By Sever Totia
As we kick off 2021, we look back at highlights and notable learnings from 2020, as well as a few strategic enablers for this year. I would like to point out several great happenings among the portfolio companies, from funds raised, to amazing growth, to notable awards or recognitions they have received. I would also like to bring up some of my favorite blog posts from last year that should be interesting also going forward. And last but not least, I am offering an outlook for 2021.
2020 Highlights from the 3TS Portfolio
In a year of extraordinary challenges, we are proud of the founders and leaders across our portfolio companies, for their determination to prevail and succeed despite the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against them.
Piano Is Awarded as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum
Piano has been contributing to Forum’s initiatives since, working with policymakers and private sector leaders to help define the global agenda on key issues.
SALESmanago Named High Performer in G2Crowd Report
SALESmanago has been awarded in the Marketing Automation category and also received special appraisal for Easiest Set-Up, Easiest Admin and Easiest To Do Business With.
Tresorit Receives Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice 2020 Distinction
Tresorit was the 1st ever end-to-end encrypted content collaboration platform to be recognized with this distinction for the Content Collaboration Tools market.
Eyerim Closes a €1.7m Financing Round with 3TS and Eterus Capital
Amidst the pandemic, Eyerim received €1.7m new capital in a round led by Eterus Capital, a Slovak private equity fund, and supported by 3TS Capital Partners.
The Gaming Industry is Thriving and Green Horse Games’ Revenues Are Quadrupling
The Catalyst Romania portfolio company Green Horse Games launched a new game Football Rivals and experienced a stellar revenue growth since.
SmartBill Welcomes Visma as a New Majority Shareholder
The Norwegian group Visma has acquired a majority stake in Catalyst Romania portfolio company SmartBill. their portfolio company SmartBill.
2020 Must Reads & Best Idea
Analysis: From famine to feast, investment in European tech startups roars back
Back in Q1, no one expected 2020 to be a blockbuster year for investments. However, new investment records were broken last year. Perseverance and grit prevailed.
This Serial Founder’s Guide to Bear Markets, Competition and Product-Market Fit
No one knows how long the pandemic will last, nor what its long-term effects will be. This founder’s clear long-term vision, speed, adaptability, and resilience propelled him through to build three winners, during two recessions.
Q: What’s the most important growth metric to get right? A: Retention – Lenny Rachitsky
You can’t grow the business without outstanding retention. There isn’t enough new revenue out there to replace a sub-par retention rate. This Twitter thread outlines 7 ways to improve product retention, 7 ways to improve product value, 4 ways to improve onboarding and 4 ways to have habit-forming products – all are actionable ideas.
What Interviewing 600+ Sales Reps Taught Me About Team Building
Scaling sales team is never easy. Learn some of the key drivers, interviewing tips and mistakes to avoid while building up the sales team (whether you’re hiring 3 or 30) from Pete Prowitt, Director of Sales at Loom.
What Order Should You Hire Your Management Team In?
In this article for SaaStr, Jason Lemkin outlines in which order companies should hire their management team. It’s a provocative issue you can agree or disagree with, but exec team sequencing (and quality) is key to get right, in order to scale any business successfully. At 3TS, we play an active role in helping build the management teams for the next stage of growth.
2021 Outlook
What’s in store for 2021? Who knows exactly. What we do know is that evolution is permanent and only those that adapt and move faster than the rest will thrive.
Covid-19 has shown how important technology is in all systems, which has in turn only increased demand for technology to a new level. After companies have made sure their employees are safe, they’ve hopefully extended their runway, defended their existing revenue and maybe also grown the topline. Now is the time for them to ratchet up the growth initiatives they have prepositioned for when the markets turn fully positive again. As we’ve all seen, winning companies and market leaders have taken action in anticipation of the return to a new-normal by re-prioritizing segments, finding new ways to enable clients to be ready for the up-turn, introducing new solutions, preparing to re-hire and out-flanking the competition.
As we launch into (hopefully an awesome) 2021, here are a few recent and not so recent, actionable tools for growth and company building, which businesses can use next week!
The Sales Acceleration Formula – Using Data, Technology and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100m (by Mark Roberge who helped lead Hubspot sales through to IPO)
Inspired – How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Contagious – Why Things Catch On
Traction – How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
Reach out directly to me to discuss further: stotia@3tscapital.com