
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o9-dpvlrcUA
This week we welcome Patrick Parker. Patrick is the CEO of SaaS Partners, helping clients with everything from business ideation, to product/service development, to building scalable marketing strategies — and everything in between. We talk about the challenges of the consulting business model, and how organizations like SaaS Partners can deliver more value to clients.
Save 20% on your first order at the DATAVERSITY Training Center with promo code “AlgminDL” – https://training.dataversity.net/?utm_source=algmindl_res
Connect with Anthony J. Algmin on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyjalgmin
Data Leadership Lessons Home – https://DataLeadershipLessons.com
About our Guest:
Patrick B. Parker is an accomplished Tech Executive turned Founder with domestic and international experience in operations, custom software development, multi channel product distribution, and marketing involving both start-up and growth operations. He has bootstrapped companies he founded to millions ($MM) in ARR and has raised venture capital to build out teams, to refine product features and user experiences, and to execute go-to-market (GTM) strategies. Patrick has built award-winning products and led major growth initiatives in both the public and private sectors. He is a proven operations strategist with a track record of building successful businesses. If you want guidance that you can count on, then you have come to the right place. Today, his company works with amazing entrepreneurs that are looking to make a major impact within their industry. Thoroughbred Solutions helps clients with everything from business ideation to product/service development to building scalable marketing strategies and everything in between.
https://thoroughbredsolutions.com/
Episode Transcript
1
00:00:06,208 –> 00:00:11,083
anthony_algmin: Welcome to the data leadership lessons podcast. I’m your host Anthony J. Algmin. Data
2
00:00:11,250 –> 00:00:14,041
anthony_algmin: everywhere in our businesses and it takes leadership to make the most of it.
3
00:00:14,125 –> 00:00:18,333
anthony_algmin: We bring you the people, stories and lessons to help you a leader. We’ve
4
00:00:18,416 –> 00:00:21,625
anthony_algmin: partnered with DATAVERSITY to provide listeners with twenty percent off
5
00:00:21,791 –> 00:00:25,458
anthony_algmin: your first training center. Purchase with Promo code “AlgminDL”, Go to
6
00:00:25,541 –> 00:00:29,791
anthony_algmin: DataLeadershipTraining.com to learn more. Today on episode 61 we
7
00:00:29,791 –> 00:00:33,958
anthony_algmin: welcome Patrick, Parker, Patrick is a tech executive turned founder with
8
00:00:34,208 –> 00:00:37,958
anthony_algmin: experience at Operations, Software development, multi channel product
9
00:00:38,125 –> 00:00:42,583
anthony_algmin: distribution and marketing involving both Startu and growth operations. He
10
00:00:42,666 –> 00:00:46,583
anthony_algmin: is the CEO of SaaS Partners, helping clients with everything from business
11
00:00:46,916 –> 00:00:50,666
anthony_algmin: ideation, to product service development, to building scalable marketing
12
00:00:50,833 –> 00:00:53,958
anthony_algmin: strategies, and everything in between. Patrick. Welcome to the show!
13
00:00:54,916 –> 00:00:57,083
patrick_b_parker: Hey Anthony, thank you for having me, it’s good to be here.
14
00:00:58,583 –> 00:01:01,833
anthony_algmin: so like we do with all our first hand guests, Please just take a moment and
15
00:01:01,916 –> 00:01:05,458
anthony_algmin: tell the audience a little bit more about your career before Sas partners,
16
00:01:05,625 –> 00:01:08,958
anthony_algmin: and how all of that experience led you to doing what you do now.
17
00:01:10,041 –> 00:01:15,250
patrick_b_parker: Yeah, absolutely so pride to Harding Sas partners. I was a big four
18
00:01:15,500 –> 00:01:19,750
patrick_b_parker: consultant for over a decade and was delivering
19
00:01:20,916 –> 00:01:26,125
patrick_b_parker: projects and and products in most cases, and just seeing the the outcome,
20
00:01:26,458 –> 00:01:30,916
patrick_b_parker: seeing the challenges with implementation and delivery, seeing customers
21
00:01:31,083 –> 00:01:34,708
patrick_b_parker: be laughed at the end of multi million dollar projects. Uh, not
22
00:01:35,166 –> 00:01:38,458
patrick_b_parker: understanding how to adequately use the system, not given the proper
23
00:01:38,708 –> 00:01:42,791
patrick_b_parker: training, not given the resources to actually be successful on the
24
00:01:42,875 –> 00:01:47,166
patrick_b_parker: platforms that they’d invested in and I just looked at Uh, a couple of the
25
00:01:47,250 –> 00:01:50,208
patrick_b_parker: other architects and folks that I work with I. There’s got to be a better
26
00:01:50,458 –> 00:01:54,291
patrick_b_parker: way, So back in Uh, twenty seventeen I, I struck out of the thereir,
27
00:01:54,541 –> 00:01:57,750
patrick_b_parker: opened up my own shop. Boo, shrapped it to, Uh, a couple million dollars
28
00:01:57,958 –> 00:02:03,250
patrick_b_parker: in revenue and just keep it on climbing. So today we work with Uh,
29
00:02:03,416 –> 00:02:07,250
patrick_b_parker: primarily softwarees and service companies, helping with everything from
30
00:02:07,583 –> 00:02:11,833
patrick_b_parker: Iation and business modeling, strategic planning, Uh, obviously marketing
31
00:02:11,958 –> 00:02:15,958
patrick_b_parker: go to market strategy than product development. So that’s where Uh where
32
00:02:16,041 –> 00:02:19,791
patrick_b_parker: we are today and and continuing Uh, to build out our services and and grow
33
00:02:19,791 –> 00:02:20,791
patrick_b_parker: our brand.
34
00:02:21,291 –> 00:02:24,000
anthony_algmin: Nice and that’s something that you. You’re kindut of speaking. You’
35
00:02:24,166 –> 00:02:26,666
anthony_algmin: preaching into the choir with me On this be cause. I’ve done a fair amount
36
00:02:26,750 –> 00:02:31,541
anthony_algmin: of consulting work in my career as well, and I it. It breaks my heart
37
00:02:31,708 –> 00:02:36,791
anthony_algmin: frankly to have that situation where you come in as a consultant. I talk
38
00:02:36,875 –> 00:02:39,208
anthony_algmin: from that perspective. First you come in as a consultant, you do good work
39
00:02:39,291 –> 00:02:43,041
anthony_algmin: and you come up with good ideas, and the client has no way to implement them
40
00:02:43,208 –> 00:02:47,041
anthony_algmin: as successfully as as they should. And it’s frustrating for the consultant
41
00:02:47,125 –> 00:02:49,833
anthony_algmin: and it’s certainly frustrating for the client, because the client is like.
42
00:02:50,250 –> 00:02:53,041
anthony_algmin: I’m learning these things. I want to do these things, but our ability to
43
00:02:53,125 –> 00:02:57,833
anthony_algmin: execute just isn’t there. And and I feel like the traditional Big Four type
44
00:02:58,083 –> 00:03:02,583
anthony_algmin: consulting model is broken because they’re not able to see it all the way
45
00:03:02,750 –> 00:03:07,833
anthony_algmin: through, And the economics of those engagements don’t work especially for
46
00:03:08,333 –> 00:03:14,000
anthony_algmin: small mid size businesses To try to get acceleration through these kinds of
47
00:03:14,083 –> 00:03:15,625
anthony_algmin: engagements. And and working
48
00:03:15,791 –> 00:03:20,000
anthony_algmin: with those folks, I appreciate that challenge. I’m really interested in
49
00:03:20,166 –> 00:03:23,791
anthony_algmin: learning. Okay, how do you operate differently? What are some of the things
50
00:03:23,833 –> 00:03:27,791
anthony_algmin: that you’ve done to try to evolve that kind of broken model?
51
00:03:28,916 –> 00:03:32,291
patrick_b_parker: Yeah, I mean the the biggest thing is. Uh, I think where they come short
52
00:03:32,916 –> 00:03:37,833
patrick_b_parker: is that they. they don’t take a human centered approach, right. So, by
53
00:03:38,041 –> 00:03:41,750
patrick_b_parker: having buy in from all the stakeholders, and, and clearly identifying who
54
00:03:41,833 –> 00:03:44,791
patrick_b_parker: those people are early on in the project and then working to make sure
55
00:03:44,916 –> 00:03:48,541
patrick_b_parker: that they’re included every step of the way, so that by the time you get
56
00:03:48,625 –> 00:03:53,000
patrick_b_parker: to the end of the project and it’s it’s time to turn over uh, the platform
57
00:03:53,125 –> 00:03:54,125
patrick_b_parker: for delivery.
58
00:03:55,083 –> 00:03:58,291
patrick_b_parker: they’ve been engaged in entire time they’ve been, you know all the
59
00:03:58,541 –> 00:04:02,041
patrick_b_parker: requirements that everything have been built with them in mind, So there’s
60
00:04:02,291 –> 00:04:06,125
patrick_b_parker: there’s no gaps, uh, versus the the way they do it. Now they just go out,
61
00:04:06,208 –> 00:04:10,208
patrick_b_parker: and and you know, usually capture requirements, they go out and build out
62
00:04:10,291 –> 00:04:12,541
patrick_b_parker: a system, and then at the end of it they come and try to tell someone how
63
00:04:12,541 –> 00:04:13,541
patrick_b_parker: to use it right.
64
00:04:13,541 –> 00:04:17,833
patrick_b_parker: So there’s there’s been no opportunity to actually have that feedback loop
65
00:04:18,125 –> 00:04:22,208
patrick_b_parker: with the actual customers or the in users themselves. So you end up with
66
00:04:22,375 –> 00:04:25,416
patrick_b_parker: with something that you know does doesn’t meet the bill, It doesn’t uh,
67
00:04:25,500 –> 00:04:30,291
patrick_b_parker: doesn’t pass a smell test. It doesn’t cover uh, or or support all the
68
00:04:30,458 –> 00:04:33,416
patrick_b_parker: requirements that they had in the first place, so I. I, I think that’s
69
00:04:33,750 –> 00:04:37,250
patrick_b_parker: kind of the biggest thing is missing, just the uh. the human element of
70
00:04:37,250 –> 00:04:41,750
patrick_b_parker: it. Um, and that that’s something that we really try to focus on. Uh, we,
71
00:04:41,916 –> 00:04:45,666
patrick_b_parker: we have a continuous feedback loop at every different uh phase Gate.
72
00:04:45,833 –> 00:04:50,125
patrick_b_parker: Within our projects we go back and we, we make sure that the clients and
73
00:04:50,208 –> 00:04:53,583
patrick_b_parker: and in users understand, we make sure that we have buying from them, and
74
00:04:53,583 –> 00:04:56,625
patrick_b_parker: we make sure that we’re building a system that is going to make their
75
00:04:56,708 –> 00:05:00,625
patrick_b_parker: lives easier. And obviously, uh, ▁ultimately, solve a a problem for them.
