Shows
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 9: Chris Golec, Co-Founder of Demandbase & Channel99, on Account-Based Marketing and Building BusinessesChris 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.TI...
2024-12-1737 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 8: Gary Greenfield, Serial CEO, on Turning Around Software CompaniesGary 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 Pi...
2024-11-0737 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 7: Andrew Davies, CMO of Paddle, on Marketing, PLG, Payments, and otherAndrew 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 Team
2024-10-0936 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 6: Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, on Creating a New Product Category + Past, Present, and Future of Customer SuccessNick 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...
2024-09-0437 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 5: Rob Belcher, Managing Director at SaaS Capital, on Non-dilutive Debt for SaaS CompaniesRob 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 time
2024-08-0833 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 4: Tracy Eiler, CMO at OpenSesame, on Changes in SaaS MarketingTracy 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...
2024-07-2451 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 3: Pablo Dominguez, Operating Partner at Insight Partners, on What a Unicorn KnowsPablo 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 ac...
2024-07-1135 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 2: Craig Powell, CEO of Autura, on Growing a Company from $7M to $150M in RevenueCraig 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 s...
2024-06-2041 min
SaaShimiSeason C - Ep. 1: Matt Lynch, Founder and Managing Director of DCP and Sundance Partners, on SaaS M&AMatt 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...
2024-05-2340 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 10: Dave Salvant, Co-Founder and President of Squire Technologies, on taking advantage of challenging timesDave 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...
2022-10-2218 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 9: Barb Hyman, Founder and CEO of Sapia, on Hiring using AIBarb discussed Sapia’s unique product, the role of artificial intelligence in unbiased hiring, the Sapia data set based on a billion words and 2 million candidate profiles, the initial dataset that Sapia utilized, its first client, go-to-market strategy, and many other things. BIOBarb Hyman is the Founder and CEO of Australia-based Sapia. Prior to Sapia, Barb was a Head of HR and Marketing at Boston Consulting Group. She received her Bachelor's degree from Monash University and MBA from Melbourne Business School.TIMESTAMPS01:00 Barb and Sapia04:20 Five questions to sel...
2022-09-2639 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 8: Sean St. Germain, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, on financial diligence of SaaS companiesSean discussed the financial diligence process of SaaS companies, common mistakes in ARR, Gross Profit, and EBITDA calculations, the effects capitalized software and capitalized commissions have on cash EBITDA, and many other things. BIOSean St. Germain is a Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal. He focuses on transactions in the software and technology industry. He has advised clients on domestic and cross-border transactions, including traditional buy-side transactions, portfolio company add-on transactions, public-to-private acquisitions, asset purchases, and sell-side divestiture processes, including carve-outs. Sean is an expert in software revenue recognition, including the new revenue recognition standard (A...
2022-09-0639 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 7: Francois Laborie, President at Cognite North America, on bringing a European SaaS to the US marketFrancois shared his experience of bringing the Norway-based Cognite to the US market, discussed the most significant challenges he has faced along the way, and compared corporate cultures in the US and Europe. BIODr. Francois Laborie is the President of Cognite North America, overseeing Cognite’s expansion and operations in the US, Canada, and Latin America. He has had an extensive career in the technology industry, serving in both research and executive roles. Francois has been at the heart of the transformation of the media industry through technology. He spent 11 years as COO and CCO of Vi...
2022-08-2325 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 6: Diamond Innabi, Vice President at Software Equity Group, on SaaS Valuation and M&ADiamond discussed SaaS valuation and how multiples have changed over the past several years, the main drivers of multiples, and M&A market trends.BIODiamond Innabi is a Vice President at Software Equity Group, a boutique investment bank focused on B2B software companies. Over her nearly a decade career at SEG, she was instrumental in numerous M&A transactions involving public and private companies as well as private equity funds.TIMESTAMPS1:45 Why are SaaS companies valued at a multiple of revenue or ARR?4:00 Drivers of SaaS Valuation...
