Shows
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 806: How The Smartest Founders Are Already Winning with AI: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin on My First MillionSaaStr 806: How The Smartest Founders Are Already Winning with AI: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin on My First Million SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin recently returned to HubSpot's My First Million Podcast with Sam Parr and Shaan Puri to do a deep dive on AI and SaaS. It was a fun one because we approached it more from a content creator and end-user perspective than from a software builder perspective. Together they discuss various applications of AI in content creation, customer support, and business advice, highlighting unexpected use cases and the potential for AI to s...2025-06-1545 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 802: SaaS + AI: It’s Time to Move Much Faster with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 802: SaaS + AI: It’s Time to Move Much Faster with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Join SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin in this compelling podcast that was recorded live from SaaStr Annual, as he discusses the rapid transformation in the SaaS industry driven by AI advancements. Reflecting on changes since last September, Jason emphasizes the necessity for SaaS leaders and companies to move faster, re-skill their teams, and adopt AI-first strategies to stay competitive. Hear real-world examples of how AI is revolutionizing sales, customer support, and coding productivity, leading to significant industry shifts. This se...2025-05-2134 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 793: The 10-Point Checklist For When You Sell Your Company with David Frankel Managing Partner at Founder Collective and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 793: The 10-Point Checklist For When You Sell Your Company with David Frankel Managing Partner at Founder Collective and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin David Frankel is Managing Partner at Founder Collective, a successful seed fund with investments in companies like The Trade Desk, Olo, and Coupang. With decades of experience as both a founder and investor, David brings a unique perspective to the often-misunderstood process of selling a company. He openly admits that many of his past exits were mistakes, which makes his advice on the topic particularly valuable. He joined SaaStr Workshop...2025-03-1242 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 792: Why I’m Scared to Buy New SaaS Apps Now with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 792: Why I’m Scared to Buy New SaaS Apps Now with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin highlights nine key reasons that create friction in the modern SaaS buying cycle. He emphasizes how these factors can deter new customers and impact overall growth. Through examples involving well-known companies and the importance of a seamless customer experience, Founders are encouraged to evaluate and reduce these hurdles within their own SaaS products to ensure they remain true to "Software As a Service." ---------------------- Alright everybody in Saa...2025-03-0724 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 790: AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 790: AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Join us for an inspiring conversation with monday.com co-CEO and Co-Founder Eran Zinman and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin. From humble beginnings at $10 million ARR in 2017 to smashing the $1 billion ARR mark in just eight years, Eran shares their journey, challenges, and strategies that have fueled their remarkable growth. Discover the importance of customer diversity, maintaining NRR and GRR levels, leveraging AI for business efficiencies, and the impact of adopting a multi-product approach.2025-02-2836 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 787: The 2025 SaaS Vibe Check: What Founders Need to Know Right Now with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 787: The 2025 SaaS Vibe Check: What Founders Need to Know Right Now with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin delves into a comprehensive 2025 vibe check, focusing on the state of tech, AI, and SaaS industries. He discusses the returning presence of founders in San Francisco, the resurgence of venture capital interest reminiscent of 2021, and the significant shift towards AI and AI-native investments. Additionally, he addresses the challenges faced by B2B founders, the importance of rapid product development, and the evolving dynamics of the venture capital landscape. Key insights...2025-02-1937 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 781: How to Think About Product-Led Growth, Bootstrapping vs VC, and Early Exits with Jason LemkinSaaStr 781: How to Think About Product-Led Growth, Bootstrapping vs VC, and Early Exits with Jason Lemkin At the closing AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) of SaaStr Annual, SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin delves into key topics facing SaaS startups including bootstrapping, private equity (PE) opportunities, and achieving product market fit. With practical advice and real-world examples, the Q&A covers critical issues such as growth strategies, funding options, and the dynamics of venture capital. Additionally, Jason addresses the importance of sales, the potential pitfalls of relying on design partners, and the nuances of pricing strategies. A must-watch for any...2024-12-1838 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 780: From Outbound to Channel Partnerships: Your Burning Sales Questions Answered by SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 780: From Outbound to Channel Partnerships: Your Burning Sales Questions Answered by SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin At the closing AMA of SaaStr Annual, SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin shared candid insights about what's really happening in SaaS today. In this Ask Me Anything Part 1, Lemkin answers the questions: What does SaaStr Annual attendee data tell us about the state of SaaS? Is outbound sales dead? When sales slow how do you keep the team motivated and push through? How important are channel partnerships for sales and revenue? When should founders make th...2024-12-1341 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 767: The Future of AI in SaaS Sales with Henry Schuck, CEO of ZoomInfo and SaaStr CEO Jason LemkinSaaStr 767: The Future of AI in SaaS Sales with Henry Schuck, CEO of ZoomInfo and SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin joined ZoomInfo's Season 2 of its ZI Labs Podcast as the opening guest alongside ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck. Along with co-host Ben Salzman, Jason and Henry discuss the transformative power of AI within SaaS and the evolving dynamics that are reshaping the landscape of software as a service. Together they explore the intricacies of scaling SaaS companies, including the importance of recruiting and developing strong management teams, implementing multi-product strategies, and navigating emotional...2024-10-1858 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 754: 7 Things the Best Sales Reps Get Right and 8 Ways the Rest Make Things Worse with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 754: 7 Things the Best Sales Reps Get Right and 8 Ways the Rest Make Things Worse with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Join Jason Lemkin, in this insightful episode as he dives deep into distinguishing the best sales reps from the rest. Jason outlines seven key traits that make sales reps successful, such as understanding customer problems, facilitating product demos, and being honest about competition. He also discusses common pitfalls that mediocre sales reps fall into, including playing endless games with pricing and creating urgency without value. Perfect for founders, sales leaders, and team managers looking to improve their hiring pr...2024-08-0629 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 749: The Lost Podcast Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, and Jason Lemkin, CEO of SaaStr, in 2013: "Thinking About $1 Billion in ARR"SaaStr 749: The Lost Podcast Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, and Jason Lemkin, CEO of SaaStr, in 2013: "Thinking About $1 Billion in ARR" Hey, everybody at SaaStr, we didn't realize until a Twitter exchange the other day that we have a lost SaaStr podcast for real. Just when SaaStr was getting going in January 2013, SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin went out and went to Box's offices and interviewed Aaron Levie CEO and Co-founder of Box. This was over a decade ago now and it was lost. We recorded it but didn't know what to do...2024-07-1231 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 748: Fundraising During A Downturn, Advice for Hiring in 2024 and Much More with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 748: Fundraising During A Downturn, Advice for Hiring in 2024 and Much More with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin To close out SaaStr Europa 2024, Jason Lemkin, SaaStr CEO and Founder took the stage to answer the audience's most burning questions. AMA’s with Jason are wildly popular for his expertise and no-holds-barred delivery. Jason give his advice on the following topics: Hiring in 2024 Running PLG and Enterprise GTM at the same time How to Categorize Revenue for VCs Are Marketing Agencies Worth Investing In? Do VCs Ignore Founder Logos The ideal post-sales process Advice For...2024-07-1035 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 744: A Tale of 3 Worlds: Where SaaS, Cloud, and AI are in 2024 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 744: A Tale of 3 Worlds: Where SaaS, Cloud, and AI are in 2024 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin What's the theme and current trends in SaaS, Cloud and AI now that we're midway through 2024? SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin reflects on the SaaS industry's journey over the past several years, particularly focusing on the challenges and growth seen in 2022 and 2023. Despite economic ups and downs and the gloom and doom on social media, companies like Canva and Netskope are thriving today. Jason's best advice? "Just build." In...2024-06-2649 min
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch20VC: Why Seed is Systemically Broken | Why Pricing is Worse Than Ever and There is More Funding Than Ever | Benchmarks for Churn, Retention and Growth Rates - Good vs Great | Why Last Vintage for Private Equity Will Suck with Jason Lemkin Jason Lemkin is one of the OG SaaS investors with all of his first five investments turning into unicorns with Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, Salesloft and RevenueCat all in his portfolio. SaaStr is the largest global community in SaaS and he has taught a generation the fundamentals of SaaS on saastr.com. In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin We Discuss: 1. Growth Rates and Churn Rates: Average/Good/Great: What is a growth rate that would excite Jason in a SaaS company? What is average? What levels of...2024-05-271h 14
"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and InvestingE35: How Jason Lemkin Built SaaStrIn this episode Erik Torenberg sits down with Jason Lemkin, the founder and CEO of SaaStr, a venture firm, podcast network, event series, and the world’s largest community for B2B/SaaS founders. This candid conversation focuses on SaaStr's business model at the intersection of VC, media, and events. Jason also covers why all VC's need to nail the right amount of marketing, what 'edge' looks like in venture, why Jason never created a YC for SaaS, and the distinctions between business models that seem scalable versus those that genuinely achieve exponential growth.--SP...2024-04-161h 13
