SaaShimi

Chris discusses account-based marketing and shares stories about building Supplybase, Demandbase, and Channel99. BIOChristopher Golec is a seasoned entrepreneur with a record of fostering innovation and leading successful start-ups. Golec’s journey spans from his early days as a chemical engineer to becoming a key figure in the world of MarTech, with his co-founding of Demandbase, a pioneering B2B marketing platform, serving as a remarkable testament to his visionary leadership. His current venture, Channel99, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like GTMfund, Norwest Venture Partners, Jackson Square Ventures, and Bloomberg Beta.TIMESTAMPS01:10 Account-based marketing03:10 Path to Software04:25 Supplybase06:30 Demandbase 12:20 Demandbase’s GTM 17:30 Channel99 at work24:00 First Hires27:20 Lessons from building companies 30:10 Company culture32:25 Favorite stage in a company’s lifecycle 34:15 The future of Channel9934545 Tech Stack

Gary shares his experience turning around distressed software companies.BIOGary has over thirty years of technology experience and has served in various senior executive capacities across the industry. He was most recently the CEO of Sectigo where he helped to turn the company around. Over his career, Gary had run six companies and served no more than 20 boards. TIMESTAMPS01:10 Gary01:50 Main causes for distress in Software companies05:10 Why can’t CEOs apply the simple strategy06:35 Selecting turnaround targets09:00 Step-by-Step turnaround13:10 Picking right people16:15 Dealing with a cash burn 20:45 KPIs Gary tracks24:00 Selling software of a struggling company27:55 Changing cultures29:30 Case study

Andrew discusses all things Marketing.BIOAndrew Davies is the CMO of Paddle, a payments infrastructure platform for high-growth SaaS companies serving over 3000 customers. He has more than 20 years of experience in start-ups ranging from leading global demand, advisory and consultancy. TIMESTAMPS01:55 The role of CMO03:30 What’s Paddle?08:05 Paddle’s GTM11:05 Structure of the Marketing Team13:40 Marketing’s Contribution to Pipeline16:10 Budgeting process for volume-based pricing19:20 Marketing over the past several years23:00 KPI of the Marketing Team24:25 Building a Marketing team for startups30:30 Learning from Companies he advises to32:00 Accidental Marketer33:55 Andrew's Tech stack

Nick discusses early days of Gainsight and how they were able to build a new product category - Customer Success - that since has become inseparable from SaaS.BIONick Mehta has been Chief Executive Officer of Gainsight, a leading customer success SaaS platform provider since February 2013. Prior to Gainsight, he served as Chief Executive Officer of LiveOffice, which was acquired by Symantec in January 2012. Before joining LiveOffice, Mr. Mehta served in several product management and engineering leadership roles at Symantec.TIMESTAMPS01:10 The Song01:45 Jbarra04:00 The Rise of Customer Success08:20 CSM Role: Then and Now11:00 The Book as Marketing13:50 The 10 Laws of Customer Success 15:25 Gainsight’s Customer Success Structure20:00 How has Reduction in Force affected CS21:00 Expansion of CS beyond Software24:20 AI vs CSM jobs 26:35 Hiring your First CS Person30:55 Types of Software that Doesn’t Need Customer Success33:30 Future of Customer Success

Rob discusses the benefits and typical terms of Venture debt.BIORob is the managing director SaaS Capital, a financial institute that offers debt-based growth financing as alternative, non-dilutive capital for SaaS companies. Prior to SaaS Capital Rob held senior executive roles at Lighter Capital, an alternative lender to small technology companies. TIMESTAMPS01:00 Rob and SaaS Capital05:30 Recurring Revenue Lending Model13:55 Retention as part of covenants16:20 Borrowers’ Diligence items 22:30 Benefits of the Venture Debt26:55 Venture Debt market over time29:55 Challenges to grow SaaS companies32:35 SaaS Capital’s GTM

Tracy discusses changes in marketing over the past several years and the first things she did after joining OpenSesame as CMO.BIOTracy Eiler has driven marketing strategy for companies with a variety of revenue models including freemium, high velocity/small business, mid-market, enterprise, and OEM. She has start-up, public company, and M&A experience, and has marketed to line-of-business executives, end users, IT, and C-suite.Over her career, Tracy also held CMO positions at Alation, InsideView, MarkLogic, and senior marketing roles at Ingres (now Actian), Postini (acq. by Google), and Business Objects (SAP company).TIMESTAMPS01:15 Making changes after joining a new company as a CMO04:35 Evaluating Marketing strategies from the outside09:35 Measuring contents’ ROI 12:15 What is OpenSesame?19:35 Go-to-Market Strategy, and Role of Partnerships24:25 Building a Pipeline29:25 KPIs to measure Product Marketing 38:50 Changes in SaaS marketing over the years42:40 ChatGPT and AI in Marketing

