Dharmesh Shah

@randfish That's a really, really hard question. I'll give you the short version now, and perhaps a longer version over a glass of wine (we're overdue): The hardest thing about product strategy and figuring out the right balance between building what you think (or are convinced) should exist vs. what people want. You can't skew too far one way or the other. Things I would do: 1. Make an inventory of the "stuff" (products/features) that you currently have, and come up with a way to measure the value they're generating. First-order approximation is revenue divided by usage/adoption. 2. Figure out what you can kill. Seriously. The mistake that many teams make is thinking that the software they've developed is "sunk cost" and that if it's generating *any* value, that's net positive. It's not. All products/features have an ongoing cost to them. Not just maintaining the software, but the complexity cost of making decisions around the feature, explaining to people what it is, why it's important, etc. Usually, the "long tail cost" of a feature is much higher than the initial development cost. 3. If you haven't done one already, do a customer NPS survey and try to dig into what it is your customers love about Moz -- and what they'd like you to do. Even better, ask the question I ask most customers I meet in person when I'm out speaking: "When I go back to my team, what's the one thing you'd love for me to ask them to do for you?" (That assumes, of course, that I can tell my team what to do, which is not true at all). But, the data is valuable. :) That's it for now. Might be back to you later...

@dharmesh Thanks - not just good advice for Moz, but near-universally applicable advice. Very thoughtful of you to be so inclusive :-)

@randfish If I didn't know better, I'd almost think that was a dig. But I do, and so I don't.

@carlosvivaldi The OCD part of me is going to want to come up with a revised acronym, but I'm going to resist doing that. The word I really want to get in there is Empathetic. Fun fact: I've actually lobbied internally to replace "Effective" in HEART with "Empathetic". And, replace "Remarkable" with "Resourceful". Have not won that internal debate (yet). I'm going to make another attempt at it soon.

@nealkaiser The question I have about demanding schedules is: "Who's doing the demanding?" Chances are, those that influence your schedule want to solve for "output" (not input). So, if you had a candid conversation with them about how you can add the most value (which is likely *not* being in extrovert-tailored situations), they'd listen. For me personally: I have long-ago (15+ years) decided that I'm going to focus on my strengths and not try to fill-in my weaknesses. It's worked out OK for me. It's amazing what the world will let you "get away with" if you simply try it.

Hi Jonny! Thanks for stopping by. @jonnym1ller @randfish First off, I'd say that Rand is too kind and humble, but there is no such thing, so will it stand. Over the many years that I've known him, Rand and I have given each other advice roughly equally. And, I don't think I've ever given him a great idea, other than the one I shared at a Search Love conference which was to monitor ProgrammableWeb for new APIs to generate ideas for neat tools to build. In terms of the second part: The thing that I'm most proud of is have attracted a bunch of smart people and aligned them towards a cause of making marketing (and now sales) more empathetic and human-friendly. We're not the only ones to be working on that, but we started early and were relatively maniacal about it.

@imbarrynyhan First, my definition of success: "Success is making those who believed in you look brilliant." So based on that, I'd say that the #1 most common trait amongst the successful is humility.

@kkdub Turns out, I have a 1,000+ word blog post in draft-mode that answers this question. But, here's the gist: The dream for inbound.org is to be one of the best resources out there for marketers to learn, grow and connect. Now, that sounds super abstract and platitudinal, so let's dig in: 1. Be the best place for new marketers to break into the industry. 2. Provide a way for marketers to verifiably demonstrate their skills/expertise. 3. Create a place for organizations to hire great inbound marketers. In a "positive karmic loop" kind of way, what makes a great inbound marketer is someone that is empathetic and generous (put value in before extracting value out). 4. Build the world's biggest and richest graph of marketers, the tools they use, the projects they've worked on, the companies they've worked for, and the skills they've accumulated. Seriously.

@dharmesh Love it. All of it. Perhaps inbound.org might also be a place for new marketers to seek mentors?

