Max

Software design partner for early-stage SaaS startups
Founder €1,897/month | Unlimited iterations | Velocity is key to succeed

[Max @mxmdss23]

The #buildinpublic community, here I am!✌️🏾

After spending 5+ years as a senior SaaS sales executive:

- 💻 in 2 SaaS startups and a $1.7B SaaS unicorn

-💰 ranging from Serie A to D
($20M to $100M+ per round - led by world-class investors like Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Accel Partners…)

-🫱🏾‍🫲🏿 1 private acquisition by one of Europe’s leading software companies

-📈 with revenue ranging from $5M to $70M+ ARR, >100% growth YoY

-🤼 selling to 800+ SMEs and 30+ Enterprises around the world

-🫂 & collaborating with world-class product managers & designers

I am now joining the #buildinpublic community

& transitioning to become a Product-led Expert for B2B SaaS startups.

Here are the 3 reasons why:

1. Over the last 5 years,
I've experienced a strong trend of people
wanting to educate themselves,
learn, and try products independently.

Many consider engaging in a chat with a salesperson as a point of friction.

If that's your case, I hear you.

By 2025, 95% of SaaS providers will employ self-service (source: https://t.co/CdsswNz0mo).

People seek to experience value quickly and efficiently.

As a SaaS founder, you should adopt a product-led approach from day 1.

2. While the belief that 'people buy from people' is common in our SaaS industry,

the truth is that people buy the product that empowers them the most.

I'll share in the coming days

how I lost a $300k+ deals during a my sales career

despite having the best relationship with buyers.

I won't deny it: as a sales executive

my role often involved guiding champions through their buying process

rather than emphasizing the value.

In most cases, the product itself does the selling.

3. Currently, Product Makers often lack:

💰 business acumen
👁️ customer understanding
📊 industry knowledge

They tend to focus solely on attitudinal research, neglecting customer business pains
and the potential for mutual success
for both users and businesses.

Also, I see way too many "designers" (especially on X) showcasing UI stuffs out of context.

Great for eyes.

I've spent years with PMs solving complex product & business stakes and let me tell you this:

🫴🏾a good design is when the users & the business are successful.

Nothing to do with gradient & shadow effects 🤷🏾‍♂️

Today is a new opportunity for you, SaaS founders & product makers.

I'll share with you

3 to 5 times a week

product-led strategies, design examples, and my SaaS expertise

to help you build software that sells itself.

I’ll also teach you how to sell your products and services based on my experience.

In the coming days, I'll elaborate on some points mentioned in this post and delve into concepts.

You MUST hit that follow button🤯
---
5 Key takeaways:

1. Current sales methods are broken and often don't align with buyer expectations.

2. The product you sell should be the focal point of your go-to-market strategy.

3. The product does the selling, as facts speak louder than words.

4. Bro, let's be honest: who likes to be sold?

5. If you hit that follow button, you'll make me happy and it's free. Making someone happy for free is being a good human.

[Theo Lion @theo_le_lion]

Quelques idées qui ont marqué ma semaine :

1. "Aucun argument rationnel n'aura d'effet rationnel sur un homme qui ne veut pas adopter une attitude rationnelle.” - Karl Popper

2. "Les résultats longs termes ne peuvent pas être obtenus en empilant les résultats court termes”. - Peter Drucker

3. "La vie est simple mais pas facile. Le problème, c'est que nous voulons que la vie soit facile, ce qui la rend compliquée".

4. "Ce n'est pas ce que vous avez, ni qui vous êtes, ni où vous êtes, ni ce que vous faites qui vous rend heureux ou malheureux. C'est ce à quoi vous pensez".
- Dale Carnegie

5. “Passez moins de temps à prendre des décisions et plus de temps à les faire fonctionner”.

6. "Il est difficile d'être bon dans un domaine qui ne vous intéresse pas. Il est presque impossible d'être excellent dans un domaine qui ne vous obsède pas".

