When a B2B organization underperforms, leadership naturally looks at the obvious levers: Is the Go-to-Market strategy flawed? Are the quotas miscalculated? Is the outbound sequence poorly written?

Yet, after auditing over 100 GTM organizations, we frequently find that friction doesn’t stem from a lack of talent or market opportunity. It stems from a systemic, invisible tax on execution: misaligned vocabulary.

In the high-intensity world of B2B SaaS and Tech, thousands of terms, metrics, and frameworks circulate daily. But ask your Marketing team, your Account Executives, and your Finance Director to define a “qualified lead” or “late-stage pipeline,” and you will often get three entirely different answers.

When your words are blurry, your data becomes unreliable, your exchanges become vague, and ultimately, your revenue performance suffers.

To solve this friction point, we have partnered with Bpifrance Le Hub to publish the Sales Glossary. Designed not as an academic dictionary but as a concrete operational tool , this document aims to eliminate approximations and align B2B leadership, managers, and revenue teams around a unified, execution-ready language.

The 11 Pillars of B2B Revenue Execution

To build a predictable, scalable revenue engine, organizations must master the terminology across the entire lifecycle of a customer. We have broken down these fundamentals into 11 core structural themes:

Before scaling a pipeline, teams must share a flawless grasp of the macro-environment. This section establishes the baseline definitions of B2B , B2C , and B2G dynamics, corporate milestones like IPOs , and the shifting structural expectations across funding rounds—from validation at Seed , to industrialization at Series A , to cross-border or enterprise scaling at Series B and C.

A healthy pipeline begins with strict definitions at the top of the funnel. This section clarifies the exact progression from a raw Lead or Suspect to MQL , SAL , and SQL (or PQL in Product-Led Growth setups). It provides an operational framework for establishing Marketing-Sales SLAs , building data-backed Lead Scoring Models , and utilizing Intent Data to time market outreach perfectly.

A forecast is only as reliable as the entry and exit criteria of your CRM stages. This module deconstructs the progression of a deal—from Opportunity creation to Proposal , Negotiation , Closed-Won , and Closed-Lost analysis. It outlines how to measure Pipeline Coverage ratios , mitigate Slippage , and diagnose the root cause of No Decision outcomes.

Growth is meaningless without efficiency. This section isolates the primary indicators of economic health. We break down how to distinguish between Bookings , Billings , and Revenue Recognition , while providing deep-dive frameworks for tracking core SaaS metrics: MRR/ARR , LTV , CAC Payback periods , and the ultimate yardsticks of enterprise value—Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) and Net Revenue Retention (NRR).

Frameworks prevent commercial teams from relying on gut feeling. This section provides an overview of the industry’s most reliable operational playbooks: from discovery and qualification frameworks (MEDDIC , MEDDPICC , BANT ) and messaging structures (AIDA , Challenger Sale ) to strategic assessment tools (Ansoff Matrix , PESTLE , SWOT ). We also highlight the rising importance of Buyer Enablement —equipping internal champions with the exact resources needed to navigate complex internal purchasing committees.

Modern GTM structures require highly specialized roles. To eliminate overlaps and gray areas , this section maps out the exact scope, KPIs, and responsibilities of the modern revenue org chart: from executive alignment (CRO , VP Sales , CMO ) and operational data engines (RevOps , Sales Ops ) to frontline execution (SDRs , BDRs , Account Executives , Sales Engineers , Account Managers , and CSMs ).

Selling efficiently requires knowing exactly who you are targeting and why. This module focuses on the pillars of strategic deployment: refining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) , mapping out Buyer Personas , calculating TAM/SAM/SOM limits , structuring high-yield Pricing & Packaging , and designing clear Client Segmentation playbooks.

Outbound is a game of relevance, discipline, and multi-touch execution, not raw volume. This section focuses on the technical and structural components of proactive pipeline creation: mastering domain Deliverability , structuring multi-channel Cadences/Sequences , and orchestrating Multi-threading strategies to engage multiple stakeholders simultaneously within a single target account.

In mid-market and enterprise sales cycles, deals are frequently won or lost after the commercial agreement. This module untangles the complex backend of large-scale closing: navigating RFPs/RFQs , aligning on MSA/SOW boundaries , clearing Security Reviews (SOC2/ISO) , and handling legal Redlines and DPAs (Data Processing Agreements) without losing commercial momentum.

Data is the fuel of predictable growth, but only if it is clean. This section covers the foundational rules of Data Governance within the CRM , establishing clear Territory & Account Assignment routing rules , ensuring accurate marketing Attribution , and building Compensation Plans that align sales incentives with long-term company profitability.

Scaling non-linearly requires leveraging external ecosystems. The final chapter analyzes the mechanics of indirect growth, mapping out the governance, enablement rules, and shared revenue models required for successful Channel Sales , Co-selling initiatives , and structured Referral Programs.

From Jargon to Execution

In an “efficiency-first” market environment, execution speed is everything. When your teams waste time debating definitions or misinterpreting pipeline metrics, your growth slows down.

By standardizing these definitions across your entire organization, you do more than just clean up your CRM; you align your internal culture, remove structural friction between departments, and give your teams the exact tools they need to make faster, data-driven decisions.

