Marketers of Technology
00:04:09 · Matthew Lattanzio
[00:04:09] S0: Yeah. So I'd say, like, specifically with restaurant tech tech, I know the space extremely well. I know the buyers extremely well. I actually was restaurant operator. I was a VP of marketing of a 50 plus location burger franchise out in Toronto. So for me, I really know how they buy. I know how... Like, the complications between a franchisor versus a corporately owned entity. I know the mid market space extremely well as well, like that 50 to 200 location restaurant brand. So... I also know the gaps and technologies that exist. So when I can onboard a client, I can kinda cut through a lot of the noise and help them find product market fit, think, lot faster just through my expertise in the space. And in terms of DemandGen, like depending on the company, there's two different roads to this success in this space, which is product led growth. So something that you sign up, get value extremely quickly, and you can basically self convert versus more of an enterprise or mid market sales motion where it's direct selling and you need to book demos. So I've been able to build out those two motions and sometimes concurrently. 7shifts is a good example where we did have a great product like Growth Motion, fourteen day free trial with no credit card required, but then also we're able to service mid market customers through a traditional demo to Close Motion. So being a CMO and CRO, I can definitely bridge the gaps between sales and marketing. I think that's one of my superpowers, I'd say. Like, I've always heard that there's this healthy tension between sales and marketing. I've never seen healthy tension. I've only seen tension, and I've only seen sales and marketing leaders, like, hate each other and play this, like, political game and kind of blame each other for the leads or shit, and then they blame... Like, it's just... There's so much, like, kind of back and forth that happens, unfortunately. So even in my consulting world, I really try to reach across the pond and try to bridge the two departments and functions so that they're all aligned to the same revenue target and the same goal. So that's something that I'm able to to... Yeah. I have deep experience in, especially in the restaurant tech space.
00:05:53 · Andres Figuera
[00:05:53] S1: That's amazing, man. And I love how you mentioned the fact that it really is so surprising to me that two departments that work so closely together treat each other like cats and dogs because it's just an eternal feud, man. But when you're able to really bridge that gap between both of them and, like, unsilo those two departments and have them work together, I I feel things really start to get a lot better in terms of how the leads are generated and how then they're qualified and actually converted to an actual sale. But, Matt, another question I do have is, this is you, yourself, and that's it. And how about... How many customers can you manage at a time? How does that look for you?
00:06:31 · Matthew Lattanzio
[00:06:31] S0: Yeah. It's a good question. So I take on no more than four to five clients at one time. I typically work in, like, ten hour a week block, so I don't wanna work sixty hours a week. That's why I started the company. Interesting. I take Fridays off. So that's something I've... I have two young kids and, like, that... Starting this business, I wanted flexibility above all else. So I do ten hour days, unavailable on Fridays, and then I just try to manage the context switch quite a bit. So every half an hour, I'm, like, moving to a different client some days, which is challenging, but that's part of the trade off, I think, of running your own business and being not a a sole operator for one brand. So, yeah, I'd say at any given time. Typically, my engagements are three to six months. A good fractional CRO will tell you that if you're there more than six months, you're not doing your job. Although I have had engagements that are a full year, like when I'm an embedded CRO at a very small startup, say a 20 person, 2,000,000 ARR company who doesn't have any other go to market leadership. Sometimes I can be effective for up to a year until they actually need to make their first go to market full time hire, which I like. I like working with clients for a longer tenure instead of just coming in and out for one project. Obviously, I don't have to do as much prospecting and outbounding. That's half the job as a fractional. I found that peers of mine who have been CMOs and transitioned to fractional life, they're just not good at sales. And that's half the job, right, is to be able to sell yourself. And me being more of a CRO, CMO profile background, I think I am good at sales, and I'm good at prospecting, and I'm good at closing clients and proposals, all the mechanics of the sale. And I think that's why I've been able to be so successful in a short time.
00:07:58 · Andres Figuera
[00:07:58] S1: Of course. Of course. And, Matt, you mentioned at the beginning that you had some pros and cons about being a fractional CMO or CRO. Would you be able to tell us a bit more about that, please?
00:08:06 · Matthew Lattanzio
[00:08:06] S0: Yeah. Absolutely. It's lonely. I'll say that more than anything else. Like, when you have a good day, you have no one to tell. When you have a bad day, you have no one to tell. My wife gets most of, like, my my, like, feeder around how the business is going, but she has no context to what I do. So she'll say, like, good job, babe. But I don't really have that, like, that buzz that you come out of a great sales meeting and you know you're gonna close this big account and the team on the sales force sort of buzzing around and you get that kind of energy from other folks. So you need to self motivate, and you need to be mentally and physically healthy, I think, to be able to stay focused and keep that motivation up when you are having a slump in sales or a down month. I'd say there is volatility. I haven't experienced a lot of it yet. I had a few slower months, but generally every month has been pretty consistent or better than the last. But peers of mine have seen a lot of volatility in the business and sometimes you're working... You're making all of your money in six months of the year and that you have to kind of account for that. Right? So you need to ensure that you're sort of, like, balancing and projecting properly. And then I do miss sort of, like, operating with an executive team and having peers. That's another thing. Not just having a team that I can manage and being able to be a mentor, but I do miss, like, working with really great peers that I respect, and we're kind of rowing together, and we're on the same mission together. My clients are peers. Like, the CEOs that I work with, treat as peers, but it's just not the same energy as being an operator full time. And I think you have to just... That is some of the trade offs that you have to make versus fractional life. I'd say financially, I'd say, no question, fractional life has been better. I know it's like, I don't get it... I won't get into specifics, but it is much more lucrative, I'd say, as someone who wants to get into this business if you're doing it right. But, yeah, those are some of the trade offs. Like, flexibility is great. Again, I have two young kids. I I wanna be accessible to at all times. So I'm my own boss. I can make my own hours. And and on the flip side, I have five bosses that I have to work with.
00:09:57 · Matthew Lattanzio
I'd say the last thing is, like, every c c suite executive that I know has worked for a psychotic CEO at some point in their life. Someone who just made their life miserable and just, like, had a awful experience with. Even if I do get one of those, it's one of five, and I can... It's not as critical, I'd say. So even when you are working with a challenging personality, it doesn't hit so close to home and you're not so kinda stressed out about it because you could... I I have fired clients who haven't been a good fit, and you can do that in a fractional business and it won't derail your life or lifestyle. So you get to be choosy of who you work with. I've made mistakes too. Like, I've had clients that were a bad fit and I should not have maybe signed them, and I've learned from that. But I'd say, overall, that's sort of one of the the trade offs as as well as that.