The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders

Latest Episodes:

SaaStr 087: Successful SaaS Startups Do 1 Of Two Things & Why Specialisation Is Key To Success In SaaS with Michael Driscoll, Founder @ CEO @ Metamarkets Jan 06, 2017

Show notes

Michael Driscoll is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Metamarkets, the startup that provide interactive analytics for programmatic marketing. They have raised over $38m in VC funding from our good friends at Data Collective, Founder Collective, IA Ventures and more incredible investors. As for Michael, prior to Metamarkets, he started two other companies: Dataspora, a life science analytics company (acquired by Via Science in 2011), and CustomInk.com, an early pioneer in e-commerce. Fun fact: Michael is also a founding Partner of the previously mentioned VC fund, Data Collective.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did Michael make his way from data lover to Silicon Valley SaaS Founder?
Why does Mike believe in the inherent value of customer focus and product focus? What are the measurable benefits of being so specialised?
Why does Mike believe it is so hard to be a cost leader in software? What are the fundamental challenges? What role does open source play in this?
How does Mike view the alignment of the sales and the engineering team? Is it possible to have a harmonious relationship between the two?
What should SaaS startup founders look for in potential seed investors? How can they determine whether they have these qualities? What should they look at in particular?

60 Second SaaStr

Mike's fave productivity tools?
What most companies are doing wrong in their approach to data science?
What does Mike know now that he wishes he had known at the start?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 086: Why You Have To Focus On A Tiny Market & How to Sell That Market To VCs with Auren Hoffman, Founder @ Safegraph & LiveRamp Jan 02, 2017

Show notes

Auren Hoffman is best known for being the former CEO and Founder @ LiveRamp, the leading data onboarder that was acquired by Acxiom for $310m. Today's talk focuses on the 5 core lessons Auren took from that incredible journey with LiveRamp. Auren was also an angel investor and board member at BrightRoll, prior to it's $610m acquisition by Yahoo. Today, he is the CEO at SafeGraph, the startup that is unlocking the world's most powerful data so that machines and humans can answer some of society's toughest questions.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

What is Auren's thesis towards hiring all round athletes as opposed to position players? When do it make sense to do either? What stage of the company is right for which persona?
What are the two different types of sales personas? At what type of company should you hire a relationship driven sales team and then what type of company for a product driven sales team?
Why does Auren believe you should target a very small niche of the market? What are the benefits of such focus? How can you sell such a small market to VCs?
How does Auren perceive the future of enterprise software? How has the rise of bottoms up sales affected the SaaS environment? How many more SaaS companies and buyers of SaaS are there today, compared to 10 years ago?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

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SaaStr 085: How SaaS Founders Should View Competition, Why You Should Raise Every Round As If It Is Your Last & How To Create An Environment of Growth & Fulfilment with David Hassell, Founder & CEO @ 15Five Dec 23, 2016

Show notes

David Hassell is the founder and CEO of 15Five, the leading web-based employee feedback and alignment solution that is transforming the way employees and managers communicate. They have backing from the likes of Matrix Partners, Point Nine Capital and many more leading investors. As for David, he was named "The Most Connected Man You Don't Know in Silicon Valley" by Forbes Magazine, David has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, Wired, Fast Company, and the Financial Post.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did David made his way into the world of SaaS and came to found 15Five?
How does David view competition? How should founders view additional competition to their space? What is the right response? Why did David choose such a public and deliberate fight back against one competitive attempt?
David has said before that is passionate about the meaning and purpose of the business vehicle. What does he mean by this? How does this affect his thinking toward management and organisational structure?
What are the keys to creating a harmonized, incentivized and happy culture for your business? How scalable is this approach and how has David seen his approach alter and develop with the growth of the company?
Why did David choose the more bootstrapped funding option over the traditional heavy reliance on VC funding? Which startups is this right for? How can founders know when is the right time to put the pedal to the metal?

60 Second SaaStr

David's fave productivity tools?
David's biggest mentor and how it came about?
What does David know now that he wishes he had known at the start?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 084: Why Personalisation Is The Future Of Sales, The Benefits Of An Engineering Led Sales Team & Why Customers Pay A Premium For Predictability with Alex MacCaw, Founder & CEO @ Clearbit Dec 19, 2016

Show notes

Alex MacCaw is the Founder & CEO @ Clearbit, the startup that is building a suite of business intelligence APIs to help companies find more information on their customers in order to increase sales and reduce fraud. They have backing from some of the best early stage investors including the likes of First Round Capital, SV Angel, Intercom's Eoghan McCabe, Hubspot's Dharmesh Shah and many more incredible investors. As for Alex, as well as being a fellow Brit who loves tea, he also worked at the likes of Twitter and Stripe prior to founding Clearbit.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did Alex make his way into the world of SaaS and came to found Clearbit in SF having grown up in the UK?
Should API driven companies have sales teams? Should they do outbound? What's the most effective way to generate leads?
Alex has said before that the trouble is, 'everyone is treating their customers the same". What does he mean by this? How do the smart companies differ? How possible is it to address customer specific needs at scale?
How does this scalability alter when elements like freemium and self service models are added to the equation? How effective have freemium tools been for Alex as a lead gen to on board new customers?
Why did Alex choose the same pricing structure as the likes of Stripe and Twilio? What was the thought process behind this?

