Loading...

Clarity

Jeff Solomon

Greater Los Angeles Area

Why take a call with me? I have deep experience in a lot of areas -- if I don't know, I'll tell you and won't waste your time, if I do know, I'll give it to you straight and quick. I speak firm and clear so you understand and I listen to what you have to say.

I love talking to entrepreneurs, first because I genuinely enjoy helping people if I can; second, because I get compensated for my effort. With 650+ calls on Clarity and 1000+ mentorship calls in the past 10 years, I will get to the point and share experience and feedback that is actionable.

It's pretty much just like that.

-----
Check out my new online course on Customer Development and Finding Product-Market Fit - https://bit.ly/custdevcourse and explore my personal website at https://bak.me.
-----

My reviews are my bio and many will tell you that I'm good at helping other entrepreneurs think through problems and work out solutions.

Specifically, as it relates to my expertise:

I have deep expertise in Saas, Marketing, Outsourced Development, Web3, Crypto, Startup Accelerators, Lead Generation, UX, Angel & Seed Funding, B2B Software, Enterprise Sales, ASO, Mobile Apps, Mobile Advertising, and Bootstrapping. I co-founded Amplify, Startup Accelerator (3 funds, $15MM raised), and Velocify (formerly Leads360) sold for $128MM. Raised $35MM+ in venture capital. And I've had a startup fail miserably. I've angel invested in a dozen companies. I've seen over 3000 startups apply to Amplify and have been pitched by hundreds of entrepreneurs. And have raised more than $50MM in aggregate seed and Angel funding for our portfolio companies.

I live and breathe startups and have a lot of experience helping and advising them. Talk to me about accelerators, incubators, and raising seed capital. I've started 4 companies (1 failed, 2 sold, 1 killing it, 1 active in it).

I angel invest personally and have raised venture capital, built a SaaS company from 0 to 100 employees and I'm also a father of 12-year-old twins -- so I've got some parenting skills to boot.

Currently, I'm doing a ton of MICRO SAAS, CONTENT MARKETING, WEB3, FUNDRAISING, and SEO work, so if you want to talk about that, I'm fresh on knowledge there.

$5.00/min

668

668 Calls

304

304 Reviews

25 minutes
Avg. call

Growth Hacking Entrepreneurship angel investing Venture Capital Accelerators Content Marketing Raising Money SaaS Lead Generation SaaS - Enterprise & SMB B2B

Call me to talk about

Entrepreneurship, Financial & Business Models, Revenue Strategies, Staying Lean

Entrepreneurship is a word that is used too lightly these days. Being an entrepreneur means being able to hammer on many nails at once, stop hammering on the ones that don't sink and finding new shiny nails to hammer.

Many early stage companies typically have issues building out their core business models and financial modeling. This is a key activity that all companies should do early on as it drives all the key metrics that ultimately drive a business.

I am very effective at helping companies think through their business and develop a model that can be tracked and easily explained to investors.

Lead Generation, B2B Sales, Enterprise Sales and Building a Marketing Machine

I spent the better part of 10 years building a B2B software company that is now over 150 employees and more than 40M in annual revenue. During that time I tried many many different strategies to build a sales team, drive sales inbound leads, build an outbound direct sales team and an lead the enterprise sales efforts.

I have extensive experience in consumer lead generation as well as B2B lead gen strategies and understand the nature of lead generation marketplaces.

Talk to me if you are building a sales team, trying to create a consistent marketing engine to feed that sales team or creating an enterprise sales strategy. I've failed as much as I've succeeded at all of these things, let me share my experience with you.

User Interface Design, User Experience, UX/UI - Focus on Retention & Engagement

I've built hundreds of web and mobile applications in my career and largely been the driver of user interface design and user experience. I'm very good at taking the work of other experts and adopting them to fit the specific product needs.

My present mobile focus is topical chat room platform called Fabric; we currently have 6 apps in various niche verticals with over 100K users. My approach to UX/UI is very iterative with clean and straightforward design. I don't actually consider myself a designer, but I've become very effective at cobbling together UX from various sources to develop an optimal user experience for each use case.

http://www.tengroups.com

Mobile App Monetization, Engagement, Marketing Acquisition & Ad Networks

I've built and launched more than 50 apps, mostly as side projects with a partner of mine. I've learned a lot about mobile development, customer acquisition, metrics tracking and driving engagement -- particularly in the area of what does NOT work, but also in what works.