76
00:05:02,083 –> 00:05:06,000
anthony_algmin: Yeah, well, and obviously like a client is going to be working with a
77
00:05:06,083 –> 00:05:09,375
anthony_algmin: consultant because they need to get something done and they don’t have the
78
00:05:09,625 –> 00:05:11,708
anthony_algmin: internal resources or skill set to do it
79
00:05:11,916 –> 00:05:16,083
anthony_algmin: themselves. And yet there’s a challenge there. If you are on the client
80
00:05:16,416 –> 00:05:20,875
anthony_algmin: side, trying to kick over to a consulting firm. Hey, we can’t adds rest,
81
00:05:21,125 –> 00:05:24,000
anthony_algmin: this problem ourselves. Go fix it for us and then bring us that solution.
82
00:05:24,250 –> 00:05:28,500
anthony_algmin: and to your point, that’s a recipe for a disaster, because the consulting
83
00:05:28,666 –> 00:05:32,666
anthony_algmin: firm is going to do its best, but it’s not going to have that depth of
84
00:05:33,041 –> 00:05:36,250
anthony_algmin: understanding of the business that the business stakeholders actually do.
85
00:05:36,416 –> 00:05:40,333
anthony_algmin: And so, if they’re not able to commit some amount of internal resources
86
00:05:40,500 –> 00:05:44,583
anthony_algmin: towards guiding that amplification that the consulting firm brings. it’s
87
00:05:44,791 –> 00:05:50,083
anthony_algmin: probably going to spell some problems, no matter how much people want it to
88
00:05:50,125 –> 00:05:51,125
anthony_algmin: be aligned right,
89
00:05:51,500 –> 00:05:54,708
patrick_b_parker: Absolutely, I mean, at the end of the day the customers don’t know what
90
00:05:54,791 –> 00:05:57,333
patrick_b_parker: they don’t know, right. That’s the whole reason that they are reaching out
91
00:05:57,416 –> 00:06:01,250
patrick_b_parker: to a consulting agency in the first place. You know the biggest challenge
92
00:06:01,750 –> 00:06:05,333
patrick_b_parker: I think misstep is from a a consultancy perspective. You got to really
93
00:06:05,500 –> 00:06:09,583
patrick_b_parker: dive in and do a a process of discovery with those clients to really
94
00:06:09,833 –> 00:06:13,750
patrick_b_parker: uncover and kind of dig deep within those operations so that you
95
00:06:14,291 –> 00:06:18,708
patrick_b_parker: understand and so that you can build out a a solution that is ▁ultimately
96
00:06:18,708 –> 00:06:19,708
patrick_b_parker: going to
97
00:06:20,541 –> 00:06:21,541
patrick_b_parker: resolve that need
98
00:06:22,625 –> 00:06:24,125
patrick_b_parker: or fill that gap that they have.
99
00:06:24,500 –> 00:06:25,500
anthony_algmin: yeah,
100
00:06:26,166 –> 00:06:29,791
anthony_algmin: I, I. I’ve seen it on the consulting side. you know you, you get paid to
101
00:06:29,791 –> 00:06:33,791
anthony_algmin: come in and bring ideas, and and you get good at it over time, and you you
102
00:06:33,916 –> 00:06:38,083
anthony_algmin: gain confidence. But there’s a danger of being arrogant like you have at all
103
00:06:38,250 –> 00:06:42,750
anthony_algmin: figured out like you understand everything. And if you think that the thing
104
00:06:43,208 –> 00:06:46,416
anthony_algmin: that you’ve done in the past is exactly what is going to be needed here,
105
00:06:46,791 –> 00:06:49,375
anthony_algmin: then you’re ▁ultimately going to do a service to that that kind of
106
00:06:49,458 –> 00:06:52,750
anthony_algmin: organization Because every client is different. And and what? I? what I
107
00:06:52,875 –> 00:06:56,958
anthony_algmin: coach when i, when I’m leading consulting teams, right, my, I coach the the
108
00:06:56,958 –> 00:07:00,500
anthony_algmin: consultant, especially junior consultant’s. like, Hey, table Stakes Is you
109
00:07:00,583 –> 00:07:04,083
anthony_algmin: have to understand the patterns you have to understand. This is what often
110
00:07:04,416 –> 00:07:07,458
anthony_algmin: happens. This is the kind of thing you’ve seen before. but what makes a good
111
00:07:07,625 –> 00:07:11,708
anthony_algmin: consultant is how do you understand what’s unique about this particular
112
00:07:12,250 –> 00:07:15,791
anthony_algmin: client about this particular situation, And what do we have to do
113
00:07:15,916 –> 00:07:19,541
anthony_algmin: differently than we did anywhere else to be able to help this client
114
00:07:19,791 –> 00:07:24,500
anthony_algmin: uniquely and get to that point. Then you’ really getting on the right track?
115
00:07:25,333 –> 00:07:28,541
patrick_b_parker: Yeah, I, I think you hit it around the head. I mean, no two clients are
116
00:07:28,708 –> 00:07:32,458
patrick_b_parker: like. You can always take those best practices and lessons learned forward
117
00:07:32,625 –> 00:07:35,958
patrick_b_parker: to future engagements, but at the same time you’ve still got to step back
118
00:07:36,041 –> 00:07:41,000
patrick_b_parker: and evaluate Uh. what the differences are? you know, so that you can build
119
00:07:41,166 –> 00:07:44,375
patrick_b_parker: a solution that fits the needs of that particular business right, There is
120
00:07:44,458 –> 00:07:48,125
patrick_b_parker: no one size. It’s all in consulting. You know, there are off the shelf
121
00:07:48,375 –> 00:07:52,625
patrick_b_parker: products and solutions that that that may serve a need, but again, at the
122
00:07:52,708 –> 00:07:55,666
patrick_b_parker: end of the day, the implementation style for that may be completely
123
00:07:55,833 –> 00:07:58,625
patrick_b_parker: different. I mean again, it’s just understanding how that organization
124
00:07:58,875 –> 00:08:01,958
patrick_b_parker: ticks, understanding how people prefer to work within that organization.
125
00:08:02,458 –> 00:08:04,875
patrick_b_parker: Uh, and then making sure that you got a solution to support it.
126
00:08:05,833 –> 00:08:12,083
anthony_algmin: that’s yeah. That’ very well said, And so I want to dig in. Um, to uh, how
127
00:08:12,250 –> 00:08:16,166
anthony_algmin: you work with software service companies and where your kind of market niche
128
00:08:16,416 –> 00:08:17,458
anthony_algmin: is in
129
00:08:17,916 –> 00:08:21,041
anthony_algmin: in helping these these kind organizations. You talk more about that or
130
00:08:21,208 –> 00:08:25,625
anthony_algmin: maybell Use some examples of Um. You know the kinds of projects that you
131
00:08:25,791 –> 00:08:30,000
anthony_algmin: engage in and where you found you know some really impactful successful
132
00:08:30,000 –> 00:08:31,000
anthony_algmin: clients.
133
00:08:31,500 –> 00:08:35,833
patrick_b_parker: Absolutely, so we. we do. a lot of uh, go to market strategy development
134
00:08:35,958 –> 00:08:40,458
patrick_b_parker: for early stage right, helping uh. helping founders Uh, primarily
135
00:08:40,791 –> 00:08:45,916
patrick_b_parker: technical founders is is kind of bitter niche, helping them find Uh, kind
136
00:08:45,958 –> 00:08:49,666
patrick_b_parker: of develop who their ideal customer profiles are. helping them understand
137
00:08:50,125 –> 00:08:53,000
patrick_b_parker: what channels they need to to have a presence in. When they’re they’re
138
00:08:53,083 –> 00:08:57,166
patrick_b_parker: going to the market, understanding what that looks like in terms of of
139
00:08:57,583 –> 00:09:01,916
patrick_b_parker: advertising in terms of of paid surge, pa, s e o, and things like that,
140
00:09:02,291 –> 00:09:06,375
patrick_b_parker: and seeing really where they need to to spend their time in their money in
141
00:09:06,458 –> 00:09:09,750
patrick_b_parker: order to get their first customers. So that’s a big piece of it. And then
142
00:09:09,833 –> 00:09:13,958
patrick_b_parker: we also work with non technical Uh founders to actually build out their
143
00:09:14,291 –> 00:09:18,875
patrick_b_parker: products, so a lot of times we will be developing softwares or service uh
144
00:09:19,000 –> 00:09:22,541
patrick_b_parker: products, and then helping to take market, so we’ll partner with them in
145
00:09:22,625 –> 00:09:26,458
patrick_b_parker: that regard, too, uh, and then just augment or support their existing
146
00:09:26,625 –> 00:09:30,458
patrick_b_parker: teams just so that they can kind of do more with less. We also do a a ton
147
00:09:30,708 –> 00:09:36,291
patrick_b_parker: around automation, Uh, specifically marketing in sales, Uh, and then kind
148
00:09:36,458 –> 00:09:40,708
patrick_b_parker: of back in workflow process automation as well again, just kind of helping
149
00:09:40,875 –> 00:09:46,458
patrick_b_parker: them stay lean, Uh, and then helping them drive r o wise, uh by by being
150
00:09:46,708 –> 00:09:51,333
patrick_b_parker: able to reduce the actual human capital costs, Uh that they’d otherwise
151
00:09:52,041 –> 00:09:56,375
patrick_b_parker: uh, incur without that level of automation. So that’s that’s kind of where
152
00:09:56,541 –> 00:10:00,791
patrick_b_parker: we started, Um. We do provide a a ton of other services within. I mean
153
00:10:01,083 –> 00:10:03,750
patrick_b_parker: it’s it’s extremely broad. I could probably talk about that for for days
154
00:10:03,833 –> 00:10:07,250
patrick_b_parker: and days, but but what we’ve tri to do is just go out and and we try to
155
00:10:07,333 –> 00:10:11,750
patrick_b_parker: get Uh, the top experts uh, in each different functional area and make
156
00:10:11,916 –> 00:10:15,416
patrick_b_parker: sure that we have people that have worked at big companies and that have
157
00:10:15,833 –> 00:10:19,416
patrick_b_parker: gone through these exercises and and had these experiences of helping
158
00:10:19,583 –> 00:10:24,916
patrick_b_parker: companies Uh, launch grown scale, and then making sure that we are, are
159
00:10:25,250 –> 00:10:29,750
patrick_b_parker: helping to also educate founders throughout the process right, because at
160
00:10:29,833 –> 00:10:34,625
patrick_b_parker: the end of the day you want your clients to a. Understand, uh, the the
161
00:10:35,083 –> 00:10:38,375
patrick_b_parker: expertise that you have, which also want to build that trust. so in order
162
00:10:38,458 –> 00:10:41,958
patrick_b_parker: to build that trust, it’s important to educate them along the way. Uh, so
163
00:10:42,125 –> 00:10:45,166
patrick_b_parker: at the end of the the engagement at the end of the day they walk away
164
00:10:45,333 –> 00:10:49,750
patrick_b_parker: feeling like they learn something. Uh. in addition to uh, reaping the
165
00:10:49,916 –> 00:10:53,000
patrick_b_parker: benefits of of you know the services that you are providing.
