How to Become a Thought Leader in Your Industry

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In case you’re new here - I'm John Gauch – a seasoned fractional COO, sales coach and mentor. Over 20+ years, I have applied my growth and operations skills to help dozens of startups, building one high-impact venture to nearly $100M in revenue and a second to exceed that benchmark. I began my career as a tech lawyer in New York City and developed my expertise in progressive roles in business development, finance, sales, marketing and product, working along the way with companies like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft.

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Becoming a thought leader in your industry is a fantastic way to share your experience and learnings. It can also be a fantastic way to bring attention to your startup.

This guide provides strategies and actionable insights you can apply to establish authority and influence in your field.

Being a thought leader positions you as a credible expert, creating opportunities for media exposure and collaboration with others. It is based on trust and loyalty among an audience. Having actual expertise is necessary (of course) but may not be enough. There are key steps you can take to help you achieve this standing.

It’s harder than ever for businesses to get people’s attention. The business landscape is ultra-competitive. If you’re a founder or CEO of a startup, establishing yourself as a thought leader can cut through the noise and raise the profile of your company and product with prospective customers, investors and employees.

What is a Thought Leader?

So what exactly is a thought leader? A thought leader is an individual recognized as an authority in their field—someone whose expertise and perspectives are sought after and valued. They influence and inspire others. Embracing thought leadership is not just about gaining recognition, though; it's an opportunity to drive change, spur innovation, and lead the conversation in your space.

Understanding Thought Leadership

Becoming a thought leader requires more than just expertise; it involves a commitment to sharing knowledge and influencing others. Thought leaders are characterized by their deep understanding of their field, their ability to foresee industry trends and their willingness to share their insights to help others.

It's important to differentiate between a thought leader and an influencer too. While influencers often rely on popularity and social media presence, thought leaders build their reputation on their expertise and the value this provides. Thought leaders are trusted voices in their industries, guiding others.

Successful thought leaders can be found across various sectors, such as Simon Sinek, in leadership and management, and Brené Brown, in personal development and leadership.

Read also: Overlooked Traits of Successful Startup CEOs

Steps to Becoming a Thought Leader

Identify Your Niche

Choose a specific area to focus on. Your niche should align with your passions and strengths, and it should be a field where you can offer rare insight and perspectives. To identify your niche, start by evaluating your skills, experiences and interests:

• What topics are you most passionate about?

• Where do you have the most expertise and experience?

• What industry trends or challenges excite you?

Once you've identified your niche, do some research. Pinpoint gaps in the market where your insights can make a significant impact. A targeted approach will help you establish yourself as a go-to expert in the chosen field.

Build Your Knowledge and Expertise

Becoming a thought leader requires a deep and continuously evolving understanding of your niche. This means committing to staying up to date with the latest industry trends and advancements.

• Continuous Learning. Enroll in relevant courses, attend workshops, and pursue certifications that enhance your knowledge base.

• Reading and Research. Regularly read industry publications, research papers and books authored by other thought leaders.

• Networking. Engage with other experts in your field through professional associations, online forums and industry events.

Create High-Quality Content

Creating and sharing high-quality content is essential for establishing yourself as a thought leader. Your content should reflect your expertise, provide value to your audience and demonstrate a unique perspective.

• Blogs and Articles. Write informative and engaging blog posts or articles that address common challenges in your industry. Be sure to use real-world examples and case studies to illustrate your points.

• White papers and E-books. Develop in-depth white papers or e-books that offer comprehensive insights into specific topics.

• Videos and Webinars: Utilize multimedia content like videos and webinars to reach a broader audience. These formats also allow you to explain complex ideas in a more accessible and engaging way.

• Social Media. Share your content on social media platforms to increase its reach.

Engage with Your Audience

Engagement is a key component of thought leadership. It's not enough to just produce content; you need to actively interact with your audience to build a strong community. It's crucial to use platforms like LinkedIn to share your content and engage in conversations. Responding to comments, answering questions, and participating in discussions relevant to your niche will enhance your visibility and credibility.

Encouraging followers to share their experiences and insights fosters a collaborative environment, where everyone can learn and grow together. Moreover, seeking feedback from your audience helps you understand their needs and preferences, providing valuable insights for improving your content and approach.

By actively engaging with your audience, you demonstrate that you value their input and are committed to their growth and development. This interaction reinforces your position as a thought leader, further establishing your credibility and influence in your field.

Network with Other Leaders

Networking with other thought leaders and industry experts can amplify your influence and provide valuable opportunities for collaboration. Building relationships with peers can also offer new perspectives and insights that enrich your own understanding of your focus area.