Really like your last idea @kkdub. Although I'm a little more biased to having a mentor outside your direct industry; that's a particularly strong attraction point for young marketers finding their feet. Considering @dharmesh has pitched Inbound above as a hub for young marketers to evolve within, moving towards a mentor model is an interesting challenge. I've tried it before - the logistics, reliability and commitment of people (mentors and mentees) can be a nightmare.

@digigraziano Ideally we all have multiple mentors. :) The challenges you mention are real. Overcoming them seems possible and well worth doing. The benefits of mentoring (for both parties) are well-documented. And I believe (no data) that young marketers who have mentors are more likely to be mentors in the future. And that current mentors in marketing will gain the confidence to serve as mentors for young professionals in other fields. @dharmesh

@digigraziano (I'm not capable of thoughts in singles. Apologies.) Another approach might be to partner up those of us who have not published with more seasoned marketers to work on research or articles together. Think of that like a highly targeted mentorship opportunity with a defined outcome that more concretely benefits inbound.org in the near-term. @dharmesh

@ems_hodge Be careful with general advice. Understand that most advice is an extrapolation from few (often one) data point.

Love this @dharmesh. We can rely and form decisions far too quickly from data. Every industry, every target audience is different. 'Growth' and 'Retention' tips are great to build on, but repurposing them exactly as they are depicted is often a trip down the wrong road.

@edwinespinosa09 In our early years, we hired people that were exceptionally smart and Got Sh*t Done. Most of us didn't look like great hires "on paper". As we've scaled, we've found a clearer pattern to what kinds of people work well at HubSpot -- and they're usually humble and transparent. See http://CultureCode.com for more details on how we think about people.

@vishal_kuchanur If I had the talent, I'd become a musician. But, I don't. So, what I will likely end up doing is becoming a professor. I have always loved teaching, and it fits my "do things that have impact and scale" mantra.

@dharmesh @vishal_kuchanur Hi Dharmesh! I've worked as staff in higher ed for 7 years, primarily in faculty-facing roles. I mention this to say faculty LOVE what they do. Having worked in some capacity with several hundred professors from a wide range of disciplines (mostly business and healthcare but also arts & sciences and IT), I've found professors to be some of the most joyful and fulfilled people around. Bonus! Teaching keeps you youthful.

@andrewmettinger It's already been asked-- the one about what http://inbound.org is all about.

@dannylowney This is going to sound a bit odd (because it is): 1. I go to bed roughly between 1:30 am and 2am on most nights. Unless I'm in the zone on some coding, in which case I sometimes push it to 3am. 2. I almost never, ever wake up to an alarm clock. I wake up when my body wants to wake up. On average, I get about 7-7.25 hours a night. At < 6.5 hours, I'm sub-optimal. At < 6 hours, I'm non-functional. Might as well have stayed in bed.. 3. Because of my sleep routine, I don't usually schedule morning meetings unless absolutely required. Fun fact: First few years of HubSpot, there was an implicit rule to never setup a meeting before 11am (my co-founder, Brian Halligan is a night-owl too). Later, we revised this to: "You can setup a meeting before 11am, just don't invite one of the co-founders." 4. When I wake up, I usually don't hop out of bed. Not because I'm groggy, but because I like to lay there and *think*. It's one of the few times during the day that I literally don't have to do anything else. Other upside to doing this is that once I *do* get out of bed, I can capture my ideas relatively quickly/easily (because they were just in my head).

@givebuy I've been working in startups for most of my professional career, and I've been on that roller-coaster many times. Often, I've felt the "can't be stopoped" and "we're going to die" emotion on the very same day -- for rational reasons. The one thing I'll say: Remember that you are not alone. Everybody (including the ones you'd label as "successful") goes through this. The frequency of the oscillation goes down over time (I experience this less with HubSpot than I did with my first startup).

@dharmesh Thank you!