166
00:10:54,291 –> 00:10:55,291
anthony_algmin: Yeah, well,
167
00:10:56,000 –> 00:10:57,125
anthony_algmin: I like that you provide
168
00:10:58,166 –> 00:11:03,458
anthony_algmin: some of that, you strategic and product design, and and you guidance from
169
00:11:03,541 –> 00:11:05,916
anthony_algmin: that perspective Cause you’ve seen things that have worked in the market.
170
00:11:06,166 –> 00:11:09,375
anthony_algmin: You’ve seen things that happen. You can help early stage companies that have
171
00:11:09,458 –> 00:11:12,875
anthony_algmin: a good idea, but need to refine that. To get it to market in a successful
172
00:11:13,041 –> 00:11:16,791
anthony_algmin: way, You can help them with that, but then you can also help them get over
173
00:11:16,958 –> 00:11:19,375
anthony_algmin: the hump of the initial build and that and that
174
00:11:19,541 –> 00:11:24,000
anthony_algmin: technology development. Because what you need to grow the company past a
175
00:11:24,083 –> 00:11:27,625
anthony_algmin: phase one or not, I don’t want to use phase, but like for Averersion, one
176
00:11:27,791 –> 00:11:31,916
anthony_algmin: point, Oh, technology software is a service type offering to get to that
177
00:11:32,083 –> 00:11:36,958
anthony_algmin: first place. The amount of of development time and energy and all of that is
178
00:11:37,291 –> 00:11:38,416
anthony_algmin: tremendous and
179
00:11:38,791 –> 00:11:41,833
anthony_algmin: you’re going to need some of that to keep growing it. And or what have you?
180
00:11:41,916 –> 00:11:46,250
anthony_algmin: But it changes. It evolves to needing to manage both operations as well as
181
00:11:46,583 –> 00:11:50,250
anthony_algmin: support the continued development of the platform. but that initial roll
182
00:11:50,416 –> 00:11:55,208
anthony_algmin: outut is a tough road, and so I appreciate that you’re there to help give
183
00:11:55,375 –> 00:11:58,000
anthony_algmin: them that insight of. Here’s what it’s going to take to build. We may
184
00:11:58,083 –> 00:12:01,625
anthony_algmin: amplify your team. You may have some technical leaders on your internal
185
00:12:01,791 –> 00:12:05,791
anthony_algmin: team, but we are going to take this and help you get to that stage with a
186
00:12:05,916 –> 00:12:09,208
anthony_algmin: clear Um perspective, a clear strategy that you’ll then
187
00:12:09,291 –> 00:12:12,875
anthony_algmin: be able to take and run with. And and we’re here to help you Uh, in that
188
00:12:12,958 –> 00:12:17,041
anthony_algmin: journey beyond. But a lot of your focus is on helping them get out of the
189
00:12:17,041 –> 00:12:20,500
anthony_algmin: gate in a successful way. Am I characterizing this correctly?
190
00:12:20,791 –> 00:12:24,375
patrick_b_parker: a hundred percent. I mean, that’s what people really love about our firm
191
00:12:24,625 –> 00:12:29,250
patrick_b_parker: is that we have Uh, taken a multi faacted approach to understanding all
192
00:12:29,250 –> 00:12:31,916
patrick_b_parker: the different functional areas, being able to provide consulting an
193
00:12:31,916 –> 00:12:35,833
patrick_b_parker: expertise in those areas and then also being able to help Uh. executing
194
00:12:36,041 –> 00:12:40,541
patrick_b_parker: those as well. So again designing developing products. Uh is kind of the
195
00:12:40,625 –> 00:12:44,708
patrick_b_parker: foundation of of what we do. But after you get that product built, how we
196
00:12:44,791 –> 00:12:47,916
patrick_b_parker: taken it to market? how are we scaling it? What does that look like? Uh,
197
00:12:48,125 –> 00:12:50,708
patrick_b_parker: so people love that they can come to us. They pay one bill.
198
00:12:51,833 –> 00:12:55,500
patrick_b_parker: They get everything that they need taken care of, and then we also work.
199
00:12:55,833 –> 00:12:59,583
patrick_b_parker: Uh, as I said earlier to to to educate them on the process, just so that
200
00:13:00,541 –> 00:13:03,666
patrick_b_parker: going forward they know what questions to ask is well and they have a high
201
00:13:03,833 –> 00:13:05,666
patrick_b_parker: level of comfort with us. Um,
202
00:13:06,708 –> 00:13:09,666
patrick_b_parker: I’m always amazed by the number of founders that come in. and, and they
203
00:13:09,833 –> 00:13:13,500
patrick_b_parker: have you know, built a a product. they’ve kind of worked towards their
204
00:13:13,583 –> 00:13:18,125
patrick_b_parker: viersion one. but then when they meet with us they say Okay, Well, I need
205
00:13:18,208 –> 00:13:22,708
patrick_b_parker: to start marketing it and they’ve got fifty ten to twenty different, Uh, I
206
00:13:22,875 –> 00:13:25,416
patrick_b_parker: c, Ps that they’re they’re trying to market to, and it’ It’s of those
207
00:13:25,500 –> 00:13:27,916
patrick_b_parker: things, which like Okay, weve. we’ve got a niche down. We’ve got to focus.
208
00:13:28,125 –> 00:13:31,833
patrick_b_parker: We’ve got to you know, rewrite copy, and and you start talking about Uh,
209
00:13:31,916 –> 00:13:34,916
patrick_b_parker: all the marketing activities and tasks that need to be done, and there’s
210
00:13:35,000 –> 00:13:38,875
patrick_b_parker: just so many moving parts. And and it’s very easy as a as an early stage
211
00:13:39,083 –> 00:13:42,458
patrick_b_parker: founder to get overwhelmed by all that needs to be done right, especially
212
00:13:42,625 –> 00:13:46,791
patrick_b_parker: when you have uh, a smaller team or you may be. Uh, you know a, a group of
213
00:13:46,916 –> 00:13:52,208
patrick_b_parker: of co founders just starting out, so we really kind of of demystfy that
214
00:13:52,458 –> 00:13:57,166
patrick_b_parker: entire process. Uh, we’ve got uh, proven play books, Uh, for go to market
215
00:13:57,500 –> 00:14:00,125
patrick_b_parker: strategies and stuff like that that we walk founders through. so they know
216
00:14:00,291 –> 00:14:02,875
patrick_b_parker: exactly what to expect and they know where to focus their attention right
217
00:14:02,916 –> 00:14:05,750
patrick_b_parker: be cause. that’s that’s the biggest thing we see so many founders fail.
218
00:14:06,041 –> 00:14:09,750
patrick_b_parker: because they don’t know where to focus right they? They’re working on
219
00:14:09,833 –> 00:14:12,208
patrick_b_parker: product. They think the product’s going to sell itself, but when it
220
00:14:12,291 –> 00:14:15,666
patrick_b_parker: doesn’t they’ve got problems right. so they turn around and and we just
221
00:14:15,750 –> 00:14:19,666
patrick_b_parker: help, kind of uh, streamline that. Uh, those start up activities and make
222
00:14:19,833 –> 00:14:23,333
patrick_b_parker: sure that that they’re grounded in reality and that they understand what
223
00:14:23,500 –> 00:14:26,791
patrick_b_parker: the steps are. They need to be taken in order to to actually have a
224
00:14:26,791 –> 00:14:27,791
patrick_b_parker: successful launch.
225
00:14:28,250 –> 00:14:32,166
anthony_algmin: Yeah, and I love your point around. Know that that whole marketing side,
226
00:14:32,583 –> 00:14:36,875
anthony_algmin: because, especially for technology type companies that are driven
227
00:14:37,125 –> 00:14:40,583
anthony_algmin: fundamentally by an engineer with an idea, this is true
228
00:14:41,125 –> 00:14:44,750
anthony_algmin: and this is true in the founder and entrepreneurial space. This is true in
229
00:14:44,875 –> 00:14:49,208
anthony_algmin: our enterprises. In department level, things that are building applications
230
00:14:49,458 –> 00:14:54,958
anthony_algmin: is that we get focused on building the widget and not realizing that if you
231
00:14:55,125 –> 00:14:56,125
anthony_algmin: build it they will come
232
00:14:56,500 –> 00:15:00,083
anthony_algmin: only works and field of dreams. like you have to be thinking marketing
233
00:15:01,208 –> 00:15:04,583
anthony_algmin: the entire time. Even if you’re not taking action on it immediately, You
234
00:15:04,791 –> 00:15:08,333
anthony_algmin: have to be thinking about how we take a. How do we start to communicate?
235
00:15:08,500 –> 00:15:13,625
anthony_algmin: What is the sales fun? How what is the pipeline of awareness and all of that
236
00:15:13,833 –> 00:15:19,291
anthony_algmin: stuff is tremendously boring to engineers who want to focus on building the
237
00:15:19,375 –> 00:15:24,750
anthony_algmin: thing and I get it. But it’s not. It’s not going to be successful unless you
238
00:15:24,791 –> 00:15:29,916
anthony_algmin: can connect your your brainchild to the people out there who have a need for
239
00:15:30,083 –> 00:15:36,416
anthony_algmin: it, and it’s so heartbreaking to see how often great technology solutions
240
00:15:36,583 –> 00:15:38,666
anthony_algmin: that should have a home with people never
241
00:15:38,958 –> 00:15:42,750
anthony_algmin: make it because they just never put enough energy in finding the people
242
00:15:43,041 –> 00:15:44,750
anthony_algmin: finding the the connection points.
243
00:15:44,750 –> 00:15:48,791
patrick_b_parker: Absolutely. yeah, it never developed a strategy right. it’s It’s the same
244
00:15:48,875 –> 00:15:52,291
patrick_b_parker: thing. So it. it’s uh, it’s funny. I mean literally. It’s It’s probably
245
00:15:52,541 –> 00:15:56,041
patrick_b_parker: one and one thousand product actually sells itself, because it’s something
246
00:15:56,208 –> 00:16:00,708
patrick_b_parker: that’s revolutionary that that solves a need that that everyone has and
247
00:16:00,875 –> 00:16:05,500
patrick_b_parker: everyone is just happy to jump on it. But for everyone else it’s extremely
248
00:16:05,666 –> 00:16:08,916
patrick_b_parker: tough, right. You’ve got to spend a a lot of time and energy Really
249
00:16:09,083 –> 00:16:13,750
patrick_b_parker: working to understand who your customers are, Uh, spending time talking to
250
00:16:13,833 –> 00:16:16,875
patrick_b_parker: those customers, understanding you know their thought process, their
251
00:16:17,000 –> 00:16:21,833
patrick_b_parker: behavior patterns, et Ctera, so that you can craft a really strong sales
252
00:16:22,041 –> 00:16:26,458
patrick_b_parker: copy. Uh, that is going to ▁ultimately, lead to conversions. Uh, for your
253
00:16:26,625 –> 00:16:29,833
patrick_b_parker: product right, That’s client acquisition at the end of the day is always
254
00:16:29,916 –> 00:16:33,916
patrick_b_parker: going to be the lifeloood of any Sas company specifically. So if you’re
255
00:16:33,958 –> 00:16:38,041
patrick_b_parker: not acquiring customers, then your business is dead, The water. So how do
256
00:16:38,125 –> 00:16:42,041
patrick_b_parker: you do that? What? what can you spend your time on To make sure, Uh that
257
00:16:42,125 –> 00:16:45,583
patrick_b_parker: you’re going to be successful? Uh, out of the gate right. That’s That’s
258
00:16:45,750 –> 00:16:48,791
patrick_b_parker: the stuff that that we spend a lot of time on and really put an emphasis
259
00:16:48,916 –> 00:16:52,541
patrick_b_parker: on, especially with with technical founders. Because at the end of the day
260
00:16:53,250 –> 00:16:56,458
patrick_b_parker: they believe they built this great product and and most of the time they
261
00:16:56,541 –> 00:16:59,916
patrick_b_parker: have but it. If you can’t sell it, it doesn’t matter, right. No’ll ever
262
00:17:00,291 –> 00:17:03,500
patrick_b_parker: see it. appreciate it and benefit from it. And so that’s where we kind of
263
00:17:03,750 –> 00:17:05,333
patrick_b_parker: step in to further that agenda.
