u/Startup_2234

CS folks are burning out - it's come up here more than a couple times this past week, and I think it's bigger than the posts show (especially post COVID).

I've led CS at three early-stage startups and experienced it on every team: not enough time, budget, or people, unclear definition in scope of service, and a list of tasks / asks that only grew.

My first move each time was defining our scope of services, redefining customer tiers, and breaking down the bottlenecks in CS workflows and the customer journey. It helped, but it was triage, not a fix. I also did whatever it took as an advocate for the customer (which can be a lot of white glove in pre-product-market fit). The workload didn't shrink, we just got honest about what we were letting slide.

What I wished I had done more often was sit down with leadership and have a difficult conversation: we can't do all of this well, here is what we're going to deprioritize. I waited too long because I didn't want to look like we couldn't handle it.

So what's actually worked for anyone here? And if you've had that conversation with leadership, how did it go?

CS folks are burning out - it's come up here more than a couple times this past week, and I think it's bigger than the posts show (especially post COVID).

I've led CS at three early-stage startups and experienced it on every team: not enough time, budget, or people, unclear definition in scope of service, and a list of tasks / asks that only grew.

My first move each time was defining our scope of services, redefining customer tiers, and breaking down the bottlenecks in CS workflows and the customer journey. It helped, but it was triage, not a fix. I also did whatever it took as an advocate for the customer (which can be a lot of white glove in pre-product-market fit). The workload didn't shrink, we just got honest about what we were letting slide.

What I wished I had done more often was sit down with leadership and have a difficult conversation: we can't do all of this well, here is what we're going to deprioritize. I waited too long because I didn't want to look like we couldn't handle it.

So what's actually worked for anyone here? And if you've had that conversation with leadership, how did it go?

I've built a CS Coach skill in Claude based on pain-points I've been experiencing in my role of leading a CS Team.

Let me know if you're interested and I'm happy to share.

What it does: turns Claude into a round table of 7 advisory personas that provide feedback on critical or difficult CS topics.

How it's Helped Me: I don't have time to simulate calls or conversations - this helps me better prepare for conversations before they happen and provides a range of perspectives that should be top-of-mind and relevant based on the topic.

Who is Represented: The 7 advisor personas that are represented are both from your company (i.e. Chief Customer Officer, Metrics Strategist, Team Builder, CRO) and the Customer (i.e. Power User, Decision-Maker, and Customer of the Customer).

I'm sharing this with others here in the hope that you find it helpful and you provide any feedback on how to improve it - I'm all ears!

No gimmicks or self-promotion - just send me a DM or comment below.

I need honest + constructive feedback (reality check). I have a background in corporate innovation / strategy and early-stage startups (3x). My previous startup, I lead CS in deploying an AI solution.

I want to take a leap and start my own AI Advisory Services targeting SMB. I'm currently diving hard into developing my own AI best practices and want to leverage my skill sets and experience to work for myself to build something of value over time.

I'm not technical, but I'm great with people, strategic, and can develop a playbook on AI best practices for SMB to leverage.

Those that have experience in selling AI services - I need honest and objective feedback if this is an actual pain point within the broader market or is it "smoke and mirrors"? I see others post in various subs here needing help and I see others monetizing, but I want to cut through the noise and get real honest feedback from those that are currently or previously offered this service.

What problems did you face? How difficult was customer acquisition and retention? What unforeseen challenges am I not thinking through?

Any thoughtful and constructive feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I need honest + constructive feedback (reality check). I have a background in corporate innovation / strategy and early-stage startups (3x). My previous startup, I lead CS in deploying an AI solution.

I want to take a leap and start my own AI Advisory Services targeting SMB. I'm currently diving hard into developing my own AI best practices and want to leverage my skill sets and experience to work for myself to build something of value over time.

I'm not technical, but I'm great with people, strategic, and can develop a playbook on AI best practices for SMB to leverage.

Those that have experience in selling AI services - I need honest and objective feedback if this is an actual pain point within the broader market or is it "smoke and mirrors"? I see others post in various subs here needing help and I see others monetizing, but I want to cut through the noise and get real honest feedback from those that are currently or previously offered this service.

What problems did you face? How difficult was customer acquisition and retention? What unforeseen challenges am I not thinking through?

Any thoughtful and constructive feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I'm curious to hear from others - what challenges have you experienced in building and transferring CS workflows into Claude?