Whether you are a founder structuring your very first Go-to-Market team, a VP Sales refining your enterprise motion, or an investor auditing a portfolio company’s pipeline, this glossary serves as your tactical baseline.

A rebound, not a surge, shines sunlight in a gray sky.

Despite economics and bankers’ predictions, the recession did not happen. The US economy has been more resilient than expected and US households’ consumption beat expectations.

Although this sounds far away from our day-to-day lives, operating small or medium-sized companies, this is still the beginning of the snowball effect.

This drives the appetite of LPs and large investors whether to deploy more capital or not.

What’s easy to predict for our coming semester is the increase of false claims of companies pretending to build AI products in order to survive and get funded. Most investors won’t be fooled though. We know — they know — who the true players are.

Yet, we are still globally on the verge of a true AI shift in our daily lives that will be comparable to the surge of telecommunications. That’s now a given.

For the 99% of other companies, building software, marketplaces, or anything else, getting funded will remain hard. The necessity of showing a strong path to profitability at very early stages, sometimes before Series A, is a new reality. One could have thought that this would have been a prerequisite for small VCs or European VCs, but no. Unfortunately, large VCs, US VCs, and top-tier VCs do bet more on profitable companies and are ready to give high valuations to those who outstandingly combine aggressive growth and positive EBITDA. The rule of 100 has replaced the rule of 40.

So, what will happen to companies who are struggling to get both? Or even one of the two? Well, there is a high likelihood that they will stay in the 1M to 10M revenue segment for a while, transforming themselves into non-digital companies with slow growth — not dying, not skyrocketing. The other path would be for them to bet on a high return on investment, build new products with high leverage, invest in their teams to do more with less, or merge with competitors. External growth is often considered by entrepreneurs for large companies, and it should not be.

Yet, we’re seeing from the entrepreneurs surveyed in this edition that positive mindset and willingness to grow are vital. Hiring will accelerate again, budgets will increase, and ultimately this will drive more revenue and more growth. For those who invest on those fronts, H2-24 is about investment and smart bets — and payback in 2025.

Welcome to the third edition of Perspectives by Atscale

Launched by Atscale in 2023, Perspectives offers founders, executives, and investors a short-term outlook on trends for the upcoming semester in the technology and cloud industry.

In each edition released every 6 months, we invite over 20 esteemed authors from the European tech ecosystem to share their unique perspectives on the upcoming six months.

Inside Perspectives #3, you will discover insights tailored specifically for the second semester of 2024.

Index:

• Overview of the upcoming semester
• Articles by top tier leaders of the European tech ecosystem:
  • “Navigating venture capital challenges amidst increasingly complex trends and market implications”
    by Marc Fournier, co-founder and managing partner at Serena
  • “Regulations which will impact the startup ecosystem”
    by Maya Noël, managing director of France Digitale
  • “How the expectations from founders will change in H2 2024”
    by Patrick Lord, senior partner fintech at Truffle Capital
  • “Revamping growth strategies to be successful in H2 2024”
    by Bozena Adamczyk, partner at Truffle Capital
  • “The key EBITDA levers to end 2024 as strong as possible”
    by Alexandre Molla, CEO and co-founder at Sharelock
  • “International expansion for startups”
    by Reinder Lubbers, venture capital investor & managing founder at No Such Ventures
  • “The importance of workforce upskilling”
    by Julie Ranty, co-founder of Pollen
  • “Success criteria for end of 2024”
    by Wolter Rebergen, VP RevOps at Younium
• Opinion pieces from CEOs and investors with recommendations on H2 2024
• Panel talk dedicated to building solid pipeline

Meet the Authors:

From the startup side:

• Maya Noel, France Digitale
• Alexandre Molla, Sharelock
• Julie Ranty, Pollen
• Wolter Rebergen, Younium
• Peter-Paul DE LEEUW from Amberscript
• Jean Bernard MELET from Eldo
• Saskia FISZEL from Virgil
• Pierre-Marin CAMPENON from Younited
• Tristan VIÉ from Jobteaser
• Martin-Pierre GAUTIER from Lemonway
• Florian GENDRAULT from Alleo
• Raphaël BOUKRIS from Didomi
• Geert VAN KERCKHOVEN from Oper Credits
• Michael GONZALEZ from Mindee

From the VC side:

• Marc Fournier, Serena
• Patrick Lord, Truffle
• Bozena Adamczyk, Truffle
• Reinder Lubbers, No Such Ventures
• Kolja HESKAMP from Torq.Partners
• Léa VERDILLON from Aglaé Ventures
• Bruno DELAHAYE from Cathay Innovation
• Margaux GREGOIR from Alven 

From the Operating Partners side:

• Loïc MOCELLIN
• Laetitia Ribier-Costa
• Asya Kotler
• Richard Schenzel

All articles are published in posts of this blog.
To access a pdf of the printed copy of the journal, follow this link: https://at-scale.co/perspectives_2/

This edition showcases artworks from our partner, Singulart, an online art platform. We wanted to translate the state of the technology and cloud industry from the words of our authors into emotions created by the talented artists represented by Singulart. 

The cover of every Perspectives journal aims to represent the shape in which our industry finds itself for this particular semester. 

