How to self-assess your AR readiness

Startups (and investors) are often unsure of what constitutes their own (portfolio firms’) readiness to leverage industry analysts’ insights & buyer impact in the race to market breakthrough.

I have qualified hundreds of startups’ relevance for industry analysts’ research and buy-side advisory over the years.

Contrary to popular misconceptions, AR readiness is NOT defined by investment stage, or a number, or even money. None of that. (Ping me for a copy of the 2022 SSIA research!)

Instead, it’s 100% defined by a startup’s ability to explain themselves in clear business logic.

Here are 5 abilities that help you gauge your startup’s AR readiness:

1. Lead with outcomes
   

   1. if you have paying customers - use their metrics

   2. if you are in MVP phase - use your best-informed research
      

2. Love the problem
   

   1. so you can demonstrate direct business relevance

   2. inspire with the lever of bigger trends
      

3. Differentiate vs the status quo / other attempts
   

   1. competing approaches are your best point of reference

   2. never shy away from specifics
      

4. Use data to build confidence
   

   1. the general “good” isn’t good enough

   2. underpin key points in your narrative with data

   3. replace with better data points as you can
      

5. Be clear about your state of play
   

   1. analysts don’t expect perfection

   2. trust the power of your logic

Now, don’t mistake this for an introductory briefing structure. There is more to that than the above (and it’s certainly not your marketing/sales/investor pitch deck).

Also, you will need to identify exactly the few analysts across many firms to whose research agenda you might, in fact, be relevant - the rest won’t bother. And then tailor your briefing to their/your joint audience’s context.

As I said, the above is a self-check if you’re ready to generally consider and then prepare initial analyst outreach.

When you go for it, handle it seriously because - in the constant avalanche of startups entering the markets - you have one shot.

I won’t pretend this would be easy to get right. But it’s highly rewarding (way beyond the analyst relations aspect). So far, I’ve never missed the target.

If you want to test your readiness with me, DM me for one of 3 free sessions a week.