube channel,
And I'm gonna reclaim all that time.
Believe it or not like just to do a 10 minute video.
It takes like a half day, because I research it,
I script it, I filled out the cards.
It just doesn't happen like that.
Like, there's a lot that goes into it.
And then my team has to work on it.
And so we're gonna reclaim all the time
from that second episode.
We're gonna do one really meaningful episode every week.
And then I'm gonna reclaim that time.
And I'm just gonna put it more towards the people
that are inside of my programs, the founders,
and the leaders that are inside of my coaching programs
to make that program the best in the business,
whether it's serving them and helping them
cut through their issues or revamping the training inside.
And what I think that'll do is one,
it'll give our broader YouTube community
what it really wants
which is deeper stories with TK, story time with TK.
And two, the people that are like,
cool, like I know you know, your stuff TK.
So I wanna work with you.
And when they're coming into the program,
so you get the best program in the business.
So this is something we'll be testing.
And so if you've been with me for a while,
like, that's the big change I'm making.
I know this is a little drawn out, but you know,
I had to talk to you about it.
So that's what we're gonna be doing.
On today's episode though,
we're gonna be digging into the three core principles
that are kind of back to basics.
And back to basics is something that has been
just a powerful principle for me my entire life.
I don't know about you but there have been moments
when just things weren't working, right?
We've all been there, we've all been there.
Every single successful startup founder at some point
had a moment where like, this is just not working.
And one of the ways we used to call it is, WFIO.
We're blank, it's over.
And there've been multiple moments where it was WFIO.
And WFIO was like a common thing in startup land.
But whenever we had those moments
where literally nothing was working, we had nothing to lose.
And we were like, oh my God, what do we do?
And we did this like one last hail Mary.
It was always about us going back to basics.
And I found this pattern happen over and over in startups,
in life, in business,
where, when things get too complicated,
we put too much weight on ourselves.
We just get overwhelmed, nothing works.
And when we actually force ourselves to say, screw it,
whatever, like it's over anyway,
like let's just go back to basics.
The most magical things happened.
In fact, when I look at some of the biggest breakthroughs
in my career,
when I look at some of the biggest successes
or the things that we did that unlocked the thing
that led to successes,
whether it's around features or a product
or our sales and marketing, our go-to-market
or even fundraising, it was the back to basics
that really helped us break through.
And that's why I wanted to do this episode,
because I think that a lot of times going back to basics
can help you.
This is something that I've seen
inside of my coaching programs too.
Like, you know, these founders join,
and, you know, like we follow our PLG model,
product led growth model,
meaning you can watch 200 free episodes on YouTube for free.
And then you join one of our coaching programs.
By that time, you know what I'm about, what I'm capable of,
what I've done, how I think.
So by the time a founder joins, they're like,
cool, let's go.
And like, they're going into the deeper levels of it.
And even within the coaching programs,
there are some times where I'm like,
dude, let's just take a step back.
'Cause I feel like you took like three left turns
at some point, and two of those were the wrong left turns.
So let's go back to basics.
And we always go back to basics
and then we kind of grow to the more advanced things
from there and they're able to scale a lot faster.
So I've seen this everywhere.
And so what I wanted to do in this episode is, you know,
if you're a founder, if you're a leader and you're like,
growth is not quite working or it's not quite satisfactory
where you're like, you know, we could be going faster,
I want you to entertain going back to basics.
And I want you to look through these three principles
to go back to basics in terms of your go-to-market.
And I want you to consider that if you maybe
just reserve judgment and realize that you're naked already,
and you have nothing to lose,
and if you were to go back to basics,
maybe you would have something to win.
And that's something that's been true for me all the time.
And so maybe it will be true for you.
So if you're excited, dig into principle number one,
and going back to basics,
go ahead and smash that like button
for the YouTube algorithm.
It really likes it when it does that.
I also really like, and my team loves it.
So smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm
and for us, and let's go to principle number one.
So when it comes to your go-to-market
and going back to basics,
principle number one is, who.
Who are you serving?
Again, there are so many abstractions we create
and so many complexities we create on
your ideal customer profile and macro trends
and personas so much.
But I wonder if for just a second,
if you were to just take a step back, like, hey,
who do you wanna be serving?
Who are the people that you're serving?
Who are your happiest customers?
What do they look like?
Who are they?
That's a back to basics type of thing.