• Attend Industry Events. Participate in conferences and seminars

• Join Professional Associations. Becoming a member of professional organizations can help you connect with like-minded individuals and stay updated on industry trends.

• Collaborate on Projects. Look for opportunities to collaborate with other experts on projects, research or content creation. Leverage each other's strengths and reach a broader audience.

• Mentorship and Coaching. Engage in mentorship, by mentoring others and seeking guidance from more experienced leaders.

Speak at Industry Events

Public speaking is a powerful way to establish yourself as a thought leader and share your expertise with a wider audience. Speaking at industry events allows you to showcase your knowledge and connect with professionals in your field.

Developing compelling presentations that highlight your expertise and provide valuable insights is essential. Ensure you practice your delivery to make your presentations more impactful. Compelling visuals and real-world examples will keep your audience interested and involved. Where possible, follow up with attendees after your speaking engagements to strengthen your connections.

Read also: 50 Top Apps, SaaS Solutions, Services and Sites for Startups

Measuring Your Impact

Measure your impact as a thought leader to understand your influence and improve your strategy. The metrics will vary depending on the medium you’re using to communicate.

Engagement metrics will show which content resonates most with your audience. More followers show your credibility is growing, and shares suggest your content is spreading effectively. Analyze this data to refine your strategy. Focus on content that generates high engagement, and revise underperforming content. Regularly measuring your impact ensures your efforts are effective and keeps you aligned with your goals.

By following this guide, you can leverage your hard-earned experience to make your voice more influential. Becoming a thought leader is a powerful way to inspire others and drive change. Successfully pursuing this path will also raise the profile of your startup and its products effectively and powerfully, by providing value to your target audience.

If you’re a startup CEO, founder or entrepreneur, and you want to chat about what you are building and whether I can be helpful in some way, I’d love to connect. Learn about my services and please reach out.

A blogging experiment, this post was written with some help from AI.

50 Top Apps, SaaS Solutions, Services and Sites for Startups

Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels.

I hope you find this list helpful - I'm John Gauch, a consultant with extensive experience in business operations and growth. I specialize in helping startups implement both strategies effectively. As a fractional COO, I work with founders and CEOs through each step, tailoring solutions to your unique needs and objectives.

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Updated November 20, 2024.

What started as a list of 50 startup products has grown well past that figure, and I’d love to keep adding to it.

I personally don’t find those lists or infographics of every possible product option for a problem I have super useful. I don’t need another time-sucking To Do, to evaluate all of the choices. I want to know what’s a reasonably safe bet, get started with it and turn back to the business of growing my company.

This list is biased toward Seed to Series A companies because that’s where I spend most of my time, although it also includes some products for brand-new companies (drawn from the venture studio work I do). With regard to each product on the list, I've either used it, and I recommend it, or someone I know and trust has used it, and they recommended it to me. That said, feedback is invited—if you feel like something should be added, or if you have used one of the products and had a negative experience. Email me and let me know.

If you ever need referrals to startup attorneys, message me to chat. As a former lawyer and former General Manager at legal startup Axiom, I know tons of incredible lawyers across specialties and fields, including top-notch solo practitioners as well as members of AmLaw 100 firms like Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie, regional players and startup boutiques.

I don’t mention project management tools (e.g., Asana, ClickUp, Monday, Trello) because everyone seems to have a favorite, and they all seem reasonably decent. I use Trello for my personal task tracking. I wouldn’t spin too long trying to ascertain which one of them is “best.”

Again, if your choice of a new web app (etc.) to add to your startup’s tech stack is not going to make or break your business, don’t over-index on it. Do some quick research. Get together a couple or a few ideas. Do a brief analysis and review. Pick one and turn back to the activities that are going to be far more impactful on your organization and its success.

That’s the benefit of having a list like this. I hope it helps.

