#20. Building, Growing, Winning🏆

Tactics, Trends & Takeaways for Modern Businesses

Mar 07, 2025

Hello, I’m Saurabh Tandon—welcome to the free weekly edition of More than Buzzwords!

This week’s newsletter is packed with crisp, real-world strategies and experience-backed wisdom to help you build smarter, work efficiently, and hire like a pro.

If you're a founder, operator, or just someone looking to level up in business, this edition will be a great read for you.

Here’s what’s inside:

🔍 Practical, high-impact tweets for professionals: Actionable hiring strategies, productivity hacks, and business-building insights—straight from industry leaders who are shaping the game.

🔍 Innovation in Action: A deep dive into how an emerging startup is helping companies streamline transactions, boost cash flow, and ditch outdated bookkeeping methods.

🔍 GTM Strategy Insights: A closer look at what makes a successful go-to-market approach—focusing on the right channels, balancing sales and marketing, and targeting the right customers.

Let’s get started! 🚀

The New Rules of Work & Business⚡

Open twitter, scroll for some time and you’ll be flooded with hundreds of tweets. But, the truth is– only a handful of them truly deserve your attention.

If you are new to my newsletter, every week I share some real actionable insights and tips from industry leaders ruling the X.com.

This week’s lineup has some sharp, no-fluff insights that really get you moving!

These lessons from industry experts will help you navigate the challenges of building and growing. 👇

🛠 Building & Running a Business Smarter

#1 @thedankoe

What I used to think I needed to start a business:
- Employees
- Startup capital
- A physical location
- Funds for advertising
What I use to run my business now:
- One person
- Free no-code tools
- Digital real estate
- Free social media traffic
Corporation VS Individual.

This tweet highlights how technology has transformed the way businesses are built. Decades ago, who would have thought solopreneurship could have such a massive impact?

Today, you don’t need a big team or deep pockets to launch a business. With the right tools and mindset, a single individual can build, operate, and scale efficiently—leveraging no-code platforms, digital real estate, and organic social media reach.

The playing field has never been more accessible.

⚡ Work Smarter, Not Harder

#2. @NavalismHQ
No meetings before 11am. No meetings when emails or calls will do. Don’t schedule calls, text coordinate them on the fly when possible.
Cram all meetings into two days a week. 1-on-1s are usually 30-minute walking meetings.(Meetings are the death of productivity)

Think about this—if you spend your entire day hopping from one meeting to another, are you actually getting any work done, or just talking about work?

I agree with all the points Naval mentioned in this tweet, but what stood out to me the most was how 1-on-1s can be 30-minute walking meetings—allowing you to get some movement in while tackling meaningful conversations.

It’s a simple way to break up the workday, boost energy, and make the most of your time—both physically and professionally.

I recently shared my thoughts on how meetings are the real killers of productivity and what we can do to make them more meaningful. Check out my LinkedIn post and follow me there for more daily insights!

🎯 Hiring Like a Pro

#4. @ShaanVP
my business hiring strategy:
I split the business into 2 categories:
GROUP #1 - "Solvers"
- Every business has parts that are "not figured out" yet
- For these roles, I hire A+ talent, and overpay by 20-100%. Usually american workers, but I'm literally looking for the best in the world at X
- I usually find these people myself. Hunting people who've done impressive things, and recruiting them (on the phone, or fly out and meet them belly-to-belly)
GROUP #2 - "Train Operators"
- If we've laid down the tracks on a project. Defined problem, defined solution.
- I hire people for $800/mo who keep the trains running on time. These are VAs, bookkeepers, data analysts, web developers.
- To find these people I just tell
@weareshepherd what I want - and they find me someone good within 2-3 weeks. I use Shepherd so much, I ended up investing in it too
- I pay 5-8X less than I would for an American employee. So that means I'm dropping ~$40-50k PER EMPLOYEE to the bottom line as profit (that's a huge swing)
Eg. in one of my companies, we'll do ~$30M this year, and 40% of the team is top offshore talent

Hiring isn’t just about filling roles—it’s about strategically placing the right people in the right positions.

This tweet emphasizes on the fact that you need high-performing problem-solvers to tackle complex challenges and drive innovation. At the same time, well-defined processes can be managed efficiently by skilled professionals at a lower cost.

This approach applies across geographies—whether you're hiring locally or leveraging top offshore talent. The key is knowing when to invest in top-tier talent and when to optimize for efficiency.

A well-structured hiring strategy doesn’t just save money—it ensures the business runs smoothly while allowing founders to focus on growth and big-picture decisions. What do you think about this hiring policy?

#4. @sweatystartup
Hiring tip:
Make the interview process hard.
Make the candidates do work.
Require candidates submit a 1 minute video.
Make them do an assessment or exercise.
The lazy or incompetent candidates will identify themselves quickly.
You’re left with the winners.