2022-08-0920 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 5: Marion Lewis, Co-Founder & CEO of Govenda, on serial entrepreneurship, and building a SaaS companyMarion shared her experience of being a serial entrepreneur, the challenges of raising funds, as well as founding and growing Govenda. We discussed the company’s product, customer base, go-to-market strategy, and everything in between.BIOMarion Lewis is a serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Govenda, a board management platform that enables effective corporate governance. Prior to Govenda, she was a co-founder and CEO of Tachyon Solutions, a custom application development and interactive marketing firm.TIMESTAMPS01:05 Marion – serial entrepreneur04:00 Govenda and its target markets11:10 Lock...
2022-07-2523 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 4: Miguel Fernandez, Co-Founder & CEO at Capchase, on alternative financing for SaaS companiesMiguel discusses the story of Capchase, typical profile of SaaS clients, terms of financing they provide, and how investors and lenders view such financing. BIOMiguel Fernandez is a Co-Founder & CEO of Capchase, an alternative finance provider that enables SaaS companies to access their future contract payments upfront. Prior to launching Capchase, Miguel worked in management consulting and then moved into SaaS. He headed sales and customer success at Geoblink, a Location Intelligence SaaS and scaled it from 0 to $2m in ARR.TIMESTAMPS01:10 Mguel and the story of Capchase04:35 Us...
2022-07-1320 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 3: Scott Salkin, SVP & GM at Gainsight Essentials, on Customer Success in SMBsScott discusses the rise of Customer Success, Gainsight Essentials, its GTM strategy, and the most common mistakes by SMBs when it comes to CS.BIOScott Salkin is SVP & GM, Gainsight Essentials at Gainsight. He is a seasoned entrepreneur, CEO, and senior B2B sales and marketing executive. Prior to joining Gainsight, Scott was the founder and CEO of Allbound, a B2B SaaS platform dedicated to helping businesses accelerate revenue through channel partners and ecosystems.TIMESTAMPS01:20 Scott's path to Gainsight04:15 Rise of Customer Success06:50 Changes in...
2022-06-3020 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 2: Mark Strauch, Founding Partner at Alpine Investors, on building a SaaS holding companyMark discusses Alpine Investors and Alpine Software Group, a unique holding company they have built by acquiring SaaS companies within several verticals. He also shared Alpine's take on talent, the profile of companies the firm invests in, and SaaS 2.0.BIOMark Strauch is a founding partner at Alpine Investors and Chairman of Alpine SG, the firm's vertical SaaS aggregation platform. Prior to Alpine, Mark served as CEO of EDC, a financial technology company that was acquired in 2011. Previously, he served as CEO of Business Engine, a venture-backed software company that was acquired in 2007....
2022-06-1535 min
SaaShimiSeason B - Ep. 1: Geoffrey Moore, Author and Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners, on Crossing the Chasm – 30 Years LaterGeoffrey Moore, the author of numerous marketing books (including the all-time classic – Crossing the Chasm), discusses how COVID affected the Chasm and how SaaS companies should apply the blueprint to SMB and Enterprise target markets. He also speaks about Geoffrey’s newest book, Zone to Win, written for later-stage technology companies. BIOGeoffery Moore is a best-selling author, speaker, and advisor who splits his consulting time between start-up companies in the Wildcat Venture Partners portfolios and established high-tech enterprises, most recently including Salesforce, Microsoft, Autodesk, Gainsight, Google, and Splunk.TIMESTAMPS03:08 Crossing the C...
2022-05-3121 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 18: Bruno Aziza, Head of Data & Analytics at Google Cloud on the past, present, and future of Data AnalyticsBruno discusses the evolution of the Data Analytics space, its current trends, and shares his view on what lies ahead.BIOBruno Aziza is a recognized authority on Business Intelligence and Information Management. He is a Data & Analytics industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in leading technology companies of various sizes - from startups (Alpine Data) to behemoths (Oracle, Microsoft, and now Google).If you are in the Data & Analytics space be sure to check out:Bruno's book: Drive Business Performance: Enabling a Culture of Intelligent Execution
2021-12-0721 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 17: Jan Arendtsz, Founder & CEO of Celigo on Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS)Jan shares the story of Celigo, discusses iPaaS, speaks on the Company’s Org structure and functions, and how he manages the fast-growing company with an exceptional retention profile.BIOJan is a veteran of the software industry with more than 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, product development, and customer success. He founded Celigo with the goal of simplifying how companies integrate business applications together for a connected enterprise. Prior to Celigo, he worked at NetSuite and Cambridge Technology Partners.TIMESTAMPS00:40 Jan and Celigo06:00 Target Customers (Market)0...