We extend our gratitude to our esteemed authors for their invaluable contributions as well as to the participants of the trend observatory research. We would like to say a special thank you to Vincent Coirier for his invaluable contribution in helping us form a team of authors for this edition.

We express our appreciation to our readers for the attention and engagement you give to the journal. We value your input and invite you to share your feedback, inquiries, and suggestions with our editorial team. Your voice shapes the future of Perspectives, and we are eager to hear from you.

Sincerely,
The Atscale Team

MODERATOR

Thank you Asya, Laetitia, and Richard for joining this discussion.

To begin with, I suggest discussing briefly the current context of pipeline generation. Where do we stand, and what are the key limitations?  

ASYA

I will start with the fact that most companies are struggling with pipeline generation because it’s harder and harder to create a unique value proposition and describe which gap exactly you are solving that is not a commodity.

To do that, you need to break through a lot of noise. Everyone is doing massive marketing campaigns and massive outbounding. And it’s very difficult to get to the right personas, especially if you want to sell topdown. Those personas, they’re already blind to any noise. Even if the message you’re trying to get across is valuable, they cannot hear it because it’s just too muffled.

MODERATOR

How can companies cut through the noise to reach their personas? 

ASYA

I think to build the right type of pipeline, you need to be hyperfocused. 

Your ICP, beyond the fact that it needs to be revamped and reviewed all the time, has to grow beyond Persona and company signals to actual intent signals.

The data-driven approach of understanding who to reach out to and how to prioritize who you are reaching out to is key. Collect the data on certain product or marketing activities your persona did, and then help the sales population use this data.

RICHARD

Earlier, in the golden age of SaaS, there was a lot of money flowing through the market, and we created a system where things were kind of easy: we’ve built a demand gen machine, yet SDRs and AEs created their own whole revenue engine.

And now, when budgets are lower, you need to sell to more personas than ever and that takes longer. That’s why it’s so important to be laser-focused. 

If sales teams are under pressure, what tends to happen is that they spread their horizon. But with this approach, you are diluting your message and setting yourself up for failure down the pipeline, wasting your time on wrong leads. 

Today, it’s really all about building that value proposition that makes sense. And that’s why it’s super important to have that clear ICP, perhaps going through a full ICP workshop with your entire organization to make sure that the product roadmap is aligned with the needs and the challenges of your buyer persona.

The old days of rolling out some email campaigns are over. You really need to specify where you make an impact.

LAETITIA

The recent tendency that we observe is B2B buyers demonstrating the same behaviors as B2C buyers. 

They do a lot of research before going for a product, and we tend to contact them thinking that they don’t know much about our product and about the competition, which is a mistake.

There is something that we need to be better at in B2B, which is lead gen. People need to have more content, they need to be able to find documents online that they can consult to perceive you as a company of trust. 

And here we can touch on the subject of referral as well. If your own clients are giving referrals for your product, it’s actually easier for you to get new leads, and new leads will convert faster as well.

Another thing that we are noticing is increased personalisation. Now, when we send a message, we need to understand our buyer persona very well. We need to do research and see if they have participated in a talk / written an article / have been published somewhere; we need to see what’s on their LinkedIn page, and so on. We need to be very personal when reaching out to them.

It’s not easy to do at scale. But trying to catch maximum leads in your net to see what comes out of it is not working anymore. Because these B2B buyers are becoming more and more aware and educated about what’s outside. 

And perhaps, for SMB prospects, there should be much more self-serve, while we focus our efforts on building a sales machine and a sales population ready to tackle enterprise and more complex deals.

MODERATOR

Could you specify when it makes sense to have self-serve, and when it doesn’t?

RICHARD

It comes down to the good old people-process-technology assessment.

It would make sense, indeed, to create a big demand organization if your customers bring 5K or 10K A/C on the yearly contract value. So, first of all, look at your ACV. Then, look at the seniority of your buyer. And, finally, at the complexity of the implementation. Those three elements together will decide what type of go-to-market motion you should have.

For your mid-market part, you have maybe a full sales cycle. We’ve created a world where we all have SDRs and AEs and where AEs become kind of lazy. The new generation of AEs was used to having those booked meetings on their agendas. But now the market is changing. You see, actually, that lower value deals are going through this process as well — there are a lot of handovers and it’s a terrible user experience. You can lose a lot of information, and there are a lot of moments where prospects can drop out.

Now I’m slowly getting into the people part already because we need to move more to an outbound situation. And you have to assess if you have the right people in place — the ones who can actually prospect and hunt for new leads.

ASYA

I think many companies are trying to win on too many fronts simultaneously. 

One of the things we notice is start-ups and scale-ups trying to do what they call PLG, which is not PLG at all, it’s self-serve, but they use the buzzword for their investor’s sake, I guess. 

And then they are also trying to sell enterprise top-down strategic level value.

So, on the one hand, you need to be able to talk to VP or C-level buyers to learn about their industry before you can really start a meaningful conversation. 

On the other hand, you need to build a self-serve journey with conversion points and intent signals.

They put the same AEs to do both things, and they use the same landing page or website content to generate leads from both ends. It doesn’t work and this is where, in fact, over the last 2 years they saw the biggest break of the pipeline. 