Pablo discusses the role of operating partners, sales orgs, and his book What a Unicorn Knows.BIOPablo Dominguez focuses on partnering with Insight’ Partners' portfolio companies to build and scale effective commercial teams through the application of proven and repeatable go-to-market and operational best practices. He brings over 20 years of experience working on Salesforce effectiveness engagements across startups and various global 2000 companies.Prior to joining Insight, Pablo was the Vice President of Global Business Operations and Customer Experience at NYC-based startup AppNexus. AppNexus is a leading independent ad tech company which was acquired by Xandr (division of AT&T) in 2018 for approximately $2B. Pablo joined AppNexus in 2014 and was responsible for building a Business Operations organization which provided support for Sales, Services, Marketing, and Product Line teams as well as driving annual strategic planning and key initiatives across AppNexus.TIMESTAMPS01:15 Intro06:05 Main issues Pablo sees post-acquisition07:55 Dynamics between Operating Partners and Management09:45 Go-to-Market Fit12:15 KPIs based on the company stage13:15 Coming up with a quota18:35 Failures: Leadership or Talent fault?22:55 Industry Changes over the past 5 years25:15 Sales Teams Going Through Layoffs28:00 Product disruption29:15 What a Unicorn Knows31:15 Strategic Speed33:55 Pablo’s tech stack

Craig discusses the stages SaaS companies go through on their way to $150M in revenue.BIOCraig Powell serves as the CEO of Autura, the leading SaaS solution focused on vehicle management, traffic flow, and law enforcement productivity. He is the former CEO of Motus, a PE-backed SaaS company focused on mobile workforce solutions. At Motus, Craig drove revenue from $7 million to $150 million and executed several acquisitions, including the nine-month integration of $62 million of revenue into the Motus platform. Additionally, Craig was the Founder and CEO of ConnectEDU, market leader in providing technology solutions for students seeking educational and career-oriented opportunities. TIMESTAMPS01:20 Craig Powell03:30 Growing Motus from $7M to $150M06:30 Why do founders get stuck?10:00 Founders thinking 16:40 Phases of Growth: 10-25MM Revenue21:40 $25MM+  20:50 Selling software is not a mystery27:30 Autura31:40 Metrics34:20 Team structure37:20 KPIs38:10 Joining as CEO 

Matt discusses M&A the environment, SaaS valuation and its drivers, and what buyers and sellers of software companies need to know.BIOMatt Lynch is a Managing Director of District Capital Partners and Sundance Partners. Prior to founding DCP, Matt led Corporate Development at Blackboard, where he managed the successful completion and integration of 9 acquisitions, as well as Blackboard's sale process and $1.7 billion take-private transaction in 2011.Matt began his career at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citi), advising on M&A transactions in the technology sector, with a specific focus on software. Over the course of his 11 years at Citi, Matt advised on over $300 billion of M&A transactions.TIMESTAMPS01:30 Matt Lynch05:50 Market Environment 08:20 Valuations in 2021 11:40 Main Drivers of Valuation14:10 Rule Of X16:50 Customer Success and Gross Margin20:20 Shift to Platforms22:20 Consolidating verticals 26:20 Preferred verticals29:35 Working with Sellers31:20 Size of Companies that hire Investment banks 34:50 Most common issues with Bootstrapped companies36:00 Strategic vs Sponsor

Dave discusses Squire’s product, the history of the company, how Squire successfully navigated through the early days of COVID, and the role institutional and celebrity angel investors play in the Company. BIODave Salvant is a Co-Founder and President of Squire Technologies, a provider of an all-in-one barbershop management platform. Prior to Suire, Dave was a sales associate at AXA and private banking at JP Morgan. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University at Albany (SUNY) and MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.TIMESTAMPS00:50 Dave and Squire03:40 Go-To-Market07:32 Marketing in Squire08:16 Company size / Global Remote-first company08:57 Quick product release help barbers navigate COVID (incredible response to COVID)11:00 Creating new products12:15 First Investors14:45 Celebrity Investors16:11 Involvement of investors16:44 Vision for Squire TechnologiesSeason B is Sponsored by CELIGO, IPaaS for Mid-Market companies.SIGN UP at https://www.saashimi.cloud to receive transcripts of the interviews and news about upcoming guests and events.