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The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

The Official SaaStr Podcast is the latest and greatest from the world of SaaStr, interviewing the most prominent operators and investors to discover their tips, tactics and strategies to attain success in the fiercely competitive world of SaaS. On the side of the operators, we center around getting from $0 to $100m ARR faster, what it takes to scale successfully and what are the core elements of hiring. As for the investors, we learn what metrics they hone in on when examining SaaS business, what type of metrics excites them and what they look for in SaaS founders.
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Now displaying: August, 2020
Aug 28, 2020

In today’s SaaStr Insider episode, SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin and the Co-founder and CEO of HireSweet, Robin Choy, share their experiences building and scaling their companies.

Today's SaaStr insider originally aired on A-Players, a new podcast that teaches you how to hire, retain, and train top performers for your team! You can listen to A-Players on Anchor.fm, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-scott-belsky-robin-choy-and-jason-lemkin/

 

Aug 27, 2020

Success in the Enterprise means ensuring consumerization is a part of your strategy. Scott Belsky, CPO, EVP of Creative Cloud at Adobe will explore key tactics to focus on the user experience.

This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.

Full video: https://youtu.be/FPMKXanghWM

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-scott-belsky-robin-choy-and-jason-lemkin/

Aug 26, 2020

Hilary Headlee is Head of Global Sales Operations and Enablement @ Zoom. Prior to joining Zoom, Hilary was VP of Global Sales Operations and Productivity @ MindBody and before that enjoyed similar roles with Alteryx, Invoca and Lynda.com. At Lynda.com, Hilary grew the support teams from 6 to 60 people and supported more than 60 net new reps in just 3 years. If that was not enough, Hilary is also a Limited Partner in Stage 2 Capital, the venture firm focused purely on go-to-market. 

 In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

  • How did Hilary make her way into the world of SaaS and come to be the sales leader she is today with the global communications leader, Zoom?
  • When thinking about sales ops vs revenue ops, what are the 4 key points to consider for founders? How does lead management and onboarding alter the question of sales ops vs revenue ops? Where does Hilary see operational debt the most? How does she advise founders on removing it?    
  • Given the broad scope of sales ops and engagement, is it not just rebalancing culture, comms and change? As a business scales does there not come a time where it unbundles and scales out of sales vs revenue ops? How do the roles change with time and scale? Where do the breakpoints occur? 
  • Why does Hilary believe documentation is so important today? What is the toolset Hilary uses for documentation? How does Hilary train her team around the right strategy to document their processes? Where do many go wrong here? Where can you pick up small wins?   

Hilary’s 60 Second SaaStr:

  1. What is the hardest element of Hilary’s role today with Zoom?
  2. What would Hilary most like to change in the world of SaaS today? 
  3. What does Hilary believe that most around him disbelieve? 

Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-367-with-zoom-head-of-global-sales-operations-and-enablement-hilary-headlee/

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

Jason Lemkin

Harry Stebbings

SaaStr

Aug 21, 2020

The buzz that accompanies digital transformation trends is infinite. Cut through the noise with Aaron Levie, CEO of Box and Jason Lemkin, CEO & Co-founder of SaaStr as they share insights on what will make a lasting impact and what may fail to materialize in the future of work.

This episode is an excerpt from Jason and Aaron’s session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.

Full video: https://youtu.be/vBQR7G6YHFQ

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-justin-bedecarre-jen-nguyen-jason-lemkin-and-aaron-levie/

Aug 20, 2020

Centralized HQs with all the perks and amenities “under one roof” have traditionally been used as recruiting tools to attract and retain top talent. In this episode, Justin and Jen discuss what the Office of the Future will be like. 

This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise. 

Full video: https://youtu.be/dT04zc22ZH4

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-justin-bedecarre-jen-nguyen-jason-lemkin-and-aaron-levie/

Aug 18, 2020

Kyle Parrish is the Head of Sales @ Figma, the company that helps teams create, test and ship better designs from start to finish. To date the company has raised over $132M in financing from some of the best in the business including Sequoia, a16z, Index, Greylock and Kleiner Perkins to name a few. As for Kyle, prior to Figma he spent over 5 years at Dropbox achieving some incredible milestones including launching and scaling the Austin, Texas office from 3 to 80 people and being responsible for growing Dropbox’s leading partner ecosystem. Before Figma, Kyle spent close to 3 years as an Account Executive at ADP. 