2021-11-2434 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 16: Vlad Besprozvany, Founder of Nexa Equity on Investing in Lower-Middle Market SaaSVlad discusses lower-middle market SaaS space, competition in the field, Nexa's deal sourcing, due diligence process, deal structures, and exit strategies. He shares a case study about Nexa's acquisition of AutoReturn, whose software connects law enforcement and towing companies.BIOVlad Besprozvany is a Founder and Managing Partner of Nexa Equity, a private equity firm that invests in lower-middle market software and fintech companies. Prior to founding Nexa, Vlad was a Managing Director at Greater Sum Ventures, where he focused on investments in software companies. Previously, he was a software and fintech investor at Insight...
2021-11-0140 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 15: Erinn Tarpey, CMO at Visual Lease on SaaS MarketingErinn Tarpey is a CMO at Visual Lease, a software provider that helps companies stay compliant with lease accounting standards. In this episode, Erinn discussed her role as a marketer, the structure of her team, how she measures the effectiveness of different marketing functions, her take on NPS, and many other things. She also shared a case study – Visual Lease’s call-to-action with a 65% conversion rate.BIOErinn has expertise scaling up organizations in SaaS companies during periods of high growth and has driven marketing efforts around proprietary research development, mergers and acquisitions, and channel sale...
2021-10-1535 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 19: Marina Toybina, 6x Emmy Award Winning Costume Designer Marina Toybina is a six times Emmy Award winning costume designer, who is behind the fascinated costumes of The Masked Signer show on Fox. She won awards for her work at The Masked Signer, Super Bowl Halftime Show (w/Katy Perry), 55th Annual Grammy Awards, SYTYCD, and X Factor. Marina was born in Moscow, USSR, but when she was 11, her family immigrated to USA, settling in Phoenix, AZ. Her incredible journey from constant struggles to the pinnacle of the industry is one that is worth hearing! TIME STAMPS 01:20 The Masked Singer a...
2021-10-041h 08
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 14: Shelley Perry, Managing Director at Scalelogix Ventures on Investor vs Operator mindsetShelley Perry is an investor, board director, and advisor that specializes in the uniqueness of the SaaS ScaleUp Stage. In this interview we discussed ScaleUps, compared the mindset of investors and operators, and touched on the European SaaS space.BIOShelley Perry is a Managing Director at Scalelogix Ventures. Over her career in SaaS she was an Operating Partner at Insight Partners, CEO of Bynder, Chief Product Officer at NTT, CTO Industry Solutions at Hewlett-Packard, among other things. Shelly sits on boards of Chargebee, Bynder, Foresite MSP, Airbrake.io, and Trove.TIME STAMPS
2021-09-2933 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 13: Michael Lyon, Founder & MD at Vista Point Advisors on Selling your SaaS companyMichael Lyon, is a Founder and Managing Director of Vista Point Advisors, an investment bank exclusively focused on Software and internet. In this episode, he discussed main drivers of SaaS valuation and how revenue models may influence it, Private Equity funds that are active in the space, what founders need to fix prior to selling SaaS companies, how they should handle inbound calls from potential investors, and many other things.BIOMichael Lyon is the Founder and Managing Director of Vista Point Advisors. Michael has spent 24 years as a technology investment banker and chemical engineer...
2021-08-2532 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 12: Faisal Masud, CEO at Fabric on Rebuilding E-CommerceFaisal Masud, is a CEO of Fabric, a cloud-native e-commerce platform for middle market and enterprise clients. Faisal discusses the history of Fabric, what’s behind the company's incredible growth, and what they plan to do with $150M capital they raised in less than a year. You would also be interested to hear his take on ebay, Amazon, UPS, and today’s Silicon Valley.BIOFaisal Masud is a CEO of Fabric, which he joined in 2020. Prior to Fabric, Faisal was COO at Wing (Alphabet), advisor to Google [X], and CTO at Staple. He also held...
