Welcome Nurturers

I’m Nev Santana, the Founder of Nurtured, and I’m thrilled you’re here!

At Nurtured, we empower early-stage SaaS startups through expert guidance and a vibrant community. Our mission is to elevate GTM strategies with comprehensive services and educational resources, fostering sustainable growth and a lasting impact in the industry. We’re committed to equipping you with the knowledge, tools, and personalized support you need to thrive.

Nurtured for SaaS Founders is specifically tailored for early-stage Founders who find themselves implementing their GTM strategies hands-on. We focus on the following stages of the startup journey: Bootstrapped, Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A.

In our Founder’s Guide section, you’ll gain actionable insights tailored to your growth journey - whether you’re bootstrapped, pre-seed, seed, or preparing for Series A. We’re here to help you navigate each stage and drive revenue for your SaaS startup.

Our Leading The Pack section is designed to help you build your personal brand as a founder. You’ll discover strategies to position yourself as a thought leader in your niche, enhancing your visibility and influence within the industry.

Do you have a SaaS startup and innovative GTM strategies you want to share? Reach out to me directly at [email protected], and we’ll feature you in a future issue or on our podcast, The Nurturing Process.

Cheers!!

TODAY’S LINEUP

In this issue, we’ll explore the critical decision of whether to hire a marketer or a seller first, helping you understand where to focus your resources for maximum impact.

Additionally, we’ll delve into the power of storytelling and how it can create emotional connections with your audience, showcasing how successful founders have harnessed this technique to build their brands.

I’m excited for you to dive into these insights that can elevate your business!

FOUNDER’S GUIDE

Should I Hire A Marketer Or A Seller First?

As a SaaS founder, especially in the early stages, every hire matters. Deciding whether to bring on a marketer or a salesperson first is a significant choice that can influence the trajectory of your company’s growth. The right decision depends on where you are in your journey—are you still trying to generate interest and leads, or are you ready to close deals and drive revenue?

Assessing Your Growth Stage

• Bootstrapped or Pre-Seed: If you’re bootstrapping or in pre-seed, your primary focus is on creating demand and validating product-market fit. At this stage, you’re likely doing the selling yourself because founders are often the best people to pitch their vision and product. But if you’re finding it hard to build awareness, generate leads, or craft the right message for your audience, a marketer could be your first crucial hire. A marketer can help you attract attention, create demand, and build a presence in your target market.

Example: A pre-seed founder with a SaaS tool for freelance project management found early users through personal outreach but was struggling to scale lead generation. By hiring a content marketer, they were able to build a blog that attracted organic traffic, develop an email list, and generate inbound leads.

• Seed Stage: As you move into the seed stage and establish some product-market fit, your goal shifts toward ramping up customer acquisition. At this point, you may have inbound interest or leads trickling in, but you need someone to focus on converting these prospects into paying customers. This is when a seller, with experience in closing deals and building relationships, might be the more strategic hire.

Example: A SaaS company offering a B2B CRM tool was generating inbound leads through their website but lacked the bandwidth to follow up and nurture those leads into customers. Hiring a salesperson to qualify, follow up, and close deals increased their conversion rate significantly and boosted early revenue.

Key Factors to Consider:

• Lead Generation: Do you have a steady flow of leads coming in? If your lead generation is lacking or inconsistent, a marketer can help you build a pipeline by crafting targeted campaigns, optimizing your website for conversions, and developing content that attracts the right audience.

Example: A SaaS startup offering analytics software had built a solid product but struggled to generate visibility. Their founder decided to hire a growth marketer first, who implemented SEO strategies, paid ads, and social media campaigns. This not only boosted their brand visibility but also created a reliable lead generation engine that supported future sales efforts.

• Demand vs. Conversion: Are you generating enough demand, or are you having trouble converting interest into actual sales? If you’re getting a lot of traffic but have difficulty turning that into paying customers, a salesperson with the ability to build relationships and move prospects through the funnel may be more important.

Example: Another SaaS startup selling workflow automation tools had strong inbound leads from an effective content marketing strategy. However, without a dedicated salesperson, deals were slow to close. After hiring an experienced seller who specialized in SaaS, they saw a 30% increase in closed deals within three months.

• Sales Cycle Length: SaaS products can have long sales cycles, especially in B2B environments. If your sales cycle is complex and requires nurturing, a marketer might focus on building educational content, webinars, or email sequences to keep leads engaged over time, while a salesperson can focus on higher-touch activities like demos and negotiations.

Context: B2B vs. B2C SaaS

• B2B SaaS often involves a longer, more complex sales cycle where relationship building and personalized sales efforts are key. In this case, a salesperson might be more valuable once you’ve established some demand.

• B2C SaaS, on the other hand, is typically more marketing-driven, with high volumes of lower-ticket purchases. If your goal is to drive traffic and convert users directly through your website, a marketer focused on conversion optimization could be your best first hire.

Key Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. Do you have consistent inbound leads? If you’re getting leads but need someone to focus on nurturing and closing them, a seller should be your first hire. If your lead flow is weak, a marketer can help build demand.

2. Are you ready for scale? If you have strong demand but need to focus on revenue growth, hiring a seller to convert that interest into paying customers will help scale revenue quickly.

3. How clear is your messaging? If you’re still refining your positioning and messaging, a marketer can work with you to create a cohesive brand strategy, build content, and generate demand that reflects your unique value proposition.