I not only have extensive experience in developing and launching mobile apps, I have the best kind of experience in growing and monetizing them -- failure!

Building an app is one thing, growing the user base, keeping them engaged and retained and ultimately turning on the monetization is very very difficult. I've dealt with many of the challenges you'll face and have found some very effective methods to drive engagement and am even making a good amount of money from apps (whoa, mindblower).

I've also become quite skilled (largely through trial and error over the past few years) with mobile analytics and metrics tracking including platforms like Localytics, Mixpanel and Flurry.

Talk to me if you have an app and are trying to figure out how to grow it, keep users engaged, make money or find other creative ways to leverage what you've built.

http://www.angel.co/jeffsolomon

Failing Hard, Struggling, Grinding and Finding Your Way

Man I've failed hard and I've struggled way more than I've succeeded. But I have had success and am skilled at navigating the challenges that startups and entrepreneurship present. If you're struggling with ups and down, are near failure or just having a hard time, I'm your man.

I'll listen and provide actionable insights that can help get you out of your funk. In my experience the biggest wins are borne out of the lowest bottoms. Use the struggle to your advantage!

Startup Accelerators & Incubators, Angel & Seed Funding and Venture Capital VC

I am a co-founder and Executive Director at Amplify in Venice, CA. We've invested in 27 companies in the past 24 months and our portfolio companies have raised more than $35 million in Angel/Venture money. I've also built several startups and have raised over 20M for them.

I know the ins-and-outs applying and getting into accelerators and am very effective at building and prepping for presentations. I'm particularly good at helping define a business strategy that will resonate with investors when companies are small and have little traction. You're story is likely to change over time, it's important to tune your vision to leverage what is working, don't hide what's not working and bring the passion.

I have raised over $20 million in venture money for my companies and have helped my Amplify portfolio companies raise nearly $40 million in Angel, Seed and Venture Capital money. I'm also an Angel investor in 8 companies including Plan Vanilla Games (maker of Quizup, Joyus, Playdek Games, Umano and more).

Talk to me if you want guidance in picking the right Venture Firms, VC's, seed or angel investors. I can be very helpful in identifying investors, building pitch decks and working through deal terms and structure (which can be very confusing.

Moreover, I can help with crafting your story, talking about various ins-and-outs regarding startup accelerators and incubators, both in Los Angeles and around the country.

http://www.amplify.la

Content Marketing, Back Link Building, SEO & B2B Content Strategy

Growing your organic presence online is a grind. There is no quick route to success. Reaching high ranks for your target keywords is achieved primarily through content creation and link building. This is generally called content marketing.

I've been creating B2B content for 20+ years and have built authoritative websites that get ranked for high volume keywords across a range of industries including Saas, CRM, Productivity, Entrepreneurship, Startups, Financial Services and more.

I only use legitimate methods to build my brand and can share my experiences -- both successes and failures. From defining a smart content strategy to executing on internal and outsourced content creation as well as contextual back link building I've been through the wringer and out the other side. I write 3-4 pieces of content each week, run a high volume link building outreach campaign and do guest posts to grow my sites ranks.

I'm a content marketing grinder and I'll happily share all my strategies.

Software Development, Outsourcing, MVP; Developers Failed to Deliver Project

I've built a lot of software in the past 20 years. I've built US teams from scratch, I've outsourced to dozens of countries, I've hired on Upwork, I've used Turing and every other developer resource out there. I know how hard it is, especially for first-time software founders to build and launch something good. I've seen and advised hundreds of entrepreneurs on how to pick up the pieces from failed developers or a project that went awry.

I can help you navigate where to go after things break down or what to do so things go right the first time.

SaaS - Enterprise Software, SMB Software - Focus on B2B User Acquisition

I founded Velocify (formerly Leads360), in 2004, $50MM ARR and sold for $140MM with a clean cap table. Velocify is an Enterprise Lead Management CRM platform with over 25,000 users across 500 companies in financial services, education, insurance, business operations and other key verticals.

I have extensive experience in building SaaS applications, pricing, customer on-boarding, retention and attrition management as well as B2B customer acquisition. I've pretty much tested everything in the B2B SaaS space. I've seen what works and learned the hard way what doesn't.

