Steve Kahan With Insight Partners

Intro: [00:00:05] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for high velocity radio.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Lee Kantor here, another episode of High Velocity Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Steve Kahan with INSIGHT Partners. Welcome, Steve.

Steve Kahan: [00:00:26] Thank you for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Insight Partners. How are you serving folks?

Steve Kahan: [00:00:33] Yeah, So Insight Partners is one of the world’s largest venture capital companies. And I advise a number of portfolio companies on their digital marketing.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] And what’s your backstory? How did you get into this line of work?

Steve Kahan: [00:00:49] So I really am a 30 year veteran of startups in particular, focused in on marketing. And and really, if you if you look at my background, I’ve been blessed to have work with seven startups, all of which have successfully sold or have gone public, generating a little over 5 billion in shareholder value.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:14] So did you start out just within one startup and then that grew and then you got kind of the bug and you jump from, you know, one site exited, then you jump to another one.

Steve Kahan: [00:01:24] Yeah, that’s pretty much the story. But, you know, for me, I did not take the traditional path. And I remember when I was growing up, my father used to tell me so many times just, Hey, get your degree. Go to work for a large corporation. You work hard, they’ll take care of you and you’ll have a great career. And I remember about a year and a half in, and I was staring at this pile of claims that I was supposed to process that that day. And then looking at my bank account and wondering, how on earth will I ever get ahead? And the student loans would eat my paychecks before they ever even got a chance to hit my bank account. And so I asked an important question to myself at that point, which was, how could I earn a great living loving what I do? And so for me, I quickly realized I needed to kind of get out of working for a large corporation and get in to the startup world where there’d be very much like minded entrepreneurs. And and as you say, I got the bug and have never left.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:34] Now, when you’re working at a venture firm like you are, how do you kind of view the entrepreneur? How do you view that startup founder? Are you seeing them like, I know you’ve kind of gone through the path multiple times, but has that perception shifted when you’re looking at kind of the other side of the ledger?

Steve Kahan: [00:02:56] Yeah. So for me, it’s it’s a it’s a great question because although I now sort of work with the venture capital company, when you have 30 years of being in the trenches, of having to do the work that a lot of the entrepreneurs that I’m advising are doing, What they’re not getting, for example, is advice from a super smart, young sort of person who’s got a background in in banking or financials who who really has all the book smarts in the world but has never really done it right. And so for me, I have a great empathy with respect to what the entrepreneurs are going through. And what I try to do is, is try to utilize a lot of the experience that I have, in particular with what works and then focus in on providing advice that helps them to accelerate revenue at reasonable cost.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:01] Now, anyone, any entrepreneur that’s going the venture route, isn’t it the expectation when you go that route, it’s like a home run or a grand slam or an out, like you’re not interested in manufacturing runs and and being okay with singles as a result?

Steve Kahan: [00:04:22] Well, in terms of the investment philosophy, the organization is always looking for home runs, but they’re singles, there’s doubles and there’s triples. And I, for example, have have have hit the singles, doubles, triples and home runs as well. And so, you know, you always a every single deal that you invest in always looks like it’s going to be that home run, at least in Excel. Right. And then the real world sort of gets in the way, if you will. Right. And so so you you certainly are looking for those home runs and you try to counsel and provide great guidance. That would enable the entrepreneur to achieve that. But realistically, that’s not the case all the time, even though you’re shooting for it for sure.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:15] Now, with your lens as a marketer, do you see companies differently? Like are you able to advise folks maybe that have an idea that is are generating singles and you can, with your marketing skill, move them up to a double, triple home run?

