What Elon Musk Taught Me

About Growing A Business

 These slides are from a live keynote
by Dharmesh Shah (@dharmesh)
at INBOUND 2017

Full Video: aligningvectors.com

Sequoia Capital 10/12/15

to Brian, me

Brian & Dharmesh,

Buried deep in the hills between our Menlo Park office
and the Pacific Ocean, we’re hosting a small (n=100)
gathering of our most legendary founders
(both current & alumni) on May 13-14, 2016.
We’d be honored if you could join us.
Sequoia Capital 10/12/15

to Brian, me

Brian & Dharmesh,

Buried deep in the hills between our Menlo Park office
and the Pacific Ocean, we’re hosting a small (n=100)
gathering of our most legendary founders
(both current & alumni) on May 13-14, 2016.
We’d be honored if you could join us.
indoorsy
Sequoia Capital 10/12/15

to Brian, me

Brian & Dharmesh,

Buried deep in the hills between our Menlo Park office
and the Pacific Ocean, we’re hosting a small (n=100)
gathering of our most legendary founders
(both current & alumni) on May 13-14, 2016.
We’d be honored if you could join us.
indoorsy
introverted
Sequoia Capital 10/12/15

to Brian, me

Brian & Dharmesh,

Buried deep in the hills between our Menlo Park office
and the Pacific Ocean, we’re hosting a small (n=100)
gathering of our most legendary founders
(both current & alumni) on May 13-14, 2016.
We’d be honored if you could join us.
 indoorsy
+ introverted
+ insecure
 indoorsy
+ introverted
+ insecure
= intimidated
Dharmesh Shah 2:17 AM

to Sequoia Capital

I’m honored to be invited, but unfortunately

I can’t make it.

Thanks.

-Dharmesh
Sequoia Capital 1:23 PM

to me

Oh, and by the way, Elon Musk will be joining us.

CRAP!
Daddy, tell Elon I can
help him draw cars.

Oh, and please get 


a selfie with him.
Outdoorsy extrovert
 How do you
work towards
solving such
big problems?
Let’s say your company is trying to get from

Point A to Point B
Every person on the team is a vector.

Your progress is
determined by the
sum of all vectors.
Vector: A quantity
having both magnitude
and direction.
impact = 9/10
9
9 9

9 9
9 9 9 9

Total Impact = 0
9 9

9 Sub-optimal
impact
9
 9 9 9 9

vectors aligned = maximum impact

 In honor of outstanding awakeness during
VECTOR ALIGNMENT CLASS
we present

AWESOME INBOUNDER
with this certificate of recognition

September 26, 2017

Why did Dharmesh just give us a
micro class on linear algebra?
 A G R E AT

Culture
MAKES
RECRUITING
EASIER
 A G R E AT A G R E AT

Culture Experience
MAKES
RECRUITING
MAKES
SCALING
EASIER EASIER
F-BOMB WARNING
Attract

Engage

Delight
They look
like tiny
funnels!
 am
e

Sa
t

g
c

les
etin

ra

En
The

Tea
Att
Mark

ga
ge

m
Virtuous
Cycle Of
Growth

D e li g h t
Cus
to m er Tea m
D
 am
e

Sa
t

g
c

les
etin

ra

En
The

Tea
Att
Mark

ga
ge

m
Virtuous
Platform
Cycle Of
Growth

D e li g h t
Cus
to m er Tea m
D
 ing

Sa
ke

les
Mar
Platform

Cu r s
s to m e
Inbound Marketing
Attract, Engage, and Delight
Customers Online
 Key Point:
add value by creating content
 Good news:
People listened.
 Not-so-good news:
add value by creating content
Some folks
obsessed over this
 Not-so-good news:
add value by creating content
Instead of
obsessing over this
The Pareto Principle

80% of the effects

come from 20% of
the causes.

- Vilfredo Pareto
 Analyzed 3,146 posts

Top 20% Other 80%

(629 posts)
 20% of posts = 93% of leads

93% 7%
from top From other
20% 80%
 Posts DOWN, views per post UP.

Cut Blog
Views per Post

Volume by 50%

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July
 CONTENT/CONTENT/CONT
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NT/CONTENT/CONTENT/CO
TENT/CONTENT/CONTENT/
NTENT/CONTENT/CONTEN

DOUBLEonDOWN
ONTENT/CONTENT/CONTE
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ONTENT/CONTENT/CONTE
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 CONTENT/CONTENT/CONT
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NT/CONTENT/CONTENT/CO
TENT/CONTENT/CONTENT/
NTENT/CONTENT/CONTEN

DOUBLEonDOWN
ONTENT/CONTENT/CONTE
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NT/CONTENT/CONTENT/CO
not quantity
TENT/CONTENT/CONTENT/

C NTENT NTENT/CONTENT/CONTEN
ONTENT/CONTENT/CONTE
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quality NT/CONTENT/CONTENT/CO
TENT/CONTENT/CONTENT/
NTENT/CONTENT/CONTEN
 We have a 10%
bigger marketing
budget for next year.
How should we spend it?
Align Budget With Shifts In Human Behavior

textual content visual content

email messaging

PR social
 ing

Sa
ke

les
Mar
Platform

Cu r s
s to m e
I’m not going
to learn
anything new.
I’m not going I’m not going to
to learn need this stuff
anything new. anytime soon.
 Some people are not great
at selling, but really good at
getting sales.
hustling helping
 82%