This is something like, believe it or not,
I changed the trajectory of ToutApp
by asking this simple question
and going back to basics at one point,
because we were serving all kinds of business email users.
And we asked like,
let's just go back to basics because our growth is there,
but it's not taking off.
We're spread too thin.
There's too many things going on.
So we went back to like, cool, who are we serving?
And we found that it was salespeople
where we made the most money.
We loved working with them.
They complained the least, they referred the product.
And that really honed in on like, cool.
This is who we're serving, and here's why.
And that's super powerful.
So principle number one in your back to basic strategy is
who are we serving?
Right?
Who are you serving and who are these people?
And why are you serving them?
Principle number two in going back to basics,
and again, you might chuckle,
you might shake your head, but guess what?
This works.
I even do this with founders inside of my coaching programs
to just ground them,
and then we can get into more of the detailed stuff
'cause it just works, right?
Like a lot of times we're just in our own heads.
So the second thing is, what are you doing for them?
Principle number two is, what are you doing for them?
And again, it's very easy to go into the depths of
what is our value prop?
What's our strategic narrative?
What's our, like all those things.
And those can come at the right time,
but ,can you at least like just look at me
and they're like, what are you doing?
Who are the people that you're serving?
And what are you doing for them?
What are you really doing for them?
And a lot of times,
you know, when I'm talking to founders about this,
if it takes more than a few words for them to explain,
like what it is, they're like, well, we are,
this, but with this, and then what we do for them.
I'm like, yo dude.
And they're like, yeah, you're right, this sucks.
And that's one of the powers of like,
having someone else that's like really talking to you
as like a thought partner.
It's like, what are we really doing for them?
And that's something that's super powerful.
ToutApp, you know, we used to be like,
oh, we're email templates and we're tracking
and we're analytics.
And it took us more than longer,
honestly longer than it should have.
We were like, we help them make more pipeline.
They want more pipeline.
That's all they care about.
But that took us a while to really answer
what are we doing for them and who are they?
So the question I would ask you is,
what are you doing for them?
What's the stuff you're doing for them?
Like give it to me in simple terms as possible
in this back to basics.
And it's up to you, like, believe me,
I've created multi-million dollar businesses.
I've helped turn around multimillion dollar businesses.
I coach multimillion, like I I've been there
and this principle works.
The back to basics principle is something that truly works
if you let it.
If you are willing to suspend judgment for a second
and just really go like, cool, we have nothing to lose.
Let's just figure it out, right?
Like it goes really far, it's really powerful.
Now, our third principle before I go to that,
let me just pause here for a second.
If you're starting to see the power in this,
can I just get a yes in the comments below.
Also smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm.
It really likes it when you do that.
So do we, and so does my team.
It just means the world to us.
Also, if you are figuring out your go-to-market strategy
and you wanna work with me, I'm a lot of fun to work with,
then you should check out
my SaaS go-to-market coaching program,
just go to tkkader.com/gtm
I'll link to it below also,
but I'll tell you more about it at the end of this video.
Let's go to principle number three.
Principle number three.
Once you've figured out number one,
what is the who?
Who are you serving?
Number two, what are you doing for them?
Number three of the back to basics
is where are we gonna say it to them,
where are we going to actually reach them?
Where are we going to talk to them and get their attention?
Where?
That's number three, believe it or not.
Now, when it comes to go-to-market
there are so many channels.
You could do TikTok dances.
Maybe that works for a B2B SaaS company.
Like I don't know, I never judge.
LinkedIn is great.
Outbound is great.
Ads are great.
SEO is great.
Content is great.
Capterra is great.
G2 Crowd is great.
Like, oh my God, there's so many, right?
But the question is which one are you gonna pick?
Where are you gonna double down?
And where are you gonna go reach this group of people
and tell them what you do for them?
This is what really brings this together, right?
Like this third thing.
And it's a fundamental question.
And a lot of times what ends up happening
is founders and early stage teams are scatterbrained.
They're like, well, we're doing a little bit of this
and a little of this and that.
And I'm like, which one are you great at?
They're like, none of them,
or we suck at all of them.
It's like, great.
That sounds like a great strategy.
It's like, okay, let's figure out
which one we can be great at.
And let's double down on that.
And a lot of times, founders aren't purposeful
about what channels they're gonna be using.
So this is why in the back to basics principle,
I'll ask number three,
which is where are you going to actually reach them
and talk to them and tell them like,
"Hey, here's what we do for you."