2021-08-1232 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 11: Patrick Campbell, Founder & CEO at ProfitWell on Pricing Strategies for SaaSPatrick Campbell, Founder and CEO of ProfitWell, discussed pricing strategies for SaaS companies. We covered wide variety of topics, from selecting a right price for your software to breaking news to your clients about increasing their price 2x.BIOPatrick is a Founder & CEO of ProfitWell, the software for helping subscription companies with their monetization and retention strategies, as well as providing free turnkey subscription financial metrics for over 20,000 companies. Prior to ProfitWell Patrick led Strategic Initiatives for Boston-based Gemvara and was an Economist at Google and the US Intelligence community.TIMESTAMPS
2021-07-2825 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 10: Tom Meister, Co-Founder at NepFin on Revenue-Based FinancingTom Meister, Co-Founder, COO, and General Counsel at NepFin, discusses Revenue-Based Financing for SaaS (and eCommerce companies), typical terms of such financing, profiles of the companies that should consider it as an option, and many other things.BIOAs COO and General Counsel, Tom manages NepFin's legal affairs and oversees its business operations. Prior to co-founding NepFin, Tom served as Senior Counsel, Capital Markets & Finance at Funding Circle, where he was responsible for the structuring, execution and distribution of Funding Circle's offerings to institutional and accredited investors. Earlier in his career, Tom practiced law as...
2021-07-1438 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 9: Mark Znutas, VP of GTM Strategy and Operations at HubSpot on RevOpsMark Znutas, Vice President of Go-to-Market Strategy and Operations at HubSpot, discusses HubSpot’s RevOps and how it aligns Sales, Marketing and Customer Success. We also covered HubSpot’s go-to-Market strategy, which has changed drastically over the years.BIOMark is a VP of GTM Strategy and Operationsl at HubSpot, where he leads Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy across Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success. Mark has held several key roles in RevOps at HubSpot, when the company started expanding beyond its core Marketing software. Prior to HubSpot, Mark was a Manager of Global Field Solutions at Affinnova (acquir...
2021-07-0522 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 8: Scott Beechuk, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners on SaaS StartupsScott Beechuk, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners discusses his experience as a startup founder and his move to VC, the latest market trends, Scott’s investment process, as well as qualitative and quantitative characteristics of companies he likes to invest in.BIOScott brings more than 20 years of product, engineering, and SaaS expertise to his role as a partner on Norwest’s enterprise team. He focuses on early- to late-stage investment opportunities in enterprise SaaS with a focus on companies building business applications taking advantage of human-assisted AI, advanced behavioral analytics, client-agnostic platforms and industry-specific solu...
2021-06-2038 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 7: Anadelia Fadeev, Director of Demand Generation and Growth at Teleport on Lead Gen and Brand AwarenessAnadelia Fadeev, Director of Demand Generation and Growth at Teleport, discusses lead gen and brand awareness, how she measures the effectiveness of campaigns, and "must-have" online tools.BIOAnadelia is a Director of Demand Generation and Growth at Teleport, a Kleiner Perkins-backed software company that allows engineers and security professionals to unify access to Servers, web applications, and databases.Prior to Teleport, Anadelia was Demand generation at several tech startups, including LightStep, InfluxData, ToutApp (acq. by Marketo), and Inkling. She started her career at Visage Mobile where she oversaw all aspects of marketing.
2021-06-1117 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 18: Graham Weaver, Founder of Alpine Investors Graham Weaver is founder and managing partner of Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity firm that invests in software and services businesses. With over 20 years of experience in private equity, Graham founded Alpine based on the belief that exceptional people create exceptional businesses, a PeopleFirst philosophy that guides the firm’s choices today. When he’s not inspiring growth at Alpine, Graham teaches a top-rated strategic management course at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business or posts on his blog - www.GrahamWeaver.com. In this interview Graham takes us to a journey from his childh...
2021-06-0353 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 6: Sam Richard, Senior Director of Growth at Openview Partners on Product Led GrowthSam Richard, Senior Director of Growth at Openview Partners, discusses product-led growth, types of companies that can leverage the strategy, and how traditional SaaS metrics can be misleading when applied to PLG.BIOSam Richard is Senior Director of Growth at OpenView, helping its portfolio accelerate top-line growth through establishing best practices and processes to support product led growth. At OpenView, Sam works closely with portfolio leadership teams to discover and implement the most impactful strategies for growth, including onboarding and retention optimization, expansion strategy, funnel optimization and channel/partner strategy.Prior to...
