This newsletter is for founders and sales leaders who want to scale revenue faster.
In this weeks issue:
- The Laws of Nature for Vertical Software
- Todd Graves Interview
- Selling to Carol
- Mexico City
Quick Promo: I'm looking for a few founders who need help scaling their revenue in 2026. If this is you, send me an email. I'd love to find a way to help if I can.
Now onto this week's newsletter:
The Laws of Nature for Vertical Software
Too many vertical SaaS founders are burning down their markets before they even realize it.
Vertical SaaS founders hit $2M-$3M in revenue and think the next move is to scale like a horizontal company. Cold email programs. Spray and pray demand gen. All the tactics that worked for companies they read about on Twitter.
It works for a quarter or two, then it stops working. And by the time they realize it, they have gone through 2/3 of the companies in their vertical.
I've worked with dozens of vertical SaaS and AI companies over the last couple years. The same mistakes keep showing up. So I wanted to share what I learned at Levelset and what I'm seeing now.
Vertical markets have their own physics. Three laws in particular:
Law 1: Brand velocity compounds fast
Early at Levelset, we got into a public legal dispute with a competitor. They also happened to run the industry association for one of our core buyer personas.
They banned us from their events. They made their position on Levelset very clear to the market.
We lost deals we didn't even know existed. Buyers disqualified us before we had a chance to earn their business.
We spent 8 years working to overcome negative brand velocity with a specific part of our market, and it was very painful.
Your brand in a vertical is never neutral. It's either building momentum or losing it. And it compounds faster than you think. When you have goodwill, use it. You don't get many chances to recover.
Law 2: Everyone on your team has to be an expert
The founder knows the problem cold. That's why they built the company. But when they start hiring sales reps, marketers, and CS people, those people don't have that foundation.
At Levelset, we spent weeks onboarding new hires on how construction payments worked. The lien laws. The payment challenges. The GC and subcontractor dynamics. Without that knowledge, they couldn't have real conversations with customers or build the trust that required for a strong relationship.
Your customers expect you to understand their world better than they do so you can educate them.
Law 3: Vertical markets are local markets
We struggled for years to build a repeatable mid-market sales motion at Levelset. We had the right ICP. Our product was strong. But we couldn't close deals consistently.
Then we realized our best customers all came through local referrals and social proof. A contractor in Dallas didn't care who we worked with in New York. They cared about the competitor across town who was using our software to gain an advantage.
Everyone knows everyone in their city. They see each other at association meetings, industry events, job sites. They talk. You want your company to be part of those conversations.
Show up to the conferences. Get active in the communities.
Even better if you can own the community. Most industry associations haven't evolved in decades. There's real opportunity there to create your own events and community.
Shift the center of gravity over to your brand and your business.
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The tactics change every year. Technology will make it easier and easier to reach more people quickly with better messaging and more targeted outreach. But the laws of nature will remain the same.
Build a great product. Know your customer. Educate the market and show up in their world.
When the vertical industry adopts your brand as the one they identify with, you will have more demand than you can imagine.
What's got my attention right now:
- This Todd Graves interview with David Senra was outstanding. $20B+ from selling chicken fingers. I went to LSU, where the first Raisin' Canes opened up just north of campus. I was involved in the entrepreneurship program in undergrad and Todd would regularly come by to share his story and meet with aspiring founders. That was 15 years ago! I can still remember one of the professors who mentored Todd Graves saying "Todd knew chickens had hands before anyone else knew they had fingers!".
- Selling to Carol - this is an old essay from Jason Cohen on getting really specific with your ICP. I recently came across it and found it just as relevant and refreshing as I did the first time.
- My wife and I recently went to Mexico City for a short trip with just the two of us (no kids). It's been on our list for a long time, but this was both of our first time in the city. It was an exceptional trip, we loved it. I can't recommend Mexico City enough. The food (of course), the people, the museums, the parks, the neighborhoods, the shopping. All of it was top-tier. Feels almost European and it is so close to us here in the US. The main attraction when we travel is the food. We basically travel to eat in other cities (who doesn't!). One of the restaurants we went to for dinner (Máximo Bistrot) was so good we went back the next day for lunch!
That's it for this week. One more ask before you go: Can you please forward this email to one person that might find it useful?
Have a great week!
Martin
Have a question? Hit reply and send it over, I reply to each one of your emails.