Elizabeth Melton

The advice I generally give for people attending HLTH - The payers you're trying to meet are at events you're not invited to. Your best bet is to just post up at the right craps table at Caesar's and hope to god they're there. Just consider your bets a part of customer acquisition costs. - Make sure you have a meeting place that's easy for people to find when you're scheduling coffee. Try the pharma-branded DJ booth, a sentence that always feels weird to type out. - You can actually see some cool demos in the exhibition hall - the medtech/hardware companies are the best ones. Nothing like discovering you have a deviated septum thanks to a demo! - It is extremely easy to never go outside once. Last time I was looking up at the fake sky of the Venetian before I realized I hadn't seen the real sky in 3 days. - If you're going there in order to fundraise for your startup...listen we've all made mistakes we've learned from. Roulette honestly might extend your runway. - Don't think too deeply about why your favorite 90s artists are performing at the afterparty with a chronic disease management company in the background. Just do your 2 step. I won't be there, lose money in my honor

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For the most part, tech folks and writer folks have different professional interests and allegiances. But there's one tactic tech entrepreneurs and scrappy writers both love: Coining new terms for concepts that already exist! And so, I ask you, is there a functional difference between - sales-led growth and outbound - product-led growth and inbound ? Because they seem like the same thing. In the first, a sales team is responsible for reaching out, establishing a relationship with a customer, and convincing people to buy a product. Digital doorknocking, that sort of thing. In the second, the product is researched, built, and marketed to draw customers in while they are actively looking for a product, building the relationship between the audience and the product, not between individual salespeople and purchasers. Make them come to you, so to speak. If these are not the same thing, I'd love to hear more about the differences! And if they are the same thing, the search expert, audience editor, and advocate for consistency in me says, maybe, based on the data, we should use the terms "inbound" and "outbound" since they are more descriptive, more common, and not jargony acronyms.

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😵 In just one year, Threads has surpassed 200 million monthly active users. 🚀 So, what makes Threads so popular? 🤝 Welcoming community atmosphere 📈 Noticeable engagement and follower growth 🌱 Mutual development vibe ❌ No politics (there's an option to disable political content in settings) While X appears to continue fostering chaos, trolling, and engagement issues, Threads is currently viewed as a platform emphasising community building, shared growth, and positivity. I saw someone describing Threads as a big group chat, and I couldn’t agree more—that's exactly what makes it so delightful. 👋 Are you active on Threads? Join me, be part of the growth and let's connect! 🙌 #Threads #SocialMediaTrends #SocialMediaEvolution

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🚀 Killer YouTube Titles: Optimize, Engage, and Scale 🎥 Hi, it’s Kevin Raphael here! If you’re a tech leader managing a startup and trying to grow your YouTube presence, you’ve probably wondered: How do I craft SEO-friendly titles without losing my audience? Well, here’s a taste of what I cover in my 'Mastering YouTube: From Strategy to Success' course: 🎯 Your title is prime real estate—every word matters. Start with the right keywords your audience is searching for. ❓ Numbers and questions in titles? They work wonders in grabbing attention. But here’s the key—keep it engaging AND human. A touch of curiosity can boost clicks, but only if your video delivers on that promise. 🔧 Want more tools, strategies, and insider tips? I’ve got you covered! Hit follow for practical insights that will help you scale your YouTube growth efficiently—just like your business. Ready to automate your growth with precision? Let’s make it happen. See you inside! 🌟 Looking to up your social media game? 🌟 I'm offering a FREE Zoom consultation to help you boost your content and join our exclusive community of like-minded innovators. Get access to personalized advice, special content, and support our journey. 👉 Click the following link to schedule your free session and join us today! https://buff.ly/3BGBe3p #YouTubeSEO #ContentCreation #TechInnovators #EntrepreneurJourney #SocialMediaGrowth #BusinessSuccess #ScalingYourBusiness #FreeConsultation #MarketingTips

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2024 expects to see 1,75,000 AI companies, with a minimum of 5,000 in each industry. (Ascendix) Amid this sea of sameness, every AI-based SaaS founder at some point asks the same question: "How do we stand out?" And the answer has been right under your nose all along. #mythriwrites #B2BContentstrategy #storytelling #marketing

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There's one glaring misconception about entrepreneurship that I see time and again. One that's hindered many paths... The myth sticks out like a sore thumb after analyzing our interviews on The Hyperengage Podcast and listening to 50+ episodes of How I Built This with Guy Raz. Myth: You need deep expertise in the field you're entering to succeed. Countless founders have thrived without industry experience, just look at the stories behind Ooni, Orgain, and Airbnb. Regardless of the path, EVERY founder faces setbacks. One common thread? They never gave up. They just “kept swimming” (thanks, Dory). One of my favorite parts on How I Built This is when Guy Raz asks founders: “Do you attribute your success to luck or hard work?” The answers are always different: “Its 50/50” “I got lucky, but without hard work, I wouldn’t have been that lucky” “Luck for sure” Each answer proves there’s no single route to success. Remember: Whatever your path, one truth stands out: hard work increases your chances of getting “lucky”. What about you? Do you attribute your "success" to luck or hard work? (sharing some of my favorite How I Built This stories in the comments)