@dzidzienyo I loved college. Loved grad school more than undergrad, but that's because I was able to *enjoy* grad school, whereas I worked like a dog all the way through undergrad. Courses that were influential on me: 1. Microeconomics 2. Game Theory 3. Improv Comedy (yes, I took a grad-level course on improv at MIT) 4. Strategy

@ems_hodge Answer these questions: Who is it for? How does this help them? Why will this work?

@marickab Given that I'm not a marketer by trade, I'm not really qualified to do that prioritization. But, I'll make you a deal: Post the question over at inbound.org and I'll make sure some *real* marketers respond to it. The Web Summit seems so long ago!

@dharmesh Thanks so much Dharmesh. Appreciate it. Maricka.

@dharmesh This is now psoted - https://inbound.org/article/alto...

@nicolechirps We don't have a formal product roadmap. Things move too fast. We do have strategic planning cycles though, where we try to figure out (at a very high-level of abstraction) what our priorities are. We then make concerted efforts to ensure that the entire company understands what we are out to do, and let them go figure out what needs to be built.

@empteam It's a tough problem. Though teaching students is a decent approach, that's a long, long road. You need something that will have shorter-term impact. What I would do is arm yourself with case studies of companies that those in your area know of -- and hopefully respect. Often, people are just skeptical -- but there are always a few that are open-minded enough to entertain the possibility that there might be a better way. You need just one. Then two. Then you build from there.

@dharmesh I was thinking along the lines of case studies and practical experiments direct in the Bosnian market. The SEO landscape is literally non-existant, SMM works partially (Facebook), Content Marketing is really bad, PPC is done only for traffic sake.... You got the picture. So I am pulling up a website and will do everything "right" or at least "educated" and compete against market holders in different industries. It is either showing them benefits or taking market share... both ways work to educate

@harpblake Ha, ha, ha. I'm surprised only 2 questions from my list got asked. Answer: 319 domains. Favorite (that jumps to mind): easy.org I also like GrowthEngineering.com, because I think that term should replace Growth Hacking in the long-term (I'm a stickler for what you call things). Note: I'm good friends with Sean Ellis, and an investor in his company.

@tomstocklein There is a simple (but not easy) answer: There needs to be a culture of forgiveness (when things go wrong). In too many areas, the stigma of a "failed" startup is too high and so fewer people pursue entrepreneurship. And, the #1 things that help forge a startup ecosystem is successful startups. Not just because it creates wealth (that often then comes back to fund new startups), but because it serves as an example to aspiring entrepreneurs of what is possible.

@lejlahunts Sadly, almost all of them are still around (though many have reduced). The one I like the least is junk mail because not only is it not empathetic to the recipient, it's harmful to the environment. So wasteful.

@dharmesh via your blog post-- AKA: how many marketing strategists does it take to change the public's perspective of Ads/Marketing campaigns? I mean change a lightbulb ... 💡🔑🔑

@rajesh_goutham Sorry, must say no. See http://MustSayNo.com

@anderson760 The way we think about it, "inbound" represents a more empathetic, more human-friendly approach to doing business. It applies to more than just marketing (we're now trying to carry it into sales). So, you're right, HubSpot and inbound are closely tied together, but we're hoping the idea of inbound has broader applicability than just marketing. In terms of martech, I'm super-excited to see all the innovation going on out there. It's hard to keep up with it all. In terms of Drip specifically, I've been a big fan of Rob Walling for a long time. Great to see him applying his talents to our industry. It's a big market out there.

@kkdub If by "monster" you mean something that is good for people, then YES! It's a cute, cuddly monster (like in Monsters, Inc.) But yes, inbound marketing does take time. I disagree that with certain businesses it will never work well. If you have a business for which inbound marketing will never work well, I'd argue that in the super-long term, the *business* will never work really well.