People were lying to themselves that if they didn’t have a lot of enterprise pipeline, they would launch this self-serve and immediately get tons of leads. 

First of all, people who are coming to self-serve are users, they are not buyers. So, you don’t have leads — those are not leads.

And then obviously, you don’t invest in the right type of content deliverables. So, you actually mess up on all fronts. That’s what we’ve seen in startups that launched around 2018 onwards.

So, what I push my customers to do is to really evaluate if my product is highly adoptable and highly consumed. If the adoption is very high and fast, maybe you should pull all your bets on the self-serve go-to-market, and then, you need other sellers for mid-market and enterprise, as Richard said — and that’s a different ball game. 

But most companies — they don’t have that. Most companies don’t have software that is adopted like a flame in a field. So, then don’t waste your time and resources and very big marketing budgets to acquire those self-serve users. Put everything into the right enterprise motion, and then, if you are going with an enterprise motion, don’t try to win all industries.

And I think companies are not doing enough industry depth, which is unfortunate.

MODERATOR

Let’s dive into the verticals and industry specialization. What should companies consider?

RICHARD

I think it’s extremely important to become your industry expert, building on what we mentioned before about the importance of providing value to customers.

This will help later on in referrals and case studies, and it can help with building a solid renowned brand. For B2B, it’s extremely important to make that business case. First, create a clear vision of ICPs and then show them that you understand their challenges and present the business case to overcome them and achieve real impact.

LAETITIA

At the same time, though, companies need to be careful as well not to be too niche. It’s a delicate balance — while it’s important to become an expert in your industry, you don’t want to steer into being too niche; otherwise, if something happens with that specific industry, your business will suffer.

MODERATOR

Let’s deep dive into this for a moment, how can you recognize if you’re going after the right amount of verticals, and then, how can you define which verticals to tackle?

RICHARD

What you could do is look at your current customers, and where do you make the most impact. And you can look at this from two perspectives:

• One is your go-t-market fit. On a scale from 0 to 10, how hard is it to sell to this company?

• Then, you can look at your product market fit. On a scale from 0 to 10, how much impact do we make for this company? 

LAETITIA

And then, once you have acquired a bit of experience, and you start to have a portfolio of clients, you can start diversifying as well. But step by step, as Asya mentioned, instead of trying to go everywhere at the same time. 

ASYA

I can’t agree more with Richard about learning about your existing customers. Going forward into 2024 and 2025, improving your NRR will become more important because ARR has been, I would say, over-mooched. 

And finally, I think people understand that, hey, we should grow the pipeline from existing accounts.

One reason is referrals, and it’s my golden tip for everyone — don’t stop asking for referrals from existing clients and prospects. Even if the prospect says you’re not a fit, you can always ask if they know anyone who can benefit from it, like a referral.

But then the second reason — our customers always understand our value proposition better, so collecting feedback is crucial. And this is another golden nugget that I use often to acquire a new pipeline.

RICHARD

One huge trend is to create customer advisory boards or user advisory boards to really collect quality feedback. First of all, celebrate your users. And second of all, there are so many valuable tips there. That’s what we mean by becoming customer-obsessed. 

LAETITIA

Companies mention this often, but they rarely actually go ahead and execute it. We see that they reinforce their acquisition team, and they don’t do it for their existing portfolio clients. But it’s so important to put all the effort into your existing clients. They are your backbone, and we need to nurture that relationship.

MODERATOR

How can companies safely invest in working with a pipeline of existing clients without having this parachute of a large number of new leads?

LAETITIA

I think companies should be relying more and more on data. Companies retain a lot of information, but most of the time, this information is not transformed into data. And most importantly, this data rarely turns into insights to help your teams make smart decisions. Instead, people rely a lot on feelings and perceptions. 

RICHARD

I see a shift in the market where more and more companies understand that CS is not only about churn prevention and a supporting type of role. Instead, they can actually grow business as an actual revenue driver, if you actually train the team to sell. 

ASYA

It’s very true. We haven’t spoken about partnerships yet. What do you guys think? What is the role of partnerships today?

RICHARD

More important than ever.

ASYA

Why, what type of partnerships? 

RICHARD

I think it’s more about building an ecosystem together. I think in the past many companies were keen to go direct to control the full cycle. But you can only go so far by yourself, especially when expanding into new territories. Partners can actually help you because they have a network already. Yes, you need to give them a fair share, but I would rather have a small piece of a really big pie than a very small pie. 

LAETITIA

If you have complementary strength, it works very well. 

ASYA

I have a complicated relationship with partnerships, and I will explain why.

You need to have a lot of patience, and you need to invest a lot upfront before you get to build a strong partnership. You will only see fruit if you invest in the long term. 

RICHARD

It takes longer, indeed. And I think that’s why a lot of leaders were favoring the direct approach. I used to work for an e-commerce company, where we were expanding into Southern Europe. 

The sales population was incentivized on the direct part, so we had to change the compensation plans, but it wasn’t effective enough. In the end, we had to split the team into a partner team and a direct team. So, the issue is also how do you incentivize your people because indeed, it’s not something that will pay off straightaway.

LAETITIA

I think you really need the right people for a partnership manager position — people who thrive in relationship building and have a lot of patience, yet who are capable of making a sale at the right time.