264
00:17:05,541 –> 00:17:08,750
anthony_algmin: Well then that’s why you create a leadership team. It’s not a leadership
265
00:17:09,041 –> 00:17:10,416
anthony_algmin: person. It’s a leadership team
266
00:17:10,750 –> 00:17:15,291
anthony_algmin: where if you don’t like doing ▁x y, ▁z, find people who do and and partner
267
00:17:15,458 –> 00:17:19,916
anthony_algmin: with them, think about those different facets of the job because one thing I
268
00:17:20,000 –> 00:17:23,833
anthony_algmin: have learned is like, for me personally, I founded businesses and I’ve done
269
00:17:24,166 –> 00:17:28,000
anthony_algmin: various things and I hate the sales process like I hate. I don’t like to
270
00:17:28,083 –> 00:17:32,666
anthony_algmin: sell stuff. I don’t like to go out and and shake the trees for money, and I
271
00:17:32,750 –> 00:17:36,083
anthony_algmin: don’t like it enough that I will try not to do it, and if I will try not to
272
00:17:36,166 –> 00:17:39,458
anthony_algmin: do it as an entrepreneur. I’m in trouble. I am in trouble,
273
00:17:39,500 –> 00:17:41,000
patrick_b_parker: that’s right. that’s right.
274
00:17:41,000 –> 00:17:44,500
anthony_algmin: And so I need a partner who loves that side of things, loves to be able to
275
00:17:44,583 –> 00:17:48,666
anthony_algmin: go and pursue new business. I love to be the consultant who delivers, You
276
00:17:48,750 –> 00:17:52,083
anthony_algmin: know, I love to be the consultant who comes in and solves problems. I love
277
00:17:52,166 –> 00:17:55,625
anthony_algmin: to do that on the on the industry side as well, but I, you have to
278
00:17:56,166 –> 00:18:01,041
anthony_algmin: understand as a founder or as a a collective leadership team. Where are your
279
00:18:01,125 –> 00:18:03,833
anthony_algmin: holes? Where are your blind spots? Where are the things that you know you
280
00:18:03,916 –> 00:18:07,708
anthony_algmin: don’t really want to do? And can you find somebody who loves that part of
281
00:18:07,791 –> 00:18:09,541
anthony_algmin: the business as much as you dislike that?
282
00:18:11,000 –> 00:18:14,208
patrick_b_parker: I. I always tell all founders, the most important characteristic that you
283
00:18:14,291 –> 00:18:18,125
patrick_b_parker: can have as a founder is self awareness and it really is understanding
284
00:18:18,291 –> 00:18:20,916
patrick_b_parker: what your strengths are. Just like you said, understanding what you’re
285
00:18:21,000 –> 00:18:24,791
patrick_b_parker: good at or what you don’t enjoy, and finding the people that that have
286
00:18:24,916 –> 00:18:28,875
patrick_b_parker: expertise in those areas. Finding the people that can help you move the
287
00:18:28,916 –> 00:18:33,666
patrick_b_parker: ball forward right, and so you know, we always encourage founders not to
288
00:18:33,750 –> 00:18:37,000
patrick_b_parker: spend a ton of time on activities that they’re not good at. They. they
289
00:18:37,083 –> 00:18:41,000
patrick_b_parker: don’t enjoy Right. That’s where we step in from a consulting perspective.
290
00:18:41,250 –> 00:18:45,416
patrick_b_parker: Oh, we make recommendations as far as as who would best serve them in
291
00:18:45,500 –> 00:18:50,708
patrick_b_parker: their company At that stage that point in time right, So you know again, I
292
00:18:50,916 –> 00:18:53,750
patrick_b_parker: always say this to to clients. You don’t know what you don’t know. The
293
00:18:53,750 –> 00:18:57,000
patrick_b_parker: easiest thing to do is work towards getting educated research. I mean,
294
00:18:57,166 –> 00:19:00,916
patrick_b_parker: there’s there’s you know, topics and and materials uh, around everything
295
00:19:01,250 –> 00:19:04,375
patrick_b_parker: that you could ever possibly want to learn. Uh, something that is so
296
00:19:04,458 –> 00:19:07,958
patrick_b_parker: incredible about the information Asia we’re living in now, But you’ve got
297
00:19:08,041 –> 00:19:10,875
patrick_b_parker: to take that step and you, you’ve got to at least have some kind of
298
00:19:11,083 –> 00:19:14,208
patrick_b_parker: fundamental education around the different functional areas of how to how
299
00:19:14,291 –> 00:19:16,916
patrick_b_parker: to run a business. how to to market your products and things like that.
300
00:19:17,166 –> 00:19:18,541
patrick_b_parker: Just so you can
301
00:19:19,583 –> 00:19:23,666
patrick_b_parker: you know, sleep comfortably and night, knowing that, Uh, the people that
302
00:19:23,750 –> 00:19:26,791
patrick_b_parker: you are working with the agency that you’re working with knows what they’
303
00:19:26,916 –> 00:19:29,916
patrick_b_parker: talking about, or at least knows more than you have been able to research.
304
00:19:30,791 –> 00:19:34,458
patrick_b_parker: I. I see so many different agencies, Uh, so many different consultancies
305
00:19:34,541 –> 00:19:36,916
patrick_b_parker: and you’ve probably seen this as well in your career. But
306
00:19:38,041 –> 00:19:41,583
patrick_b_parker: a lot of times you’re the second call that was made right. They’ve already
307
00:19:41,666 –> 00:19:43,958
patrick_b_parker: talked to someone else. They’ve already gone through another consulting
308
00:19:44,125 –> 00:19:47,958
patrick_b_parker: firm. The results were terrible. You’ve been brought in to fix problems. I
309
00:19:47,958 –> 00:19:52,791
patrick_b_parker: mean we. I can’t tell you how often that happens with us. Uh, and again. A
310
00:19:52,875 –> 00:19:57,333
patrick_b_parker: lot of that is just because of miscommunication. misundstanding on part of
311
00:19:57,500 –> 00:20:01,333
patrick_b_parker: the businesses. They understand what problem they’re trying to solve and
312
00:20:01,416 –> 00:20:04,208
patrick_b_parker: not how to communicate it right. So they, they deal with that first
313
00:20:04,541 –> 00:20:09,583
patrick_b_parker: company and not knowing, Uh, that company comes in provides a service and
314
00:20:09,666 –> 00:20:12,916
patrick_b_parker: then somebody else got to come in behind them and and clean it up right.
315
00:20:13,833 –> 00:20:18,791
anthony_algmin: Yeah, Well it. And and there’s so much to uh, fit Like And and whether or
316
00:20:18,875 –> 00:20:23,625
anthony_algmin: not that consulting partner gets you, and in allin with it I, I, I think
317
00:20:23,833 –> 00:20:28,333
anthony_algmin: about when, when back many years ago I was studying for the G Mat, which was
318
00:20:28,500 –> 00:20:31,791
anthony_algmin: the Um. Graduate Management admission test. I think that’s what it’s
319
00:20:31,833 –> 00:20:34,291
anthony_algmin: called. But it’s what you had to take to be able to go get an N. B. A and
320
00:20:34,291 –> 00:20:35,291
anthony_algmin: I’m like Okay, I’m
321
00:20:35,291 –> 00:20:38,250
anthony_algmin: going to study. I want to go get an M B A some day, and I want when I pass
322
00:20:38,416 –> 00:20:41,833
anthony_algmin: this test and I and I got this book or it was like the four books. It was.
323
00:20:41,916 –> 00:20:42,916
anthony_algmin: It was big and it was
324
00:20:42,958 –> 00:20:46,958
anthony_algmin: heavy and I didn’t understand anything that those things were talking about.
325
00:20:47,125 –> 00:20:50,333
anthony_algmin: I was doing my best, but I was really struggling. I was bombing all the
326
00:20:50,333 –> 00:20:56,583
anthony_algmin: practice. I’m like I just don’t get it. And then I found a smaller book was
327
00:20:56,583 –> 00:21:00,416
anthony_algmin: written a little bit differently, but it was still a g. Ma preparation book
328
00:21:00,791 –> 00:21:01,791
anthony_algmin: and I’m like I
329
00:21:01,833 –> 00:21:05,916
anthony_algmin: get it. Why didn’t the other book tell me these things? And then all of a
330
00:21:05,916 –> 00:21:09,625
anthony_algmin: sudden my practice test started improving and and it just clicked And it
331
00:21:09,791 –> 00:21:13,708
anthony_algmin: works like that with consulting firms as well like Just because a person you
332
00:21:13,791 –> 00:21:17,208
anthony_algmin: know had this consulting for men that did a great thing, And it it, it
333
00:21:17,458 –> 00:21:20,000
anthony_algmin: worked for them. It doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to work for your
334
00:21:20,000 –> 00:21:22,041
anthony_algmin: business, because you might need to totally different things. You know. it’s
335
00:21:22,041 –> 00:21:23,041
anthony_algmin: like if you
336
00:21:23,041 –> 00:21:25,625
anthony_algmin: look in the mirror, that’s better than not looking in the mirror. But
337
00:21:25,791 –> 00:21:28,958
anthony_algmin: remember everything is flipped from reality when you’re looking in the
338
00:21:29,041 –> 00:21:33,291
anthony_algmin: mirror, and you need that outside advisor team that can tell you those
339
00:21:33,541 –> 00:21:35,458
anthony_algmin: things that you can’t see. Otherwise,
340
00:21:36,458 –> 00:21:39,250
patrick_b_parker: yep. absolutely. And and talking about things that you can’t see
341
00:21:39,333 –> 00:21:42,541
patrick_b_parker: otherwise, I mean that’s that’s kind of what you know is a good seg way
342
00:21:42,791 –> 00:21:44,125
patrick_b_parker: into into the data, Um,
343
00:21:44,291 –> 00:21:45,666
patrick_b_parker: because it. it’s the same thing.
