The StartUp to ScaleUp Game Plan

Latest Episodes:

Leanne Kemp: How will blockchain make the world a better place by 2030? Jul 13, 2020

Show notes

How will the blockchain & the "circular economy" create a better world by 2030?

Leanne Kemp is the CEO @ Everledger – an award-winning scale-up who use blockchain, artificial intelligence, intelligent labelling & IOT to increase transparency in global supply chains. Leanne is also Chief Entrepreneur at The Office of Queensland Australia and an Advisor to the OECD and the World Economic Forum
We explore:

Why blockchain technologies are a force for the good in terms of supply chain transparency & trust
How blockchain will transform the World Wide Web into the World Wide Ledger
The circular economy & why will this change the world for the better by 2030!
Sustainability: how to use web 4.0 technologies to convert waste into value
How regional collaboration between government, academia & startups can produce many successful “zebras” as opposed to rare, hyper-successful, unicorns!
Why the innovation delivered by “quiet achievers” should inspire us more than the hyperbole of iconic entrepreneurs who make it to the front page of Time Magazine

For more insights into blockchain & the circular economy head over to https://www.everledger.io & for advice on successfully scaling B2B software ventures check out https://alpinasearch.com

Sakari Pihlava: have 18 months runway when you pivot - or your business is doomed! Jul 10, 2020

Show notes

Sakari Pihlava is a General Partner @ Vendep Capital investing in European B2B SaaS ventures. We explored:

The advantages of product-led growth strategies versus marketing-led strategies

How to identify consumer-like customer segments who can help generate hockey stick growth for B2B Saas ventures

How to pivot effectively:

Pivots should never be incremental - they must be significant strategic shifts
Whenever you pivot, you must ensure you've 18 months runway - otherwise your business is doomed!

For more insights into Vendep Capital head over to https://www.vendep.com & for advice on hiring stellar senior talent for your B2B SaaS venture check out https://alpinasearch.com

Mark McDermott - would you like to deliver 6x revenue ramp & transition from SME to blue chip clients? Jul 07, 2020

Show notes

Mark McDermott is Co-Founder & CEO at ScreenCloud, funded by Point 9 Capital, who supercharge the way companies display, interact with, & act upon key news & insights. We explored:

How to deliver a full platform rebuild whilst ramping your revenues 6x!
How to recruit a distributed team across 3 continents & how to flex the culture locally without sacrificing your core organisational values
Why scale-ups must hire leaders who’ve rapidly scaled small businesses previously: neither early stage startup nor blue chip experience prepare you for the unique challenges of a scale-up
How teaching fitness & gym classes has grown Mark's confidence in public speaking as well as his physical & mental health
Why the pandemic requires leaders to be more empathetic & more open in their internal communications
How ScreenCloud's pre-emptive action to offer to credit their clients - before CV19 lockdowns became widespread - has built trust & alignment with their customers

For more insights into ScreenCloud head over to https://screen.cloud & for advice on successfully scaling your enterprise software venture check out https://alpinasearch.com

Andre Francois: How to effectively evaluate WFH employee engagement & motivation Jul 05, 2020

Show notes

Andre Francois is the CEO & co-founder at Happy at Work who's digital solution helps organisations measure & monitor their well-being and create sustainable work environments - rather pertinent in 2020 when people, businesses and society are suffering immense health and wellness challenges!

This episode was recorded in late April 2020: Andre was in lockdown in Budapest – where he relocated before the COVID19 pandemic to join Design Terminalʼs startup accelerator

Key insights from our conversation include:

How to evaluate employee engagement levels & motivation in remote work environments
Routines are crucial for remote teams - how to get the best out of your WFH teams
How to ascertain if your business is ready to relocate to join a startup accelerator
Creating a strong culture & replicating it overseas is challenging - Andre outlines his tips for overcoming these challenges

To find out more about employee engagement & well-being head over to http://bit.ly/happy_at_work_io and for guidance on hiring talent for B2B SaaS scale-ups check out https://alpinasearch.com

Rav Dhaliwal - there's no such thing as post-sales! Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

Rav Dhaliwal, now a Venture Partner @ Crane Venture Partners, has 20 years of leadership positions in hypergrowth enterprise software ventures like Slack, Zendesk & Yammer.