This tweet emphasizes that your interview process should reflect the kind of people you want to hire in your company. A rigorous hiring process naturally filters out incompetent candidates, making your job easier.

Incorporating assessments and requiring candidates to put in effort—whether through a one-minute video or a task-based exercise—helps you better evaluate who is truly the right fit for your company.

It ensures that only those who are genuinely motivated and capable make it through.

Which tweet resonated the most with you? What is your biggest takeaway from these tweets backed by experience of startup ninjas? Leave a comment and let us know!

Spotlight on a Startup: Khatabook 📊

The Smarter Way to Manage Business Finances

Ditch the old ledger books—Khatabook is here to simplify financial tracking. Founded in 2018 by Ravish Naresh, this fintech startup is revolutionizing how small businesses manage their credit, payments, and bookkeeping.

Khatabook is a digital ledger app that helps businesses track credit (Jama) and debit (Udhar) transactions seamlessly. No more manual entries or calculation errors—just a safe and secure way to manage customer accounts.

The app also offers automated payment reminders, ensuring faster collections without those awkward follow-ups.

🚀Some reasons why it stands out:

3X faster payment recovery with auto-reminders
Real-time data sync across multiple devices, online & offline
Multi-business management from a single account
Stock monitoring & pricing insights

With over 5 crore businesses trusting their app, Khatabook has empowered kirana stores, wholesalers, and small businesses across India.

It has digitized age-old bookkeeping practices, reducing financial inefficiencies and boosting cash flow for millions.

Backed by investors like Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Tencent, Khatabook has raised over $100M+.

The goal? To become the go-to financial platform for MSMEs, bridging the digital gap and making finance effortless.

Small businesses are the backbone of India’s economy—Khatabook is making sure they thrive in the digital era.

Every successful startup finds its edge—not just in product, but in execution. Up next, let’s talk about the GTM strategies that drive real business growth.

GTM Strategies: Lessons from Experience

I’ve always been fascinated by how businesses bring products to market. Whether it’s a new-age startup finding its first customers or a giant brand launching its next big thing, the right Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy can make all the difference.

Over the years, I’ve read, observed, and learned firsthand how businesses navigate this process—and here are some of my biggest takeaways.

1️⃣ Don’t Try to Do Everything

One of the biggest mistakes I see? Startups going “all-in” on every possible channel—ads, outbound sales, partnerships, community-building—all at once. The reality? A successful GTM strategy is about playing to your strengths.

Instead of trying to juggle inbound, outbound, paid ads, community-building, and partnerships all at the same time, take a step back.

Ask yourself: Where does your customer naturally engage? If your audience thrives on relationships, a sales-led or ABM (Account-Based Marketing) approach might be the best option for you.

If your product can generate demand through content and organic reach, inbound marketing could be your strongest growth engine.

Trying to do it all often leads to stretched resources and diluted impact.

The best GTM strategies are focused, not frantic. Pick 1-2 motions that align with your strengths—and double down on them.

2️⃣ The Right Customers Matter More Than the First Customers

Early adopters are exciting because they give feedback, spread the word, and validate your idea. But they’re not always your ideal paying customers.

I’ve seen brands struggle because their initial users weren’t the ones who would actually sustain the business long-term.

A smarter approach? Focus on the customers who will not just try your product but stick around and pay.

Ask yourself: Do they have an urgent problem your product solves? Will they still be relevant as you scale? And most importantly, are they showing real buying intent?

Map out your target customers by focusing on these four key traits that determine their suitability:

Prioritizing the right customers from the start ensures you’re not just attracting users but building a strong, paying customer base.

3️⃣ The Balance Between Marketing & Sales

Do you think a great product can sell itself with just marketing? If so, here’s the truth—sales and marketing aren’t competitors; they’re two sides of the same coin. The key is knowing which should take the lead.

If your product is simple, low-cost, and appeals to a broad audience, marketing can drive growth efficiently. But if it’s complex, high-value, or serves a niche market, a strong sales team is essential.

Many successful GTM strategies land somewhere in between—using marketing to generate demand and sales to close high-touch deals.

The right balance depends on factors like pricing, customer journey, and product complexity. Instead of choosing one over the other, structure them to work in sync, ensuring both teams contribute to growth in the way that best suits your business.

GTM Trends That Are Too Big to Ignore

📌 Data-Driven Personalization: The best brands today don’t just sell—they anticipate what customers need before they even ask.

📌 AI-Powered Lean Teams: With AI automating tasks, smaller teams are scaling faster than ever. Your strategy matters more than the size of your team.

📌 Community-Led Growth: More than ever, customers trust people, not ads. Brands that build strong communities are turning their users into their best marketers.

At the end of the day, GTM isn’t just about launching—it’s about sustaining and scaling. The most successful businesses know exactly who they’re serving, how they’re reaching them, and where to focus their energy.

Have any GTM lessons from your own experience? Share in the comments below!

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