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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Tom Hacohen, CEO & Founder of Svix, a webhooks as a service platform that has raised $10.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Military Influence: Tom discusses how his experience in the Israeli Intelligence Corps shaped his leadership style, emphasizing the importance of bypassing traditional hierarchies to expedite critical information flow.
- Startup Origins: The inception of Svix came from a real-world need for efficient webhooks, sparked by a conversation in a Slack group that validated the demand.
- Product Market Fit: Tom’s cautious approach to claiming product market fit and how continuous feedback and iteration are key to maintaining it.
- Customer Empathy: Building extreme empathy with customers, even saying “no” to them sometimes, to ensure the best long-term product decisions.
- Consistent Marketing: The focus on consistency in marketing efforts, avoiding one-time flashy campaigns and instead delivering constant value.
- Fundraising Advice: The importance of not needing to raise funds to succeed, which provided Tom with leverage and confidence when interacting with investors.
Actionable
Takeaways
Develop Extreme Customer Empathy:
Go beyond customer requests to understand their true needs. This might mean saying "no" to ensure the best long-term outcomes.
Embrace Consistency Over Flash:
Focus on consistently delivering value to customers rather than relying on one-off marketing stunts. Steady, reliable presence builds trust and recognition.
Control Your Time:
Especially for solo founders, be intentional about your time. Avoid being reactionary and consider hiring operational support early to handle administrative tasks.
Leverage Founders' Brand:
Personal branding for founders can significantly impact a company's visibility and credibility. Engage authentically on platforms where your audience is active.
Prepare to Evolve:
Your product messaging and market positioning should evolve based on continuous learning from customer interactions. Stay flexible and responsive to maintain relevance.
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