344
00:21:46,791 –> 00:21:50,291
patrick_b_parker: A lot of founders, especially from a a technical perspective. They don’t
345
00:21:50,791 –> 00:21:54,625
patrick_b_parker: understand the the metrics right that they need to be tracking, so every
346
00:21:54,791 –> 00:21:57,583
patrick_b_parker: company’s going to have its own Nors stare metrics, and none of them are
347
00:21:57,666 –> 00:22:00,541
patrick_b_parker: going to be the same right, depending on what the the goals of that
348
00:22:00,708 –> 00:22:04,791
patrick_b_parker: company are, Uh, and growing and skilling their business. So you’re going
349
00:22:04,875 –> 00:22:09,083
patrick_b_parker: to have you know goals, uh, and objectives in in each different functional
350
00:22:09,250 –> 00:22:14,041
patrick_b_parker: area, And and all of those need to be tied back to the metrics to the
351
00:22:14,125 –> 00:22:19,500
patrick_b_parker: data. And so it’s the same thing. It’s it’s it. it literally, You know,
352
00:22:19,666 –> 00:22:23,833
patrick_b_parker: transcends across all functional areas, but you’ve got to have people that
353
00:22:23,958 –> 00:22:28,291
patrick_b_parker: are intelligent enough and experienced enough to understand what those
354
00:22:28,458 –> 00:22:32,375
patrick_b_parker: different data points that are being collected are how the calculations
355
00:22:32,625 –> 00:22:36,125
patrick_b_parker: need to be performed. Uh, and how they need to be tracked over time to
356
00:22:36,208 –> 00:22:40,125
patrick_b_parker: actually gauge the the health and success of your business, right? I was
357
00:22:40,291 –> 00:22:44,041
patrick_b_parker: talking to a uh, a founder the other day, a good friend of mine who is,
358
00:22:44,291 –> 00:22:47,916
patrick_b_parker: was kind of boasting a little bit and bragging on on how well his company
359
00:22:48,125 –> 00:22:50,791
patrick_b_parker: was doing, which There’s nothing wrong with that Right. I mean that’s
360
00:22:50,916 –> 00:22:54,458
patrick_b_parker: that’s something that we all get excited about, right, We, we love those
361
00:22:54,625 –> 00:22:58,125
patrick_b_parker: wins within our company and we want to share with other people right. Uh,
362
00:22:58,375 –> 00:23:02,875
patrick_b_parker: so anyways, I, I quickly started asking him a couple of questions around
363
00:23:03,125 –> 00:23:04,125
patrick_b_parker: his metrics
364
00:23:04,375 –> 00:23:09,583
patrick_b_parker: around his K. P. eyes around, you know his revenue, talking about things
365
00:23:09,833 –> 00:23:14,041
patrick_b_parker: like churn, talking about costper lead, talking about customer acquisition
366
00:23:14,208 –> 00:23:19,500
patrick_b_parker: costs, K paybacks and stuff like that, And he really quickly realized that
367
00:23:19,666 –> 00:23:23,416
patrick_b_parker: he had no idea how he was actually doing right.
368
00:23:23,666 –> 00:23:24,666
patrick_b_parker: and so
369
00:23:25,500 –> 00:23:29,750
patrick_b_parker: long story short, he ended up going back. He was able to get a bunch of
370
00:23:29,916 –> 00:23:35,166
patrick_b_parker: information from his developers. Reach out to his marketing team. Um, this
371
00:23:35,250 –> 00:23:38,041
patrick_b_parker: is a a founder that doesn’t actually work with us. It just just a gather.
372
00:23:38,208 –> 00:23:41,500
patrick_b_parker: I’ve built a great relationship. but, but at the end of the day his
373
00:23:41,666 –> 00:23:43,333
patrick_b_parker: business was fine. It was healthy,
374
00:23:44,458 –> 00:23:49,916
patrick_b_parker: but that scramble of not knowing and not understanding whether or not it
375
00:23:49,958 –> 00:23:54,916
patrick_b_parker: was healthy. having no way, uh to know at a glance, Uh, if he’s doing
376
00:23:55,083 –> 00:23:59,083
patrick_b_parker: well, he just he sees revenues growing up right and revenues. They just
377
00:23:59,166 –> 00:24:01,833
patrick_b_parker: don’t tell the whole story, so that’s why you need to be able to actually
378
00:24:01,958 –> 00:24:04,625
patrick_b_parker: dive deeply into the data To understand
379
00:24:05,916 –> 00:24:11,083
patrick_b_parker: Is this model that I’ve built Uh, sustainable in terms of of scale and
380
00:24:11,250 –> 00:24:15,375
patrick_b_parker: growth. And so anyways, he, he came back to me a week later and it was
381
00:24:15,375 –> 00:24:16,375
patrick_b_parker: like
382
00:24:17,083 –> 00:24:20,208
patrick_b_parker: my company’s good. He’s like. Just Why’t you know that he’s like, But
383
00:24:20,291 –> 00:24:24,125
patrick_b_parker: thank you so much for for making me aware of the need, Uh to actually
384
00:24:24,458 –> 00:24:27,000
patrick_b_parker: report on these things. So now they’re They’re working on building out
385
00:24:27,166 –> 00:24:29,250
patrick_b_parker: reports and everything. And it was like that. That’s a great thing to do.
386
00:24:29,333 –> 00:24:31,500
patrick_b_parker: It’s something that you should understand and that you should implement
387
00:24:31,833 –> 00:24:35,833
patrick_b_parker: from the beginning. so you don’t get in that that position. But again, the
388
00:24:35,958 –> 00:24:40,041
patrick_b_parker: uh, the need is there right you? You’ve got to be able to understand at a
389
00:24:40,125 –> 00:24:43,250
patrick_b_parker: glance how healthy is my business and it’s more than just revenues.
390
00:24:44,083 –> 00:24:49,291
anthony_algmin: Yeah, do you have any? Are there any shorts or any like Common? Like these
391
00:24:49,291 –> 00:24:50,291
anthony_algmin: are the few
392
00:24:51,291 –> 00:24:56,750
anthony_algmin: core metrics that really any founder should start compiling before they know
393
00:24:56,875 –> 00:24:58,333
anthony_algmin: anything. If there’s anybody out
394
00:24:58,416 –> 00:25:01,458
anthony_algmin: in the audience. It’s an entrepreneur. that’s like. Oh, all I know is my
395
00:25:01,541 –> 00:25:02,666
anthony_algmin: revenue number because I
396
00:25:02,875 –> 00:25:05,916
anthony_algmin: imagine there might be. Um. Yeah, what? what are? What Are A good couple
397
00:25:06,250 –> 00:25:09,791
anthony_algmin: places to say? Okay, I got. I gotta at least get a little bit more than just
398
00:25:09,916 –> 00:25:12,750
anthony_algmin: looking at my bank account and seeing how much cash is in it, which I think
399
00:25:13,083 –> 00:25:16,375
patrick_b_parker: yeah, yeah, I mean that it’s so funny because that that’s the one that
400
00:25:16,375 –> 00:25:19,583
patrick_b_parker: people always want to brag about. Right, people always, it’s it’s the the
401
00:25:19,666 –> 00:25:22,916
patrick_b_parker: sexy number right. it’s what’s your monthly recurring revenue’s your
402
00:25:23,000 –> 00:25:26,541
patrick_b_parker: annual run rate. Give me those m, r, r and a r r numbers. And and people
403
00:25:26,708 –> 00:25:29,500
patrick_b_parker: want to judge how well you’re doing based on that, but it. it just doesn’t
404
00:25:29,583 –> 00:25:33,000
patrick_b_parker: tell the whole story. So when you tell somebody that your costs per lead
405
00:25:33,250 –> 00:25:37,250
patrick_b_parker: is is two dollars, Right, you tell somebody should cost be leaders twelve
406
00:25:37,416 –> 00:25:38,541
patrick_b_parker: dollars. Right,
407
00:25:39,666 –> 00:25:44,541
patrick_b_parker: those numbers are sexy because that’s a scalable model. So the lower that
408
00:25:44,625 –> 00:25:46,041
patrick_b_parker: you can keep that costper lead,
409
00:25:47,083 –> 00:25:51,416
patrick_b_parker: the lower that you can keep that customer acquisition cost right, the
410
00:25:51,583 –> 00:25:56,916
patrick_b_parker: lower that you can can keep that uh Ca payback time. Those are the things
411
00:25:57,083 –> 00:26:00,875
patrick_b_parker: that that you look at to see Okay is what I’ve built scalable
412
00:26:01,500 –> 00:26:04,916
patrick_b_parker: right. So if you can get leaves for cheap, you’re closing a a solid
413
00:26:05,083 –> 00:26:09,166
patrick_b_parker: percentage of your deals. It’s it’s a, Has a, its, A great indicator how
414
00:26:09,166 –> 00:26:12,458
patrick_b_parker: your sales team is doing right in terms of the quality of the leads in
415
00:26:12,541 –> 00:26:17,083
patrick_b_parker: terms of the the closer win rate. Uh, how long does it take to to pay
416
00:26:17,333 –> 00:26:21,500
patrick_b_parker: back? Uh, what you’ve spent on your advertising and marketing initiatives?
417
00:26:22,041 –> 00:26:26,208
patrick_b_parker: You know that lets you know. Yes, this is a scalable model. This is
418
00:26:26,291 –> 00:26:30,041
patrick_b_parker: something I continue can continue to grow. so I mean Al, always start
419
00:26:30,208 –> 00:26:33,083
patrick_b_parker: there. You want to see. You want to make sure that that that uh, customer
420
00:26:33,250 –> 00:26:37,166
patrick_b_parker: acquisition calls payback time is low enough. Uh, so that you’re not going
421
00:26:37,166 –> 00:26:40,875
patrick_b_parker: to run into issues with cash flow right, So you can start to see how these
422
00:26:40,916 –> 00:26:45,083
patrick_b_parker: different metrics just with these few basic ones, Um, they carry across
423
00:26:45,250 –> 00:26:47,958
patrick_b_parker: multiple business functions, multiple business areas and they’re goingnna
424
00:26:48,041 –> 00:26:51,083
patrick_b_parker: hit several different places on your balance sheet, So there’s there’s
425
00:26:51,250 –> 00:26:54,208
patrick_b_parker: metrics like that from a marketking perspective that are great churns.
426
00:26:54,375 –> 00:26:56,708
patrick_b_parker: Another one. You’re always on a measure. It’s always going to be cheaper
427
00:26:56,875 –> 00:27:00,916
patrick_b_parker: to Uh to retain an existing client than it is to to go out and and try to
428
00:27:01,000 –> 00:27:04,041
patrick_b_parker: acquire a new one right. So there’s there’s metics around there that you.