Top Startup Tools

Product	Description	Other Options
1Password	Password management and security
Guideline	401(k) providers	Human Interest
Ahrefs	Ahrefs for SEO analysis and backlinks; AlsoAsked for keyword analysis on competitors and search term difficulty	Also Asked
Airtable	Collaborative work management
Amazon AWS	Cloud computing
Apollo	List building from search critera. Send sequences. Consider checking out new kind on the block Unify	Unify
Arc Tech	Treasury services
Bill.com	Billing and financial automation
Brandpad	Brand development and management
Brixx	Financial forecasting and planning software
Carta	Equity management and valuation, but watch the latest news about them	Pulley
ChatGPT	AI platform to help with a little bit of everything
Clay	Import lists and enrich them (more options than Apollo). Consider also checking out newcomer Unify	Unify
Clerky	Legal and compliance solutions (company setup)
Clockify	Time tracking
DailyBot	Slack stand-ups
Deel	Global payroll and compliance. Deel is an EOR that recently purchased a PEO
DocSend	Document sharing and tracking (for a fundraising, DocSend + Dropbox or Google Drive + Google Sheets for tracking)
Docusign	Electronic contracts
Expensify	Expense management and tracking	Tentative: Float (Canada)
Figma	Design and prototyping
Flowster	Workflow automation and processes
Freshworks	Customer engagement and support software	Zendesk
GitHub	Software Engineering version control and collaborative software
Google Analytics	Website analysis	Hotjar
Google Workspace	Collaboration and productivity tools (email, storage, etc.)	Dropbox (storage only)
Grammarly	Communication assistant including AI support
Greenhouse	Recruiting and applicant tracking	Breezy	Recruitee
Guideline	401(k) providers	Human Interest
Gusto	Payroll, benefits, and HR services	Humi (Canada)
Hubspot	Customer relations management (CRM)
Indinero	Bookkeeping service. The Bench recommendation is tentative	Bench
Intercom	Customer messaging and support
Jenkins	Open-source automation server for continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD)
Gusto	Payroll, benefits, and HR services	Humi (Canada)	Rippling
Linear	Issue tracking and project management
Loom	Video messaging
Mercury	Banking for startups and businesses. Consider Mercury credit card too	Bluevine
Microsoft Azure	Cloud computing platform
Microsoft 365	Productivity apps (still use them as good as Google is)
Miro	Online collaborative whiteboard	Excalidraw
NeverBounce	Stand-alone email deliverability solution
Newfront	Insurance brokerage	Founder Shield
Notion	Collaborative workspace for your organization
Okta	Identity and access management
PaperStreet	Investor updates
Pave	Compensation information for startups
PitchBook	Data and research for private investments
Quickbooks	Cloud accounting software. Also hearing increasingly about Campfire in this category	Xero
Rippling	HR PEO	Justworks
Ramp	Corporate card and services. Brex may not be an option for smaller startups	American Express	Brex
Segment	Customer data platform
Secureframe	Compliance and security automation
Slack	Team messaging
Stripe	Online payment processing and business tools
Supernormal	AI tool for meetings
User Interviews	Customer research
Vouch	Business insurance. Also Embroker	Zen Insurance (Canada)	Hiscox
Voxer	Team audio messaging
Webflow	Website design and development
WeWork	Co-working (in bankruptcy but still operating)
Wise	Foreign exchange
Yubico	Hardware security keys
Zoom	Video conferencing

While the companies aren’t vetted, another interesting place to search for potentially valuable services is the Y Combinator community of companies.

If you’re a startup CEO or founder, and you feel it would be interesting to chat, I’d love to connect. Learn about my services and please reach out.

When Don’t You Need a Fractional COO Like Me

Photo by Linda Eller-Shein from Pexels.

In case this is your first visit, I’m John Gauch – a seasoned fractional COO, sales coach and mentor. Over 20+ years, I have applied my growth and operations skills to help dozens of startups, building one high-impact venture to nearly $100M in revenue and a second to exceed that benchmark. I began my career as a tech lawyer in New York City. I developed my expertise in progressive roles in business development, finance, sales, marketing and product, working along the way with companies like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft.

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There is no right or wrong reason to want to build a business. Maybe it’s a creative outlet for one person. Someone else might be obsessed with solving a nagging problem they observed out in the world. Perhaps a third person never fit into a traditional corporate job and has a ton to offer in a role and company of their own making.

Business building is about changing the future.

A successful new business makes the world different than it is today, and I’ll be a match for anyone who aspires to have a huge positive impact on the lives of their customers and stakeholders.

This brief post is not about all that. It’s about when it might not make sense to work together formally, even if we are a match regarding outlook and values. You can still try me, but I may not be a fit in either of these two situations.

Situation One

You’ve got all the right team members with the right skills and experience in the right roles. You’re not struggling with scaling yourself, and you’re not missing any key capabilities. You have plenty of time to learn what you need to know. You are only spending time on the activities you alone can do. The team has everything else covered.

AND

The organization is learning quickly and efficiently. You have demonstrable evidence you’re onto a compelling new business opportunity (i.e., traction). You have practices and processes to surface the big assumptions and unknowns you need to test or get clarity on to move the business forward. You’re not struggling with team alignment or direction. You are sure about your next moves.