60 Second SaaStr

How important is it for SaaS startups to be in SF?
What does Alex know now that he wishes he had known when he started?
Biggest mentor to Alex and how it came about?
Fave SaaS reading material?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 083: Qualtrics' Ryan Smith on Bootstrapping To A $Bn Valuation, Why Radical Transparency Is Fundamental & What Makes The Truly Great CEOs Dec 16, 2016

Show notes

Ryan Smith is the Founder & CEO @ Qualtrics, an online survey company with 1,200 employees and a valuation of more than $1bn. They have backing from some of the world's best investors including the likes of Sequoia, Accel and Insight Venture Partners having raised a $150m Series B in 2014. As for Ryan, there are many awesome things, first, he has built Qualtrics from Utah allowing him to gain perspective outside of the traditional tech bubbles, second, he held off on attain VC funding for many years despite the common belief that it is necessary for unicorn growth and finally he has the most incredible work life balance I have seen and if you have not already you must check out this piece on him in Forbes, it really is a must.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Ryan made his way into startups and came to found Qualtrics?

2.) Sequoia's Bryan Schreier states that Ryan's success is due to running the company on 'first business principles'. What does he mean by this? How does this affect the way Ryan runs Qualtrics?

3.) Why did Ryan decide to bootstrap the company for such a long time with the likes of Accel and Sequoia looking to invest? What are the benefits of retaining such control? What are the financial requirements to do so?

4.) What makes the best CEO's? How do they view the internal structure of the company? How do they perceive their role? How do they manage their day and optimise their time?

5.) How does Ryan look to instill 'radical transparency' in the organisation? What are the benefits of doing so? Can an organisation ever be too transparent? What are the challenges of such transparency?

SaaStr 082: What Really Is SaaS Marketing? What Are The Big Factors Startup Founders Should Consider Before Spending Big On Marketing @ What Are The 'Must Have' Marketing Channels Today in SaaS with David Rodnitzky, Founder & CEO @ 3Q Digital Dec 12, 2016

Show notes

David Rodnitzky is founder and CEO of 3Q Digital, a leading digital agency that was acquired by Harte Hanks in 2015. Prior to 3Q Digital, he held senior marketing roles at several Internet companies, including Rentals.com (2000-2001), FindLaw (2001-2004), Adteractive (2004-2006), and Mercantila (2007-2008). David currently serves on advisory boards for several companies, including Marin Software, MediaBoost, Mediacause, and a stealth travel start-up.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did David enter the world of B2B SaaS marketing? What was the entry point for him?
What really is SaaS marketing? Is it more consumer or B2B like? How does this alter and develop with the growth of the company?
Before spending heavily on marketing, what gating factors should SaaS founders think heavily about before the big spend? Should this marketing plan be undertaken by an external firm or an internal team?
What market channels should a SaaS company consider as 'must haves' in today's world, as compared to 'nice to have's'? How does David differentiate between the two?
We are always told if you cannot measure it, do not do it? How can SaaS companies measure the success and effect of their marketing campaigns? What are the key metrics that define success?

60 Second SaaStr

Biggest mistake current SaaS companies are currently enacting with their marketing?
Favourite marketing resources and tools?
What does David know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 081: Why It Is Wrong To Have A Sales Led Culture, Why There Should Be Tension Between Your Sales and Finance Orgs & Why Everyone Needs An Executive Coach with Steve Garrity, Co-Founder @ HearSay Dec 09, 2016

Show notes

Steve Garrity is COO and founder of Hearsay Systems the leading advisor-client engagement solution for the financial services industry. Hearsay have backing from the likes of Sequoia, NEA, Kleiner Perkins Partner, Mike Abbott and Path Founder, Dave Morin. Before founding Hearsay, Steve worked as an engineer at Microsoft Corporation in Seattle is a graduate of Stanford University with a BS and MS in Computer Science. While at Stanford, he was selected as a Mayfield Fellow in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. During which, he joined Fortify Software as a product manager. Steve is also an investor in, and advisor to a number of Silicon Valley start-ups.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did Steve made his way into the world of SaaS from the world of Microsoft?
How does Steve approach the management around his engineering team? How does Steve balance management of engineers while still allowing creativity? Are there dangers of giving engineers freedom?
Is it possible to have both a happy engineering and sales? How does Steve look to harmonise the team? Is it not contra popular theory to have different cultures for different segments of the team?
Why does Steve believe that executive coaching is an almost universal requirement? How does Steve justify that to the board?