Talk to me if you are starting a SaaS business or need advice on how to scale one, build the team, do customer service or any other challenge/opportunity you may have. I love this category!

http://www.leads360.com

Answers 19
Reviews 304

Answers

Jeff Solomon answered

I have a team of salespeople calling NYC & SF setting 7 fig listing appts for top Realtors. Is there an online mktg strategy to get leads to team?

Zillow and Trulia both offer lead generation products for realtors; you might be able to scrape, or pay, for leads from there using a combination of tech and pay-for services. You might also consider checking out what data sources @Factual has that can be tapped to reach the right audience... but yes, inbound is way better than cold calling fo sho

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Start-ups

Online Lead Generation

Jeff Solomon answered

When selling SaaS solution to small businesses, how do I tell if they are willing to pay X, even if they say they'd like to pay as little as possible?

The best sales people can very quickly identify the biggest pain point for a customer; if you do this it's easier for the prospect to associate money with that pain e.g. "how much it's worth to alleviate that pain".

If something is a nice to have it's not worth that much to them, if something is a must have, it's worth more... try to put your product in the must have, or at least in the "what a pain it would be without your thing" category.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Pricing

Jeff Solomon answered

Do you think Email Marketing is underrated as a strategy for user growth and retention? How effective is it in your experience? Thanks!

It does seem to have taken a little bit of a back seat in the eyes of most startup founders, I guess it's not sexy like Facebook boosted posts or Tapjoy incentivized installs... but it's one that still works exceptionally well.

Moreover, of the startups I've invested in this year, 2 of the 5 that are making profits do it through an email list they curated from app installs and then sell access to that list to other companies who want to reach the customers they have.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Growth Hacking

Jeff Solomon answered

How would I start developing a product? Are freelance sites such as oDesk or eLance the way to go? Or is a private company a better route? Thanks

I use any resource at my disposal, but I think it comes down to a little formula that takes in these two data points:

1) what am I trying to build?
2) what are my strengths?

Here's how it works. I basically calculate a "success probability outcome score" based on these two factors. Here are some examples:

Let's say I'm creating sophisticated SaaS solution with a complex data structure and backend. I'm strong in the product side (features, UX, architecture, etc.) but weak in the tech side so outsourcing with oDesk could be a challenge. In a separate case, if I've got a really basic dynamic website with half a dozen tables and basic CRUD operations, oDesk might be a great source for me b/c the project is pretty straightforward and I can project manage all aspects pretty easily given my strengths.

In general I use oDesk, Elance and the like for more basic and straightforward -- they have a wide range of services there including: coding, graphic design, copywriting, task management, voiceover, etc. For this stuff, it's a no brainer. If the project starts to get out of the scope of my expertise and it's generally complicated tech, I tend to stay away from these services.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Product Design

Product Management

Jeff Solomon answered

What is Drip Marketing? I'm looking for case studies or real life examples of how effective it is a strategy for user retention.

I think Velocify (formerly Leads360) may have an actual case study on this as the drip email capability is pretty core to their lead management software. You can probably download from their website http://www.velocify.com

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Email Marketing

Jeff Solomon answered

What are the most important metrics early on for a B2B SaaS startup?

Retention (aka churn). This is the most important because it drives all other decisions around sales, marketing and product. If churn is high it's because: a) sales people are not setting expectations properly (e.g. selling too much sizzle and not enough steak); b) your marketing is bringing in the wrong type of customer; c) your product doesn't solve a big enough problem/pain point for your customer.

It's also the key to forecasting; if you can accurately predict churn, you know how much you need to sell, how many leads you need to generate, etc. etc.

Don't wait, track this asap. And don't fake it (like Salesforce.com used to say, oh, we have less than 1% churn per year, when they were actually tracking the % of customers that don't renew contracts). That's not churn; people cancel or stop paying ALL THE TIME. As soon as you know you're not going to get money again from that customer, they've churned, track that end date right then and there.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Start-ups

Jeff Solomon answered

What are your recommended touch points for a successful drip campaign for an analytics SaaS provider in the unified communication industry?

If it's email, my experience has been keep the touches valuable and consumable. By that I mean, don't send them a 2 page email with all kinds of content about how awesome your company is and why they should use your product. Take the education marketing approach. Send them little nuggets of useful information or data. If you are selling an analytics platform, give them some insightful analytics they can immediately benefit from e.g. "did you know that 50% of people who walk on a car dealership lot end up buying a car in the next 30 days... be sure to capture contact information from EVERYONE that steps foot on your lot".

