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Jonathan Spier
CEO of Rev & Multiple x Founder, Advisor, Investor
Jonathan Spier is the CEO of Rev, a company that helps leading B2B companies find their next best customers.13 He has over 20 years of experience in building category-leading companies, including two prior roles as a venture-backed CEO.1
Some key points about Jonathan Spier:
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Current role: CEO of Rev since February 20213
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Education: MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Computer Science from UC Berkeley23
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Previous experience:
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Other roles:
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Expertise: Startup development, AI, leadership, strategic partnerships, enterprise sales, marketing, and business development
Jonathan is known for his track record in establishing market dominance, driving growth, and creating value in his ventures. His LinkedIn username is indeed jspier.3
Highlights
Last Friday, I had dinner with a famous VC investor who told me 65% of VC’s will go out of business in the next few years. I believe him. Here’s what that means for startup leaders waiting on their Series A/B/C:
Those of us in startups tend to think VCs are at the top of the food chain.
They aren’t.
VCs are businesses too.
They raise money from THEIR investors (aka LPs).
And their job is to make a return for those LPs.
With outstanding returns in the 2010s, VC was on a win streak.
Many more funds were born.
And existing funds got much larger.
In 2021, 1577 different VC firms raised a total of $183 billion.
But at the same time, costs to launch a startup have gotten cheaper.
Widely available tools, global workforce, and easy (online) distribution mean it’s never been easier, or cheaper, to start a SaaS company.
So how are VCs supposed to deploy all that money they’ve raised?
They can’t.
There is too much money chasing too few deals.
Make no mistake, for VCs, it’s a fatal mix.
The IPO window is closed – companies can’t go public.
So VCs aren’t making money with big IPOs.
M&A isn’t happening (at least not at good prices for sellers).
So VCs aren’t making money by selling their companies.
If VCs aren’t making money, they can’t return capital to their LPs.
They are in trouble.
Of course, VCs rarely go out of business the way their companies might.
Reputations are at stake, so change happens quietly.
But it’s the same result.
It’s already happening.
Listen carefully, and you’ll hear VCs saying:
"We have decided not to raise another fund.”
Translation: they probably can’t.
More firms will say that they are “no longer investing”
Partners are “deciding to take operating roles.”
Managing Directors are retiring.
In 2023, 597 VC firms raised $81B.
That’s down 63% and 56% (vs. 2021).
The VC party is over.
Or at least this chapter is...
The select few at the top of the VC list will have their pick of deals.
The great business builders will choose their spots and continue to thrive.
I’ve been lucky to work with a few of those and am certain that their expertise and relationships will carry them through.
But over 50% of existing firms, won’t survive.
That means if you're a startup CEO or operator raising money in this environment, you need to understand the game has changed.
Don’t buy the stories of some founder that raised $30M with $200k ARR and a good deck.
The era of VCs bailing out bad businesses with huge checks is over.
Many of the VCs won’t even be around in a few years.
There is only one strategy that works in this economy.
Focus.
Nail your ICP.
Delight your customers.
Get profitable to control your financial destiny.
The best time to raise money is when you don’t need it.
It’s a harsh economy out there.
Burrow down deep to survive the winter.
Remember:
Tough markets make strong companies.
I’ve been CEO of 4 different VC-backed startups, with valuations ranging from $0 to $150M+. Here are the 3 biggest sales mistakes I see at every company (no matter the size or stage):
- Confusing “best” and “average”
Signing a $300k deal with Coca-Cola was a game-changer.
They got huge value, and were willing to tell people about it.
So we told ourselves, “We just need to find more Coca-colas."
Fat chance.
This way is thinking is natural for us salespeople.
You signed a $300k deal – the next one should be $350k!
It’s tempting to think your your best deal is now your new standard.
But it doesn't work that way.
Don’t create a plan where suddenly every deal is supposed to be $300k.
You’ll strike out and burn a ton of time and talent trying.
- Premature scaling
The math seems to make sense:
Number of reps x Quota = Target.
Hire the reps, make sure rep hits quota, and you’re golden.
The problem is: it rarely works that way.
New reps struggle to get up to speed.
Response rates are lower → less pipeline Conversion rates are lower → fewer deals closed Average selling price is lower → quotas are missed
Your reps doing 140% of plan can’t make up for 5 at 30%.
It’s past time to throw out that old math.
You can’t add reps to hit an aspirational goal.
This market demands you match reps to actual demand.
You don’t hire when your plan says you need more production.
You hire when you have more in-ICP meetings than you can handle.
But how do we hit the number we promised we’d hit???
Bad news – you aren’t going to hit it anyway.
Signing up for a crazy goal on bad math just puts your head on the chopping block.
Instead, reset expectations.
Burn less, longer, to build demand.
Grow when demand requires it.
- Insufficient focus on after-the-sale
In the olden days, you could sign $1M deals.
Customers knew they couldn’t get value until they fully deployed your solution.
Not anymore.
SaaS has made trial simple.
Time to value is faster.
Deals start smaller.
It’s easier to sell in.
But it’s also easier to churn out.
Churn is up in this market.
Customers are looking to cut costs.
Worse, they're looking to simplify tech stacks and cut vendors.
Gone are the days when you can sell a deal and run away.
But too many still do exactly that.
It’s human nature.
After all, Comp Plans get a lot less exciting after Closed-Won!
The best sales leaders know that next year’s plan relies on keeping and growing this year’s customers.
They deploy their time and people accordingly.
TAKEAWAY:
Each of these mistakes starts with natural thinking.
But it doesn’t work.
Hard markets demand focus and discipline.
Focus your ICP.
Celebrate your big wins, but don’t expect to repeat them every time.
Don’t grow faster than actual, real, in-ICP demand.
Stay connected to customers throughout the year. Renewal matters.
Optimism is great.
But hopeful planning is a business (and career) killer.
Get it right and you can still win in this market.
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.