429
00:27:04,125 –> 00:27:07,416
patrick_b_parker: You want to make sure that you’re tracking, Uh, Because those are going to
430
00:27:07,500 –> 00:27:10,875
patrick_b_parker: tell you again a lot of things about your product. How do people like my
431
00:27:10,916 –> 00:27:15,500
patrick_b_parker: product? What does the adoption look like Is is the price point Uh,
432
00:27:15,916 –> 00:27:19,583
patrick_b_parker: sufficient, for example, to continue attracting new clients and to keep
433
00:27:19,750 –> 00:27:24,375
patrick_b_parker: clients going forward. So a lot of metrics there. Uh, from a marketing
434
00:27:24,458 –> 00:27:27,958
patrick_b_parker: perspective, sales perspective is as well you talk about minimum qualified
435
00:27:28,208 –> 00:27:31,166
patrick_b_parker: leaves. Do I have? the number of leaves? Doesn’t matter if you get them
436
00:27:31,250 –> 00:27:35,000
patrick_b_parker: cheap if you can’t get enough of them right. Um, so there’s there’s a
437
00:27:35,000 –> 00:27:38,375
patrick_b_parker: number of different things to to look at, and a lot of the articles that
438
00:27:38,375 –> 00:27:42,708
patrick_b_parker: we have on our site kind of go into those in detail of. At a minimum. What
439
00:27:42,916 –> 00:27:47,416
patrick_b_parker: are the the uh, different Capiaz metrics that you should be tracking month
440
00:27:47,666 –> 00:27:51,333
patrick_b_parker: over month within your business to determine Uh, whether or not it’s
441
00:27:51,333 –> 00:27:52,333
patrick_b_parker: healthy?
442
00:27:52,958 –> 00:27:56,666
anthony_algmin: that’. That’s great advice. so I I hope that folks out there are starting to
443
00:27:56,666 –> 00:27:59,625
anthony_algmin: track metrics, but I’m sure that there’s some entrepreneurs that are in the
444
00:27:59,708 –> 00:28:04,083
anthony_algmin: audience, Uh that find that uh, extremely extremely valuable, So I want I
445
00:28:04,166 –> 00:28:06,500
anthony_algmin: ask you about something. This is something that I’ve had in the back of my
446
00:28:06,583 –> 00:28:09,208
anthony_algmin: head to ask a Gu for a long time, and I haven’t done it. and I’m going to
447
00:28:09,208 –> 00:28:10,208
anthony_algmin: ask
448
00:28:10,375 –> 00:28:14,250
anthony_algmin: you because you have some background with raising capital with early stage
449
00:28:14,500 –> 00:28:18,666
anthony_algmin: companies and a variety of different contexts, and I’m curious because this
450
00:28:18,791 –> 00:28:24,166
anthony_algmin: is one area of business I have not done personally, which is raise outside
451
00:28:24,500 –> 00:28:29,833
anthony_algmin: revenue. So do how do you raise capital for? Like for those of us who don’t
452
00:28:29,916 –> 00:28:32,791
anthony_algmin: have a bunch of rich friends, we can call up and say hey, Got a hundred
453
00:28:32,958 –> 00:28:36,416
anthony_algmin: thousand dollars I can spare. I, I could use some some additional investment
454
00:28:36,791 –> 00:28:40,416
anthony_algmin: you. I’ve I’ve seen road shows. I’ve done things that are involved with
455
00:28:40,500 –> 00:28:44,416
anthony_algmin: that, But like when you are setting out, and and I want to also talk about
456
00:28:44,666 –> 00:28:49,291
anthony_algmin: the The consulting firm model Is a tough one to go start a business out.
457
00:28:49,458 –> 00:28:52,958
anthony_algmin: We’ll talk about that in a little bit, but just broadly in terms of raising
458
00:28:53,125 –> 00:28:57,041
anthony_algmin: capital. What? what do you do? How do you get started with trying to build a
459
00:28:57,041 –> 00:28:58,041
anthony_algmin: business like that?
460
00:28:58,791 –> 00:29:03,500
patrick_b_parker: Absolutely, it’s uh. It is always, uh, a lot harder and takes a lot longer
461
00:29:03,666 –> 00:29:07,000
patrick_b_parker: than you ever expected. so that’s that’s the big thing for. uh,
462
00:29:07,000 –> 00:29:08,791
anthony_algmin: That’s true of everything in starting a business, though, right,
463
00:29:08,875 –> 00:29:13,166
patrick_b_parker: it is it it is, but th. This is especially can be especially brutal,
464
00:29:13,333 –> 00:29:16,625
patrick_b_parker: because you can have a ton of meeting set up, and at the end of the day
465
00:29:17,416 –> 00:29:21,750
patrick_b_parker: it’s one of those things where it may take a hundred nos to get yes right.
466
00:29:22,041 –> 00:29:25,583
patrick_b_parker: so that the the rejection can just be brutal for a lot of people. psyche,
467
00:29:26,208 –> 00:29:30,125
patrick_b_parker: um, it. It’s It’s very challenging, but, but the biggest thing is used to.
468
00:29:30,291 –> 00:29:33,250
patrick_b_parker: You could put together an n. v P. right, You’d have your minimum viable
469
00:29:33,416 –> 00:29:36,625
patrick_b_parker: products. You’re ready to take the market. You do your marketing campaigns
470
00:29:36,708 –> 00:29:39,583
patrick_b_parker: and stuff around that. For good market strategy, you launch it, and you’re
471
00:29:39,750 –> 00:29:45,500
patrick_b_parker: good to go right now. There’s so many products to choose from Uh within
472
00:29:45,750 –> 00:29:51,916
patrick_b_parker: any given industry that that saturation has caused customers to be even
473
00:29:52,208 –> 00:29:59,916
patrick_b_parker: more specific about how well those products perform. Uh, how well the user
474
00:30:00,125 –> 00:30:04,208
patrick_b_parker: interface works or looks and how well the user experience floats. how
475
00:30:04,291 –> 00:30:05,750
patrick_b_parker: smooth it is right, So
476
00:30:06,791 –> 00:30:10,125
patrick_b_parker: used to you could take products to market that still had some defects to
477
00:30:10,208 –> 00:30:13,750
patrick_b_parker: minor things in it. Now you know expectations, customers will literally
478
00:30:13,916 –> 00:30:17,833
patrick_b_parker: turn off your your your platform that quick, Right? and the reason I say
479
00:30:17,916 –> 00:30:23,083
patrick_b_parker: that is to go back to to the fundraising right. So investors usually
480
00:30:23,333 –> 00:30:27,416
patrick_b_parker: prefer to investment companies that already have proxs built at least an n
481
00:30:27,583 –> 00:30:32,208
patrick_b_parker: v p. Right. So that way they’re they’re really funding the go to market
482
00:30:32,375 –> 00:30:35,000
patrick_b_parker: strategy, the client acquisition strategies, and they’re not spending a
483
00:30:35,000 –> 00:30:38,875
patrick_b_parker: ton of money on on products, right So it used to be a lot easier to raise
484
00:30:39,000 –> 00:30:41,166
patrick_b_parker: money without a product unless you have something that’s completely
485
00:30:41,333 –> 00:30:44,041
patrick_b_parker: revolutionary. Uh, this is not the case anymore. Right.
486
00:30:44,208 –> 00:30:47,916
patrick_b_parker: they want to see traction. They want to see uh growth. They want to see
487
00:30:47,958 –> 00:30:51,166
patrick_b_parker: that that you’re capable of running a business and overcoming the initial
488
00:30:51,333 –> 00:30:55,750
patrick_b_parker: hurdles of a start up. So the way that that we always uh approach
489
00:30:55,958 –> 00:30:59,833
patrick_b_parker: fundraising is. obviously at this point we’ve we’ve built a bunch of good
490
00:30:59,916 –> 00:31:03,833
patrick_b_parker: relationships with different Uh, venture capitalist firm investment banks,
491
00:31:03,958 –> 00:31:08,375
patrick_b_parker: et cetera, Um. And so we generally reach out to those. But but what we do
492
00:31:08,458 –> 00:31:12,875
patrick_b_parker: is we niche everything down, and we say Okay, who are the companies that
493
00:31:13,000 –> 00:31:17,416
patrick_b_parker: invest in early stage or growth stage within the specific industry within
494
00:31:17,583 –> 00:31:21,083
patrick_b_parker: this Netch, et cetera and we always target to those people first. Making
495
00:31:21,333 –> 00:31:25,166
patrick_b_parker: sure that you have a a solid pitch deck That really highlights Uh, the
496
00:31:25,333 –> 00:31:29,250
patrick_b_parker: opportunity. The team, the market size, Uh, again, something that we talk
497
00:31:29,416 –> 00:31:34,125
patrick_b_parker: extensively about within our log articles, but making sure that you can
498
00:31:34,291 –> 00:31:38,458
patrick_b_parker: clearly articulate what the opportunity is, Uh, and what the the overall
499
00:31:38,625 –> 00:31:41,958
patrick_b_parker: vision is, and then after that it’s just a matter of of making those
500
00:31:42,125 –> 00:31:46,375
patrick_b_parker: introductions to potential investors, Uh, following up with them
501
00:31:46,708 –> 00:31:51,500
patrick_b_parker: continuously, Uh, and and again, just be prepared for for rejection.
502
00:31:51,750 –> 00:31:55,000
patrick_b_parker: A lot of founders, uh, that are raising capital and and anyone that’s
503
00:31:55,083 –> 00:31:58,916
patrick_b_parker: that’s ever raised will tell you this. it’s It’s kind of a a double edged
504
00:31:59,000 –> 00:32:03,750
patrick_b_parker: sword, right because you need capital in order to launch your business in
505
00:32:03,833 –> 00:32:07,083
patrick_b_parker: order to scale your business a lot of times. Uh, if you don’t have the
506
00:32:07,083 –> 00:32:11,583
patrick_b_parker: resources to boot strap right, but what they don’t tell you is how much it
507
00:32:11,750 –> 00:32:13,500
patrick_b_parker: actually takes you out of your business
508
00:32:14,208 –> 00:32:18,541
patrick_b_parker: to go chase capital, I mean, it’s raising money is a full time job in
509
00:32:18,708 –> 00:32:22,291
patrick_b_parker: itself. Usually you have a A. A founder, a co founder that is spending
510
00:32:22,541 –> 00:32:27,500
patrick_b_parker: time doing that, or you have Uh, advisers who have really solid
511
00:32:27,666 –> 00:32:30,208
patrick_b_parker: connections or have experience doing it in the past. existing
512
00:32:30,375 –> 00:32:33,750
patrick_b_parker: relationships Uh with with B, Cs and I, Bs, but
513
00:32:34,791 –> 00:32:38,541
patrick_b_parker: otherwise be prepared to for your business to actually suffer, as you
514
00:32:39,083 –> 00:32:43,000
patrick_b_parker: spend that time trying to build and cultivate relationships. So I always
515
00:32:43,166 –> 00:32:47,916
patrick_b_parker: tell people. If you’re planning on on doing a raise next year, right, say,
516
00:32:48,208 –> 00:32:52,625
patrick_b_parker: say summer of next year, then you should already be started uh on building
517
00:32:52,875 –> 00:32:56,916
patrick_b_parker: those relationships and reaching out making connections with people. Um
518
00:32:57,666 –> 00:33:01,833
patrick_b_parker: now, so that when it is time to raise, you’re prepared to to go out and
519
00:33:01,916 –> 00:33:06,916
patrick_b_parker: send ush your pitch decks. Uh, and then set up those meetings so that’s
520
00:33:06,916 –> 00:33:07,916
patrick_b_parker: uh.