Steve Kahan: [00:05:33] Yeah, 100%. I mean, what I find is that there was an interesting study that I recently read where 83% of the CEOs expect their marketing to drive most of their companies growth. And yet the Harvard Business Review said roughly 80% of CEOs are dissatisfied with their marketing results. And and so what you find is, is that there’s a lot of sales and marketing leaders who feel a little bit overwhelmed by revenue expectations they can’t meet. And part of at least the advice that I give is that the way people buy now has totally changed. Right. And so there’s a lot of organizations that interestingly hasn’t kept up with that. And a great example is if you think about it, just think about it in your own life, right? If you’re going to go buy a car, you probably are not looking forward to going to ten different dealerships and working with sales reps at those ten dealerships. Again, nothing, nothing against those those reps. But what you’re doing is you’re going to be searching online. You’re going to go do some Google searches. You’re going to understand the various options that you have. You might build your own car, you’re going to read reviews. You’ll probably even know what the pricing is and what it should be. Right. And that’s the way people are buying now. And so when you think of that, that a lot of organizations haven’t adopted an approach that enables them to grow revenue, given the fact that their buyers are now relying on digital content to make their purchase decisions.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:27] And that’s a major shift because historically the salesperson was kind of the gatekeeper of the information and now the consumer has the information at their fingertips and then the salesperson has to really just be the Sherpa that’s guiding them through the the buying decision that makes sense for them.

Steve Kahan: [00:07:49] That’s right. And what it means in in just very specific terms is that there’s a new level of information parity during the buying process that has totally changed how marketers have to interact with potential buyers to influence them towards their product and services. And so the bottom line is, is you’ve got to be great online, right? And if you want to consistently grow revenue, you have to be able to do it by delivering great content in an environment where people are going to scan quickly to quickly, then make a decision whether or not they’re going to read on. Right. And so you’ve got seconds, right? And so being great in that environment is is is not easy. But but but I’ve been able to do it. I’ve been able to crack that code. And and that’s a lot of the advice that I also try to provide the organizations that I work with.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:54] But isn’t it I mean, that tactic of being brief but high quality information, enticing, compelling that works, I would think, for the person maybe at the beginning of their journey. But when they’re ready to make that actual buying decision, don’t they want to go deep and really validate their instinct?

Steve Kahan: [00:09:16] Yes. And Right. And so so what that means in in practical terms is that you’ve got to be able to understand and deliver content across the full spectrum of the buyer’s journey. Right. So when they’re educating themselves at the top, when they’re considering different solutions, when they might actually go just refine their search forward and start to look at a specific solution or a specific couple of vendors to to evaluate all the way through the purchase. And you’ve got to be able to connect with them across all of those stages. And if you don’t have great content across the full spectrum of the buyer’s journey, that will zap the. Velocity out of any high velocity digital marketing strategy.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:10] Now, how important is it in this journey, like especially in startups where you don’t have buyers yet? Maybe you have an idea. How do you kind of get actionable information when you don’t have kind of a baked solution yet?

Steve Kahan: [00:10:27] Well, the way that I would advise people to to look at that is that they’ve got to really understand the status quo. Right? And so the status quo represents the current situation, how the buyer is serving their their needs now. And and this really matters in the scenario that you outlined, because you often don’t lose business to a competitor, you lose it to the status quo. Right. And so oftentimes you’ll hear someone say, gee, we’re just not interested or I’m not interested because what I’ve got is good enough, Right? And so so you’ve got to ask potential buyers about the status quo, have them to describe, for example, their current process for for what they’re doing today, what their operations are, how they and their team stay on top of the challenge, how they don’t get overwhelmed by it. What are some of the tools and products that they use today? What are they like about them? What don’t they like? Right. And so by understanding that status quo and communicating very specifically against it, it enables you to tackle that problem head on.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:52] Now, I think that you brought up a very important point here in terms of learning how to position your product or service, how to speak the language of your prospective customer. You have to really have conversations, human to human conversations, and understand the language they’re using, the search terms, they’re using the the outcomes they’re desiring. You have to really get to know them. And a lot of founders, at least the ones I’ve spoke to, they have an ego maybe, or a point of view that they understand and they really can develop personas, but they don’t really have the data to validate those personas that makes sense in their head. And then you can’t not have conversations with people who are buyers and or potential buyers. That’s where the rubber hits the road. That’s where you’re going to get that edge to create that high velocity result you’re talking about.