Read also: Overlooked Traits of Successful Startup CEOs

Situation Two

Your team makes you feel superhuman. You’ve eliminated all the significant unknowns relating to the business. Moreover, you’ve built the supporting infrastructure to scale. These efforts are going smoothly. You are making incremental business improvements. You are not making major shifts. You are not feeling out of control. You’re clearly well on your way to building a successful and sustainable business.

Read also: Defining our Terms: What is a Fractional Leader Anyway?

Congratulations to you for all that you’ve achieved so far. It is a real feat.

If you feel like you fall into Situation One or Situation Two, and there are still aspects of the business or your work life that you want to change, I’m always happy to chat. I’m also glad to be in touch purely for information sharing and networking purposes.

What I Need to Know to Make Investor Referrals

Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels.

In case this is your first time at the site - I'm John Gauch, a consultant with extensive experience in business operations and growth. I specialize in helping startups implement both strategies effectively. As a fractional COO, I work with founders and CEOs through each step, tailoring solutions to your unique needs and objectives.

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I love to be helpful whenever I can be. This is particularly true when it comes to supporting startup CEOs and founding teams. Making introductions is one way I can do that.

The intro could be to someone with expertise in an industry or a specific role (etc.). Sometimes, it's to investors. If I haven't worked with a company, it can be a little challenging to make investor introductions, though.

To address that difficulty, I've summarized the essential information I need to know to introduce a company to investors in situations where I haven't worked with that company for an extended time.

It’s also useful as a shorthand for quickly vetting any new business idea.

There are six questions.

The first question is: What is the problem to be solved?

In particular, I want to know whether an unmet or under-met need is arising in people’s lives. I'm looking for something visceral. I sometimes ask people to imagine the first part of a typical Shark Tank pitch, where the entrepreneur describes some hardship they've experienced or observed. People aren’t going to change their ways if they don’t feel a push arising from an uncomfortable situation.

The second question is connected: What are the existing alternatives to solving this problem?

Maybe it's a current something that falls short in accomplishing a task. Maybe there isn't a good existing alternative at all, and people are silently struggling--unhappy and unable to progress toward the better future they imagine.

The third question is: When does this situation arise?

What's the specific context when this unmet or under-met need shows up? Again, the idea here is to be very specific. Who are the people this happens to? When do they face the situation? What are they doing at that time? Why are they doing it?

You'll notice very little about the product so far, which is by design. Most important is whether you have identified and can describe a compelling problem worth solving. That's what we're trying to understand with these first three questions. Once you've gotten this far, you should tell an in-depth, true story about a struggling situation in which people find themselves.

Read also: How to Learn Jobs to be Done

Now you can answer question 4: What does your product do?

The description should detail how the product bridges the current gap between what people are trying to do and what they can achieve now.

Part five follows: How big is this opportunity?

Is this a $1 million revenue opp or something much bigger? Ash Murray suggests entrepreneurs start with a back-of-the-envelope calculation and then move onto a more detailed estimation, in each case looking at your annual recurring revenue in month 12 of year 3 after your launch. I like his approach.

I created my own step-by-step guide (originally for a University of Hawaii startup program) that you can find here.

Ideally, you’ll also show the total addressable market size, and how it was determined (hint: it should be based in part on the information you’ve described in questions one to three).

Read also: Estimating Product Market Opportunity

The last question, and it’s often a hard one to answer: Why now?

Why could your product only exist now versus a year ago or 10 years ago? There are many intelligent and creative people in the world, and many are struggling to progress in different aspects of their lives. A compelling “why now” answer suggests you’re working on a problem that could only be solved recently. This increases the attractiveness of the idea significantly because it could be a genuine new-to-the-world innovation.

It raises questions if your product could have existed anytime in recent history and hasn't or did but doesn’t now.

• Maybe there isn't a problem to solve after all. People have tried and failed, and you’re just the latest making an attempt.

• Maybe there's an issue with feasibility. People have tried and failed because the product can’t be built or the business model math doesn’t work.

• Maybe the product isn’t differentiated from a bunch of current alternatives. It’s just one more product in a long list of similar products that have been around for a while.

If there’s not a good “why now” answer, it doesn't mean you can't continue to build your business and maybe even thrive, but it suggests it may not be an explosive new opportunity with tons of growth potential.

Could you have discovered an enormous opportunity that others have missed or failed to execute? I suppose so, but in that case, could you explain why that may be.

If I could only ask an entrepreneur one question about their company and product it would probably be this.

