4 ms·
The difference is pre versus post PMF. When you start your startup, you are by definition pre-PMF. There is only a weak relationship between what you spend and
by zachthewf 4y ago
The difference is pre versus post PMF.
When you start your startup, you are by definition pre-PMF. There is only a weak relationship between what you spend and what comes out the other side. Once you're post-PMF this changes and you may need to jack up the spending in order to grow as quickly as possible.
Lots of companies screw this up and scale up spending when they're pre-PMF. In 2021 those companies could keep raising, but now they're probably going to die.
- gnicholas 4y agoPre-PMF companies need to experiment and nail down their PMF. So what should they be spending on, and what shouldn't they be spending on? I assume conference booths fall into the latter category. Is there anything other than product dev and design that falls into the former? Where does marketing land, in order to make sure enough people are in the funnel to be able to meaningfully experiment and gather data?
- wefarrell 4y agoRelationship building is pretty important pre PMF, especially for industries with larger contracts and longer sales cycles.
- zachthewf 4y agoIMO sales and marketing expenses should be minimal—essentially limited to testing different channels to see if they work. I'm sure this depends on the business but I'd say if you need a lot of marketing spend in order to experiment it's a sign that you may not be enough of an expert on where to find your customers and you either need to find a way to gain that expertise or pivot to an area where you already have it.