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Welcome to 2023!

Hi, I’m James. Thanks for checking out Building Momentum: a newsletter to help startup founders and marketers accelerate SaaS growth through product marketing.

Welcome to 2023! How are you feeling – excited for what’s to come?

Me too! I’m super confident that this year is going to be a game-changer for us all. Here’s a brief recap of the last 12 months… and a few guesses at what the next year might hold.

Looking back

The newsletter

At the end of 2021, 600 smart folks were subscribed to this newsletter and I was super happy with the progress.

Fast forward to today and we’re now part of a burgeoning group of over 2,100 product marketers, founders, product managers, and sales reps wanting to get better at product marketing! Thanks for being here – it means a lot.

12 months ago, there were 76k words over 90 posts – today, 184 posts, with 136k words. It’d take you an astounding nine hours to read it all.

The top posts of 2022 were:

I also opened up free access to the 700+ items in my product marketing swipe file, full of articles and templates and other handy PMM links from around the internet.

But really, there are two things that keep me writing the newsletter. Firstly, the feedback that I get from readers is fantastic – ask me questions, or just let me know if you thought a post was good, it really helps. Secondly, it’s an outlet for me to just write about what I’m interested in – I’m a big product marketing nerd.

The course

Alicia and I also launched our first course, WTF is Go-To-Market? – helped over 40 budding product marketers from all around the world to grow their careers.

We ran three cohorts, including some scholarship places thanks to Crane VC and Aneel Lakhani, and also offered free access for product marketers affected by layoffs. We’ve loved supporting the PMM community, sharing our experience, and mentoring others.

And it seems to have worked! 50% of students have now received promotions or new senior roles, and we received 100% five-star ratings from every student. We’re very pleased and grateful for everyone who’s taken part.

Personally

I had a good year at my day job and was promoted to head of product marketing – and enjoying the challenges that come with that!

We also moved into our new house after an eight month process. We bought a really nice Victorian terrace two-bed, on the same road as Alicia.

What’s in store for 2023?

My word for 2023 is ‘Try’. The last few years of Covid disruption have really left me feeling a bit… unsatisfied with what I can achieve. Even though we’ve done a lot, I know there’s more I can do.

So I’m going to try more, generally, in every area of my life: career, work, relationships, hobbies, self-care.

Maybe that will mean exploring a startup idea in earnest (hit me up if you want to talk about a new approach for B2B payments!).

Maybe it means changing up the newsletter to post less regularly, but more in-depth.

Maybe it means learning to just to chill out properly, and stop doing stuff I don’t like.

But whatever it means, I’m going to try. Jump in. Commit. Give passion, give energy.

Where you can help

Just like no man is an island, this isn’t a newsletter without readers. Your interaction and engagement is welcomed and encouraged.

Help me out right now: reply, comment, or send me a tweet with your answers to these questions:

  1. What are you proud about right now?
  2. What are you looking forward to in 2023?
  3. What’s your word for the year going to be?

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought – find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

P.S. If you’ve found value in Building Momentum, could you buy me a coffee? Here’s my tip jar – any support is gratefully appreciated! 

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