We explored why enterprise technology CEOs & leadership teams must:

ensure customer success is everyone's priority - hence there is (or should be) no such thing as post-sales!
change their hiring processes to ensure they hire for customer-success behaviours
update remuneration models to incentivise customer success behaviours
prioritise change management expertise across all leadership roles
implement hiring processes that enable them holistically to understand the behaviour of candidates before they are hired

For more insights into Crane Ventures head over to https://crane.vc & for advice on recruiting & retaining senior talent to scale-up your enterprise SaaS venture check out https://alpinasearch.com

Mark Roberge - The Science of Re-establishing Growth: Where, When & How? Jun 21, 2020

Show notes

Mark Roberge is the MD @ Stage 2 Capital, Prof @ HarvardHBS, former CRO @ HubSpot & author of best seller "The Sales Acceleration Formula"

We explored:

Lessons from the 2008/2009 crisis & the bold decisions business leaders must make in 2020
The premature obsession with revenue growth versus go-to-market fit & customer retention
How to hire a CRO with the ability to deliver SUSTAINABLE revenue growth
The data required to ascertain if you truly have go-to-market fit
How “group film reviews” can help businesses uncover strategies to navigate the COVID19 crisis
How to deliver sustainable differentiation through network effects, algorithmic differentiation & an ecosystem of deeply embedded partners

For more insights into Stage 2 Capital check out https://www.stage2.capital & for advice on hiring world class talent for B2B start-ups & scale-ups head over to http://alpinasearch.com

Alun Baker - disrupting the cybersecurity market @ Clario Tech Jun 16, 2020

Show notes

Alun Baker, CEO of Clario Tech – a disruptive cybersecurity venture - has decades of experience building & leading to exit tech ventures across a diverse range of industries including cybersecurity, ERP & IT infrastructure.

We discussed:

- Why the COVID19 pandemic has massively increased our vulnerability to another pandemic: cybercrime threatens each and every one of us!
- Why the cybersecurity industry is not delivering on its promises - and how Clario is radically disrupting this industry
- Remote working strategies to ensure effective collaboration, productivity & strong team spirit
- Top tips for hiring virtually
- Why and how business leaders should aim to utterly disrupt business models and industries
- How technology entrepreneurs & marketers should engage with, and create genuine value for, their customers

For more insights into Clario Tech check out https://clario.co & for advice on recruiting world class leaders for tech scale-ups head over to http://alpinasearch.com

Alston Zecha at Eight Roads: building a funding roadmap & using capital as a competitive advantage May 13, 2020

Show notes

Alston Zecha is a Director at Eight Roads - a global VC who’ve invested $6bn in the past 12 years.

Formerly with Apax Partners, Alston also founded & led the mobile payments venture Payleven who merged with SumUp 5 years ago.

Alston reflected on:

The resilience & focus he's seen from experienced entrepreneurs in the portfolio who’ve taken tough decisions during the COVID19 pandemic to support subsequent growth
The importance of being human & remaining "in the moment" - especially during such troubling times
Why capital as a competitive advantage was a blindspot for Alston when he was an entrepreneur and why he feels this continues to hold back many technical founders
The importance of having a funding “roadmap” as well as a product roadmap
His view that tech founders rarely create truly unique solutions - they rarely create a category from scratch

For more insights into Eight Roads check out https://eightroads.com/en/ & for advice on hiring exceptional leaders for B2B scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com

Alexandre Pelletier, Cap Horn VC: Why profitable will become sexy again Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

Alexandre Pelletier is a Partner at the French B2B VC fund Cap Horn. He invests in enterprise software & SaaS ventures like Powell Software, Reach Five & Saagie

Prior to becoming a VC, Alexandre had leadership roles at Tata Communications and Microsoft.

We discussed:

The advice Cap Horn is giving to their portfolio to help them survive the COVID19 pandemic
The vitality of unit economics - too often overlooked by startups
Why "partnering with influencers” is a vital go2market strategy for enterprise software startups & scaleups
Why Cap Horn don’t believe in unicorns, they believe in champion horses
Why profitable will become sexy again!
Why this is a superb time to start a business - or to rethink your business

For more insights into Cap Horn check out https://caphorn.vc & for advice on hiring world class talent for B2B scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com

Mikael Johnsson, Oxx VC - intense focus to scale-up enterprise SaaS winners Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

Mikael Johnsson co-founded Oxx VC in 2016 to help bridge the gap for European B2B software companies who have great traction but need capital to scale up. On 11 Feb 2020 Oxx closed a further $133m in funding to back Europe’s most promising SaaS ventures. Mikael's completed over 30 equity transactions and sits on several boards including the potential unicorn - Funnel.io.

We discuss:

Too much VC investment going into B2C startups hence many potential B2B ventures are left behind
The viability of creating successful B2B ventures with slower initial revenue growth - typically overlooked by VCs
Intense focus as a recipe for success both for VC funds & B2B startups
Why Oxx encourages portfolio companies to take a breather & assess some of the things they may have overlooked in the early stages to build a stronger foundation for sustained growth
The dynamic progress of funnel.io - a strong contender for future unicorn status - a team of smart, passionate, dedicated individuals hell-bent on solving a very large, high impact, problem

For more insights into enterprise SaaS venture funding check out https://www.oxx.vc & for advice on hiring world class talent for B2B SaaS start-ups and scale-ups head over to http://alpinasearch.com