June 2017 Summaries

In this episode of To Be Continuous, Edith and Paul discuss various topics such as customer gifts, flat organizations, management styles, and Hacker News comments. They talk about how they used to give out chocolate as a vendor gift but now prefer other types of gifts like coffee or wine. They also share their experiences with managing teams in a startup environment and why they believe that having a clear hierarchy is important for effective communication and decision-making within an organization. Regarding Hacker News comments, Edith mentions how some people make fun of their company on the platform but she has learned to appreciate these criticisms as they help her understand what others think about their product or service. Paul agrees with this sentiment but emphasizes that he dislikes when people repeatedly post low-quality comments without adding any value to the conversation. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into different aspects of running a successful startup and managing teams effectively.

LaunchDarkly introduces custom roles to enhance access controls in the developer space. Modeled after Amazon Web Services' IAM service, these roles allow admins to control permissions at a granular level. Custom roles empower teams like Customer Support, Sales, and Marketing to handle issues independently, reducing dependence on engineering teams. For example, customer support can disable problematic features temporarily, sales can manage feature access based on customer plans, and marketing can run A/B tests without coordinating with engineering releases. Engineering teams benefit from custom roles by avoiding destructive operations that might affect other team members or end-users.

In today's episode, Edith and Paul discuss the importance of metrics when raising venture capital for a SaaS startup. They also talk about how growth slows down as companies mature, and why it's important to have clear product-market fit before seeking further investment. Additionally, they touch on the use of NPS surveys in gathering customer feedback, and whether or not it's beneficial to send these surveys out to all customers. Lastly, they discuss the pros and cons of hiring quickly versus slowly as a company scales up. The discussion begins with Edith sharing some statistics from a report by SaaStr on metrics for raising a series A round of funding. According to the report, 27% of companies have zero revenue when they raise their series A. Paul argues that while it's possible to raise money without having strong metrics, this is typically only true for founders who already have successful exits under their belts. Edith then brings up an example of a friend who might get a preemptive A with no metrics, which leads to a discussion about the value-add that venture capitalists can bring to startups. They agree that while many VCs may not add much value, the good ones will be able to see potential in companies where others cannot. The conversation then shifts to product-market fit and how important it is for raising further rounds of funding. Edith shares her experience with NPS surveys at Launch Darkly, which have received very positive feedback from customers. Paul expresses some skepticism about the value of sending out NPS surveys to all customers, arguing that they can be seen as a bother and waste people's time. Finally, Edith and Paul discuss the pros and cons of hiring quickly versus slowly as a company scales up. They agree that there is always tension around this issue, but ultimately believe that it depends on the specific needs and goals of each individual company.

The author has recently joined LaunchDarkly after spending nine years at Atlassian Software where they were part of the founding members of their Technical Account Management (TAM) team. TAM aims to help customers maximize the use of LaunchDarkly's capabilities by providing directed, proactive, and strategic guidance tailored to each company's needs. The author plans to build a rockstar program at LaunchDarkly using their experience from Atlassian. They also mention their passion for technology trends, food, board games, and making mojitos in their spare time.

The author recently joined LaunchDarkly after working with the company as an advisor/consultant. They have been advising various startups, comparing it to "company dating." Prior to this, they worked at EMC and VMware for almost 15 years, witnessing the shift from traditional development frameworks like waterfall to newer practices such as agile, scrum, and continuous deployment. The author has identified three phases of software development: Concept, Launch, and Control. They are particularly excited about feature management at LaunchDarkly, which helps eliminate risks while delivering value in a fast-paced environment. Additionally, the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion was an important factor in their decision to join LaunchDarkly.