@dharmesh I am designing inbound.org cuddly plush in my head now, TYVM. ;) The scenario I had in mind for inbound not working well is a consumer products company that manufactures and sells a fixed and limited variety of low-cost, low-involvement novelty items. Through the forest and the trees, inbound does work for them, but they need to borrow another company's audience. To your point, is this manufacturing company a super-long term concern? No. They're 50 years in on this equipment and might get another 10 without new investment.

@sridhar_kondoji I have trusted one-person startups before (and invested in them). I don't think single-founder companies are less "trustworthy". But, empirically, multi-founder companies have better odds. So, all things being equal, knowing nothing else about the companies, I'd invest in a 2-founder company over a 1-founder one. Also, putting aside that, one should have a co-founder because startups are a lonely business and it's really, really nice to have someone to share the journey with.

@dharmesh Thank you.

@queenleariv @scobleizer I'm intellectually curious about AR/VR, just like any self-respecting tech geek. But, I haven't started digging into it yet, because it's a little on the "fringe" for me right now. The thing I *am* starting to think about is Conversational UIs. That's a mainstream thing that could touch billions of people in a relatively short time. There's no new hardware required. I'm a software guy -- I love when there's no new hardware required.

@rnd64 Absolutely. In both directions. I think HubSpot's culture (which was primarily designed for our team members) impacts our customers/partners. I've had many of them tell me the *reason* they picked HubSpot was because it was the kind of company they wanted to do business with. Same holds true in the other direction. We like to favor vendors that think like we do.

@jason_bholanauth Read http://CultureCode.com (warning: 128 slides). It pretty much spells it out. The challenge is that although we are growing fast, the number of applications we get is growing faster. So, it's kind of a tough place to get into, and we're still in the midst of our international expansion.

@empteam I think what made Sam's "stunt" work is that it was remarkable. But, there are (literally) an infinite number of ideas out there in terms of ways to stand-out. I personally lean towards ones that show-off your strengths and demonstrate empathy/generosity. Self-serving idea: Write a brilliant guest post for inbound.org that drives a bunch of engagement, and you will have our attention. :)

@dharmesh :) Did it twice ;) Casey already asked me to do another one, will have to do it it seems :)

@yuriyyarovoy Can't speak to HubSpot specifically, but here's my take on the market generally: 1. Current "correction" is relatively widespread (pretty much all SaaS companies and the broader sector were impacted). So, I personally don't read into it as "marketing is crowded, and so valuations came down". 2. In reality, marketing is still VERY under-penetrated. Yes, there are a lot of companies with marketing software, but the race is by no means over. It still feels like early days. 3. I tend not to think too much about valuation. Instead, I focus on "value" (i.e. what are we doing for customers?) Here's a letter I wrote to HubSpot employees recently: https://foundertherapy.com/how-m...

@torbenniesel Communicating. Write. Speak. Whatever you need to do, *communicate*. Too many ideas live inside people's heads, and never see the light of day. Get practice trying to communicate, defend -- and revise your ideas. Just like software, it's not whether you get it right the first time (very few do), it's how fast you can learn and iterate.

@khseetas When I was in my late 20s, I was about 5 years into my first startup (enterprise software, bootstrapped). I learned a lot of my best lessons at that time. The most important of which: Direct as much of your energy as possible on the problem to be solved, and don't get distracted by other things. I've made countless mistakes (both then and now), the biggest ones: 1. Trying to do too many things. Years ago, I accepted the fact that I can't multi-task. So, I don't. 2. Underestimating both the power -- and peril, of people. I'm not a "people person", but I learned that most of the things in life worth doing require teamwork and collaboration. It is hard to have a big impact with a small surface area of human interaction. 3. There should be no shame in solving "small" problems. Some of the greatest companies started out solving seemingly small problems.

@dharmesh thank you.

@joanunes Yes. HubSpot already has customers in 40+ countries (probably higher than that, but that's the number stuck in my head).

