When I think about my commitment to HowToo, I’m motivated to push through the challenges not just for myself but for my team, my investors and most importantly my customers. I’m surrounded by really passionate people who are devoted to our mission and have gone way above and beyond to support me as we grow the business.
Our favorite quote
How She Started: Most founders manage one business at a time, but you’re managing both HowToo and Savv-e. What strategies do you employ to manage both?
Lisa Vincent: We built Savv-e as a digital learning service business initially, but it was the frictions we experienced along the way that gave birth to HowToo. We needed a powerful tool to accelerate that learning design process. At the same time, our customers expressed their desire for a similar tool to enhance their capabilities.
I made a pre-sale to a Savv-e customer, whose support helped the software business get off the ground. During this pivotal stage I knew we needed to create a distinct brand identity for HowToo. I believed merely tacking on a software business to an existing service business would not yield the best results.
At the time of our 2021 raise, to my surprise, investors showed an interest in our service business as well as the software. They saw the value of the customer relationships, opportunities to extend runway, and ensure we all had shared objectives. At this stage HowToo had built its own brand, so we merged the two businesses and raised with an all-in-one digital learning software and service business.
The software side of the business builds value via the subscription revenue while bespoke services extend our runway, expand our customer network, and can also help attract customers to the software offering. Our focus is to substantially grow our annual recurring revenue each year, so the percentage allocation between software and services shifts and software dominates our revenue stream.
HSS: Speaking of raising, how did you raise money? How did you determine how much equity to give away and what were other factors you considered outside of money and equity that came into the negotiation?
LV: In the initial stages of the development of our software we were incredibly fortunate to be able to bootstrap. Through pre-sales and several successful transactions with customers we secured initial funding to kickstart the project.
I then explored Government funding opportunities available in Australia (note these specific programs may not be available for all readers as they are Australia specific). We were able to secure funding from both the Boosting in Female Founders Fund and Accelerating Commercialization fund. With this combined funding, we successfully launched the product and had a comfortable runway for an entire year before I needed to seek further investment.
I then raised because I wanted to be able to scale the business quickly to make the most of the global opportunity. I knew raising was a skill and I needed to learn how to do it.
The initial phase was undeniably challenging and receiving feedback on my first pitches felt like a gut-wrenching blow. Training with real investors, who offered brutally honest critiques, was both nerve-wracking and eye-opening. However, I chose to embrace the setbacks and keep going as I truly believed in the business I was building. Securing grants builds credibility to bolster your pitch.
HSS: Can you give me a little more detail about how you found the resources to help you learn how to pitch?
LV: I went out to my network to see who could help us and one of the tech founders put me in touch with a woman called Marisa Warren, who supports female founders. Marisa has subsequently become an investor through her fund, Aliavia Ventures. I also received significant support through the network created via our Government Grant. The final stage of our project involved a fundraise and the Australian Government advisors supported us in this process.
HSS: Can you talk to me about your customer discovery process and how you acquired your first few customers?
LV: In the early days, we made a significant pre-sale and we used that connection to build out our use case and customer journey. We built the software in a very collaborative way with that customer up until 2020 launch.
Before our official launch, we engaged with other eager customers who piloted HowToo, and their feedback drove our iterative improvements. Many of these early adopters came from our Savv-e. In late 2019 I pitched at a learning conference, invited companies to join as early adopters using enticing deals.
Then we had our launch a week, which created excitement about HowToo. The anticipation grew, and when we finally launched, it coincided with the first COVID lockdown that forced companies to seek digital solutions for workforce education. HowToo gained rapid traction as the perfect answer to their needs.
HSS: How do you retain your customers?
LV: There are several different ways. First of all, effectively onboarding them. We ensure that they are successful from the early days. The statistics tell us that if they're not onboarded effectively, we have a much higher churn. We’ve actually evolved our own platform to help organisations create great customer education to support the onboarding process.
We put a lot of effort into staying connected with our customers and ensuring they make the most of our product. Through workshops, digital learning, and proactive outreach, we guide them in using the product effectively and creating those crucial learning objects for their learners. Our Monthly Active Users metric is a top priority as it directly impacts retention, and we have internal tools dedicated to reengaging inactive users.
To foster a strong community and maintain open lines of communication, we run monthly webinars on topics of interest to our customers. We also reach out through questionnaires to gather feedback on desired features and proactively share our roadmap updates with them.
These early connections and feedback from customers are essential for our product's evolution. We strike a balance by focusing on our ideal customer profile and prioritizing feedback implementation to avoid spreading our resources too thin. At the heart of it all is our commitment to ensuing our ideal customers are experiencing those moments of truth and gaining ongoing value from the product.
