Walnut.io's Journey from Idea to $56-million in Venture Capital

Show notes

What's it like to operate a red-hot startup?

What's it like to raise $56-million in venture capital in a relatively short period of time?

In this episode of Marketing Spark, Walnut.io CEO Yoav Vilner talks about the interactive demo software company's rapid growth and how it raised major venture capital, including a $35 million Series B round in January.

Yoav and I also talked about:

- How B2B SaaS companies can attract their first 100 customers

- When sales teams should be scaled.

- When to hire your first full-time marketer and what type of marketer to hire

- The new world of networking.

Key takeaways

Validate your idea by talking to dozens of strangers in B2B, and hundreds in B2C. Friends and colleagues will say it's good to be polite, and a few excited responses don't mean people will pay.

To land your first customers, offer your MVP free to a few companies as design partners. Then use their logos to win larger companies that will pay.

If you can't find people who will give their time to use your product for free, you may be talking to the wrong persona or building the wrong thing. Try a different persona or pivot.

Founders can pitch journalists themselves, and a seed round is often enough for a first announcement. Journalists like hearing from the founder, and a timely hook helps.

Don't take investor meetings if you don't need money for six to eight months. Doing so gives investors data points about your business, and the chasing never ends.

Walnut.io's Journey from Idea to $56-million in Venture Capital

Show notes

Tell me what's going on with your marketing.