Week 03, 2024 - Diary of a Revenue Engineer
What I Thought…
Have we finally reached that moment where it’s too far gone to say “happy new year” to people? It feels like we have.
Well regardless of the niceties, this year has started just like any other in SaaS Tech - desirable chaos.
I say desirable, it really isn’t, but it feels like we create problems for ourselves more than we solve for others. I don wonder, sometimes, what the net gain to efficiency and quality of life many business offer.
Imagine if there were a universal score associated with what you do, where it could be classified and understood by the net gain it does for people, for life, for the forces of good.
Bhutan is a country who measures it’s GDP in national happiness. It’s also one of the only countries who is Carbon reductive - actually paying some of the bill for it’s greedy cousins.
I’m eager for this year, for the challenges that lie ahead but I’m also not going in blind. The weighing of the scales for that universal force of good will be hard and, most probably, volatile.
But, like Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”, alluding to the fact that failure is an optional state and not an outcome.
Whatever your universal good score may be, let’s throw ourselves at the 10,000 wrong ways until we hit upon that golden win.
Oh, and turn your lights off - Bhutan could use a break.
What I learned…
Well it was David Goggins appearance on the Huberman Lab podcast that got me gripped this week. I dug in to the 2+ hour sometimes uncomfortable session with Goggins as he describes the terrible life he’s created for himself in order to discover the incredible man he is.
I added it to my “Best Podcasts of your life” playlist, which you’re welcome to follow, and it’s the 2nd time Mr Goggin’s endured his way into those hallowed grounds.
There’s a moment where Andrew Huberman tells him about the aMCC, a part of the brain which grows when you do something you don’t want to do.
It could be the home of willpower itself and, there’s evidence to suggest, it could be the home of the will to live.
In either way, I’m finding things I don’t want to do, and that moment when my brain says “Not that… anything but that” I hear a little Goggin’s say “Guess what… now that’s what we’re doing…”
What I built…
This week, I’d actually like to cover what I aimed to build and actually became part of breaking…
I’ve been working alongside strategists and clever marketing folks to launch a new pricing package for a SaaS product.
However… the project was pressured, rushed and, being quite candid, potentially obsolete by the time we launched it.
I’m not entirely sold it’s going to be the platform for massive growth and purposeful trajectory that we’d hoped.
Here’s what I think went wrong:
Trends outperformed the objective of the project and we should have reacted to that. It was launched in march 2023 and realised in Jan 2024. By this time, the metrics we were looking to impact had already shown great development… should we have shelved this initiative? Maybe yes…
Ownership of the project was mixed, confused and very top heavy. We’ve started launching new initiatives with Executive Sponsorship, which in many ways is fantastic. However, it keeps something very senior at the top, driving the project forward without really knowing what is happening on the ground. A better solution? Make someone responsible at the ground level and have them report and update the Senior Leader as a necessary part of the project.
How I lived longer…
Well Goggins making me do what I don’t want to will help, I’m told, but I also managed to kick off the running part of my fitness journey, which is great.
On that note, I have to say how impressed I was with the whole set up and GTM function of Vivo-Barefoot.
Incredibly solid branding, putting their mission and beliefs at the front of the content and making you jump on board quickly.
A plethora of diverse but very high quality re-marketing video and images.
Amazing and interactive purchasing experience as well as a brilliant partnership with InPost for returns and delivery.
I was totally bought in by the time they arrived and I love them dearly.
Seriously, even if you don’t buy from them, take VB as a masterclass in owning a space and creating a value-narrative.
How I stayed happier…
“Therapy. Everyone needs more therapy.” my partner said over Christmas. When I suggest she re-engage too, however she said “No… I’ve had quite enough of that…”
I think, thankfully to some lesser extent now, Therapy has less of the stigma than it used to.
However… I do wonder if we could classify it better.
Here’s my two cents:
Imagine a flabby body, it’s pale, it’s pasty, it’s clearly formed from some bad habits that are doing nothing for that individual. I’m actually describing myself post lockdown as I write this.
That person takes themself to a PT and creates a fitness plan, they start to form habits, they change their diet, they change their sleep, they invest in themselves more.
Would we feel that this person was, in some way, weak or deficient? Quite the opposite.
Now… Imagine that all of these physical ailments are just visual representations of the subconscious and emotional mind.
The PT is a therapist and the routine and workouts are internal dialogues, journaling, speaking openly and facing your fears.
Therapy is PT for the emotional brain and my partner is 50% right… we all need more, but none of us are ever done.
Final Thoughts…
I experienced the pain of a mis-directed project and felt responsible for my part in it.
I experienced what an excellent GTM team can do with the right plan, execucution, vision and partnerships.
Those experiences lead me to start running again and my calves as screaming at the experience.
I reached deep into the fog of my emotional brain and pulled at the strands there… I was quite amazed and rocked at what was lurking there.
Almost all of it was hard… I wanted to do very little of it.
But, according to David and Andrew, that’s fine - it’ll make me live longer.
Well here’s to that and, dare I say, I think we’ve found who’s going to carry the boats.
