One of the biggest challenges of a new startup is generating marketing qualified leads (MQLs). A startup is a race: you are burning through limited funding, and every day you need to go all-out before funding runs out. Along the way, you are demonstrating progress to leadership and investors, and there's no better way to keep their confidence than pointing to a pipeline of fresh daily leads.

So how do you get MQLs for your startup ASAP?

Talking to customers to uncover unmet needs is the most critical part of product strategy. The key to growth is a deep understanding of your target customers. Simply relying on internal ideas is not enough, nor is it enough to just look at google analytics and product usage data. You actually have to talk to the market.

Read my article The Complete Guide to Customer Interviews That Drive Product-Market Fit. When you get to the customer interview, take heed of these crucial guidelines! 

You're at an established company that wants to break into a new market or new geography. Where do you start?

When selling into enterprise markets, everybody wants to get to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Chief Security Officer (CISO), or whatever C-level is at the top of your company's buying chain. But CIOs are very busy with their own work, plus they are inundated with sales offers at every turn. This makes it particularly hard to stand out from the crowd. 

Popularized by Amazon, a Single-Threaded Owner (STO) is a leader who is 100% dedicated and accountable to a new initiative such as inventing a new product, launching a new line of business, or executing a digital transformation. The Single-Threaded Owner is responsible for turning strategy into real results.