MODERATOR

So, we can say that partnerships have to be approached in the right way, which implies resource allocation. Since not every company can afford to pour resources into partnerships, can we label it a nice-to-have option?

LAETITIA

Absolutely.

ASYA

I will share one interesting option of partnerships that emerged last year in the SaaS market here in Israel, which was a very shaky year and still is. But this is something very curious to learn from. 

Many startups created technological partnerships. So, they actually brought together complementary value propositions and sold them as bundles. And this is something very unusual. We haven’t seen a lot of it, for example, security and cost optimization selling together as a bundle. It’s almost like going back into services, selling packages as a whole assessment. This is how we can also maximize every dollar, every customer.

RICHARD

Yes, so the go-to-market motion is completely different from the direct model. I think that’s where a lot of companies fail as well because they evaluate the growth rates of partnerships the same way as they evaluate the direct channel. 

It really is a long game, but it’s extremely powerful. And yes, bundles and partnerships with software complementary types of solutions are a great idea.

Margaux Gregoir, Investor at Alven

I could have written about sustainable growth, the impact of AI on your competitive environment, or why talent density matters. These things matter a lot, yet, I think you’re already well aware of that. So, I opted for a broader call because of the current context. 

As founders, your role as a leader goes beyond your business hat. 

You design the products and solutions we use in our business and personal lives; you create a work environment in which dozens, hundreds, or thousands of individuals will grow; you challenge the status quo, question regulations, and shake up the establishment. 

You’re not only an entrepreneur, but a friend, a life partner, a sibling, a parent… And you’re also a citizen. You belong to a society that offers essential rights and you must abide by some duties. In the Aristotelian acceptance of it, a good citizen is an ethical person because the virtues to live a good human life are similar to those needed to rule and be ruled, in a parallel between ethics and politics.

2024 comes with its own bunch of challenges — from geopolitical threats to financial uncertainty — against the backdrop of the AI revolution. Many pieces of our puzzle are reshuffled, our social order is jeopardized by war, by inequality, by an economic crisis… In this context, think of your citizen hat, think of your company as a piece of this bigger social order. Always account for the long-term impact of your decisions, even when tactical moves are critical to your survival. Don’t lose sight of this ecosystem you’re plugged in and that pays back what you give to it. Reread Bruno Latour’s thoughts on modernity. 

In doing so, you create long-lasting relationships — including business ones — that will pay back, you attract talent that will benefit your company, you reinforce your culture if the going gets tough, and you unconsciously prepare for your exit. 

As an entrepreneur, you shape our world. Embrace this challenge and act as a citizen-founder. We do our best to act as citizen-VC too. 

Bruno Delahaye, Partner at Cathay Innovation

In 2024, the watchwords for start-up founders will be agility and resilience to achieve their objectives and, above all, to emerge in a complex economic context. To achieve this, they have several options open to them.

Firstly, they must prioritize growth by optimizing their business models and operational processes. This means refining customer acquisition strategies, optimizing product-market fit, and implementing efficient internal systems to support scaling efforts.

In addition, these managers will also need to rethink their positioning concerning their competitors and emphasize their differentiating points. To do this, investing in R&D will be the key to stimulate innovation or strengthen intellectual property to safeguard themselves. A real breakthrough in 2023, AI was still  one of the main areas of concern in 2024;  a technology that has undoubtedly continued to reshape many areas of the industry and is set to become the backbone of the global economy in the next ten years. For non-AI founders, it is urgent now to gain an in-depth understanding of how their market is transforming and how they can best take advantage of this opportunity and at least enhance their MOAT against this disruption.

Founders will also need to remain vigilant when it comes to managing their cash flow and allocating their capital. In an uncertain economic context in the grip of market fluctuations, financial discipline is critical and it is crucial more than ever to showcase an efficient use of capital. It is essential to strike a balance between investing to stimulate growth and maintaining a healthy cash position to deal with the unexpected. 

Finally, the founders will need to consolidate their relationships with their current investors and explore potential strategic partnerships or financing opportunities that are in line with their long-term vision.

Kolja Heskamp, Managing Partner at torq.partners

The venture capital funding market shows signs of picking up and will recover further throughout 2024. However, if your business doesn’t involve AI, quantum, cyber security, or IoT, you might not feel the love as you did before. If this applies to your company, here are my recommendations for you. 

Firstly, it is time to buckle down and take a leaf out of the bootstrappers’ book. Focus on your economics and margin structure. Work your cash conversion cycle and make your runway count.  Unleash your internal financing power as much as possible to reduce your external financing requirements. Focus and operational excellence are key to keeping it going, and growth for growth’s sake should be questioned more than ever. 

Secondly, while you focus on your business, cast a wider net in your fundraising efforts. Understand what the bankability of your business is. Assess the collateral worth of your order book, recurring revenues, and assets. Learn how to build structures to utilise your customers’ or suppliers’ creditworthiness. Outside of venture capital, connect with strategic investors, family offices, PEs, and traditional investors early. It will not be the unicorn exit you imagined, but it could keep your business alive, creating value for your shareholders and stakeholders alike. 

Being financially savvy will not save you from an underperforming product or lack of traction, but it may just be the skill to tip the balance in your favour.