The Seller-Buyer
Misalignment
Provide Value To Prospect
 82%

The Seller-Buyer 34%

Misalignment
Provide Value To Prospect
CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
LL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/
/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
ALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL

DOUBLEon DOWN
L/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/C
CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
LL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/
/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA

S A L E S C O N V E R S AT
ALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL
L/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/C
CC
AOL LN/ V
CAE LR LS/ACTAI LOL N
/ CSA L L / C A L L / C A L L / C A L L / C A L L / C A
LL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/
/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
ALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL
L/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/C
CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
LL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/
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ALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL

DOUBLEon DOWN
L/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/C
CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
LL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/
/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
not quantity
S A L E S C O N V E R S AT
ALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL
L/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/C
CC
AOL LN/ V
CAE LR LS/ACTAI LOL N
/ CSA L L / C A L L / C A L L / C A L L / C A L L / C A
LL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/
/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
quality
ALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL
L/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/C
CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CALL/CA
 PARTS OF REMAINING
PROGRAM RATED
BV Biased Views
SP
AND CONTAIN
SO Strong Opinions

SP
SP
 INBOUND 2014:
SP HubSpot CRM and Sales
You have to be
this tall to ride

SALES PRO
You have to be
this tall to ride
SALES
PROFESSIONAL
 A LL G R O W N -U P A ND ST I L L G R O W I N G

SA LES PRO FESSIO NAL

$4 00/mo
COMING TO T HE SALES HU B ON

TEAMS UP TO 5 USERS November 1st

SP
 ing

Sa
ke

les
Mar
Platform

Cu r s
s to m e
SP
What Sources of Information Do You Rely On
When Making Purchase Decisions?
59%
49%
43% Word-of-mouth referrals

33% Customer references

Vendor-authored materials

Analyst reports
18% Salesperson

C-level executive (CEO, CMO) Source: 2017 State of Inbound

HELP
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
WITH

HOWEVER
they
WHENEVER
they
WHATEVER
they
CUSTOMERS WANT WANT WANT
HELP
CUSTOMERS
HOWEVER
they
WANT
“Hello Mr. Shah.
We are calling
regarding the
message you
sent us…”
I hate phone calls.
I hate phone calls.
If I tweet you, tweet me back.
If I tweet you, tweet me back.

If I message you on Facebook,

message me back.
If I tweet you, tweet me back.

If I message you on Facebook,

message me back.

If I call you on the phone, send

help, there’s something wrong
with me.
 WHENEVER A

BILLION people
DO ANYTHING, 

I T ’ S T I M E T O PAY AT T E N T I O N
 T H I S I S N O T:
“Build it and they will come”

IT’S:
“THEY ARE ALREADY HERE AND

THEY WANT TO CHAT.”

Conversion Rate To Customer

20%
13%

.7%
Gated Content HubSpot HubSpot
(Form) Meetings App Messages App

Source: HubSpot Original Data

40 years ago: 20 years ago: today:
phone web messaging
presence presence presence
HELP
CUSTOMERS
WHENEVER
they
WANT
Try again during normal hours, you weirdo.
I like chat bots
I like chat bots

and I cannot lie

 The chatbot for
marketing and sales
growthbot.org
 Send Message:
“help me align vectors”
 content
website management
system

Mere
Engineers
Mortals
Required
Allowed
 content
website management
system

Mere
Engineers marketing
smart email automation Mortals
Required
Allowed
 content
website management
system

Mere
Engineers marketing
smart email automation Mortals
Required
Allowed

bot building
bots
platform
BETTING BIG ON BOTS:
HELP
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
WITH

WHATEVER
they
CUSTOMERS WANT
Chat With Support
HELP
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
WITH

HOWEVER
they
WHENEVER
they
WHATEVER
they
CUSTOMERS WANT WANT WANT
 CON VERSATION S
Marketing Hub - Sales Hub - Cust om er Hub

COMIN G I N 20 18

SP
 ing

Sa
ke

les
Mar
Platform

Cu
s to m e r s
SP
 Platform

Point Products
“None of the platforms gives 

me everything I need.”
open platform > closed platform
 F R I E N D LY A D V I C E :
Start with a core
platform and then
plug in the gaps.

SP
Result: Best of breed.
Result: Best of both worlds.
 ub Sa
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b
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PLAT FORM

Co
ne

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ct

Something’s
missing here
 ub Sa
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 IN TRODUC ING

CUSTOMER HUB
COMIN G I N 20 18
 ub Sa
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Hu
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Helps you deliver an
amazing, end-to-end

ns
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customer experience

tio
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 Hear all the juicy details:

PROD UCT SPOTLIGHT

with Christopher O’Donnell
VP Product, HubSpot

at 4:15pm

SP
breathe.
Niranjana Shah
1948 - 2017
 WHEN YOU

GROW
ARE IN
believe,
ALIGNMENT
W H AT Y O U

W H AT Y O U say, AND

W H AT Y O U do better

h/t: Gandhi
PE CE love & GROWTH
Have questions/comments?

Join the discussion:

Website: aligningvectors.com