2021-06-0219 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 5: Andy Bane, CEO of Element Analytics on unifying OT and IT dataAndy Bane, CEO of Element Analytics talks about the company's unique founding story and an important mission of changing how industrial firms unify OT and IT data.BIOAndy oversees the vision, strategy, and growth of Element Analytics, and is a veteran of the Industrial sector. He’s held executive roles at leading enterprise software companies, including EVP & Chief Strategy Officer for ABB Enterprise Software, EVP of Product Management. and CMO at Ventyx, a Vista Equity Partners company, acquired by ABB for over $1 billion and SVP of Product Mgmt. and Mktg. at P2 Energy Solutions....
2021-05-1528 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 4: Alok Ajmera, CEO of Prophix on converting software from on-prem to a cloudAlok Ajmera, CEO of Prophix takes us to journey of converting the company's software offering from on-prem to a cloud. The transition is particularly impressive because Prophix completed it while being bootstrapped, and only after the conversion did they take outside investments from HG Capital (leading European PE firm).BIOAlok joined Prophix in 2004 as a consultant, and after wearing nearly every hat in the company was first promoted to President and COO, and most recently to CEO.TIMESTAMPS01:00 Alok and Prophix04:50 Pricing model05:45 Moving from on-prem...
2021-04-2032 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 17: Jeremiah Tower, "The Father of American Cuisine" Jeremiah Tower is likely the first Celebrity Chef in the US. A food lover from childhood, he had no formal culinary education before beginning his career as a chef at Chez Panisse, making the place famous for its authentic cuisine that is currently known as California or American style cuisine. Jeremiah later opened one of the most famous restaurants in the country in 1980s - The Stars, which became the major attraction for celebrities. Anthony Bourdain produced a fantastic documentary on Jeremiah - The Last Magnificent, which tells his story. I sat down with Jeremiah to...
2021-04-1549 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 3: Deb Muller, Founder & CEO of HR Acuity on bootstrapping & choosing investorsDeb Muller, Founder and CEO of HR Acuity, takes us back to the company's early days when it was primarily her providing independent advice to large companies regarding workplace investigations. Despite not having a tech background, she decided to build a software solution for her clients to use internally on a day-to-day basis. Deb walks us through the challenges she experienced with a bootstrapped business, the growth of the firm, today's profile of HR Acuity (size, retention, org. structure), tailwinds of the industry, and COVID's impact. Lastly, she walks us through the decision of taking on investments (which she...
2021-04-0427 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 2: Steve Wolfe, Co-Founder of Growth Street Partners on Growth Investments in SaaS companiesSteve Wolfe of Growth Street Partners shares the firm's approach to investing in SaaS companies. He talks about criteria they look for, the importance of a founder's experience in the industry, general view on valuations, and other subjects.BIOSteve is a Co-founder of Growth Street Partners, a San Francisco based growth equity fund. He currently sits on the boards of ChildCareCRM, Visual Lease, Suralink, HR Acuity, Hotel Effectiveness, and BoardBookit.Prior to Growth Street, Steve was a Partner at Mainsal Partners, and was a board member at PayLease, Netchemia, 3PL Central, Ncontracts...
2021-02-2836 min
SaaShimiSeason A - Ep. 1: Dave Kellogg on VC and PE investments in SaaS companiesDave Kellogg returns to SaaShimi to share his experience working with Venture Capital and Private Equity firms. He compares VC's and PE's investment approaches, due diligence processes, and roles in a boardroom among other things.BIODave Kellogg is a technology executive, investor, advisor, and blogger (if you don't read www.kellblog.com, you should start after you are done with SaaShimi!).Previously, he held CEO positions at Hostanalytics and MarkLogic, and prior to that SVP/GM of Service Cloud at Salesforce and CMO at Business Objects.Dave has worked in...
2021-02-2835 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 16: Jim Grant, Founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer Jim Grant is the founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, a twice-monthly journal of financial markets popular among some of the most famous investors. Over past 35+ years of the publication, Grant developed a cult following on Wall Street. In this interview we discussed Modern Monetary Theory and its limitations, Keynesian and Austrian Schools of Economics, recent government actions in response to COVID, Jim's life, career, and founding Grant's Interest Rate Observer.