Léa Verdillon, Partner at Aglaé Ventures

2024 will be the year of truth for founders who planned for 24 months of runway when the market started to change in 2022. If the startups succeeded in improving their cash efficiency while continuing their growth, it would be a great moment to raise the next round of financing and grow in the equity story. Valuations may have changed, but VC funds are ready to invest again. For others, this could be more complicated to find fresh money on the market, especially those who have a lot of debt and need to start reimbursing banks. Ensuring the survival of the company is the number one goal of a founder, followed of course by the product vision and the recruitment of an A team.

With the economic downturn, the customers had to focus on the software, which is bringing ROI, solutions that have a significant topline effect or productivity advantage. That could explain some retention issues for SaaS products in 2023. Founders then took the opportunity to focus on real value in their product roadmap: this is the most important thing at the end of the day. Product, product, product. Keeping the pace of innovation, listening to users, and building only features that bring business value. Good products can drive your growth but also keep your customers dependent. 2023 was also a good moment to adapt the ICP while improving the customer success department. The companies are now stronger and ready to take the chance of going back to high growth.

Geert Van Kerckhoven, CEO & Co-Founder of Oper Credits

As a fellow SaaS founder, I’ve gained invaluable insights from my journey that I’d like to share. While my experiences may vary from yours, these tips can offer valuable guidance: 

1. Hire Strategically, Be Uncompromising: The saying “hire the right people” is a cliché for a reason—it’s crucial. Don’t settle for less than the best. Despite the temptation to expedite growth by cutting corners in recruitment, it’s a costly mistake in the long run. Stay stringent in your hiring process to ensure you surround yourself with top-tier talent. Remember, quality over quantity is key. 

2. Only scale a process when it works and it hurts: Avoid the trap of throwing resources at every issue that arises, especially post-funding. Instead, only scale when you feel you hit the nail on the head. If you feel your sales motion works and your salesperson is not effective anymore because there’s too much to work on, scale. Don’t hire more salespeople when they don’t know what to sell.  

3. Prioritize Diligently, Utilize Time Wisely: Use the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize tasks based on urgency and importance. Allocate ample time for non-urgent but important tasks, delegate urgent but less critical matters, and steer clear of non-essential distractions. Running long days and working hard on non-important / non-urgent items makes you feel busy, but it doesn’t move the needle for your business.  

4. Stay Hands-On, Lead by Example: Regardless of how your team is growing, remain actively involved in operational aspects. Technical founders should still carve out time for coding, while go-to-market founders must prioritize sales efforts. Leading by example instills a strong work ethic within your team and fosters a culture of accountability. Never lose sight of the operational side of your business as it’s where the true battles are won. 

5. Offer direct feedback generously: Founders often have an intuition when something isn’t right—this is (or at least should be) your superpower.

Therefore, tackle problems head-on rather than avoiding them—the issues rarely disappear on their own. Ignoring issues can only lead to frustration. Lead by example, you have an incredibly high bar for yourself so communicate that kindly to others.   

Michael Gonzalez, CRO Mindee

As we edge closer to the pivotal second half of 2024, it’s clear that for startups aiming not just to survive but also to thrive, rethinking traditional strategies is not an option — it’s a necessity. Here’s a distilled strategy that cuts to the chase.

Start with Your Customers

Putting customer centricity at the core isn’t just nice to have; it’s your lifeline. Every piece of your startup puzzle, especially sales, needs to click into what your customer really wants. This means every team, not just customer service, gets down in the trenches to understand and solve real customer problems. When your product hits that sweet spot of customer need, your sales pitch practically writes itself. It’s genuine, powerful, and most importantly, effective.

Tighten the CS-Sales Loop

Forget about silos between Customer Success (CS) and Sales. These teams need to be so in sync that they practically finish each other’s sentences. Why? Because insights from CS can turn into gold for Sales, helping tailor pitches that resonate. This isn’t just about improving customer satisfaction; it’s a strategic move that directly boosts sales figures by ensuring your offer is spot-on every time.

AI in Sales: The Game Changer

First off, embedding AI into sales isn’t just smart; it’s essential. Think of AI as your team’s superpower, automating the grunt work and ensuring your sales force zeroes in on leads that matter. This isn’t about replacing the human touch but amplifying it, letting your team focus on relationships and closing deals where they can truly make an impact

Martin-Pierre Gaultier, CCO & CMO at Lemonway

Don’t anticipate the market. This may sound strange, but this is the hard truth for strategists today. We’re now in a new era where the payback period needs to be shorter and certain. Start/scale-ups that could re-finance themselves in case of a late or uncertain product-market fit will no longer have this option. 

Unless you are building a deep-tech innovation that is — in essence — requesting a long financing period without a short-term return, all other companies starting series A will be requested to deliver a short-term profitable action plan (12/18 months). This means that having a deep understanding of your unit economics and your return on investment is mandatory. 

Multiple sub-processes need to be assessed: When is your time to hire? What is then your time to revenue (two very important KPIs for your CRO)? You can also move up in the company value chain by measuring how fast you go from product design to product delivery.  How does this resonate with your market maturity and your competitive landscape?

So, to finish 2024 strong, you need to be in full control of your company’s key performance indicators, and those KPIs need to show evidence of the new profitability paradigm.

