4 things I learned from working with 50+ CEOs and growing/scaling tech companies

Hey there! I spent the last 5 years growing early and growth-stage tech companies as part of a strategy consulting and private equity firm. Thought it might interest this community to give some of the insights I got from this experience. And if you're a SaaS founder/CEO, what have you learned? #1 - Build like you’ve never failed before, but persevere when you do Some of the most successful founders I have worked with have had success early on in their career. Why? Because they aren't afraid of failure. Because they haven’t experienced it yet. They have such a strong confidence and conviction and sometimes you need that to get the impossible done. More seasoned founders, while having more knowledge and experience, sometimes don’t push boundaries because they know the odds of success. So they stick with strategies and methods that they know and have worked in the past. Seasoned founders will be more consistently successful, but the long-tail distribution of returns seems to favor some of the bold, younger people. #2 Build a repeatable revenue engine In the early days of building, you will be experimenting and your revenue generation strategies will likely not be scalable. But once you’ve got initial customers and found product-market fit, it’s time to ensure you build consistent, repeatable processes. You should be able to calculate how much revenue you could produce if you spent $X on sales/marketing. The founders that get this right will have consistent YoY growth. The ones that don’t will be at risk of being all over the place revenue wise. Your valuation and exit prospects will also suffer. #3 - Hire slow Don’t rush hiring. Ensure you’ve got enough candidates in the pipeline and when possible, try to test them out before you hire. Hire them as a consultant first on a specific project. See how they perform. Otherwise, just be very diligent in the hiring process. Give them a test project / case study to work on. Firing is expensive and time-consuming. Minimizing employee churn should be high on your priorities list. #4 - When looking to build for an exit, don’t just focus on chasing multiples. Know your potential buyers. The most important component of valuation is the strategic value your company brings to an acquirer. Know who your likely buyer is and build for them. Whether it’s a PE eyeing a roll-up in your industry or a strategic building a platform, make sure you know what they need and build towards that to maximize value.