@dharmesh I encourage all my friends and Clients to practice English more. You can’t miss any Relevant Content, if you search in English. Just by asking the right question, the researcher gets more than the right answer, he or she becomes confident to proceed, based on consistent and reliable information. That's what happens when we do a search at www.hubspot.com Thanks for your amazing Solutions. And for the wealth of data that you offer to the Community.

@dharmesh Como profissional de Comunicação, com uma vida dedicada ao estudo e pesquisas de Línguas estrangeiras, nos encontros com amigos e Clientes, sempre destaco a importância de se aprofundar no estudo de Inglês. Não apenas para melhorar o currículo ou avançar na carreira. O domínio do Inglês é primordial para ampliar o conhecimento em todas as áreas de pesquisa. Não há pergunta que fique sem resposta, se a pesquisa na Internet, for feita em Inglês. O acesso à informação relevante e confiável, é simplesmente inesgotável. Basta fazer uma experiência simples, com a pergunta certa, para se ter acesso a um grau de conhecimento inimaginável. A informação é a base essencial para se chegar à tomada de decisão segura. Quero expressar meu agradecimento a Dharmesh Shah, e a Hubspot ( www.hubspot.com ), pelas incríveis Soluções disponibilizadas no site.

@dharmesh Amazing, the wealth of data on #InboundMarketing that you offer to the Community. @dharmesh #hubspot

@lokesh_kunthoor I have a three word response: Don't do it. You can either be a successful task master or a successful leader. In this day and age, you can't be both.

@andygcook I probably *will* write another book, because like most people, I stubbornly refuse to learn my lesson the first time. :) I will probably write it about (oddly enough), *culture*. Because, I've had this weird relationship with company culture (working on the HubSpot Culture Code). I'm more of an antrhropologist. I like the analytics and the science and the game theory of people. And, I mean that in a good way. Because as you know, I'm a nice guy. :)

@sandraja @gmail We are in the process of localizing HubSpot for many different languages -- but candidly, I don't know how we go about picking which languages to do first. My guess is, it's a function of how many customers/partners we have in a particular locale.

@dharmesh @gmail Thanks for fast respond. Right now I don't have informations about your partners in this area. But I know this couple of facts: 1.Croatia: number of enterprises: 145.904 2. Serbia: number of enterprises: 283.386 3. Montenegro : number of enterprises: 21.127 4. Bosnia and Herzegovina:number of enterprises: 161.295 Total are 611.712 SME So we have a good target. I am familiar with project development , inbound marketing. So we can talk little bit more if you have interest.

@dharmesh @gmail Also what is good to know. What problem we solve: 1. Lack of unified software solutions. 2. Lack of online support for entrepreneurs and for SME sector. Major goal are that we can become a brand on the ground Balkansand as leader with sofware implementation and consulting as well. I hope we can go futher more. Cheers. Sandra

@jessdykstra Thanks for the kind words. I've bet my future on the fact that over time, a greater percentage of the world will be people just like you, and businesses looking to reach them will have no choice but to engage accordingly. Cheers.

@savoyer I have an atypical answer, but high on my list is having a beautiful, comprehensive API for all of HubSpot. Also on my list: A blogging tool as simple and beautiful as Medium. I'm envious of them.

@ajaneu Not to crush your fairy tale (don't let me dissuade you), but I would probably not invest. I don't make that many investments, and they fall into a very specific kind of opportunity (and I've gotten even more narrow in my approach as time has gone on). As HubSpot CTO, I'm thrilled that you're meeting a need for HubSpot customers. Thanks! But, as an independent investor that invests his own money, it doesn't fit one of my areas of interest. Sorry.

Thank you very much @dharmesh. From geek to geek here is our hubspot-api-java-client https://github.com/ShangriLaFarm... I am just wondering if one of your areas of interest regards e-learning.

@kittylover34 In the beginning, it's about communicating a differentiated value prop. In the long-term, it's about *delivering* a differentiated value prop. (Sorry for the abstract answer, channeling my inner Seth Godin, and it turns out, I'm nowhere near as smart)