Tristan Vie, VP Sales at JobTeaser

As we stride into the latter half of 2024, startup founders find themselves navigating an environment not vastly different from the previous year. Uncertainty remains a constant companion, challenging the resilience and adaptability of businesses. However, amidst the flux, there are invaluable lessons to glean from 2024.

Reflecting on past experiences, it’s evident that hope alone is insufficient for sustainable growth. The focus must shift towards fostering healthy, tangible expansion.

Key Recommendations:

• Focus on Controllables: Amidst external turbulence, prioritize elements within your sphere of influence. Channel efforts towards areas where meaningful impact can be realized, fostering a sense of agency amidst uncertainty.

• Profitability Quest: While growth is paramount, it should not come at the expense of profitability. Strive for a balanced approach that fuels sustainable expansion while safeguarding financial health.

• Product-Centric Approach: Revisit the core of your business by engaging directly with customers. Field insights offer invaluable guidance, illuminating areas for improvement and innovation.

• Strategic Decision-Making: Embrace strategic decisions, even if they entail tough choices. Regret often stems from indecision rather than action, highlighting the importance of bold, decisive leadership.

• People and Organizations: Strike a balance between remote and on-site operations, tailoring approaches to suit evolving needs. Simplify organizational structures to enhance agility, transitioning from complex matrices to streamlined models.

• Retention Strategy: Prioritize retention by delineating clear criteria for retaining top talent. Communicate transparently regarding growth versus sustainability trajectories, aligning expectations with organizational goals.

Revenue-Related Advice for SaaS:

• New Business Strategy: Augment new business strategies with insights gleaned from existing intelligence. Leverage data to identify industries, company sizes, and territories with lower churn rates, optimizing acquisition efforts for sustained growth.

• Existing Client Focus: Allocate resources judiciously by prioritizing high lifetime value clients. Don’t take renewals for granted. Automate processes for smaller clients to streamline operations, maximizing efficiency and scalability. 

• Territorial Expansion: Approach territorial expansion cautiously, acknowledging the inherent uncertainties. Focus on consolidating presence in high-revenue regions to mitigate risks associated with venturing into unknown territories.

Good luck with H2 2024! 

Raphaël Boukris, Chief Revenue Officer & Co-Founder of Didomi

In the rapidly evolving landscape of 2024, the doctrine of “growth at all costs” has officially become a relic of the past. Last year was a clear demarcation, setting a stringent tone that persists: Series A, B, and C startups are now under the imperative to balance growth with capital efficiency. The market no longer forgives  frivolous expenditure or aimless expansion; instead, there’s a premium on strategic, ROI-driven investment. As a Chief Revenue Officer penning this narrative, I emphasize that achieving a harmonious balance between expansion and profitability is not merely advisable but essential.

Growth remains a non-negotiable for startups aiming for a significant valuation. However, the approach must be judicious. Every investment decision should pass rigorous scrutiny, underpinned by tangible returns. In this climate, focusing on creating a ‘blue ocean’ strategy for a singular, well-performing product in key markets is critical. Success in one’s domestic market creates a stable platform from which to consider entering more speculative markets. This strategy not only mitigates risk through potentially lower customer acquisition costs abroad but also solidifies the startup’s foundation for sustainable growth.

Moreover, the landscape of stakeholder expectations has transformed. Venture capitalists (VCs) have heightened their demands but so have prospects. The latter’s appetite for superficial “nice-to-have” solutions has diminished, giving way to a demand for products that deliver significant, measurable impact. In this environment, the role of the CFO has ascended to new heights, embodying a critical voice in the executive decision-making process. It is imperative for product teams to cultivate deep, empathetic connections with both current customers and prospects. This closeness enables a precise understanding of the market’s pain points, guiding the development of innovations that address genuine needs with quantifiable benefits.

The essence of navigating post-Series A growth in 2024 is simple in theory yet complex in execution. Startups must resist the temptation to dilute their focus across too many projects or markets without clear ROI. The successful ones will be those that manage to innovate within the confines of what is genuinely valuable to their customers, thereby crafting high-value propositions that resonate deeply with their target audience.

Saskia Fiszel, Founder & COO at Virgil

For Series A startup founders and beyond, navigating the current landscape to finish 2024 on a high note requires two seemingly contradictory — yet logical — approaches.

For one thing, we all have now shifted the focus to profitability rather than vanity metrics. The old music of high-speed growth with no business model has run its course. The new tune is clear: profitability, profitability, profitability. And that’s excellent for building a sounder economy!

However, let’s be equally cautious with profitability-only blinders as we should be with growth-only mirages: 

Founders, in my view, are trying to change the world. And to do so, they must create innovation on a massive scale. We know this requires a huge deal of ambition. Creating a small, profitable SME is one thing, but creating a profitable AND disruptive business that changes the face of our economy is even greater. While being financially prudent is essential, it should not stifle the desire to transform the industries in which startup founders operate. In my view, the big challenge for start-ups in 2024 is to adopt responsible business practices while maintaining their ambitious goals. 