 In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

  • How Kyle made his way into the world of SaaS and sales and came to be Head of Sales at one of the fastest-growing companies in Figma?
  • Kyle was in charge of creating the Austin, Texas sales team @ Dropbox, what were some of his biggest lessons when it comes to moving sales outside of HQ? What worked? What did not work? At what stage does culture and process really start to break?    
  • Why is it so hard moving from 0-1 in sales? How does Kyle advise founders when it comes to making your first sales hire? Does Kyle agree that it has to be the founder who develops the sales playbook? How does one create sales targets that are both ambitious but also achievable? What is the balance? 
  • What does it take to create a performance led sales culture? Where do many people go wrong here? How is the best way for sales and product to work together? What can one do to proactively make those discussions with sales and product both frequent and productive?   

Kyle’s 60 Second SaaStr:

  1. What is the hardest element of Kyle’s role today with Figma?
  2. What would Kyle most like to change in the world of SaaS today? 
  3. What does Kyle believe that most around him disbelieve? 

Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-364-with-figma-head-of-sales-kyle-parrish/

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

Jason Lemkin

Harry Stebbings

SaaStr

Kyle Parrish

The future of work is here and digital automation is now essential for today’s workforce. Tools have improved, but companies are STILL using outdated and manual processes to conduct business. Enter Pipefy. Pipefy is a workflow management software that makes business processes such as purchasing, onboarding, and recruiting—hassle-free, so requesters, processors and managers are more efficient. Pipefy seamlessly integrates with other tools in your toolchain to ensure a completely automated experience with a low to no code implementation. Dispersed or remote team members? NO PROBLEM! Pipefy can automate your requests from anywhere. Scroll over to pipefy.com/saastr to try it out and get 10% off your first 3 months. Empower your teams everywhere with Pipefy.

Aug 14, 2020

Small, Medium, or Enterprise, SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin sits down with Shopify Plus GM, Loren Padelford, to discuss how to keep your customers happy at all stages.

This episode is an excerpt from Jason and Loren’s session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.

Full video: https://youtu.be/kQPjPiVbcqk

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-bernadette-nixon-jay-snyder-nick-mehta-loren-padelford-and-jason-lemkin/

Aug 13, 2020

Customers' expectations are higher than ever with more access to information and options. This dynamic trio of SaaS experts share how to stay customer-centric and set yourself apart in today's rapidly changing environment.

This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise. 

Full video: https://youtu.be/DNMId8gYj80

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-bernadette-nixon-jay-snyder-nick-mehta-loren-padelford-and-jason-lemkin/

Aug 10, 2020

Lara Caimi is the Chief Customer and Partner Officer @ ServiceNow, the company that allows you the power to make work, work better. Prior to their IPO, ServiceNow raised funding from some of the best in the business including Sequoia Capital and Greylock. As for Lara, she joined ServiceNow in 2017 and spent 3 years as Chief Strategy Officer before assuming her current role just this month. Before ServiceNow Lara spent an incredible 17 years at Bain & Co across a variety of different projects and roles.

 In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

  • How Lara made her way into the world of ServiceNow and SaaS having spent an incredible 17 years at Bain & Co?
  • What does the role of Chief Strategy Officer really entail? How did the role change in Lara’s 3 years in the position? What is the optimal relationship between the Chief Strategy Officer and the CEO? How does Lara advise founders on when to hire their Chief Customer Officer?  
  • How does Lara see the 4 phases of startup growth? What are the most challenging elements within each? How does one instil process and discipline without losing agility and speed? How does one set targets that are a stretch but also not a stretch too far? What is the right balance? 
  • How does Lara think about what great change management looks like today? How does that change in a COVID world? How does Lara approach the right way to address enterprise customer communications? Why has that been made easier in COVID times?  

Lara’s 60 Second SaaStr:

  1. What would Lara most like to change in the world of SaaS today?
  2. What is the hardest element of Lara’s role with ServiceNow today?
  3. The biggest surprise for Lara internally since the start of COVID? 

Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-361-with-servicenow-chief-customer-and-partner-officer-lara-caimi/

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

Jason Lemkin

Harry Stebbings

SaaStr

The future of work is here and digital automation is now essential for today’s workforce. Tools have improved, but companies are STILL using outdated and manual processes to conduct business. Enter Pipefy. Pipefy is a workflow management software that makes business processes such as purchasing, onboarding, and recruiting—hassle-free, so requesters, processors and managers are more efficient. Pipefy seamlessly integrates with other tools in your toolchain to ensure a completely automated experience with a low to no code implementation. Dispersed or remote team members? NO PROBLEM! Pipefy can automate your requests from anywhere. Scroll over to pipefy.com/saastr to try it out and get 10% off your first 3 months. Empower your teams everywhere with Pipefy.

Aug 7, 2020

Digital transformation marks a radical rethinking of how companies use tech, people, and operations to fundamentally change their business performance. Coupa CEO, Rob Bernshteyn, and SaaStr CEO, Jason Lemkin, will discuss how the Cloud has changed in 2020.

This episode is an excerpt from Jason and Rob’s session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.

Full video: https://youtu.be/t9sSY6owgTo

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-matt-garratt-trisha-price-david-schmaier-rob-bernshteyn-and-jason-lemkin/

Aug 6, 2020

From strategies in recruitment and team building to sales tactics, these leaders from Salesforce, nCino, and Vlocity, will discuss the top tips for moving beyond horizontal SaaS and building a billion-dollar SaaS company.

Matt Garratt, SVP, Managing Partner, Salesforce Ventures

Trisha Price, Chief Product Officer, nCino

David Schmaier, CEO & Founder, Vlocity

This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.

Full video: https://youtu.be/ZxmCVOTW1lQ

Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-matt-garratt-trisha-price-david-schmaier-rob-bernshteyn-and-jason-lemkin/

Aug 3, 2020

Chen Amit is the Founder & CEO @ Tipalti, the only global payable automation platform that scales with you and now remitting $5Bn annually across 3M suppliers. To date, Chen has raised over $146M with Tipalti from the likes of Oren Zeev, Dan Rose, Mike Chalfen and then Greenspring, Truebridge and 01 Advisors to name a few. Previously, Chen was CEO of Atrica, acquired by Nokia-Siemens. He also was co-founder and CEO of Verix. At ECI Telecom, Chen founded its ADSL business unit and led it from inception to $100 million in annual sales. 

 In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

  • How Chen made his way into the world of SaaS and came to found the leader in account payables with Tipalti?
  • Why does Chen believe so much of his success is derived from saying no to customers? How does Chen determine which customer feedback to ingest vs to reject? If rejected, how can startups do this in a polite and respectful way? How can startups give the appearance of a large company to enterprises?   
  • Given the infinite supply of capital, how does Chen think about unit economics? How does Chen think the right way to calculate LTV is? Where do many go wrong? What can we learn from Amazon when it comes to LTV? How does Chen advise founders to think about annual dollar churn? 
  • How does Chen think about optimising pricing models today? How can SaaS companies have variable pricing mechanisms without disincentivizing usage? How does Chen think about aligning revenue scale to your customers? How can this be done? What are the benefits?  

Chen’s 60 Second SaaStr:

  1. What is the hardest element of Chen’s role today with Tipalti?
  2. What would Chen most like to change in the world of SaaS today? 
  3. What does Chen believe that most around him disbelieve? 

Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-358-with-tipalti-founder-ceo-chen-amit/

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

Jason Lemkin

Harry Stebbings

SaaStr

The future of work is here and digital automation is now essential for today’s workforce. Tools have improved, but companies are STILL using outdated and manual processes to conduct business. Enter Pipefy. Pipefy is a workflow management software that makes business processes such as purchasing, onboarding, and recruiting—hassle-free, so requesters, processors and managers are more efficient. Pipefy seamlessly integrates with other tools in your toolchain to ensure a completely automated experience with a low to no code implementation. Dispersed or remote team members? NO PROBLEM! Pipefy can automate your requests from anywhere. Scroll over to pipefy.com/saastr to try it out and get 10% off your first 3 months. Empower your teams everywhere with Pipefy.

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