Nurtured Insight:

In many early-stage cases, hiring a marketer first makes sense if you’re struggling with visibility and lead generation. Once demand is coming in and you’re ready to scale revenue, bringing on a seller will help accelerate growth. Align the hire with your immediate needs: marketers can create top-of-funnel momentum, while sellers are invaluable for closing deals and driving immediate revenue.

Example Hiring Timeline:

1. Pre-Seed: Hire a marketer to build awareness, refine messaging, and generate leads.

2. Seed: Hire a salesperson to close deals and drive early revenue.

3. Series A: Scale both marketing and sales teams to fuel growth and expand market share.

Making this decision early sets the foundation for scalable growth—whether it’s generating demand or converting that demand into revenue.

LEADING THE PACK

How to Use Storytelling to Engage Your Audience

As a SaaS founder, one of the most effective ways to stand out is through storytelling. Features and functionality matter, but stories connect on an emotional level. Storytelling allows you to humanize your brand, build trust, and create memorable experiences that resonate with your audience.

Why Storytelling Works in SaaS

In SaaS, where technical jargon and feature lists can blend together, storytelling can cut through the noise. It helps customers understand not only what your product does but also why it exists, how it came to be, and what it can help them achieve.

Key Elements of a Good Story:

1. The Problem

   Begin by identifying a common pain point your audience experiences. This could be anything from inefficiencies in their workflow to struggles with customer engagement. For instance, a SaaS tool for project management might start by highlighting the chaos and miscommunication that often plague teams juggling multiple projects. By articulating the problem clearly, you draw your audience in and make them feel seen. This sets the stage for your solution and creates a shared understanding.

2. Your Journey to the Solution

   Talk about how you discovered the issue and the steps you took to find a solution. This might include anecdotes about brainstorming sessions, pivoting ideas, or moments of doubt. Sharing your personal journey humanizes your brand and makes it relatable. For example, a founder might recount sleepless nights spent coding and testing their product, illustrating their commitment and passion. This narrative not only engages the audience but also builds credibility, as they can see the effort that went into creating the solution.

3. Emotionally Connect

   Engage the emotional side of your audience. Whether it’s frustration, hope, or excitement, emotions create a deeper bond between you and your potential customers. You could use storytelling techniques such as vivid imagery or personal anecdotes to evoke feelings. For instance, you might describe a moment when a frustrated user finally finds relief using your product, creating a powerful emotional connection that resonates with anyone who has felt similar pain.

4. A Vision of Success

   Show what happens when the problem is solved. Help your audience imagine a better future using your product. This could involve painting a picture of increased productivity, improved customer satisfaction, or greater overall happiness within a team. For example, illustrate how a project management tool not only streamlines tasks but also fosters collaboration and enhances team morale. By showcasing the positive outcomes, you leave your audience with a sense of possibility and motivation to take action.

Example: How Ben Chestnut of Mailchimp Used Storytelling

Ben Chestnut, co-founder of Mailchimp, built his company into one of the most well-known email marketing platforms by leaning into storytelling. Early on, Chestnut and his team realized they needed to do more than just promote technical email features—they needed to tell the story of the scrappy underdog entrepreneur.

Instead of marketing Mailchimp as just another email tool, Chestnut positioned the company as a resource for small businesses and entrepreneurs, sharing the struggles and successes of their journey as founders. He often talks about how Mailchimp was bootstrapped from the beginning and how they didn’t take outside funding for years. This resonated deeply with Mailchimp’s target audience—small business owners who understood the grind of building something from scratch without a huge budget.

Mailchimp’s storytelling efforts weren’t just about their product; they told the stories of their users—small businesses and startups finding creative ways to grow using email marketing. This was evident in their Mailchimp Presents platform, which featured real entrepreneurs and their journeys, turning their users into heroes of the brand’s story.

Chestnut also leaned into storytelling during pivotal moments. For example, when Mailchimp shifted from a purely email-based platform to offering additional marketing tools, he framed the evolution as part of a larger mission to help small businesses succeed in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

How You Can Use Storytelling

1. Share Your Founder’s Journey

   Every SaaS founder has a story behind their product. Share why you built it, what challenges you faced, and how you overcame them. These personal stories resonate and make your product feel like more than just software—it becomes a solution born from real struggles. Consider creating a narrative arc that highlights your motivations, challenges, and triumphs, turning your journey into a compelling story that invites others to join you.

2. Tell Customer Stories

   Highlight your users as the heroes. Share their challenges, how they discovered your solution, and how it transformed their business. These stories make your value proposition come to life. You could feature customer testimonials or case studies, but instead of listing facts, frame them as engaging narratives that show the customer’s journey before and after using your product. This not only builds credibility but also allows potential customers to envision themselves achieving similar success.

3. Integrate Storytelling Across Channels

   Whether it’s in your marketing emails, website, or social media posts, infuse storytelling into all aspects of your communication. Don’t just talk about product features—talk about the journey, the emotions, and the real-life impact. Use blog posts to share deeper narratives about your brand or your customers, and consider using video to capture stories visually, making them even more engaging. This multi-channel approach ensures your audience encounters your stories consistently, reinforcing your brand message.

Storytelling creates a more emotional, human connection with your audience, making your product more than just a tool—it becomes part of their success story. By focusing on your journey and that of your customers, you can create a stronger brand identity that resonates deeply with your audience.

Ben Chestnut’s use of storytelling transformed Mailchimp into a beloved brand, not just by focusing on email marketing but by telling stories that small business owners could see themselves in. Follow this example, and you’ll be leading the pack by crafting a narrative that both engages and inspires.