Category Operations

How to Use XLookup in Excel

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by Lauren Farrell for HubSpot Working with large data sets is always tricky. Excel is one of the most powerful tools you can use to manipulate, format, and analyze large sets of information. Several well-known functions exist to help you look up specific matches within a dataset, like VLookup. But functions like VLookup had certain limitations, so Microsoft recently introduced the XLookup function to Excel. It provides a more robust method for finding specific values in a data set. Knowing how to use it effectively can drastically cut down the time you spend trying to analyze data in Excel. What…

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“The Lean Startup” is Bullshit

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by The B2B Growth Newsletter Hi all — After talking with approximately 2.4 billion B2B founders, I’ve realized one of the main root causes of everyone’s pain and frustration. “Experimentation.” We’ve been told since the dawn of the Lean Startup that we need to generate hypotheses, experiment, measure, learn, and pivot. But the Lean Startup’s experimentation orthodoxy is wrong and counterproductive for founders and GTM teams. Why? It assumes you can generate testable hypotheses and learn real things. Generally, you can’t. Every time you try to do this in a startup setting, you realize your hypothesis was dumb and wrong, but can never…

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How Ramp builds product

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by LENNY RACHITSKY for Lenny's Newsletter I was talking to a prominent VC the other day about what startups he’s watching, and he told me that he’s seeing one company quickly becoming a gravity for the best talent: Ramp. If you’re not familiar with Ramp, they provide corporate cards and a spend management platform, helping startups save money and control spending. They were last valued at over $8 billion, are backed by Founders Fund, Redpoint, Stripe, and others, and in the past year grew 4x, to over $10 billion in annualized spending. I believe they are also the fastest-growing SaaS company…

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BDR Compensation Model: Is it time for a change?

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by LIZ CHRISTO for Dear Stage 2 DEAR STAGE 2: I manage a 7-person outbound BDR team and want to roll out a new comp plan for the second half of the year. What are my options? Any recommendations on the best plans to use? ~New to designing comp plansSubscribe DEAR NEW TO DESIGNING COMP PLANS: Let’s start with some simple advice — don’t assume your comp plan is broken. Before you throw out the current plan, ask yourself… What’s NOT working? What’s changed? If the plan is mostly working, consider making small tweaks or layering in short term SPIFFs.  But, if you need…

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Boost Your Small Business With These Must-Have AI Tools

By in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Business Management, Finance, Marketing, Operations

by Belle Wong for The Hartford In recent months, ChatGPT has shown the world how far artificial intelligence (AI) has come. But as AI developers and software companies release more and more AI tools on a near-daily basis, it can be challenging to know which tools are worth it for your small business. It’s worth digging deeper to learn more about the options available. By harnessing the power of AI, you can potentially compete with big businesses. Keep reading to learn more about the AI tools that can help take your business to the next level and beyond. 1. Chatbots Customers want…

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Why Most Analytics Efforts Fail

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by Crystal Widjaja for Reforge From 20K orders per day to 5M. Zero to 100 people in business intelligence. Eight to 85 people in growth. All in 4.5 years. It was a wild ride, but not one that many in the US startup scene are familiar with. This wasn't Uber or Lyft, but rather Gojek, Southeast Asia's largest Super App. For those unfamiliar with Gojek or Super Apps in general, the product serves all your on-demand needs. Ordering food, transportation, digital payments, hyper-local delivery, and a dozen other services. To give you a sense of scale, Gojek completes more daily…

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Full steam ahead: What can we learn from Generation Z to create distribution’s brightest future?

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by Mark Dancer on Innovating B2B Generation Z, the first generation born into a world powered by the Internet, is coming of age, entering the workforce, pursuing advanced education, and pushing for change. Generation Z is the future of everything. In this edition, I share insights about Gen Z gleaned by listening to Roberta Katz, a cultural anthropologist, lawyer, and senior research scholar on the Stanford Pathfinders podcast. As a Baby Boomer, I feel obligated to listen to Gen Z’s members, learn from them, and at the same time, offer my network and knowledge to help them find answers, resources, and connections. I’m…

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The 3 Phases of Product-Led Growth: The Triple Whale Method

By in Marketing, Operations, Sales Tag ,

by Gigi Levy-Weiss for NfX Truly product-led companies are countercyclical. Even in a downturn, when customers are shutting down or slashing spending, your product or service remains in their stack. You made something they can’t live without. Love from the market is how the best companies gain ground – in any economic environment. It is the clearest sign of product-led growth. But it doesn’t just happen to you. There’s a playbook for it. When we invested in Triple Whale at the very beginning, they only had a few hundred customers. But Twitter was hopping with Shopify sellers declaring their love for the…

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25 Email Management Tips To Claim Back Your Time

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by Zoe Ashbridge for HubSpot Approximately 333.2 billion emails were sent in 2022 — and every single one demands time. Every time you head over to your inbox, it impacts your productivity and takes you out of a deep focus. To help you get your concentration and productivity back, we're sharing email management tips and tricks to keep you focused. Read on to learn how to control your inbox instead of having it run your life. You'll also learn exactly how to implement these simple email management tips. Let's dive in. Email Management Tips Shut off your notifications. Work offline. Schedule specific times during…

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