2020-12-2258 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 15: Dominique Crenn, 3 Michelin Stars Chef at Atelier Crenn Dominique Crenn is the owner of Atelier Crenn restaurant in San Francisco, and is the only female 3 Michelin Star Chef in the US. In her recent memoir - Rebel Chef: In Search for What Matters - she shares her fascinating life story from French orphanage to the pinnacle of culinary art. In this interview we discussed Dominique's journey: influence of her parents, challenges she had faced (she didn't have a formal culinary education), building Atelier Crenn, her battle with cancer, and many other things. 01:10 How is Atelier Crenn adapting to COVID? 04:45 Ch...
2020-10-301h 03
The Accent PodcastEpisode 14: Eicca Toppinen, Apocalyptica Eicca Toppinen is the founding member of the multi-platinum metal band Apocalyptica, which has a cult following around the world. Its first album, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos was released in 1996 and turned the heavy metal music upside down due to the band unique sound - the new music style is now called Symphonic Metal. In this interview we covered the history of the band, changes in the music industry, Eicca's life and creative process, and collaboration with Metallica & other bands. Time stamps: 00:15 Streaming live concert 03:23 How are albums and features s...
2020-08-181h 00
The Accent PodcastAccentExplorer: Dr. Robert Wachter - Everything you need to know about COVIDGiven the amount of information about COVID (often contradicting), I thought it would be a good idea to have a discussion with an expert to make sense of it. I interviewed Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, whose team has been working on COVID response from the very beginning. We covered everything from How COVID affects human body to Vaccines to Hydroxychloroquine to conspiracy theories, and everything in between. Dr. Wachter also answered a bunch of my trivial questions: - Does he wipe groceries and mail? - Is he comfortable going to...
2020-08-031h 01
The Accent PodcastEpisode 13: Tom Steyer, Political Activist Tom Steyer is a Political Activist, Environmentalist, and Philanthropist. He is well known to the general public for his recent run for Democratic Presidential Nomination (2020 election), and for his career as a founder of Farallon Capital - a multi-billion hedge fund. Tom was recently appointed by the Governor Gavin Newsom to Co-Chair California Task Force on Business and Job Recovery that is focused on re-opening CA for business post-COVID lockdowns. We spoke about BLM protests, COVID, Tom's run for Democratic Presidential Nomination, his childhood, lessons he learned from his parents, and philanthropy. 01:45 George Fl...
2020-07-0932 min
SaaShimiI. A Brief History of SaaS - Phil WainewrightFor more than two decades, Phil Wainewright has chronicled the rise of cloud computing and its impact on business. In 1998, he launched ASPnews.com, the SaaS industry's first dedicated news website, and later became ZDNet's lead blogger on SaaS. In 2013, he co-founded the tech media website Diginomica to provide in-depth coverage of how enterprise applications are evolving and changing the way business operates in the digital era. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/saashimi/donations
2020-03-0932 min
SaaShimiII. Key SaaS Metrics - Dave KelloggDave Kellogg is a technology executive, investor, advisor, and blogger (if you don't read www.kellblog.com, you should start after you are done with SaaShimi!).Previously, he held CEO positions at Hostanalytics and MarkLogic, and prior to that SVP/GM of Service Cloud at Salesforce and CMO at Business Objects.Dave has worked in varied capacities with companies including Breeze, GainSight, MongoDB, and Tableau. He currently sit on the boards of Alation, Nuxeo, and Profisee. Dave previously sat on the boards of agtech leader Granular and big data leader Aster Data (both got acquired).
2020-03-0938 min
SaaShimiIII. Building a Sales Org - Jacco van der KooijJacco is the founder of Winning By Design and author of Blueprints of a Sales SaaS Organization and seven other books. He is a Sales Mentor across several VC firms such as Notion Capital, Reach Capital, Astella and Storm Ventures, where he helps accelerate the development of sales teams across their portfolios. Prior to founding Winning By Design, Jacco held roles of VP of Worldwide Sales and VP Strategy at Qumu (acquired by Rimage), Kontiki, and Technicolor. He is proud to have helped marquee customers over the years, including Amazon, AT&T, Dish, and Disney.Jacco holds...
