by @abhia90 // newsletter // youtube

https://youtu.be/l-vfn97QTr0

00:00 - What is Segment?

1:30 - Segment’s first customers

3:05 - Their YC application

4:00 - Going through YC

5:30 - Realizing their first product didn’t work

10:30 - Launching Analytics.js

11:45 - Experiencing product market fit

16:55 - Debating whether to launch or build out the product

19:15 - Evan Farrell asks - You mentioned in the SS lecture that you had to totally pivot to Analytics.js to find PMF, is it possible to purely iterate on something people kinda like to find PMF, or should it be clear from the outset if a new idea is something people want?

20:30 - The importance of having a skeptic on your team

• Helps you avoid blind spots

23:30 - Customer interviews

• How a sales process works— MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision maker, Decision process, Identified pain, Champion)

  

• They sometimes like starting with the Champion b/c it can be very efficient (it will get customers to talk forever and they'll end up explaining their problems)

• The best sales people keep asking "why" until the point of uncomfortableness

26:30 - Benjamin Liam asks - How did they know they have the right messaging to explain their product?

28:00 - Idea generation

• There's a big difference b/w the first idea (Core product) and the follow-up idea (ie Individual features or entirely new products)
  • For the first idea, "you have to understand the market & ecosystem & customers up and down to the point where you know it better than they know it themselves"

32:45 - Danny Prol asks - What values and standards do you have in place for your team at Segment? And how do you actively build that culture into your company?

37:00 - Ashwin Doke asks - How has GDPR impacted Segment's business model?

39:15 - Andrew Pikul asks - Any advice he has on asking for more money than you're comfortable asking for.