HSS: What is your growth strategy?
LV: Currently, we have our sights set on the US market and are steadily growing from our base in Australia. In the new year, we'll be intensifying our efforts to enter the US market. I'll be spending the first three months of the upcoming year in the States to drive this expansion, and we're also in the process of hiring our first sales representative there, targeting our ideal customer profile for the best outcomes. Our go-to-market strategy comprises a well-rounded approach, including marketing, sales, events, networking, and partnerships.
Another crucial aspect of our growth plan is expanding into a new use case: customer education. Our all-in-one creator and learning academy is being used to onboard and retain customers through the power digital education.
We're also excited to announce that next year, we'll be introducing AI features that promise to be a game-changer. While this comes with challenges related to IP and data, the benefits are undeniable.
HSS: Was there a time when you felt that this was not worth pursuing?
LV: You know, there were some tough moments, no denying that. Last year tested my commitment and resolve like never before. Let's face it, entrepreneurship demands a lot. It's huge commitment, and you can't help but wonder about other paths.
But here's the thing - the idea of going back to being an employee? I couldn’t do it! As a CEO, I get to call the shots, make quick decisions - it's a privilege that I cherish. The commitment to our mission, though challenging, has always driven me. Having an incredible and equally devoted team by my side, is a driving force. I won't let them down.
There's something else that keeps me going - my belief in HowToo and the unwavering support of our amazing investors. Their faith in our vision pushes me forward, no matter the challenges. For myself, my team, and those who believe in us – I think the resilience we’ve be built gives me confidence we can overcome the challenges ahead.
HSS: What are your lessons learned so far?
LV: Commit to yourself: Starting a business is hard work and as I mentioned before you should
take some time to evaluate if it is right for you.
Master your pitch: I can cut a pitch to the drop of the hat and it is one of the most
important skills to have. You need to know the structure of the pitch and practice it until
it just flows out. People can be far too detailed, and you need to hone in on what exactly
it is you offer, what your value proposition is, who your market is, why they should join
you, and then deliver that passion through your pitch.
Embrace failure: Like I mentioned my early failures with pitching were devastating, but
failure is an opportunity to learn, get feedback, and do it better the next time.
Network: Networking creates opportunities. When I needed help, I reached out to my network
which led me to my mentor Marissa Warren, and that in turn led to the investments in HowToo.
You never know what opportunity is around the corner. Sometimes women don't have the network
that men do, so it's that much more important to push yourself to network. It's critical,
particularly when you're raising.
Trust your gut if something doesn’t feel right: Though not all decisions can be made with your gut it does provide a healthy barometer when making decisions.
Take a break: One of my biggest challenges is I find it hard to shut off. Entrepreneurs are
always plugged into their business so I know I can’t tell you to stop thinking about your
business. However, I would encourage a digital detox once a year where you can put it in the
back of your mind. I just spent last week going rogue to the Outback of Australia.
Acknowledge your Accomplishments: If you don’t take time to acknowledge where you are making progress it trickles down to your team. You should acknowledge the work it takes to have great outcomes and enjoy those milestones. If you don’t that's a lost opportunity for joy.
- Insight: If you have the privilege, partner with a company to test out your solution.
- Insight: Be flexible when negotiating with investors. In Lisa’s case, she could offer equity in HowToo and leverage Savv-e to extend runway and access an engaged initial customer-base.
- Insight: Practice pitching and determine the valuation that you are willing to accept.
- Insight: Create a strategy for customer acquisition. In Lisa's case, she worked with a trusted customer from her services business, pitched at conferences, generated buzz about her launch, and offered special deals for early adopters.
- Insight: Ensure your customers are onboarded and comfortable using your product
- Insight: Identify your most important KPI's in Lisa's case it was monthly active users.
- Insight: Create value for your customers in Lisa's case she provides information and company updates.
- Insight: Commit to yourself and take time to evaluate if entrepreneurship is right for you.
- Insight: When seeking investment, master your pitch.
- Insight: Embrace failure and use feedback to do it better next time.
- Insight: Trust your gut.
- Insight: Take a break. Though it's nearly impossible for an entrepreneur to completely unplug try to give yourself a digital detox
- Insight: Acknowledge your accomplishments. If you don't take the time you'll miss an opportunity for joy.
- Insight: Use your network to build community.
We were attending a learning conference and I found a seat at her lunch table. We spoke about how we’re both named Lisa, and about two years later I reached out to her on LinkedIn.
I've always been passionate about women helping other women. I created this blog to tell stories of successful female-founded businesses. Hopefully, these stories will help inspire more women to found their own businesses.