These three things, if you can actually nail these
in a plain simple English way,
and plain simple English is important
because that means you've gotten to clarity,
then you got something.
If you can't do this, and you're still mucking around
with all the more advanced things,
chances are, you don't stand a the chance
at the advanced things 'cause you can't explain the basics.
And, you know, recently I started working with a trainer
to get into, like, I lost 40 pounds just on my own.
I did weighted jump ropes.
I had meal prep.
I worked out three times a week
and, you know, dropped 40,
like just go watch a really old video of me
and compared to now, you'll see the difference.
And it's gone through ebbs and flows,
but I did it mostly on my own.
And then finally it got to a point where I'm like,
I really need to like, I wanna take it to the next level.
So I wanna hire a trainer, so I hired a trainer.
And one of the things that was humbling was,
he was like, cool, we're gonna do these exercises.
And I'm like, these are dumb.
Like, you don't understand.
I can like squat, I can lift.
He's like, I know, but you kinda like
did that in a hacky way.
You don't have the core muscles.
So we're gonna go back to basics.
It was so humbling to listen to him and trust him.
And you know, his name is John,
and he's like this Jack dude, is much older than me.
And so, you know, you look at him and you're like,
you know, I wanna be him when I'm his age.
It's inspirational.
And you know, like never trust a skinny trainer,
he's jacked.
And so I'm like, you know what, John, I believe you.
And I trust you and you've clearly demonstrated success,
so cool, let's go do this.
And we started working together and we've been building out
like core muscle groups in these core exercises,
and you know, we're about four or five weeks in
and I've had incredible gains.
And one of the things that I really, I told them, like,
you know, John, I've been fat, I've been skinny,
but I've never been fit until I started working with you.
And he laughed.
And I'm like, no, I'm serious.
This is massive for me.
He's like, well, I'm glad,
like, I'm glad you trusted in the process
of going back to the basics
and really getting your core muscles going,
because that's what builds the foundation.
And it made me realize like truly, I mean, it,
like, I've been fat and like, that's easy to tell.
I've also been skinny where I thought like,
you know, I lost a bunch of weight
from like weighted jump ropes
and doing five-by-five exercises,
but I didn't build up my muscles in the right way
where I had the right foundation.
And now I feel like I'm fit.
Like I actually have core foundational muscles
and you walk differently and you show up differently.
And I realized this, like,
it's the same principle of going back to basics.
A lot of times, you know, maybe you look skinny,
but you're not fit or you're fat and you're stuck there.
And I can say this, cause I used to be fat.
I'm fat, like I, you know, like I get it.
But like you're stuck there
and you can't quite break through.
And a lot of times you have to suspend judgment.
You have to let go of the ego.
You have to just say like cool.
Let's just like go back to basics
and really figure these pieces out
and let's get the right people involved.
Like that's what I did with John.
And that made a big difference.
So my message to you, just to recap, number one,
principle number one is who, who are you serving?
Answer that.
Number two, what are you doing for them?
And number three, where are you reaching them
to tell them what you're gonna do for them?
Those are the three core back to basics
that can help you kickstart your go-to-market strategy.
Now, if you are in that stage where you wanna work with me
to actually build out your go-to-market strategy
and really flesh this out,
then check out my SaaS go-to-market coaching program.
Just go to tkkader.com/gtm for all the details.
If you got value from this video,
go and smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm.
It'll just mean the world to me and my team.
If you are new here and you haven't subscribed yet,
be sure to hit subscribe.
I drop a video now every Sunday
to help you grow your SaaS business faster
with real stories, actionable strategies,
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and just like you and I are hanging out.
And so I hope you hit subscribe and hit that bell icon.
That way you will get notified.
If you're part of a group of other founders,
other SaaS leaders, and they will get value from this video,
if you've got like that founder friend,
that's been like stuck for a while
and they need to go back to basics,
share this video with them.
I know it'll mean the world to them.
So just please share it with them.
It may actually change the trajectory of their company,
just for them to like, think about like,
okay, maybe it's okay to go back to basics
and really think about, 'cause I got naked anyway.
And lastly remember, everyone needs a strategy
for their life and their business.
When you are with us, yours is gonna be unstoppable.
I'm TK.
Thank you for watching.
Truly an honor to serve you here.
So thankful for the 15,000 subscribers that we have now.
And I will see you in the next episode.
(light melodic music)