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Hey everybody, I just wanted to check in to let you know that now is not the time to check out for the summer. I'm starting a new YouTube series on Impact Sprints. Impact Sprints are relatively simple AI Automations that full-time and fractional executives can use to make an immediate impact. It's hard to plan for the future when you don't know what's currently available. Impact Sprints represent just a starting point that you can use to get your feet wet. As with any new process or procedure there's always room for optimizations. Be sure to let me know what you think when the first episode arrives later this week. #ai #aicontent #aiautomation #youtube #impactsprints

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The best businesses don't revolve around one person. Of course, we have Bezos, Iger, Jobs, etc. But I'd say they don't think the business revolved around them exclusively. Plenty of founders may not want to create businesses that functionally rely on them for the business to operate. But that's how many of them have set it up. And I get it. Every founder wants to build the product they believe will take off. Inviting others into strategic development can and will distract them or get in the way. I once heard a wise scholar say, "For years, I would get so frustrated when someone would interrupt me from my work, until I realized that those distractions were my work." Herein lies a hard-to-see gift of community. Healthy, vibrant communities won't be full of yes man and thought-disciples. The best communities will push back, ask tough questions, and challenge you to become a better founder. You'll be grateful for it too. Instead of only looking to your board or to investors for advice, a community can tell you something you need to hear. At a fraction of the cost. Communities can be distracting for busy founders. But sometimes, those distractions will indicate the best path forward ― but only if you care to listen. ― Over the past couple months, I've started writing about community building for founders. If you'd like to read more, you can stay in the loop here: https://lnkd.in/dCSBzSvZ

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💡 "Lived healthcare experience is irreplaceable." - why your content is probably better than GenAI's 🏋‍♀️ If you're interested in healthcare content creation, check out this lab scientist turned consultant turned HealthComms powerhouse: Andrie Attard ❤️ Her guide, "Your content is better than GenAI's" is currently live at the Next Degree blog with tons of free info and insights she shared with the rest of our healthcare community 🗺 Bonus - she includes resources that have helped her on her journey, as well as ways to spot GenAI content (if you're into that sort of thing) #NYC #healthcare #careers

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If I gave you $5 and 2-hours to work, how much money do you think you could make? This is the assignment Tina Seelig, PhD gave her students as part of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. Each of 14 teams received an envelope with five dollars of “seed funding” and was told they could spend as much time as they wanted planning. However, once they cracked open the envelope, they had two hours to generate as much money as possible. Most groups did exactly what most people do. They thought linearly: • Buy something with the $5 • Trade or sell that thing • Repeat the process They ended up with beer money. However, the most successful group realized that the $5 was a red herring—a distraction rather than an asset. They asked, "What can we do to make money if we start with absolutely nothing?" This shifted their focus from the cash in hand to the resources at their disposal. They starting tapped into their creativity and sought problems that they may have seen before, but never thought to solve. • Fill the air in bikers tires for donations • Sell their place in line at restaurants And, the ideas they came up with generated a solid return. But, one group netted a 16,000% return on their $5. They realized their 3-minute presentation at the end of class was their truly valuable asset. They approached companies interested in recruiting top talent from Stanford and sold their slot for $650. In the words of Dr. Seelig, "This wasn't just a sale; it was a strategic exchange, transforming what many saw as a simple class exercise into a high-value opportunity." The takeaways from this inventive approach are clear: 1. Identify the real assets: ↳ Look beyond the obvious to discover the true potential of what's available to you. The real opportunity might lie hidden, masked as a routine part of your resources. 2. Challenge the status quo: ↳ When presented with a problem, don’t just go down the well-trodden path. Ask yourself if what you're focusing on is really the most valuable aspect of the situation. 3. Capitalize on unique opportunities: ↳ By thinking creatively and recognizing the unconventional value, you can leverage opportunities that others might overlook, leading to disproportionate returns. This story isn't just about using what you have; it's about understanding the depth of your resources and harnessing them in innovative ways. Ask yourself, what underutilized assets do you have at your disposal? How can you transform them into your greatest advantage? Engage in this kind of thinking, and watch ordinary opportunities turn into extraordinary outcomes.

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These are just 3 of the many features you don't need to build for yourself when you use Velt (YC W22) SDK

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I love data. Especially people data. It helps answer those lingering..."is it just me...or?" late night questions. The OpenView SaaS Benchmark Survey is one of those annual ones I always read and reference with the founders I work with. That's why I'm so excited that High Alpha is partnering with OpenView, Paddle and Kyle Poyar to launch the 2024 annual SaaS Benchmark Survey. And guess what -- it's live! If you want early-access to the report, be sure to participate and we'll be back in November to share insights. Link to survey below. https://lnkd.in/ey9FAgYV #SaaSBenchmarks

