kdykes

co-founder - @vibe media - www.atvibe.com 
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July 28, 2009

SaaS companies - take a lesson from Freshbooks...

I don't remember how I came across this job description on the Freshbooks site, but I've gone back to read it at last 20 times & shared with my partner and a few clients. While I admit the position is tempting, this wasn't the reason. It is because Freshbooks 'gets it' in so many ways - and this job description is just one more example. A few points before I share the actual job offer from their site...

  • Unlike Freshbooks, many SaaS companies FAIL to see their API/web services integrations as a key part of their development cycle and product offering. We're not the only ones that feel this way... check out this post on ProgrammableWeb.com - Saas Vendors Need to Get a Clue About API's
  • Companies need to cross the chasm from technical integration to the business side of the API integrations. A web services program correctly implemented can add massive leverage, fill the business development pipeline and lead to substantial revenue and market traction.
  • A correctly developed and managed integrations program can not only add net-new revenue, but it can provide barriers to entry to competition and add to the valuation at an early stage in the growth cycle.

Either follow Fresh books example below or talk with us at @vibe media about our performance compensation-based API Powered Partnerships program. But it's time to view your web integrations from the business angle and not just from the developer/technology angle.

Integrations Business Manager

Are you an entrepreneur at heart? Do you like the idea of leveraging your knowledge and passion for developing new products AND marketing them? Do you love the idea of building relationships and working with partners? If that’s you then we’d love you to consider our role for Integrations Business Manager.

FreshBooks is one of the most popular small business web applications on the Web. But that’s not enough — we want to continually add value for our customer by integrating with the other tools and services our customers use every day. We've done a pretty good job so far with some pretty sweet partners and apps - and now need someone to grab hold and drive this business forward.

As our Integrations Business Manager you’ll be responsible for building our Integrations business out. You’ll source new partners that are a fit for our customers, and then help them understand our API, design, and test their integrations to make sure they are FreshBooks worthy. You’ll build a developer network around FreshBooks that creates a steady stream of new, cool apps for FreshBooks. You’ll help us advance our mobile applications and their adoption. And, importantly, you’ll be a marketing genius when it comes to promoting these integrations to our community.

We will be successful if:

  • You accelerate the growth of customer acknowledged awesome add-ons around FreshBooks
  • You drive a boat-load of new business through the relationships with our partners
  • You establish FreshBooks as the friendliest and smartest integrator… ever
  • You demonstrate and qualify the impact of all your efforts so we can all celebrate your success

We absolutely need you to have:

  • A passion for product, partners and marketing — all of them
  • Proven ability to negotiate win-win arrangements with partners
  • A proven commitment to quality, design, and testing
  • Online marketing savvy and ingenuity
  • A rock solid ability to work with technology
  • The ability to make things happen and get things done
  • Entrepreneurial chutzpah
via freshbooks.com

 

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Filed under  //   api   API Business Development   SaaS   startup  

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June 11, 2009

Lessons Learned: Using AdWords to assess demand for your new online service, step-by-step

Using AdWords to assess demand for your new online service, step-by-step

Google Analytics ベンチマークIf you want to build an online service, and you don't test it with a fake AdWords campaign ahead of time, you're crazy. That's the conclusion I've come to after watching tons of online products fail for a complete lack of customers. So I thought I would walk you through exactly how to run a "fake landing page" test using cheap tools that require no technical skills whatsoever.

Our goal is to find out whether customers are interested in your product by offering to give (or even sell) it to them, and then failing to deliver on that promise. If you're worried about disappointing some potential customers - don't be. Most of the time, the experiments you run will have a zero percent conversion rate - meaning no customers were harmed during the making of this experiment. And if you do get a handful of people taking you up on the offer, you'll be able to send them a nice personal apology. And if you get tons of people trying to take you up on your offer - congratulations. You probably have a business. Hopefully that will take some of the sting out of the fact that you had to engage in a little trickery.
via startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com

KDYKES: This is a great approach so you don't waste time or money on an idea that is not fully baked. Go read the full article.

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Filed under  //   leanstartup   SaaS   startup  

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