<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Rated R Group]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rated R Group partners with early-stage founders to build GTM differentiators and navigate AI transformation — from first revenue to repeatable, scalable growth. Founded by Christopher Thierry (20-year SaaS veteran, former Cimpl CEO) and supported by David Durand (CLO, founder of DURAND Lawyers), we offer GTM coaching, embedded partnerships, and equity partnerships for B2B SaaS, biotech, and services companies from $0 to $10M ARR.]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2026 01:11:48 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.ratedrgroup.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Nine Checks In: What Angel Investing Taught Me About Running My Own Company]]></title><description><![CDATA[I wrote my first angel check about a year after my exit. I thought I was doing it to "give back to the ecosystem." That was partially true. The more honest answer is that I missed the early-stage chaos and wanted a seat close to it without living inside it. Nine investments later, here's my scorecard: two companies are performing well above where I invested, three are grinding along in that ambiguous middle zone where most startups actually live, two are effectively dead, and two are too...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/nine-checks-in-what-angel-investing-taught-me-about-running-my-own-company</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5e4e2afa1961e0043249f6</guid><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:36:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_cde195d344fd4295a2e242175789f146~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_675,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Everything Breaks at 3x: What 20 Years of Scaling SaaS Taught Me About Operations]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have started four SaaS companies over the past 20 years. One exited. The other lessons cost me money, sleep, and in one case, a very good VP of Customer Success who burned out because I did not see the problem coming. That problem has a name now, at least in my head: the Rule of 3x. Here it is: every process in your company was designed for a certain scale, and it will break — quietly, then suddenly — somewhere around three times that scale. Not at 10x. At 3x. Which means if you are growing...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/everything-breaks-at-3x-what-20-years-of-scaling-saas-taught-me-about-operations</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a578f0bc8cca052ffcbae8e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:47:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_047fd4f52d8648b4945bea4ccfbb8bfd~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_675,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Top 10 AI Tools Every Founder Should Utilize for Success]]></title><description><![CDATA[Founders face countless challenges when building a startup, from managing time to making smart decisions quickly. Artificial intelligence tools can help by automating tasks, improving productivity, and providing valuable insights. Using the right AI tools can give founders a clear edge in a competitive market. This post highlights ten AI tools that every founder should consider to boost their chances of success. Dashboard displaying AI analytics for startup growth 1. Claude by Anthropic...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/top-10-ai-tools-every-founder-should-utilize-for-success</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6998839bf63bd550f09f25df</guid><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:58:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_15ca18f9c3694763a1e0fdf6aa9b360d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_675,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[10 Essential AI Tools That Every Startup Founder Must Utilize Now]]></title><description><![CDATA[Starting and growing a company means juggling countless tasks with limited time and resources. Founders need tools that help them move fast, make smart decisions, and get more done without expanding their teams. Artificial intelligence offers powerful solutions, but not all AI tools are created equal. Many lists recommend tools based on hype or demos, not real-world impact. This post cuts through the noise. It highlights 10 AI tools that founders can actually use today to improve strategy,...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/10-essential-ai-tools-that-every-startup-founder-must-utilize-now</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699884aa1dd149c4d3c7c449</guid><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:58:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_487f9e345b4a4822a7e5d98cec7d76bb~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Fire a Co-Founder Without Destroying the Company]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nobody starts a company planning to fire their co-founder. You start with shared excitement, complementary skills, and the conviction that you're going to build something great together. But the reality of startup life puts extraordinary pressure on that relationship, and sometimes it breaks. I've been involved in three co-founder separations — once as a direct participant, twice as an advisor. Each one was different in specifics, but the principles for handling it well were remarkably...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/how-to-fire-a-co-founder-without-destroying-the-company</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a299bcf454bfefdae8c1</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_7263e936d0f54d0cbbe8b1aa7fdd0317~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Most SaaS Companies Plateau at $3M ARR (And How to Break Through)]]></title><description><![CDATA[There's a graveyard of SaaS companies sitting between $2M and $4M ARR. They have product-market fit. They have customers who love them. They have a team. And yet, growth has flatlined. The tactics that got them from $0 to $3M simply don't work from $3M to $10M. I've seen this pattern dozens of times — in my own company, in companies I've invested in, and in founders I advise. Here's what's actually happening, and how to break through.  The Founder Is Still the Go-To-Market Engine This is the...