521
00:33:08,625 –> 00:33:13,416
patrick_b_parker: Kind of the the thirty thousand foot helicopter view of it. Um, there’s a
522
00:33:13,500 –> 00:33:17,500
patrick_b_parker: lot of of different areas of that that we can, uh, can get really deep in.
523
00:33:17,666 –> 00:33:20,708
patrick_b_parker: So if you’ve got some specific questions about where to look what the tool
524
00:33:21,416 –> 00:33:24,208
patrick_b_parker: things like that, I’m happy to talk about that. there’s also companies out
525
00:33:24,208 –> 00:33:26,708
patrick_b_parker: there that will help you fund raising on your behalf, I mean,
526
00:33:26,791 –> 00:33:30,125
patrick_b_parker: that’s another very popular model. Usually they charge forty five percent
527
00:33:30,291 –> 00:33:34,708
patrick_b_parker: of the total raise, but again those people have have uh, good
528
00:33:34,916 –> 00:33:39,000
patrick_b_parker: relationships. So they they have pretty good placement rates as well. but
529
00:33:39,166 –> 00:33:41,750
patrick_b_parker: yeah, fire away. Any other questions you got on that
530
00:33:42,333 –> 00:33:44,416
anthony_algmin: So, And and and that’s something where I think
531
00:33:45,625 –> 00:33:50,166
anthony_algmin: a lot of uh folks out there are going to have unique situations to. uh. you
532
00:33:50,250 –> 00:33:53,791
anthony_algmin: know for what their goals are around, Uh, a capital raise, And it is
533
00:33:54,083 –> 00:33:56,791
anthony_algmin: interesting because you mention that there’s these organizations out there
534
00:33:56,875 –> 00:34:00,166
anthony_algmin: that will help people raise capital for a fee.
535
00:34:00,500 –> 00:34:03,291
anthony_algmin: It’s amazing today how many things
536
00:34:04,333 –> 00:34:09,791
anthony_algmin: are available on a contract basis, and I relatively efficiently, like you
537
00:34:09,833 –> 00:34:13,791
anthony_algmin: can go find these firms if you think about fifteen twenty years ago. Like
538
00:34:13,833 –> 00:34:17,500
anthony_algmin: what are you going to do? Open up the yellow pages and try to find all of
539
00:34:17,500 –> 00:34:18,500
anthony_algmin: these different kinds of
540
00:34:18,666 –> 00:34:21,291
anthony_algmin: services. And it’. So we’re now at this point where we can take for granted
541
00:34:21,458 –> 00:34:26,166
anthony_algmin: that you can lanch businesses to do this narrow step in the life cycle in
542
00:34:26,250 –> 00:34:28,000
anthony_algmin: the value chain and reach a
543
00:34:28,083 –> 00:34:30,958
anthony_algmin: whole bunch of customers that you literally would never have been able to
544
00:34:31,041 –> 00:34:35,375
anthony_algmin: contact before without a huge network or some other avenue to to reach them.
545
00:34:35,541 –> 00:34:39,708
anthony_algmin: And so the cost of you know doing the availability of these kinds of
546
00:34:39,791 –> 00:34:42,875
anthony_algmin: assistance? Um, you know, it’s It’s a really interesting thing, so I’m in
547
00:34:43,208 –> 00:34:46,750
anthony_algmin: instead, instead of trying to just imagine what people really want to have,
548
00:34:47,041 –> 00:34:50,875
anthony_algmin: because I think there’s so many. I want to talk about the the, the nature of
549
00:34:51,041 –> 00:34:56,083
anthony_algmin: these kinds of services businesses Because a consulting firm is a really
550
00:34:56,333 –> 00:35:01,708
anthony_algmin: difficult business to scale. It’s a relatively easy business to start.
551
00:35:02,291 –> 00:35:03,291
anthony_algmin: Because like if I
552
00:35:03,291 –> 00:35:07,041
anthony_algmin: want to put my single shingle out there and be a consultant, I got that,
553
00:35:07,208 –> 00:35:11,291
anthony_algmin: that’s no problem and I could probably make a solid living doing it, and
554
00:35:11,458 –> 00:35:16,500
anthony_algmin: it’s probably where a couple few people you can get on to the payroll and
555
00:35:16,583 –> 00:35:20,333
anthony_algmin: and do that and start to grow a nice little tiny niche company without too
556
00:35:20,416 –> 00:35:26,000
anthony_algmin: much own. You can kind of live hand mouth and you’re okay, But to scale a
557
00:35:26,166 –> 00:35:29,458
anthony_algmin: substantial business out of that model
558
00:35:30,166 –> 00:35:35,625
anthony_algmin: requires a kind of linear function of head count, growth to growth in the
559
00:35:35,708 –> 00:35:42,000
anthony_algmin: business and it is a tough road to do that. So how like? how have you found
560
00:35:42,166 –> 00:35:44,958
anthony_algmin: that? Like? what have you been able to do? Is it just because you are
561
00:35:45,125 –> 00:35:50,333
anthony_algmin: providing such a service offering in that space? Or what? what secrets do
562
00:35:50,416 –> 00:35:53,541
anthony_algmin: you have for folks that are out there building these kinds of services
563
00:35:53,791 –> 00:35:55,833
anthony_algmin: Businesses? realizing some
564
00:35:55,916 –> 00:35:57,541
anthony_algmin: of the challenges to get to that level,
565
00:35:58,791 –> 00:36:02,791
patrick_b_parker: Yeah, I mean, First of all, we’re we’re very good at what we do and that
566
00:36:02,916 –> 00:36:07,666
patrick_b_parker: always helps we build award wing products. Um, and as a result, a lot of
567
00:36:07,750 –> 00:36:12,791
patrick_b_parker: those products that are be to see or beat a be to C. Right, we end up
568
00:36:12,916 –> 00:36:17,333
patrick_b_parker: having those in users of those customers of our customers say, God, I love
569
00:36:17,500 –> 00:36:22,208
patrick_b_parker: that platform. I mean we, we didn’t. For the Uh, we didn’t spend a dollar
570
00:36:22,375 –> 00:36:26,375
patrick_b_parker: advertising For the first three years we were in business and we, we grew
571
00:36:26,541 –> 00:36:29,416
patrick_b_parker: from literally boots strapped uh to to two million
572
00:36:29,541 –> 00:36:30,541
anthony_algmin: Mhm.
573
00:36:30,625 –> 00:36:33,958
patrick_b_parker: and uh, just just absolutely killing it. Aing. adding over half a million
574
00:36:34,208 –> 00:36:38,458
patrick_b_parker: revenue a year. We’ve we continued on that pace, Um, without having
575
00:36:38,625 –> 00:36:43,166
patrick_b_parker: advertised, just because the referral network was so strong that we had
576
00:36:43,416 –> 00:36:48,791
patrick_b_parker: built Uh, and just because we’re in the right places right, so we do a lot
577
00:36:48,916 –> 00:36:52,291
patrick_b_parker: of uh, discovery calls, and kind of diagnostic college, just helping
578
00:36:52,458 –> 00:36:55,833
patrick_b_parker: entrepreneurs and and founders to understand what challenges that they’re
579
00:36:55,958 –> 00:36:59,666
patrick_b_parker: having within their business. And so again, It’s It’s one of those things
580
00:36:59,833 –> 00:37:03,750
patrick_b_parker: where we, we guarded that trust. We’ve we’ve gotten these play books that
581
00:37:03,833 –> 00:37:07,416
patrick_b_parker: we’ve developed over time, and as we’re having success in taking products
582
00:37:07,583 –> 00:37:11,166
patrick_b_parker: to market right, we’re able to point to that and say hey, this is. this is
583
00:37:11,333 –> 00:37:14,375
patrick_b_parker: somebody that we recently launched that’s in a similar situation. Similar
584
00:37:14,791 –> 00:37:18,541
patrick_b_parker: background and those customers typically stay with us too, so we don’t see
585
00:37:18,625 –> 00:37:22,916
patrick_b_parker: a high turnover we usually see on goinging work, uh with those people as
586
00:37:23,083 –> 00:37:26,291
patrick_b_parker: well, because as they’re working to solve the various problems and it
587
00:37:26,375 –> 00:37:29,666
patrick_b_parker: start up is they’re working to to kind of unlock those new levers of
588
00:37:29,666 –> 00:37:33,000
patrick_b_parker: growth within their business, Uh, and achieve those different magnitudes
589
00:37:33,083 –> 00:37:36,625
patrick_b_parker: of scale. That’s that’s the point where we’re able to step in and kind of
590
00:37:36,791 –> 00:37:41,083
patrick_b_parker: augment Uh, their existing efforts, Uh, and then kind of guide them in the
591
00:37:41,166 –> 00:37:43,166
patrick_b_parker: right direction so they continually grow And
592
00:37:43,416 –> 00:37:48,041
patrick_b_parker: it. it’s the same thing it. It. It helps when you have uh, companies that
593
00:37:48,291 –> 00:37:51,833
patrick_b_parker: have uh been backed by venture capital firms. I mean, of course that piece
594
00:37:51,916 –> 00:37:55,333
patrick_b_parker: of it is is great in terms of you, don’t never have to worry about whether
595
00:37:55,500 –> 00:37:58,291
patrick_b_parker: or’ not going to be able to pay the bill, but um with those other
596
00:37:58,458 –> 00:38:02,125
patrick_b_parker: entrepreneurs too, it’s it. It’s the same thing. It’s as we are helping
597
00:38:02,291 –> 00:38:06,208
patrick_b_parker: them generate success. They then have the money to turn around and
598
00:38:06,291 –> 00:38:11,000
patrick_b_parker: continually reinvest in their business, Uh as well, and we’re always the
599
00:38:11,083 –> 00:38:14,791
patrick_b_parker: first call because we’ve delivered such great results, so I mean that’s
600
00:38:15,083 –> 00:38:19,666
patrick_b_parker: that’s a big piece of it. Uh, content is A is another big piece. Uh, and
601
00:38:19,750 –> 00:38:24,708
patrick_b_parker: just kind of structuring our offerings so that they will scale with the
602
00:38:25,333 –> 00:38:29,583
patrick_b_parker: business, you know as the the starter gets into the the next step of their
603
00:38:29,833 –> 00:38:34,708
patrick_b_parker: their journey Right, And so as long as we’re uh, we’re kind of locked Ste
604
00:38:34,916 –> 00:38:38,208
patrick_b_parker: with them. We continually have those opportunities to say Hey, Okay,
605
00:38:38,375 –> 00:38:42,125
patrick_b_parker: here’s what you need next right. Here’s the next step. And and trying to
606
00:38:42,125 –> 00:38:46,916
patrick_b_parker: make sure that we build that that sass fly wheel right that, that’s gonna
607
00:38:47,166 –> 00:38:51,083
patrick_b_parker: continually have uh. and and helped them build no minum in their business
608
00:38:51,416 –> 00:38:53,000
patrick_b_parker: to to keep pushing through. so
609
00:38:54,041 –> 00:38:57,916
patrick_b_parker: um, we’ve done that executed on that really well, I mean we, we’ve grew.