60 Second SaaStr

Steve's Biggest Productivity tools?
What does Steve now know that he wishes he had known at the start?
The biggest mistake SaaS companies are enacting with their social media strategies?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 080: Segment's Peter Reinhardt on Why The Reality Distortion Field Is Damaging When It Comes To Product Market Fit, How Founders Should Approach Pricing Negotiations with Large Corporates & How Founders Can Truly Determine Product Market Fit? Dec 05, 2016

Show notes

Peter Reinhardt is the Founder and CEO @ Segment, the startup that allows you to collect all of your customer data and send it anywhere and they count some of the biggest and best companies in the world as customers including the likes of Reuters, HotelTonight, New Relic and Atlassian. They do not only have some of the world's leading customers but some of the world's best investors with the likes of Accel, Thrive and Kleiner Perkins participating in their latest $27m Series B. I would like to say a huge thanks to Grant Miller @ Replicated for the intro to Peter today.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did Peter make his way into the world of SaaS and come to found Segment?
How does Peter define product market fit? Does he agree with Justin Kan in stating that it is when you get the first 10 customers that are unaffiliated?
Why does Peter believe product market fit suffers when related to Job's idea of the reality distortion field? What is so damaging and what should founders look to avoid?
How do technical and non-technical co-founders differ in their approach to product market fit? How do their expectations, desires and reactions alter to differing levels of uptake?
How did Peter navigate the process of scaling prices with time? Was he nervous when doing so? What does Peter advise founders when attempting significant price increases?

60 Second SaaStr

What were the biggest takeaways from YC?
What does Peter know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?
The biggest challenge in building out the team?
Favourite SaaS resource or reading material?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 079: Where To Start With A B2B SaaS Content Plan, How To Encourage The Non-Marketing Team To Create Content & Why NPS Should Be Central To Everything with Seth Besmertnik, Founder & CEO @ Conductor Dec 02, 2016

Show notes

Seth Besmertnik is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Conductor, the company that boasts the biggest customer list in their category including more than 500 Fortune and Internet Retailer 500 brands like Under Armour, Citi and FedEx with their web presence management and SEO. With this incredible success, the company has been ranked 13th fastest growing software company in the US and the 3rd Best Place To Work in NYC. They have also raised funding over $60m from some of the best investors on the east coast in the form of Matrix Partners and FirstMark Capital just to name a few. I would like to say a huge thanks to Fayez @ Bluecore for the intro to Seth today.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How did Seth make his way into the world of SaaS? What was the a-ha moment for Conductor?
What does Seth mean when he says, 'B2B companies need to build a weapon in their marketing'? How does this look in his approach? How does this differ according to differing startup budgets?
Previously, Meaghan Eisenberg @ MongoDB has said 'the largest lift you are going to see is from your site'. Does Seth agree with this? How should we prioritise the site? What are the fundamentals to consider in terms of optimising conversion?
With the proliferation of content today, to what extent should B2B companies look to alternative platforms such as Snapchat, Youtube and Instagram for content differentiation? What are the fundamentals to consider with platform diversification?
How does Seth suggest creating a culture of content creation in previously segmented cultures? How can this be done with actionable strategies to encourage non-marketing professionals to produce content?

60 Second SaaStr

What does Seth know now that he wishes he had known before?
Biggest advice on content creation for B2B SaaS companies?
Fave SaaS reading material?
Being a CEO vs Being a Founder

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

SaaStr 078: To Get Early Customers You Have To Make People Uncomfortable & Why Customer Success Should be Actively Involved In The Upsell Process with Kathryn Minshew, Founder & CEO @ The Muse Nov 28, 2016

Show notes

Kathryn Minshew is the Founder & CEO @ The Muse, named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Media and Inc.'s 15 Women to Watch in Tech. Before founding The Muse, Kathryn worked on vaccines in Rwanda and Malawi with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and was previously at McKinsey. Kathryn has spoken at MIT and Harvard, appeared on The TODAY Show and CNN, and contributes on career and entrepreneurship to the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

How Kathryn came to found The Muse? What was the a-ha moment for her?
Why did Kathryn introduce a SaaS business model into the traditionally, transactional model of recruiting? What were the benefits and how did it alter her go to market?
With no prior sales experience, how did Kathryn find the experience of running the sales team? What were the core takeaways? At what stage should the founder stop selling the product and hire a sales team?
Why does Kathryn believe you have to make the customer feel slightly uncomfortable to be successful? What did Kathryn look for in her initial sales hires? Why did Kathryn hire 3 reps to start with and not 2, as usually suggested?
How does Kathryn approach the customer success field at The Muse? When did Kathryn hire her first CS rep? What is Kathryn's take on CS being involved in the sales process?

60 Second SaaStr