Affnetz Case Study
Go-To-Market From Scratch
To take a transformative vision to market
PROBLEM: This founder sought to drive the adoption of a first generation implementation of an end-to-end operational SaaS platform for nonprofits, and prepare for proper fundraising to scale the business.
SOLUTION: Working with existing part-time contributors, Precise Change shaped the narrative for an angel investor round, closed several $100K contributions, and formalized the stock and option plans. It brought in the leadership to take on development of the product, and launch a second generation of the platform. On the go-to-market side, the company underwent several iterations of marketing and sales approaches, learning buying behavior.
Dream it.
After volunteering and funding nonprofits for over 20 years, this founder reached deep into his convictions and experiences, and decided to help these organizations by enabling them with a dedicated operational platform. His engineers developed a wide array of capabilities, and he onboarded several organizations that emerged through his personal networks. After launching separate instances of the solution for each customer, the code base for each quickly diverged from the others, and the costs grew linearly.
It was time to prepare for scale.
Build it.
Precise Change initially helped form a sales strategy, but then identified key bottlenecks in the application that required additional investment. We networked to identify a highly experienced SaaS CEO who implemented difficult engineering team changes, led the re-platforming for multi-tenancy, and activated a marketing agency. We then steered the founder through stock plan formation, board operations, and tactical improvements to prepare the business for angel investment.
Having secured new funding, we onboarded a CTO with cyber-security credentials to take on product management and engineering.
Grow it.
With a revamped strategy, a new marketing partner, and existing customers migrated, it was time to grow the business. Precise Change worked with company attorneys to complete the equity incentive program, and hire the first sales rep.
Next up were all the moving parts of a go-to-market motion: marketing content, email marketing, social campaigns, sales ops and CRM. A channel selling expert took point on campaigns.
The sales program was built as a hybrid of channels and PLG, bootstrapped with direct SDR and word-of-mouth networking.
“Michael has been a transformative partner for our startup for several years. Drawing on his 25 years of startup experience, he has a bottomless bag of guidance at every step of the way, spanning every aspect of the business. Yet he remains humble, and constantly researches and brings fresh ideas. Unlike many other advisors who leave their advice at the doorstep, Michael leans in and sees us through the tough times.”
“As an integral part of our internal team, Michael has an exquisite knack for precisely pinpointing the issue at hand, and helping drive the collaboration in productive directions. When needed, he can deliver hard news without sugar coating, lay out a plan, and lead us quickly through the steps to make needed changes. ”