Unfortunately I gave this talk as an exclusive favor to the 500 Startup companies. I may decide to mod it a bit for public consumption - but there was a lot of "inside stuff" that I'm not comfortable sharing publicly. As we iterate, I'll be sure to share more and more.
For most startups, there's only 12-15 potential acquirers - so doesn't it make sense to reach out and start relationships with the lead product and corp dev guys?
In regards to the future and what we're planning - we try and let the product speak for itself. That way if were wrong, no one knows ;), and it gives us an opportunity to delight and surprise our customers.
re: background - my first startup was MaritimeVacation.com and I used direct mail as my primary marketing channel. Our team has deep DNA in marketing in general - kind of my area of study. http://www.udemy.com/social-marketing-for-startups/
re: 60% reduction
- Let go of our customer coaches / contractors
- Everyone took 50% pay cut
- Cancelled any accounts that weren't critical
- Stopped any payable = no money out unless needed to keep the lights on.
I've been doing startups for a while, and from experience, if you need to cut - make it quick and deep.
sawyer, we've always let our product explain itself so not much to add (easier that way ;). if you've registered to join - I'll be sure to send over an invite.
our investors definitely invested in the team and were grateful for having them on board. super supportive and amazing.