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/why-most-saas-companies-plateau-at-3m-arr-and-how-to-break-through</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263aee7af0f73356970d66</guid><pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_f0ee0d94553c4f42978b99dd65004548~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The 90-Day Playbook I Give Every Founder I Advise]]></title><description><![CDATA[When a founder brings me on as an advisor, the first thing I do is resist the urge to fix things. That might sound strange for someone whose job is to help, but I've learned that the most valuable thing I can do in the first 90 days is listen, diagnose, and build a framework — not prescribe solutions to problems I don't yet fully understand. Over years of advising early and growth-stage SaaS companies, I've developed a 90-day playbook that I walk every founder through. It's the same framework...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/the-90-day-playbook-i-give-every-founder-i-advise</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a241750b8b39abbd612b</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_be8a171eacb6444ba40f72ffded3cd51~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Your First Enterprise Customer: A Step-by-Step Playbook]]></title><description><![CDATA[Landing your first enterprise customer is a milestone that changes everything about your SaaS company. It validates that your product can serve sophisticated buyers, dramatically increases your ACV, and gives you a reference account that opens doors everywhere else. But enterprise sales is a completely different sport than SMB or mid-market. Here's the playbook I used to land our first Fortune 500 customer, and the one I now teach to founders making the move upmarket.  Step 1: Pick Your...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/your-first-enterprise-customer-a-step-by-step-playbook</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263aee7af0f73356970d64</guid><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_4da2e1238406486cb1c63d1db7822ad6~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Your Tech Stack Is Not Your Moat. Here's What Is.]]></title><description><![CDATA[I meet with founders every week who believe their technology is what makes them defensible. They've built something technically impressive — a novel algorithm, a proprietary integration layer, a system that processes data faster than anything else on the market. And they think that's their moat. It's not. It almost never is. And the sooner founders understand this, the sooner they can start building actual defensibility.  Why Technology Isn't Defensible Technology is replicable. Whatever...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/your-tech-stack-is-not-your-moat-here-s-what-is</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a241750b8b39abbd6128</guid><pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_6c5cd23007e74976904d3902a85227fc~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How I Knew It Was Time to Sell — And What I'd Tell Founders Considering an Exit]]></title><description><![CDATA[Selling your company is one of the most consequential decisions you'll ever make as a founder. It's also one of the loneliest — because very few people in your life have done it, and those who have rarely talk about the emotional reality of it. Here's how I knew it was time, and what I wish someone had told me before I started the process.  The Three Signals That Told Me It Was Time Signal 1: I was optimizing, not building. The early years of a SaaS company are about creation — finding...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/how-i-knew-it-was-time-to-sell-and-what-i-d-tell-founders-considering-an-exit</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263aee7af0f73356970d65</guid><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_a9a520db60ac4091b601eaef1e52e898~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Founder's Guide to Surviving a Down Round]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nobody writes about down rounds while they're happening. It's always in retrospect, after the company recovered, told as a chapter in a success story. But when you're in it — when your lead investor just told you the best they can do is a 40% haircut on your last valuation — the loneliness is suffocating. I've been through it. I've advised founders through it. And I'm writing this for the founder who's staring at a term sheet right now that feels like a gut punch, wondering whether to sign it...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/the-founder-s-guide-to-surviving-a-down-round</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a1f5bcf454bfefdae775</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_4c730a6a05634ba3999175206777dc3d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The 3 Hires That Changed Everything at My Company]]></title><description><![CDATA[In any scaling SaaS company, there are inflection-point hires — people who don't just fill a role but fundamentally change the trajectory of the business. Looking back at my journey from startup to exit, three hires stand out above all others.  Hire #1: The Operator (VP Operations, Year 3) By year three, we had product-market fit and about 40 customers. I was drowning. Every customer issue came to me. Every process was in my head. I was the single point of failure for everything. Hiring an...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/the-3-hires-that-changed-everything-at-my-company</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263aee7af0f73356970d63</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_7b491cfadea9465daec869907f2135cb~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why I Stopped Chasing Enterprise Deals (And Started Closing Them)]]></title><description><![CDATA[For 18 months, we chased enterprise deals the way most startups do — aggressively. Cold outreach. Executive dinners. Conferences. Custom demos for anyone who'd take a meeting. We had a full pipeline, lots of activity, and almost nothing to show for it. Our close rate on deals over $100K was 4%. We were spending six months per opportunity, burning through sales resources, and losing to incumbents who had relationships we couldn't replicate. It was demoralizing and unsustainable. Then something...