How to Scale, growing Xero to 1 million subscribers: another excellent event at the Peregian Digital Hub featuring Trent Innes ex-Managing Director of Xero.
Trent knows a lot about scaling a startup. He spent 9 years at Xero and as MD grew the company from 10,000 to 1 million subscribers, scaling into multiple global markets. Trent is currently Chief Growth Officer with ASX-listed SiteMinder the world’s leading hotel commerce platform and another phenomenal Aussie tech success story
Trent shared the lessons he learned scaling Xero and what that means for people building and contributing to early-stage tech companies. Just some of the takeaway points for me included:
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Find a segmentation model that makes sense to you.
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Understand the customer workflow - from observation as much as just surveys - win the workflow, win the war.
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Brand over performance marketing: leverage the media as much as you can to help build the brand, earning media coverage rather than just paying an endless amount on search.
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Hire for attitude over skills, knowledge and experience.
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Values scale, rules don’t.
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Hire the right people for the scaleup phases, and find people who are comfortable and performing well with 100% growth per year and not 5 or 10%.
Thanks again to Chris Boden for inviting me and to Noosa Council for having the vision to launch and support the Peregian Digital Hub, undoubtedly the Sunshine Coast’s epicentre of tech.
