@benjaminboman

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    Growing Content Snare to 1k paying users: A founder story | Jimmy Rose

    Jimmy Rose is the co-founder of Content Snare, a tool for collecting documents and information from clients. In this episode, Jimmy shares his startup journey, including finding product-market fit, what worked in marketing, his approach to hiring, and more.

    Key Takeaways

    • Pathway to MVP:
      • Started as a completely different idea, a briefing tool.
      • Found that chasing information from clients was a bigger problem after talking to 15 different agencies.
      • Once the audience was identified as agencies, started creating content right away, using Jimmy’s knowledge and SEO techniques.
      • Presented the MVP as a sneak peek with a few screenshots and a link to buy.
      • Way under-charged at $60 for the year, which led to high churn and not enough buy-in for feedback.
    • Feature Management:
      • Don’t use a feature voting board; it becomes a dumping ground.
      • Keep tabs on what people request on intercom.
      • Connect the dots to work out what’s going to be a good commercial choice.
      • Now put feedback into an airtable and use the RICE framework to evaluate the features.
    • Finding Product-Market Fit:
      • Initially, accountants were written off as the ideal customer profile (ICP) due to personal bias.
      • However, once this segment was identified, things became much easier.
      • Accountants are tech-forward and understand the value of their time.
    • Marketing:
      • Content and SEO have always been Jimmy’s favorites.
      • Use partnerships with influencers, webinars, podcasts, and guests.
      • Gabriel Weinberg’s book called Traction was helpful.
      • Run tests using the framework to ideate which works best for the business.
    • Unexpected Problems:
      • Felt like pushing crap uphill, not knowing what was wrong.
      • Kind of had product-market fit, but not knowing for sure.
      • Churn was equal to the growth rate, and felt like everything had been tried.
      • Only got better once a better fit was found.
    • Hiring:
      • Job posts should be written like a landing page to sell the company.
      • Throw in things that give people an opportunity to talk about themselves.
      • Use test tasks for content and WordPress developers with a set of instructions to narrow down candidates.
      • Almost know most of the applicants just by email and test tasks before even talking to them.

    Mistakes

    • Undercharging for the product, which can lead to high churn and not enough buy-in for feedback.

    Key Lessons

    • Targeting a different segment can make a significant difference in finding the right product-market fit.
      • If you’re constantly getting good feedback, but can’t work out why you’re not growing, there’s probably something wrong with product-market fit.
      • Targeting a different segment can make a significant difference.
    • Run tests using a framework like Traction to ideate which works best for the business.
    • Job posts should be written like a landing page to sell the company.
    • Use test tasks for content and WordPress developers with a set of instructions to narrow down candidates.

    Relevant Links