Steve Kahan: [00:12:57] Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I mean, what you’ve got to be able to do is you’ve got to understand the entire context of the buyer’s world and and you’ve got to regularly talk with customers and then beyond. Just that is that if you look at a lot of the organizations that actually do talk with customers is that they they ask them questions that just so happens to align with the solution that they sell. So they’re almost leading them towards the solution because that that’s what they want to hear. And so you’ve got to ask certain questions in which you don’t do that, and then you’ve got to pay very close attention to the specific language that those potential customers use. Because then in your content, in your ads, you want to reflect that language back at them. Because one of the major marketing fallacies is that like, gee, if we could just be super creative, that that’s going to really help us to to stand out and win. And the truth is, is that the buyers don’t care how clever your marketing department is. They want to work with people who understand and empathize with them, and speaking their language proves that you do exactly that.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:22] Yeah, I remember when I was in school, one of the lessons they taught I have a degree in advertising was it’s not creative unless it sells and a lot of marketers get hung up with the creative part and not the selling part.

Steve Kahan: [00:14:36] Yeah, absolutely right. And then when you’re asking those questions, then you’re starting to get a better sense of also what people are Googling for. Now, you can get a lot of the stats of what the what the search numbers are on specific terms, but really understanding that, I mean, you’ve got to be great on Google, right? And so that’s whenever someone’s going to buy something today there, they’re there oftentimes. Going to Google, Right. And and and being great on Google is a key in this environment in order to sustain growth.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:14] Now let’s share some advice, maybe for a couple of different people. Let’s start out with the the new startup founder. Maybe there that person that had a corporate job and is thinking, you know what, I’m going to take this plunge and I’m going to pursue startups as maybe a pivot in my career. Any advice for that person that’s going from a corporate background into the startup world? What are some do’s and don’ts for that individual?

Steve Kahan: [00:15:40] Yeah, so the way that first of all, I, I think of startups, right? So I never founded my own company. I always went to companies at least had some sort of revenue that were taxed to them. Right. And so what I look for and what I try to always find is that a lot of the entrepreneurs out there, they have good stories, right? But what you’re looking for is a situation in which there’s both a good story as well as a good chance for success. So what I look for first and foremost are quality people that share my values, right? And so if you can’t respect, trust and admire the people involved, move on and look for others, that that sort of rock your world have complementary skill sets. I look for a concept that fills a big market need in which that market need is a must solve problem. Right? And so it’s why I’ve sort of gravitated mostly towards cybersecurity. And I don’t worry if there is competition, I worry if there’s not competition. I look for a great product that I believe in, one in which that I would want to purchase or recommend myself. Right? And that I could go to work every day for with a passion for what that company creates and my role in creating it. And then I also look for that the startup is is funded well enough, right? You don’t want to choose a startup that doesn’t have a long enough runway to get off the ground, right? So you want to check to see that the company is properly funded and capitalize. You have the best chance for growth and stability. I found that if you look at those core attributes when you’re evaluating companies, odds are that you’ll be selecting a company that has the potential to win big.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:41] Now, I know a lot of your background and work is in the startup world. Does your in your latest book, High Velocity Digital Marketing, does any of that pertain to maybe that individual that’s in professional services that they’re that they themselves are marketers or they themselves are an accountant or a doctor? Do do those same strategies work in like kind of a B to B consultant world?

Steve Kahan: [00:18:09] Absolutely right. And so, you know, like if you look at even just understanding your ideal target buyer, right, in in great ways, I mean, when I started at the last company I was at where we went from 5 million to 145 million in five years and exited for 1.4 billion. When I joined on day one, I asked the founders and the management who the customer was, and they said it was it was cybersecurity company, right? And they said that our our, our, our customers are the chief information security officers. Right. And so they were like, Steve, you should know that this is we’re we’re cybersecurity company And I started to interview the the customers. And what I found was it wasn’t the the people responsible for i.t security at all. It was actually i.t admins. It was the techies in the trenches. Right. And so in many ways those are the folks who are never going to read an analyst report. They want stuff fast. Easy, right? They they aware in many hats. They’re going to read reviews. They’re going to hang out online in certain places where the the i.t. Security people who are creating policy or worried about regulatory compliance are are not right. And so when you think of companies of all sizes, no matter what your role, there are very fundamental things in this case. This established company didn’t even know who its ideal buyer was right and so that that lesson of of focusing on your ideal target buyer for example, is is something that a lot of people in organizations across different roles oftentimes take for granted. And as a result, when their marketing digitally their marketing in the wrong places and they wonder why they’re not getting the return that they expected.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:14] But in your example, not only were they looking in the wrong places, they were dismissing your question like they were. So they were so confident that they knew it didn’t even occur to them to look somewhere else.