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/why-i-stopped-chasing-enterprise-deals-and-started-closing-them</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a1f4a7cc9d295b400c3f</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Oct 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_40595e3ca36642f8829d6682d32ad618~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What I'd Do Differently If I Were Building My First SaaS Again]]></title><description><![CDATA[I spent nearly a decade building my telecom expense management SaaS from zero to eight-figure revenue and a successful exit. Along the way, I made every mistake in the book — and a few that aren't in any book yet. If I could go back to day one with everything I know now, here's what I'd change.  I'd Validate With Revenue, Not Conversations My first mistake was spending too long in 'discovery mode.' I had dozens of conversations with potential customers who said they loved the idea. But love...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/what-i-d-do-differently-if-i-were-building-my-first-saas-again</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263aee7af0f73356970d69</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_f69867dc21c84861bc902b0f53c0b29e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What VCs Actually Look for (From Someone Who's Been on Both Sides)]]></title><description><![CDATA[I've sat in the founder's chair, pitching investors with a deck I'd rehearsed 40 times, trying to read the room, wondering if the head nod meant interest or polite disengagement. I've also sat in the investor's chair, evaluating pitches, doing due diligence, and writing checks. The gap between what founders think matters in fundraising and what actually moves the needle is wider than most people realize. This isn't the generic "have a great team and big TAM" advice you've read a hundred...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/what-vcs-actually-look-for-from-someone-who-s-been-on-both-sides</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a1a5579005354a9b7a2d</guid><pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_d98ecb8ff32a4d28b9a672ba555bacca~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Angel Investment Thesis I Use After 9 Deals]]></title><description><![CDATA[After nine angel investments across fintech, healthtech, cybersecurity, and AI, I've developed a framework that guides every check I write. It's not about chasing trends or picking the next unicorn — it's about pattern recognition from having built and scaled a company myself. Here's my thesis, distilled.  I Only Invest in Founders I'd Work For This sounds soft, but it's my hardest filter. Would I want this person as my CEO? Do they have the combination of vision, execution speed, and...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/the-angel-investment-thesis-i-use-after-9-deals</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a263aee7af0f73356970d68</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_110f2a850a454c3eb3a8c2666c91a599~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Pricing Mistake That Cost Me Two Years of Growth]]></title><description><![CDATA[We launched at $49 per month per user. I thought it was a smart, accessible price point that would let us acquire customers quickly and expand later. What actually happened is we attracted customers who valued price over product, created a support burden that nearly bankrupted us, and trained the market to see us as a low-cost option in a category where value pricing was the norm. It took two years to undo the damage. Two years of repositioning, repricing, and having uncomfortable...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/the-pricing-mistake-that-cost-me-two-years-of-growth</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a1a57206e69ccb3a33b3</guid><pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_818d7572217a4bb8b138fdf338282ac1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[5 AI Quick Wins Every SaaS CEO Should Implement This Quarter]]></title><description><![CDATA[Not every AI initiative needs to be a six-month project with a dedicated team. Some of the highest-impact AI implementations I've seen took less than a week to set up and started delivering value immediately. Here are five that every SaaS CEO should have running by the end of this quarter.  1. AI-Powered Customer Support Triage Before a human ever sees a support ticket, AI should be categorizing it by urgency, topic, and likely resolution path. This alone can reduce first-response time by...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/5-ai-quick-wins-every-saas-ceo-should-implement-this-quarter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a25bffe1f44c606b37c5aa3</guid><pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_984f845dded64bf68e09f9ea5d737ea6~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stop Hiring for Culture Fit. Start Hiring for Culture Add.]]></title><description><![CDATA[I've made a lot of hiring mistakes. Hired brilliant people who couldn't work with anyone else. Hired likable people who couldn't execute. But the most expensive mistake I made repeatedly was hiring people who were exactly like me and calling it "culture fit." For my first 15 hires, I optimized for people who thought like I did, communicated like I did, and had backgrounds similar to mine. The result was a team that was fast, aligned, and completely blind to its own weaknesses. We made the...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/stop-hiring-for-culture-fit-start-hiring-for-culture-add</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26a152579005354a9b798e</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Apr 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_cf505f7b53fc41b8b1fe6c5dfa69c556~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[AI Won't Replace Your Team — But a CEO Who Ignores AI Will Get Replaced]]></title><description><![CDATA[Let me be direct: AI is not coming for your employees' jobs. Not in the way the headlines suggest. What AI is doing is raising the bar for what's expected of every role — including yours as CEO. The leaders who understand this distinction are building extraordinary companies. The ones who don't are falling behind in ways they won't notice until it's too late.  The Real Threat Isn't Automation — It's Amplification Your competitor's marketing team isn't getting replaced by AI. They're producing...]]></description><link>https://www.ratedrgroup.com/post/ai-won-t-replace-your-team-but-a-ceo-who-ignores-ai-will-get-replaced</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a25bffe1f44c606b37c5aa1</guid><pubDate>Thu, 13 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/039ac0_ad2d1fd65afe4bc994e4114ae11d4a7d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Thierry</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>