Knowledge informs action. Action shapes identity. Who we are is a reflection of what we consistently learn and do. At Lock 8, we treat learning as a continuous discipline - refining our thinking, evolving our approach, and sharing what we discover along the way.

Blog

8 of the biggest mistakes first-time CEOs make

We recently spent a full day onboarding a new, first-time CEO for a recently acquired B2B SaaS business within our portfolio. After a grueling 7+…
7 min read

A (Dirty) Little Secret About Reference Checks Part 2

In part one of this series I discussed why reference checks rarely help small-scale SaaS businesses with high-stakes executive hiring but rather how they are…
6 min read

A (Dirty) Little Secret About Reference Checks Part 1

High-performing Leadership Teams may be the most critical element of successful B2B SaaS businesses. And in my experience, the alchemy that creates transformational team performance…
4 min read

More for New CEOs (2 of 2)

Previously, Part I of this post introduced an artifact that Lock 8 Partners uses to support the learning & development of portfolio CEOs. We refer…
5 min read

More Tools for New CEOs (1 of 2)

This blog has focused extensively in the past on the topic of first-time CEOs within small-scall SaaS business. This post made the case for hiring…
8 min read

Budgets Again // aka: Personas — Not Just for Marketing Anymore

Within our portfolio’s cohort of SaaS CEOs, budgeting consistently ranks among the most challenging aspects of their jobs. This led to a recent post on…
6 min read

Why Talk About Budgeting NOW?!

Like pre-Christmas sale commercials, blog posts about budgeting generally peak sometime in December — near the end of one fiscal year and before the beginning…
5 min read

Six Takeaways from 100+ Slides

A colleague recently shared with me Benedict Evans’ tech trends for 2023 presentation. It’s amazing — 104 slides of compelling data that make sense of a dizzying range…
5 min read