To remain competitive and make a real difference, start-ups must continue to innovate strategically. However, with scarcer resources, founders need to prioritize the most promising initiatives and focus on those with the greatest potential to create value, while avoiding dispersion. To be “successful” in 2024, there is no magic formula: we will have to be extremely selective and rigorous in steering the company as well as meeting deadlines to give innovation the place it rightfully deserves.

Loic Mocellin, Executive Coach, Startups Operating Partner

Don’t shut your ambitions down…

…at least not all of them!

Investments and startups’ valuations are not at their very best, you might have noticed that already! But that is not enough to make a crisis. It’s possibly enough to show a bubble that just burst after a couple of crazy decades. 

Assign your teams to “bread and butter” business. 

Don’t leave any low-hanging fruit on the tree.

Trust your management team to make the right decisions. 

Hire well, fire fast, out of respect for the hard workers.

By being pragmatic and resilient, you’ll be able to spend 20% of your time, along with your exec team, foreseeing what will happen beyond H2. Work on plans A, B, and C…and define in advance what will trigger them. When you’re in the heat of the moment, decisions can be irrational, and you might want to avoid that. 

Learn to listen to your emotions. Gain a clear understanding of what sets them off. Elaborate ways to channel them to be the great and inspiring leader they all need you to be. 

If you trust your teams to keep the engine going, they will trust you to make the best decisions in critical moments and to take the right turn.

Oh…and if you can’t manage, open up and find yourself a sparring partner. It’s your duty to work on yourself and challenge your status quo, so you can remain good at what you do.

Peter-Paul de Leeuw, Founder & CEO at Amberscript

Ever since LLMs gained popularity, the defensibility of AI-first startups has been questionable as LLM AI APIs are available to well-established SaaS players with existing competitive advantages. I am convinced that the answer can lie in building an AI-first service business that looks like a software business, and I am building our transcription and subtitling business Amberscript accordingly. We provide fully 100% correct transcripts and subtitles, with a small human check but automated to a large degree by generative AI.

In this approach, which I think can be applied to many industries, foundation models, and industry-specific data are used to rebuild a service business from the ground up. The business is automated to such a high extent that it can provide our service without (too much) human interference. Subtitling is well-suited for this: while previously the service was only available with a high degree of human involvement, using LLMs trained on specific industry and even client guidelines and data provides a workflow where a light human quality check (as hallucinations are limited but still exist) makes the process scalable at prices impossible before. Using proprietary data and finding a niche industry to train the LLMs in creates defensibility.

The key to this approach is to sell the work, not the AI-powered SaaS features. The market for software that can produce the end product is in this case, and many other cases such as customer support and accounting, much smaller than the market for the end product at the application layer. Therefore, you can choose a more specific niche that increases your service level and your data moat when collecting data to train a custom LLM. As performance curves of AI models are asymptotic (it is much harder to get from 80% to 100% than it is to get from 0% to 80%; the reason the self-driving car is not here yet), incumbents that cover the whole market are left with a subpar product.

As the services you will offer are most likely already being provided, there is no product-market fit challenge. The main challenge, however, is being able to scale without compromising on the quality of the service. This will oftentimes require a way of being able to include a human layer with a very light touch to do quality checks and light improvements for many customers at the same time, as opposed to current professionals in service areas providing the full service for a limited number of customers. A balance must be found in going after growth (more focus on the full service) and profitability (more focus on the software).

Looking to found an AI startup? Sell the automated service, not the software.

Pierre-Marin CAMPENON, Managing Director EU, Partnerships at Younited

Entrepreneurs today find themselves operating in a landscape transformed by a sudden shift from growth-centric to value-centric approaches over the past two years. This shift has ushered in a ‘new normal’ in 2024, characterized by a long-overdue emphasis on value creation and sustainability.

In this evolving paradigm, the hallmarks of successful companies are clear: a relentless focus on profitability, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth. These fundamental principles, often regarded as common sense, have surged back into prominence within the tech sector in recent months, now forming an integral part of every entrepreneur’s strategic framework.

However, it’s crucial to recognize that adhering to these principles alone is not sufficient to validate a business model. Entrepreneurs must also continue to innovate and cultivate their unique value propositions in this more rational environment. They must blend the profit-driven mindset of established corporations with the agility, innovation, and speed inherent to startups.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for achieving this delicate balance, some fundamental guidelines can steer entrepreneurs in the right direction:

• Prioritize ruthlessly: Adopt OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) frameworks to streamline strategic decision-making and focus on core objectives.

• Cultivate a diverse team: Surround yourself with individuals who embody a mix of financial acumen and forward-thinking vision, ensuring a balanced approach to business strategy.

• Listen to the market: While staying true to your vision is paramount, remain receptive to market feedback and emerging trends (AI, circular economy…), adjusting your strategy accordingly to capitalize on new opportunities.

• Embrace pragmatism: In an era marked by frugality and focus, be prepared to make tough choices, such as discontinuing unprofitable projects or optimizing operational costs, recognizing that such decisions often yield the greatest impact.

As always, history is a pendulum where any excess (the previous period was excessive, blind idolatry of growth at any cost) is irremediably, brutally corrected with a shift to the other opposite (now we’re in a situation where we almost expect any venture to be profitable from day 1!). The key to success is to adopt a balanced approach, and a crucial tool to achieve that is common sense.