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Pro Tip: True authenticity can't be faked. It's literally impossible. Here's what works instead 👇🏽 1️⃣ Share specific customer wins (like how your startup doubled engagement by letting their customers tell the story) 2️⃣ Create genuinely helpful content (my simple rule: each post should either solve a problem, celebrate a win that inspires others, or share a learning that helps someone else grow) 3️⃣ Keep your message consistent (your audience needs reliable value) 4️⃣ Own your mistakes openly 5️⃣ Listen more than you talk 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲: Stop trying to 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 credible and focus on 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 credible. #MarketingTips #Branding #Authenticity

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If you want to build a predictive health platform, a mattress cover is a surprisingly good place to start. Then, you just need to build a consumer hardware company with hundreds of thousands of users over a decade. Never mind that 97% of consumer hardware startups fail. If you can somehow pull that off, and it might take a decade and more than $100 million, you end up with a better dataset than anyone has ever collected on how we sleep, and potentially on the human body itself, in a way that anyone else would have to be insane to try to match. So this is the plan: start with high-end sleep system, collect a lot of data and generate profit to reinvest, use the profit to expand the product line and help people sleep better, get more customers, more data, and more profit, use it all to build a predictive health platform that makes the eight hours people spend lying still every night more valuable. This week's deep dive is on Eight Sleep. https://lnkd.in/e_kVupHc

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Something we see many brands miss on each year--December SMS revenue should beat November's results. Here's the story: Last year, the average brand sending 15%-20% more texts in December (than November) matched or exceeded their November revenue. Meanwhile brands that sent fewer texts MoM saw an average 43% decline in channel revenue. So yes, efficiency does come down after BFCM. It becomes a volume play. However, there's still meaningful revenue opportunity on the channel. The key is to keep your send volume up. So, what should you send? Here's a quick list of some ideas: -Twelve days of Christmas -Gift guides -Shipping deadline reminders -VIP only sale event -Last minute gift card push -Personal message from the brand founder Lots of opportunity even after BFCM! Maximize December, folks.

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Today marks exactly 1 month of consistently posting on Instagram Reels everyday. We reached nearly 60k accounts, with almost 130k views. Here's what I learned: - People love negativity Once I posted a story talking about how the Stride Labs landing page would be down for the next 24 hours. We got nearly 100 visits (20% of viewers). The next day, I posted that the site was back up, and we got less than 50 visits. - Haters are the best thing ever Going into negativity, I will admit I didn't receive many hate comments. But, I did post a response video to one of them, thanking the commenter for helping me hit this milestone of my growth. This became my 2nd most successful reel of the month, with over 12k views. The commenter changed his username and liked and commented on many of my reels, which was pretty funny. Also, there will be a lot of haters that are a bit more silent, probably discussing you in a group chat or something. I always knew this happened when a reel I posted would have significantly more shares than likes. As far as I can tell, shares are much more beneficial to a reel's growth than likes, so this boosted my viewership significantly. - The algorithm doesn't make sense After hitting early success on a reel with over 75k views, I tried my hardest to recreate the same stats, and I was pretty successful with that. In fact, I posted several reels with even better stats than my "viral" reel, and none of them did anywhere near as well. All this means is don't worry about "stats-maxing" and just keep posting consistently. Just keep experimenting, I know I'm not stopping anytime soon!

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On social, we're all ad units. You are what you engage, and the AI Attention codes find that, repeat it, and make it warm and fuzzy and comfortable and.....stuck. Or not. Seeing California come up with its own AI Bill, maybe rivaling Colorado's attempts to control something we don't even understand..... Meanwhile the way social media algorithms have take TikTok's lead and made this a game of entertainment spirals Day Trading Attention like Gary Vaynerchuk writes. Want to regulate AI that is causing problems? Start with social, and don't let Meta's Consent or Pay (let our algos run wild or pay for the privilege of not being gamed) decree to the GDPR get in the way of your bias. If we are going to stop this problematic AI that doesn't even yet exist, let's remember what started at least 10 years ago in social. Those problems - social addiction, low self esteem, depression, and infinite scrolling - are real and can be solved. Yeh, but that would plummet the revenue being made by Big Tech by protecting people from this AI domino game, mirroring you and your interests.

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🕵️‍♂️ Ever wonder how Meta seems to know what you’re thinking about buying, even if you haven't told anyone? It's not actually listening to you speak... So how does Meta do it? Every time you interact with a website, IG, or FB—be it liking a post, shopping, or just browsing—this info gets tied not to your name, but to a random ID. Think of it as your secret agent code. Meta doesn't see "John Doe loves sci-fi books;" they see "User 12345 clicked on a sci-fi book ad." Here's where it gets interesting. Meta uses the info from millions of these anonymous IDs to find patterns. Say you're User 12345 who loves sci-fi books and indie music. Meta’s AI finds other 'secret agents' with similar tastes but different codes and shows them the same things that piqued your interest. It’s like anonymously connecting dots across the web to make better guesses about what ads you might like. While it sounds a bit like Big Brother, it’s not quite. Your real identity is never directly linked with your browsing habits in Meta's eyes. Instead, everything is stored under these random IDs. It's their way of keeping things personal, without getting personal with your actual details. This is what powers a lot of Meta's targeting, lookalike audiences, and why so many other ad platforms have so many challenges actually competing with Meta's abilities.

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