『Making The Grade』のカバーアート

Making The Grade

Making The Grade

著者： ScaleWise Tom Glason
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 Less than 1 in 100 Startups manage to achieve funding beyond Series D or an exit. Investors typically expect 8 out of 10 of the businesses they invest in to fail. It’s time to make building a business less depressing and scale more wisely. Tune into Making The Grade to hear first-hand experiences of venture-backed software companies in their journeys from Seed to Series B funding. Every week, we’ll be joined by Founders, Investors and senior Go-To-Market Leaders to explore the factors driving the decline in graduation rates, misaligned go-to-market operations and ineffective sales and marketing strategies. All while making you leave every episode with actionable insights and expert advice to help you navigate these common Startup hurdles and thrive in a competitive market, showing that it can be done differently.2025 ScaleWise マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 個人ファイナンス 出世 就職活動 経済学
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  • Running Your Own Race: Tom Lavery on going from bootstrapped to venture-backed

    Running Your Own Race: Tom Lavery on going from bootstrapped to venture-backed
    2025/09/11

    What does it take to build a category-defining SaaS company when your biggest competitors have raised 40x more funding than you?

    In this episode, Tom Lavery, Founder & CEO of Jiminny, joins us to share how he bootstrapped for years before raising, why staying in control beats chasing hype, and how to layer AI into GTM without over-engineering your stack.

    Expect pragmatic tactics for capital-efficient growth, candid lessons from fundraising in a downturn, and a no-BS view on what’s truly changed in sales.

    Episode Chapters:

    03:34 - Jiminny’s origin story
    05:53 - Competing in a category with 40x more capital
    09:21 - How to pick your investors & navigating the SaaS recession
    17:20 - What’s changed in sales
    21:18 - Successfully implementing AI
    31:18 - The European ecosystem
    33:18 - Slowing down and getting hiring right

    Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?

    If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...

    ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform.
    ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com
    ✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.

    See you again next week!

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    37 分
  • Bootstrapping Agorapulse to over $20M ARR with Emeric Ernoult

    Bootstrapping Agorapulse to over $20M ARR with Emeric Ernoult
    2025/09/04

    Start-up headlines are often dominated by fundraising announcements and the latest valuation.

    But the Venture Capital route isn’t the only option or the best to take.

    In this episode, we’re joined by Emeric Ernoult, Co-Founder & CEO of Agorapulse, one of Europe’s most successful bootstrapped SaaS Founders.

    Emeric is a serial entrepreneur and has seen Agorapulse through several pivots and international expansion, all while bootstrapping.

    This often painful journey has come with its fair share of lessons - some of which Emeric shares with us in today’s conversation.

    This is definitely not a highlights reel, so if you’re currently going through the trenches or facing a pivot, this episode is one you don’t want to miss.

    Episode Chapters

    03:37 - Building Agorapulse from the ashes of a previous business
    07:20 - The signs to know when it’s time to pivot
    13:31 - Bootstrapping vs VC funding - the hard truths
    17:44 - Understanding VCs beyond the money
    23:25 - The Do’s & Don’ts of international expansion
    27:28 - Growth metrics that actually matter
    34:07 - How AI is transforming data-driven growth

    Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?

    If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...

    ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform.
    ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com
    ✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.

    See you again next week!

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    38 分
  • The 5 Silent Killers of Go-To-Market with Keji Mustapha

    The 5 Silent Killers of Go-To-Market with Keji Mustapha
    2025/08/28

    Every founder thinks they’re focused on growth. But too often, hidden mistakes in their go-to-market (GTM) strategy quietly erode their chances of success.

    In this Making The Grade episode, we’re joined by Keji Mustapha, CMO at Partech, to unpack the 5 Silent Killers of Go-To-Market.

    From undefined ICPs and premature scaling, to misaligned leadership and ignoring the voice of the customer, Keji shares practical advice founders can use today to avoid costly mistakes and scale more wisely.

    If you’re a founder, operator, or investor looking to understand why so many companies fail to “make the grade” and why their GTM strategy has a lot to answer for, then this episode will be the one for you.

    Episode Chapters

    01:40 - Keji’s unconventional journey from law to tech and venture capital
    05:10 - The day-to-day of a CMO in venture
    07:30 - The biggest challenges founders face in 2025
    09:15 - The 5 Silent Killers of GTM
    15:40 - The misalignment trap
    18:50 - Why hiring for shiny logos often backfires
    23:45 - How to build customer obsession into your culture
    28:00 - Keji’s predictions for GTM
    32:40 - What really needs to change to improve startup graduation rates

    Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?

    If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...

    ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform.
    ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com
    ✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.

    See you again next week!

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    34 分
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