2020-03-0957 min
SaaShimiIV. Building a Marketing Org - Tracy EilerTracy Eiler is a revenue-driving CMO with “core DNA” in demand generation and awareness. She is the CMO at InsideView and has more than 25 years of experience with enterprise and SaaS software companies. She co-authored the best-selling Aligned to Achieve: How to Unite Your Sales & Marketing Teams into a Single Force for Growth. Tracy was recently recognized as one of the 15 Most Influential Women in B2B Marketing.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/saashimi/donations
2020-03-0838 min
SaaShimiV. Building a Customer Success Org - Ed DalyEd Daly is a Senior Vice President of Customer Success and Growth at Okta. Ed previously led Cisco's Global Customer Success team designed to accelerate software and cloud revenue.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/saashimi/donations
2020-03-0822 min
SaaShimiVI. Raising Capital - Bruce ClevelandBruce Cleveland is a Partner at Wildcat where he focuses on early-stage software startups that enable digital transformation across business, government, and education markets. Bruce enjoys working with companies that use technology and data to increase revenue and decrease costs. Bruce held senior executive roles in engineering, product management and product marketing with companies, such as Apple, AT&T, Oracle and Siebel Systems. Bruce’s last operational role was as a member of the founding executive team of Siebel Systems, where he served as senior vice president and general manager of Marketing and Products. In this role, For...
2020-03-0844 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 12: Vitaliy Katsenelson, CEO of Investment Management Associates Vitaliy Katsenelson is a famous value investor and a CEO & Chief Investment Officer of Investment Management Associates. Vitaliy has written several books on investing, including Active Value Investing and The Little Book of Sideways Markets. We spoke about value investing, Vitaliy's investment process, his view on diversification, his biggest mistakes, his bucket list, and many other things. Time stamp 00:40 Who am I 02:14 What’s Value Investing? 05:50 Is Warren Buffett a value investor or a GARP investor? 07:20 Diversified stock portfolio vs concentrated stock portfolio 09:50 When...
2019-11-2542 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 11: Lou Ferrante, ex-Gambino Crime Family / Author / TV Personality Lou Ferrante is a former mobster of the Gambino Crime Family, who did his time in prison, and then turned his life around becoming a bestselling author and a sought after TV personality. Lou’s book, “The Mob Rules: What Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman”, became a best seller and was named The Best Business Book by Forbes. It was subsequently translated into 16 languages. His TV project, “Inside The Gangsters’ Code”, explores different gangs around the world and has been successfully running on Discovery Channel since 2013. We spoke about his path to the Gambinos...
2019-10-261h 05
The Accent PodcastEpisode 10: Fengsuo Zhou, Tiananmen Square Activist (1989) Fengsuo Zhou is a President of Humanitarian China, a non-profit organization that is focused on development of a civil society in China to promote rule-of-law, human rights, and freedom of expressions. Fengsuo was one of the student leaders during the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, and after the massacre ended up on the list of 21 Most Wanted issued by the Chinese government. In this interview we discussed what happened at the Tiananmen Square 30 years ago, Fengsuo's role in the protest, his arrest, and the life afterwards. 01:35 Humanitarian China - support to political pri...
2019-09-0646 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 9: Dan Primack, Business Editor of Axios Dan Primack is a Business Editor of Axios, where he runs the daily Pro Rata newsletter and hosts the daily Pro Rata podcast, among other things. Previously, Dan was with Fortune.com as Senior Editor, where he covered deals and dealmakers, from Wall Street to Sand Hill Road. At Fortune, Dan launched a very popular newsletter, Term Sheet, which covered venture capital, Wall Street, M&A and other deal-related topics. Prior to Fortune, Dan was an Editor-at-large with Thomson Reuters, where he launched both peHUB.com and the peHUB Wire email service. H...
2019-06-3039 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 8: Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist of Canva; Author and Entrepreneur) Guy Kawasaki is the Chief Evangelist of Canva, an online graphic design tool. He is a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley). Guy is widely known around the world for his books and speeches on entrepreneurship, and his early work at Apple alongside Steve Jobs. We covered many subjects, from his childhood in Hawaii to his path to Apple, and from his student record to 15 books he has written, including recently published Wise Guy. We also covered entrepreneurship, venture capital, business operations and many other subject...
