Free Marketing: How Firstbase Generated 80M Twitter Impressions That Led To Mega Customers and Financing From a16z

Leveling Up with Eric Siu

Today’s guest is Chris Herd, the CEO and founder of Firstbase which is an all-in-one SaaS platform for the supply and management of assets and equipment to remote workers. After founding a remote financial technology company, Chris discovered the challenges of having a remote team which led him to found Firstbase. Since late 2019, the company has now raised over $15 million, a lot of which can be attributed to Chris’s presence on Twitter. Today he explains how he managed to generate 80 million Twitter impressions in the space of a year and how he has used the platform as his primary acquisition channel, as well as a great tool for building relationships with key decision-makers at some of the biggest investment companies and venture capital firms in the world. Tuning in you’ll hear Chris’s advice on what type of content to share, the importance of consistency, the role of spontaneity, and how to inspire conversation through the platform. Chris also shares some profound insight into the future of remote work or ‘remote living’. Hear some practical advice on remote work that most people wouldn’t know about and find out which companies are doing it really well.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:14] An introduction to today’s guest Chris Herd, CEO and founder of Firstbase.
• [01:09] Some of Firstbase’s marquee clients.
• [02:04] Chris’s background and what makes him different from other founders.
• [02:59] How the challenges he faced having a remote team led him to found Firstbase.
• [03:59] How Firstbase is making money.
• [04:34] How quickly the company has grown and how much money it has raised.
• [05:20] Some of the core challenges they faced scaling the company.
• [06:13] The role of Twitter in building distribution.
• [07:54] How Chris achieved 80 million impressions through his tweets in the last year.
• [08:54] Chris’s advice on how to market your business through Twitter.
• [09:51] How Twitter has benefited Firstbase.
• [11:21] What Chris’s cadence is like on Twitter and the role of spontaneity.
• [12:28] The two most important data points to Chris and what they say about the future of work.
• [14:25] The role of in-person connection in the remote work playbook post-pandemic.
• [15:51] How Chris is recruiting the best people right now through Twitter and Flocknet.
• [18:09] Practical remote work advice that most people wouldn’t know about.
• [19:08] Companies that are doing remote work really well.
• [20:12] Remote work playbooks available online.
• [20:56] A business tool Chris’s recommends: Figma.
• [21:38] Insight into the size of Chris’s sales team and thoughts on whether or not they should be co-located.
• [22:47] Chris’s must-read book: No Rules Rules.
• [23:35] The most compelling thing that he’s watched, read or listened to: Loki.
• [23:55] How to get in contact with Chris.

Resources From The Interview:

• Firstbase
• Remotive
• AngelList
• Flocknet
• Zapier
• GitLab

• Darren Murph

• Figma

• Miro

• Mural

• Must read book: No Rules Rules

• Project Hail Mary

• Loki

• Chris Herd on Twitter
• Chris Herd on LinkedIn

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Connect with Eric Siu:

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Leveling Up

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