The recipient of that email drip feels they got a real valuable data point that is also actionable and they'll remember it came from you. When they're ready to buy, you'll be top of mind.

Links to articles are also great for drip campaigns e.g. "hey, we saw this interesting article on customer patterns for car dealerships and thought you might find it valuable" -- of course, if you guys did the analytics and produced the white paper that's good too.

Key is to mix it up. Frequency is ok, if it's useful.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Digital Marketing

Jeff Solomon answered

Where do I put my advertising dollars when launching a iOS app?

I agree with Rob, FB mobile ads are literally the only thing that works on a pay-for-install basis in an affordable way. But i would say its essential to get your retention levels figured out as soon as possible because driving users, particularly paid ones, is a big waste if you cant make a return on your spend. For example, if your app makes money on IAP's then you need to figure out LTV ASAP or any users you get at $2 or $0.50 make not a bit of difference. That said, it takes users to get this data so yes, pay to get them or whatever u need to do. Of course, you'll be way better off if your new users are good (e.g. not random Tapjoy huslers).

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Mobile Advertising

Mobile applications

Mobile Marketing

Jeff Solomon answered

What are some good places to come up with future start up ideas? How important is it that the CEO come up with the idea themselves?

There really isnt much more to say than what Paul Graham did in this essay http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html

However, I will add this. As it relates to the CEO coming up with the idea, its a big bonus when founders/ceo are solving their own problem. Its obviously much easier to make a product decision when you can be certain at least one user agrees with it wholeheartedly. That said, Ive build 3 successful (and 1 utter fail) where I was not in fact solving my own problem. In fact I'm working on a new project where I'm not directly the user. But I've come to realize if you are not directly solving your own problems then two things that are essential in building a business:

1) you must become good at extrapolating the needs of users.

2) you must at least be building products that you deeply understand and empathize with.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Start Ups

Jeff Solomon answered

Since being away from the technology, what are some of the best practices of today? Backend, front end. php, asp, off the shelf dev tools?

Having lived in the .NET world for 10 years with way too much "refreshing", I'm loving how powerful web sockets are, particularly mobile. Node.js, Mongo and Redis are great in this realm.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Backend Development

Web Applications

front-end development

Jeff Solomon answered

What could help me to get a deeper understanding of users desires (perhaps even beyond the product)?

I love what Dan said about asking what users do 3 mins before and after using your product.

I think the best product people know how to extrapolate better than others. Its one thing to gather feedback and observe users, but its much more challenging deciding what to do with that information. Simply asking users what they want wont always give you the best outcome. Someone once said, although Henry Ford is often credited, "if i had asked, people would have wanted faster horses". Theres some truth there. Its about the ability to observe customers and extrapolate the features.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

User Research

Psychology

Reviews

Superb call, my first on Clarity and was work every penny.

James Augusti Source: Clarity

Very helpful. Enjoyed speaking with Jeff.

Mark McInnis Source: Clarity

Jeff was clearly experienced in the type of problems I have been seeking support with and asked the right questions, this was followed by some simple and easily actionable approaches to tweak my processes.

Tom Lazenby Source: Clarity

Great feedback from Jeff! I enjoyed our conversation a lot

Frank Temo Source: Clarity

Jeff had great insights into the problem I was facing and was able to provide direct & practical help. Will definitely reach out to him in future as well.

Utkarsh Vaibhav Source: Clarity

Jeff is brilliant and has great principles and thought processes. He would be of value to anyone considering any new software development, entrepreneurial advise, or otherwise.

Joseph Kerolos Source: Clarity

Great initial call. Lots of good insight. Talked about Sales and growth. Was helpful.

Jon Clifford Source: Clarity

Jeff is a great source of knowledge and a very nice person to talk to. He was my first ever Clarity call, so I was a bit nervous and wanted to make sure I gave him as much info as possible in the short amount of time we had, but it all worked out very well. And Ieft the call with some great insights and valuable food for thought. Thanks!

Wim Reygaert Source: Clarity

Concise, pointed feedback. Well worth it!

Zack Fediay Source: Clarity

Amazing call! Jeff is a wealth of knowledge in scaling companies!!!!

Oleksandr Fedotov Source: Clarity

Jeff is amazing! I gained an incredible amount of insight in our 30-minute call. I highly recommend him.

Brian GREENBERG Source: Clarity

Member since August 2012