610
00:38:58,208 –> 00:39:03,416
patrick_b_parker: we had Uh four. Who’s Uh, four of us that started this, and now we’ve got
611
00:39:03,666 –> 00:39:08,208
patrick_b_parker: thirty two employees here. We’ve got a second headquarters in India. Uh,
612
00:39:08,541 –> 00:39:12,708
patrick_b_parker: so just a a rapid gros story, just just from that perspective in itself,
613
00:39:13,583 –> 00:39:16,875
patrick_b_parker: Um, but enjoying the journey. I mean, the the biggest thing is enjoying
614
00:39:17,000 –> 00:39:21,750
patrick_b_parker: being able to to make an impact, Uh, in the businesses of other founders
615
00:39:21,916 –> 00:39:26,708
patrick_b_parker: that are turning around and and enjoying a lot of of early success In, in
616
00:39:26,791 –> 00:39:28,125
patrick_b_parker: most cases continue success.
617
00:39:29,833 –> 00:39:33,458
anthony_algmin: Yeah, Well, it goes to show like just we were just previously talking about
618
00:39:33,541 –> 00:39:36,583
anthony_algmin: how easy it is to find a company who can do whatever thing, but it goes to
619
00:39:36,666 –> 00:39:40,875
anthony_algmin: show you know customer satisfaction referrals, growing people
620
00:39:41,125 –> 00:39:45,541
anthony_algmin: you know, truly helping businesses grow. That is the best way to grow your
621
00:39:45,708 –> 00:39:49,125
anthony_algmin: own business. Because you’re you, are making a positive impact. You are
622
00:39:49,291 –> 00:39:53,375
anthony_algmin: helping these organizations and trying to lead with. Not how do I grow my
623
00:39:53,375 –> 00:39:57,541
anthony_algmin: business bigger, but how do I help my clients the most? and and focusing
624
00:39:57,791 –> 00:40:02,000
anthony_algmin: there will come back to you and will allow you to create that kind of uh fly
625
00:40:02,166 –> 00:40:04,416
anthony_algmin: wheel and the growth model of of your own business?
626
00:40:04,416 –> 00:40:07,750
patrick_b_parker: and that’s strictly because your interests are aligned right, Your
627
00:40:07,916 –> 00:40:10,791
patrick_b_parker: interests are are helping each other and growing together. and there’s
628
00:40:10,916 –> 00:40:14,375
patrick_b_parker: nobody that that doesn’t want to. to kind of pay things forward to the
629
00:40:14,375 –> 00:40:17,250
patrick_b_parker: people that have helped them along the way, and they continue to to help
630
00:40:17,416 –> 00:40:21,500
patrick_b_parker: them as long as they are continuing to to see that sustained performance.
631
00:40:22,125 –> 00:40:26,291
patrick_b_parker: And and ▁ultimately the the outcomes and results that come along with it,
632
00:40:26,750 –> 00:40:29,916
anthony_algmin: Yeah, and and I remember, you know in my consulting days like I would get
633
00:40:30,083 –> 00:40:33,708
anthony_algmin: emotionally invested in the success of my clients, and when you’re working
634
00:40:33,833 –> 00:40:36,875
anthony_algmin: at large consulting firms, you’re often off to another client pretty
635
00:40:37,000 –> 00:40:38,000
anthony_algmin: quickly, But when you’re
636
00:40:38,000 –> 00:40:41,125
anthony_algmin: working in a niche firm and you’re working with the the. Leads of that
637
00:40:41,375 –> 00:40:42,750
anthony_algmin: company to work with
638
00:40:42,875 –> 00:40:47,375
anthony_algmin: your company. those relationships stay. Those relationships continue. And
639
00:40:47,375 –> 00:40:50,666
anthony_algmin: and that I think is an important part of that true partnership. Not
640
00:40:50,750 –> 00:40:53,458
anthony_algmin: everybody. I think we’re moving to a world and that’s what I want to close
641
00:40:53,625 –> 00:40:56,666
anthony_algmin: with On. This is your thoughts on. What? Like? Where are we heading with
642
00:40:56,750 –> 00:41:00,875
anthony_algmin: this? But we’re moving to a world where we don’t have to hire everybody as
643
00:41:01,041 –> 00:41:03,458
anthony_algmin: employees. insider organizations to be successful.
644
00:41:03,708 –> 00:41:08,583
anthony_algmin: but what we need are great partners that we can work with consistently to
645
00:41:08,750 –> 00:41:11,916
anthony_algmin: continue to help build our businesses. I think that model’s changing, but
646
00:41:11,916 –> 00:41:14,958
anthony_algmin: I’m curious in your thoughts because you’re here with the people that are
647
00:41:15,458 –> 00:41:19,041
anthony_algmin: today’s. You know, early stage companies are creating tomorrow’s future.
648
00:41:19,291 –> 00:41:21,791
anthony_algmin: What are you seeing? What do you? What do you see? I’m a horizon that’s
649
00:41:21,791 –> 00:41:22,500
anthony_algmin: going to change.
650
00:41:23,333 –> 00:41:27,166
patrick_b_parker: no, I mean I, I think I think you, just you just hit the ball out of the
651
00:41:27,166 –> 00:41:30,708
patrick_b_parker: park on that one. I mean literally, We, we named our Uh, our company based
652
00:41:30,791 –> 00:41:34,541
patrick_b_parker: on that. That’s why we’re Sas partners. I mean we literally are technology
653
00:41:35,500 –> 00:41:39,666
patrick_b_parker: and and marketing, and and sales, and all these other Uh functional areas.
654
00:41:39,833 –> 00:41:43,250
patrick_b_parker: We’re the partner of choice for these early stage companies for these
655
00:41:43,250 –> 00:41:47,333
patrick_b_parker: gross stage companies, Uh, looking to to take things to the next level. I
656
00:41:47,333 –> 00:41:52,291
patrick_b_parker: mean that’s what we do. we. We used to uh, take any in every client early
657
00:41:52,625 –> 00:41:55,166
patrick_b_parker: on, right just for the sake of of revenue and growth.
658
00:41:56,458 –> 00:42:00,375
patrick_b_parker: But recently Uh, Probably the last eighteen months we have transitioned
659
00:42:00,541 –> 00:42:03,416
patrick_b_parker: out of that. We only work with founders that we actually believe in their
660
00:42:03,583 –> 00:42:07,250
patrick_b_parker: vision and are passionate about helping and think that they have a a
661
00:42:07,500 –> 00:42:12,875
patrick_b_parker: solution. That uh is something that that we can help them be successful in
662
00:42:13,000 –> 00:42:16,375
patrick_b_parker: in launching and taking in the masses right, So that’s that’s the other
663
00:42:16,541 –> 00:42:20,041
patrick_b_parker: side of it. So it. it’s not uh. You know, we work with anyone and everyone
664
00:42:20,375 –> 00:42:23,083
patrick_b_parker: now. I mean we work with with motivated people that we like. I mean,
665
00:42:23,166 –> 00:42:26,791
patrick_b_parker: ’cause at the end of the day there’s nothing worse than working with a bad
666
00:42:27,000 –> 00:42:31,083
patrick_b_parker: customer. Uh, having to fire customers is is something that unfortunately
667
00:42:31,250 –> 00:42:34,291
patrick_b_parker: happens as well. I mean it’s both both sides of the Uh, the coin with
668
00:42:34,375 –> 00:42:38,625
patrick_b_parker: that, but you know we work with with passionate people. We are passionate
669
00:42:38,791 –> 00:42:42,625
patrick_b_parker: people passionate about helping our customers. helping them realize a
670
00:42:42,791 –> 00:42:45,666
patrick_b_parker: dream, helping them take things to market. And and I, I think that’s
671
00:42:45,833 –> 00:42:49,916
patrick_b_parker: something that’s Uh, is conveyed throughout our entire culture. and I
672
00:42:49,916 –> 00:42:53,416
patrick_b_parker: think that that’s why people love partnering with us. They know that Hey,
673
00:42:53,833 –> 00:42:55,000
patrick_b_parker: it can be very stressful,
674
00:42:56,041 –> 00:43:00,708
patrick_b_parker: but at the end of the day don’t take life too seriously, right. Enjoy it.
675
00:43:01,166 –> 00:43:05,750
patrick_b_parker: Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the journey. Uh, I, if you don’t, it’s just not.
676
00:43:05,875 –> 00:43:06,875
patrick_b_parker: It’s not worthwhile.
677
00:43:07,333 –> 00:43:11,000
patrick_b_parker: So it’s it’s not a. It’s a very hard business being and being a an
678
00:43:11,083 –> 00:43:15,250
patrick_b_parker: entrepreneur or being a founder. Uh, The the statistics, the odds,
679
00:43:15,416 –> 00:43:17,833
patrick_b_parker: everything else that you see, you know that they’re stacked against you,
680
00:43:17,833 –> 00:43:22,291
patrick_b_parker: but you’re doing it anyways. because you believe uh in your product in
681
00:43:22,458 –> 00:43:25,916
patrick_b_parker: your offering. Uh, that is going to make a difference. And so again we we
682
00:43:26,041 –> 00:43:29,916
patrick_b_parker: love. Uh, working with people, cultivating those relationships with
683
00:43:29,958 –> 00:43:32,125
patrick_b_parker: passionate people, and then help them scale
684
00:43:33,375 –> 00:43:37,208
anthony_algmin: that’s that’s really awesome to hear. And and I think speaks volumes to to
685
00:43:37,458 –> 00:43:41,458
anthony_algmin: me. and and I’m sure many many folks out in the in the audience. So we’re
686
00:43:41,541 –> 00:43:44,875
anthony_algmin: all at a time, though. Patrick. thank you, Uh, for being on the show today.
687
00:43:45,041 –> 00:43:46,166
anthony_algmin: This has been incredible.
688
00:43:47,083 –> 00:43:50,708
patrick_b_parker: absolutelyth thanks for heaven. Me appreciate. it’ been great to be here
689
00:43:50,708 –> 00:43:52,083
anthony_algmin: Absolutely would love to have you back again in the future and thank you all
690
00:43:52,083 –> 00:43:52,291
anthony_algmin: Absolutely would love to have you back again in the future and thank you all
691
00:43:52,291 –> 00:43:53,166
anthony_algmin: Absolutely would love to have you back again and thank you all
692
00:43:53,416 –> 00:43:56,791
anthony_algmin: out there for joining us today. You’ll find more information about
693
00:43:56,875 –> 00:44:00,791
anthony_algmin: Patrick and SaaS partners in the show Notes. Go to DataLeadershipLessons.com
694
00:44:00,916 –> 00:44:04,458
anthony_algmin: to subscribe to podcast and check out past episodes and accelerate
695
00:44:04,541 –> 00:44:07,875
anthony_algmin: your journey with training at DataLeadershipTraining.com. Stay safe
696
00:44:08,041 –> 00:44:10,375
anthony_algmin: during these unusual times and go make an impact