Tien Tzuo Profile picture
CEO @Zuora (NYSE:ZUO), Bestselling Author #SUBSCRIBED
Oct 26, 2018 15 tweets 7 min read
1/ I recently spoke to @AccelepriseSF’s 9th cohort. Topic turned to how to approach #angelinvestors for #seedrounds. I shared some of these thoughts with @TomTaulli on @Forbes, forbes.com/sites/tomtaull…
but let me expand... 2/ According to @ACAAngelCapital, every year +200k angels invest +25 billion in +71k startup deals! This has changed 3 big things: 1. how formal VC firms operate 2. Silicon Valley’s stranglehold on talent 3. How founders raise funds. Let me explain.
Oct 17, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
1/ Had a CFO of a 100 person SaaS company reach out today for some advice on pricing. Today they sell primarily fixed annual subscriptions. Wanted to know if moving to transactional pricing models made sense or not. Said I was a big fan, here's why. 2/ First, this is where the world is going. Amazon Web Services is getting everyone used to consumption based pricing models.
Sep 21, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
Thread: Founder/CEO reached out this week for advice. 18 people, one other co-founder, just closed the Series A. Specifically wanted to know how do you learn "trust others" and "distribute power" without "jeopardizing what has been built thus far". First, huge congrats, Series A a HUGE milestone! And big props for approaching subject with honesty and open mind. Second, suggested she look at this through the lens of managing shift from a 2-tier org (mgr->individuals) to a 3-tier org (m>m>i).
Sep 14, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
Thread: Had a 90 min walk with a founder asking for advice. The good: i) Strong growth. Triple digit annual growth as a sub 10M ARR company - check ii) Runway. 6-8 qtrs of cash - check iii) Valuation. Should easily clear last round post at conservative 10x ARR - no down round! The challenges: i) Scaling sales. Tenured reps rocking it, new reps not so much. Suggested it's time to crystallize the play book, especially around how to ID a real deal. Could take a few quarters to work out.