Answering these six questions will help ensure your new business is on the right track and help me or anyone else share your message with others.

1. What's the unmet or undermet problem?

2. What are the current alternatives that are falling short?

3. What is the context?

4. What is the product?

5. What is the scale of the opportunity?

6. Why is this idea coming into existence now?

For my covering intro email to investors, I’d also love to highlight the traction you've gotten so far (e.g., notable customer numbers, wrapping up a round, a brand-name investor) and what you’re looking for from the meeting (e.g., a networking meeting to talk about the space you’re operating in or a call to see if they’re interested in participating in a fundraising round). Sot let me know that too.

Read also: Navigating Startup Fundraising: Insights from an Experienced COO

With this information, I can make an informed and meaningful investor introduction that will serve both parties well.

I’m always happy to chat about business building. Please reach out to learn more about my work or just to be and stay in touch.

How to Learn Jobs to be Done

Photo by Leah Kelley from Pexels.

In case this is your first time visiting - I'm John Gauch, a consultant with extensive experience in business operations and growth planning. I specialize in helping startups implement strategies effectively in both areas. In my work as a fractional COO, I work with founders and CEOs through each step of the process, tailoring solutions to fit your unique needs and objectives.

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Creating and sustaining a successful business entails doing countless things right. Knowing the Job to be Done (JTBD) of your customers and how your product helps them may not make it easier to start and grow a company, but it will make what you should be doing more obvious--and less subject to guesswork.

Co-architected by Clayton Christensen and Bob Moesta, a "Job to be Done" is the progress someone is trying to make in a struggling situation. Putting the JTBD framework to use effectively requires a commitment to understanding people's lives.

• It is less about, "How do I make people want my product?" More about, "How do I make a product people want?"

• It is less about, "How do I 'sell' more of my product?" More about, "How do I help people make the progress they are seeking?"

Applying the JTBD framework tells us why people pull your product into their lives, how to communicate with them compellingly, and how to satisfy them after they make a purchase. It can also tell us whether a brand new product idea is likely to work or not. In a May 2012 interview with Horace Dediu, Christensen contemplated: "10 years down the road, people will look back at my research, and they might say this idea of Jobs to be Done is a bigger idea than was 'disruption'," the theory that initially brought Christensen to the business world's attention.

Today, people around the globe put JTBD to use at companies of all sizes across industries.

Not only will applying JTBD and the associated mindset help you grow a business and innovate. When combined with practices and tools such as customer experience mapping and complementary metrics, leaders can articulate a clearer vision, dial in the organization's value proposition, align the team, and develop accountability among team members.

Read also: Estimating Product Market Opportunity

To learn all about JTBD, and how do do and use customer interviews, read my series of posts on the topic at Medium.

If you’re a startup CEO or founder, and you feel it would be interesting to chat, I’d love to connect. Learn about my services and please reach out.

This blog post appeared originally on LinkedIn.

Estimating Product Market Opportunity

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels.

First time here? I'm John Gauch, a consultant with extensive experience in business operations and growth planning. I specialize in helping startups implement strategies effectively in both areas. In my work as a fractional COO, I work with founders and CEOs through each step of the process, tailoring solutions to fit your unique needs and objectives.

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TAM (Total Addressable / Available Market), SAM (Serviceable Available Market) and SOM (Service Obtainable Market) are popular conventions that we all see in investor pitch decks.

TAM can loosely categorize opportunity scale (large, medium, small), for example.

I am really interested in a figure sometimes captured in the SAM or SOM, but this is case by case depending on how people calculate them.

The market opportunity number I like to see is this:

Specifically excluded from the number:

I do not view this as a static figure. We can update it if/as our customer understanding changes. We can also handicap the number to reflect the likely prospects today, versus those experiencing barriers to purchase due to access, cost, skill or time, for instance.

I am not saying this is easy math or we can do it with absolute, scientific precision, but there is a ton of value in just trying. Calculating market opportunity in this way requires understanding:

1. the specific problem a product helps customers to solve

2. the situation when that problem arises

3. the better way customers are seeking

To uncover these often-hidden customer insights, we can use lean approaches, such as interviews, which go beyond what we can learn in a survey or focus group.

Read also: How to Learn Jobs to be Done

What we discover will inform a lot more than a market opportunity number. It will likely inform our strategy, product and marketing approach, helping us to build and scale our businesses.

If you’re a startup CEO or founder, and you feel it would be interesting to chat, I’d love to connect. Learn about my services and please reach out.

This blog post appeared originally on LinkedIn.