Steve Kahan: [00:20:30] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and then it plays out, right? And so, like, if you think about it, we wanted to launch a podcast. And so the last thing I wanted to do was to launch a podcast that, like, nobody’s listening to. So knowing that our target customer were these IT admins, I went to partner with an organization that was the leading provider of training to I.T admins and they did some podcast. I offered up a partnership with a cybersecurity podcast and because we tapped into that huge customer base that they had literally within weeks we had one of the largest cybersecurity podcasts around the globe. Right? But that all emanated from knowing who we were going after and then being, I guess, sort of entrepreneurial enough to say, Gee, who can we partner with where at very little cost, we could have a huge podcast and do it at Lightspeed.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:36] Yeah. So I mean, it’s a great lesson for people out there. And again, it’s you’ve got to get out of your office and talk to the real buyers, not just assume you know, because even if what you thought was true when you started may not be true today.

Steve Kahan: [00:21:53] Yeah, for sure. I mean, and those needs change, right? Markets evolve, competitors evolve. I remember we were taking a position around simplicity, ease of use, right? Because it aligned with what our buyers wanted and it really started to work. And so our £800 gorilla competitor that actually had a complex product started messaging all around simplicity. So I got online and I started Googling for their documentation, their products documentation, and ours was about 30 pages. And I found that their product documentation was over 1500 pages long, and I compared their documentation to the fifth largest novel ever written in human history and trained our sales and partners on that. And, and literally their attempt at matching our messaging ended and, and it never recovered for them.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:59] Good stuff. Well, for you, what? Could we be doing more for you? What do you need more of? How can we help you?

Steve Kahan: [00:23:07] Well, really, I’m more about helping others. Right. And so what would help me is, is that I just wrote a new book called High Velocity Digital Marketing. It’s really focused on the digital marketing strategies that we’re talking a little bit about here. And it’s very much a how to, by the way, where people could implement what they learn literally that same day. And so I guess if it provides value, what would help me is that I get gratification at at least at this point in my career is is just hearing back from others that they tried some things that that that worked or any feedback that they might have that that would be most helpful for me would be just helping others succeed.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:56] Now, in this book, it’s very tactical. And is is this something that you have to have a big budget in order to leverage digital marketing? Or are there ways, like you mentioned, partnering and doing things with others that may be you can do it in a more affordable rate?

Steve Kahan: [00:24:12] Yeah, I mean, that’s what it’s all about, right? I mean, I mean, another example is, is that which I, I go into detail, but like we talked just a little bit about being great on Google and you could pay super expensive SEO consultants or read 500 page books and your head will be spinning. Right? And so what we did is we identified our coveted keywords, right? These were the ones that people were searching on whenever we created content, whether it was web content or or other types of content, we would have our SEO expert meet with that content creator, make sure we were covering the appropriate keywords. They would meet again at the end of the project to make sure that they were incorporated, and then we would expose the content so that Google could scan it right? And just simply that process, as well as creating content that our partners love, which gave us a lot of backlinks, enable us to punch far above our weight. And so that just implementing a process like that and I go into other things as well, can really help any listener and their company to become great on Google.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:29] Well, if somebody wants to get a hold of the book or connect with you and your team, what is the way to do that?

Steve Kahan: [00:25:35] Well, my book, High Velocity Digital Marketing, is available wherever you would buy books online like Amazon and I could be connected with at Be a Startup Superstar.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:49] All right, Steve, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Steve Kahan: [00:25:54] Well, thank you for having me. Lee. It is my pleasure.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:57] All right. This is Lee Kantor. Until next time on high velocity radio.