What makes for a good business launch? Is it when the vision plans match the outcome? Or is it about the learnings along the way — realizing all the ways the company has come together and how to stay on track into the future?
In this final episode of the miniseries, Jonathan Gandolf, Co-Founder & CEO, and Brett McGrath, VP of Marketing of The Juice, join the show to discuss some insight on launch planning and keeping the business momentum rolling indefinitely.
Jonathan and Brett cover:
- Handling a high volume of work during adoption
- A deep dive into launch planning
- Plans for post-event momentum
Handling a high volume of work during adoption
How often are we caught off guard by how much we’ve put on our plate, professionally? More times than you care to admit, right? Sometimes our enthusiasm can be exuberant — leaving us asking ourselves: what happened?
For Brett and Jonathan, with the volume of work before launch feeling high, the amount of work now is overwhelming. For those in similar early stage companies, what can they do to come out on top when work feels too much to handle?
”I’ve liked this stage, because every decision we make, every conversation we have, has consequences. And to me that’s exciting.” — Jonathan Gandolf
It’s a tough but important reminder that this is what we signed up for; the transition from vision to post-launch can be a lot, but also rewarding if you remember how exciting this period of time is. When you love your product or company, the wins can act as a kind of fuel to keep you going and grind away at the laundry list of work.
Different lenses of team members
A passionate team means a lot of differing opinions and mindsets. So, as a leader, how does Jonathan make those team members feel heard while also providing feedback that will push the company forward?
Vision alignment is key.
The best part about working with a team that believes in the vision of the company, is that differing perspectives can be used to an advantage. Because the vision is aligned, healthy conversation can be had. Without difference of opinion, the company would stagnate.
There will always be situations where what’s best for the consumer isn’t best for the brand — and vice versa. Having a team that can constructively joust over the best solution is essential.
A deep dive into launch planning
It’s easy to stop delegating responsibilities when the outcome is important to you — think of a group project in grade school you needed an A on, and you became a team of one to get it done. But don’t fool yourself into thinking the same can be done for a product or company launch.
You’ve hired an incredible team for a reason; trust them to take the pressure off of yourself and provide perspectives that you couldn’t have come to on your own. Otherwise, no matter how excited you are for the work you’re doing, something will inevitably fall through the cracks.
With high support from the venture studio that The Juice is being launched from, Brett and Jonathan needed a way to build on top of the already great support coming from the benefactor. Jonathan shares some of the ways they’ve risen above the normal:
- Planning for momentum
- Building a community who believe in the vision
- Activating networks through media
“I think it’s a combination of that rolling thunder, and then activating the different communities or stakeholders around our business.” — Jonathan Gandolf
Purpose of the launch
When it comes down to it, what is the main purpose of the launch? For Jonathan, after working for so many months on the project, it’s a way to celebrate their effort — as a company focused on creating relationships within the community, it’s only natural to say yes to any opportunity to build stronger bonds.
Plans for post-event momentum
It’s normal to have some concern that interest will die off after the launch of a business. You’ve put so much effort into building, you want to keep as many relationships alive and flourishing as possible.
Jonathan shares some plans to help keep the ball rolling with momentum:
- Plan for future product launches
- Bring new content creators onto the platform
- Create fundraising opportunities
”We’re certainly going to make some adjustments; things are gonna go really well. Things are going to fall flat. And we’ll learn from all those and we’ll keep moving fast.” — Jonathan Gandolf
Brett and Jonathan are excited at the prospect of adding new contributors to The Juice well into the future. For those looking to launch their own brand, a few tips: Plans rarely go according to plan, focus on building relationships, and stay excited about the product or company you’re building.
This post is based on an episode of the #FlipMyFunnel podcast. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or here.
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The Juice: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Jonathan Gandolf – Chief Executive Officer at The Juice – Twitter | LinkedIn
Jonathan is a left-brain marketer with a right-brain problem. Having launched his career in marketing data, a curiosity and appetite for problem-solving has led him from digital marketing, to craft beer (yes really), to healthcare analytics (yes, an even weirder transition).
Now, he’s tackling his most challenging problem yet — helping B2B marketers, like himself, break away from their old school habits. The Juice is a B2B Content Discovery Platform that more intelligently connects content consumers and content marketers. It’s the B2C experience for curated content we all know and love being applied to the B2B space. Stop filling out forms, start enjoying content.
Brett McGrath – VP, Marketing at The Juice – Twitter | LinkedIn
Brett has spent the past 12 years in the B2B SaaS industry in various marketing functional and leadership roles. He wakes up every morning thinking about creating value for the audience he is serving and loves building winning content programs. He believes the content marketing function is the catalyst for change in B2B marketing and spends his days learning from other marketers on the 3C (Curating Content Creators) Podcast. His evenings consist of creating content in the sports cards industry with his show Stacking Slabs and is always looking for rare Peyton Manning cards that he doesn’t already own.