2019-03-1630 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 7: Keith Teare, Executive Chairman of ADV Keith Teare is a serial entrepreneur, who has built two $1 billion dollar companies, helped to raise a billion dollar VC fund, and was in the founding team of TechCrunch. Born in the UK, he learned how to code at an early age, and later started his first tech company. If you think it sounds familiar, you are wrong: Keith ran the company to pay for his passion - political activism. We covered many subjects: from the class-conscious United Kingdom to blockchain, from bootstrapped companies to venture capital trends, from Karl Marx to a...
2019-02-011h 14
The Accent PodcastEpisode 6: Javier Mendez, Founder of American Kickboxing Academy Javier Mendez is the founder and head coach of American Kickboxing Academy, the leading Mixed Martial Arts teams/schools in the world. Throughout his spectacular career he has won world championships himself, and raised numerous world champions in both Kickboxing and MMA. Javier's notable students include Daniel Cormier (UFC Heavy- and Light-Heavyweight champion), Cain Velasquez (former UFC Heavy weight champion), Khabib Nurmagomedov (UFC Lightweight champion), Luke Rockhold (former UFC Middleweight champion), and many others. In this interview we spoke about Javier's life and career, genesis of Mixed Martial Arts, qualities required to...
2019-01-141h 17
The Accent PodcastEpisode 5: Tom Kalinske, ex-CEO of SEGA & Mattel data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Tom Kalinske is Chairman of Doodles, one of the many Ed-Tech ventures he has been involved in. Throughout his fascinating career, Tom has built several multi-million dollar Ed-Tech companies, changed the video gaming industry as the CEO of SEGA America, revived Barbie doll and created He-Man and The Masters of the Universe animation series as the CEO of Mattel. Each of Tom’s business endeavors could have been a bestselling book; and the fact that he had so many of them makes Tom a truly remarkable businessman and an ent...
2018-10-301h 07
The Accent PodcastEpisode 4: Heidi Ridley, CEO of Rosenberg Equity Heidi Ridley is CEO of Rosenberg Equity, one of the premiere quantitative investment management firms with $22 billion in assets under management. Her life story is fascinating: she was born in Iran; her family lost everything during the Iranian Revolution, had to leave the country to an start everything from scratch in the US. On top of this, Heidi's personal career path is truly remarkable - from her job as a restaurant manager, to the CEO of the most male-dominated filed (quantitative investing) within one of the most male-dominated industries (asset management). Visit www.Th...
2018-09-0240 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 3: PJ Pereira, Co-Founder, Pereira O'Dell PJ Pereira is a Co-Founder and a Creative Chairman of Pereira O’Dell, one of the leading advertising firms. Over its relatively short history, Pereira O'Dell won every major industry award, including countless Cannes Lions and Emmy Award. In his native Brazil, PJ is known as the author of the best-selling book, Gods of Both Worlds. His life story is inspiring, his view of the advertising business is unique, his passion for martial arts is contagious, and his love for his family is limitless. www.TheAccentPodcast.com
2018-07-271h 24
The Accent PodcastEpisode 1: Michael Hoffman, Co-Founder & President of Probitas Partners Michael Hoffmann is a Co-Founder & President of one of the best-known placement advisory firms - Probitas Partners. Since inception in 2001, Probitas Partners has raised nearly 90 funds and over $68 Billion for both established and emerging investment managers. Michael's knowledge of the alternative asset management space, in particular private equity and real assets, makes his view on the today's trends especially valuable. Whether you are a top PE firm raising your 10th fund or a newly created "shop" raising your very first fund, you will find something interesting in this discussion. You will also learn ab...
2018-06-0437 min
The Accent PodcastEpisode 2: Thomas Weisel, Co-Chairman of Stifel Financial Thomas Weisel is the founder of Montgomery Securities, an iconic boutique investment bank that was sold to a predecessor of today's Bank of America. Upon exiting Montgomery Securities, he started another investment bank, Thomas Weisel Partners, which was later sold to Stifel Financial, where Thomas currently is a Co-Chairman. His success stories in business, in sport, in art, and other areas of life have one theme in common - he pushes himself extremely hard to become very competent in the subject-matter. This can be said about other successful people, but when you hear Th...
2018-05-1541 min