7. "C'est tellement simple, mais cela fait une telle différence. Imaginez que chaque personne que vous rencontrez a une pancarte autour du cou qui dit : Faites-moi sentir que je suis important". - Mary Kay Ash

8. "Celui qui gagne, c’est celui qui peut dépenser le plus pour acquérir un client" - Alex Hormozi

9. "C'est le travail de l'artiste de créer du soleil quand le soleil n'est pas là.” - Romain Rolland

Et si tu veux plus d'idées similaires, tu peux retrouver les éditions des semaines précédentes dans ma newsletter Road to Scale dispo en dessous ⬇️

Bonne semaine 💪

- Théo

[Max @mxmdss23]

@nikitabier It feels good to be in Europe 🥰

Please, don't come

[Max @mxmdss23]

@elonmusk soon

[Max @mxmdss23]

I've worked in the small Paris startup circle for around +6 years

and let me tell you this:

+ 80% of glorified startup founders don't make any money, 10% struggle end of month

common pattern?

they brag about their business publicly

I'm now very suspicious about the ones on X

[Max @mxmdss23]

@InvestEclaire Si le RN passe, c'est -15% pour le CAC, équivalent à la période COVID, et les baisses de taux de la BCE n'y changera rien

[Max @mxmdss23]

Slimane, au Portugal, nous avons surtout eu une politique austère depuis la dette souveraine et crise de l'Euro envers la population et accommodante pour les étrangers rapportant des capitaux.
3 faits pour illustrer:
. +1 jeune sur 2 avec un niveau d'études équivalent BAC+5 quitte le pays pour aller vivre ailleurs (France, USA, Canada, UK et Suisse principalement)
. 11% des propriétés au Portugal sont détenus par des étrangers
. c'est un pays où les impôts et taxes sont plus élevés qu'en France pour les travailleurs, avec des conditions beaucoup plus dures

Ce n'est pas judicieux d'envier le Portugal et ses 10 dernières années, même si je te l'accorde, cela a sûrement été nécessaire mais le pays n'avait pas le choix, l'UE leur a forcé la main, mais au détriment du pays, du bonheur de la population et de sa jeunesse qui n'en peut plus de reculer (+50% vivent chez leurs parents à 30 ans, même avec un travail, il est impossible de se loger à 2, et tu imagines bien tous les problèmes qui découlent d'un point de vue social, démographique et économique)

[Max @mxmdss23]

mastering outbound sales will just skyrocket your small business, especially if you provide services

it's predictable & you have the luxury to select your potential customers

think about it for your agency

[Dylan Jardon 🌈 @DylanJardon]

"Perfection is impossible.

In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches.

But what percentage of points did I win?

54%

In other words, even top ranked tennis players win barely more than half the points they play.

When you lose ever second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot.

You teach yourself to think:
'Okay, I double faulted...it's only a point.'
'Okay, I came to the net and I got passed again...it's only a point.'

Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN's top 10 playlist – that too is just a point.

Here's why I'm telling you this.

When you're playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world. And it is.

But when it's behind you, it's behind you.

This mindset is crucial – because it frees you to fully commit to the next point with intensity, clarity, and focus."

–@rogerfederer

[Max @mxmdss23]

the issue with collaborating with CTOs

is that they love so much the technical part of products and how things must work efficiently

they forgot the big picture and that end users don't care about how you've coded the platform

hence why their tools are too complex

[Max @mxmdss23]

I would love to give 10k/month to people

so they realize that it's not the answer

money solves money issues, only

[Max @mxmdss23]

once you understand that your brain guides everything

you start to invest in things you underestimated in the past

take care of your mind, that's the #2 most precious thing, behind your time

[Max @mxmdss23]

turning 30 is realizing that we worry too much about life,

but there's only one certainty: death ☠️

why stress over things we can't control when our time is limited?

how do you stay focused on what truly matters?

#life #perspective #mindfulness

[Max @mxmdss23]

people often use money as a measure of success,

but does it really capture the whole picture?

why do we overlook other aspects like happiness, fulfillment, and impact?

what's your take on this?

[Max @mxmdss23]

on the same level:

drink water to keep being alive

follow for more tips

[@levelsio @levelsio]

If you wanna get rich fastest, make:

👑 A premium/luxury product or service

For people living in:

🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
🇺🇸 United States
🇸🇬 Singapore

They pay 2x to 5x more $$$ than most other countries

[Max @mxmdss23]

@AxelPariss "revenus passifs" ils disaient

courage!

[Max @mxmdss23]

@victor_bigfield how we see you now

[Max @mxmdss23]

We are the software design partner for early-stage SaaS startups

We'll design products that sell themselves ensuring user success, leading to yours.

https://t.co/FzropCP2bX

[Max @mxmdss23]

SaaS founders want to do fancy things and focus on aesthetics

bro:

Outlook is used by +10M people on a daily basis

forget about your dropshadow stuffs, let that for the figma painters on X

[Max @mxmdss23]

@zeeshankhaliq29 chatgpt tells the truth

[Max @mxmdss23]

name something more useless than this linkedin notification

i'll send you 100$ cash right away