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | GrowthBuilding a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)Jason Lemkin created and runs SaaStr, the world’s largest community for B2B/SaaS founders, and is the managing director of SaaStr Fund, a $90 million venture capital firm specializing in early-stage enterprise investments. He is also the mastermind behind two major tech conferences each year—one in the Bay Area, drawing in over 15,000 people, and another in Europe, with a crowd of more than 3,000 SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. Before SaaStr, Jason wore many hats: CEO and co-founder of EchoSign (later bought by Adobe), vice president at Adobe Systems, co-founder and president of NanoGram Devices Corp., vice president of N...2024-02-182h 01
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 723: Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, and Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr: Answer Your Top 10 2024 Customer Success QuestionsSaaStr 723: Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, and Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr: Answer Your Top 10 2024 Customer Success Questions In 2024, for customer success in SaaS, what’s “good” NRR? What’s a “good” NPS? Who should Customer Success report into? Questions like this and many others are the most common questions asked of SaaStr Fan Fave and expert on Customer Success, Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta, and SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin. While we recently published an episode on what will change for Customer Success in SaaS in 2024 with Jason and Nick, we ran out of tim...2024-02-1326 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 722: 2024 State of SaaS: Trends and Predictions with SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason LemkinSaaStr 722: 2024 State of SaaS: Trends and Predictions with SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin At Pavilion's CEO Summit, SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin, took the stage to do something .. a little bit different. Typically on SaaStr.com, we try to focus our content on mistakes to avoid, lessons learned and how to scale faster, but for the CEO Summit, Jason addressed the audience with what's most top of mind for him at the start of 2024. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet. Join us in 2024 at:2024-02-0930 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 712: Is AI the Only Thing in SaaS that Anyone Cares About Anymore? Ask-Me-Anything Part 1 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinSaaStr 712: Is AI the Only Thing in SaaS that Anyone Cares About Anymore? Ask-Me-Anything Part 1 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Ask Me Anything with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Part One. In the first part of this open AMA, Jason shares his thoughts on the current state of sales and marketing, if anyone really cares about anything other than AI anymore, how to hire great partners, and breaking out of a crowded ecosystem. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet. Join us...2023-12-2826 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 710: Running a PLG and Sales-Led Motion at the Same Time: What’s New at ZoomInfo with CEO Henry Schuck and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinWelcome to the Official SaaStr Podcast Episode 710: Running a PLG and Sales-Led Motion at the Same Time: What’s New at ZoomInfo with CEO Henry Schuck and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin In the latest installment of SaaStr’s What’s New series – where we sit down with the leaders in SaaS and Cloud for the inside scoop on what’s top of mind and what’s new, SaaStr CEO and Jason Lemkin chats with the CEO of ZoomInfo, Henry Schuck. So, what’s new at ZoomInfo? In this episode, Jason and Henr...2023-12-2132 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 708: The Top 10 Mistakes People Make When Hiring a VP of Sales with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinThe Top 10 Mistakes People Make When Hiring a VP of Sales with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Hiring a VP of Sales isn’t new, but the conversations have evolved as the world has. SaaStr’s own Jason Lemkin shares the top 10 mistakes he sees during the hiring process during Workshop Wednesday, held every Wednesday at 10 a.m. PST. Jason has written about the cheat codes for hiring VPs of Sales since 2012 and realized it was worth a deeper dive. The last 18 months have seen the biggest changes in the VP of Sales in his S...2023-12-1429 min
TractionHow Jason Lemkin Built the World’s Largest Community for Business Software with Jason Lemkin, SaaStr Why do some companies have loyal, cult-like followings while others blend into oblivion? Is a good product enough to win in the market today?In a world where traditional marketing is losing its edge and products are struggling to stand out, a thriving community is your biggest asset.However, building and nurturing a community takes time - relationships cannot be an afterthought. When put front and center, a community can be a great acquisition channel, product feedback mechanism, brand differentiator, retention lever, and growth moat.2023-08-1645 min
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch20VC: The Memo: The State of the VC Market: Why Seed Funds Can't Invest in "Hot Startups" Anymore, Why Series A & B is Terrible, Why the IPO Market Will Explode in 2024 & Why VC DD is BS & Every VC Has More Fraud in their Portfolio with Jason Lemkin Jason Lemkin is the Founder @ SaaStr one of the best-performing early-stage venture funds focused on SaaS. In the past, Jason has led investments in Algolia, Pipedrive, Salesloft, TalkDesk, and RevenueCat to name a few. Prior to SaaStr, Jason was an entrepreneur, selling EchoSign to Adobe for $100M where it is now a $250M ARR product. In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin We Discuss: 1. WTF is Happening At Seed Right Now: Why does Jason believe seed is more active than ever? Is the pricing of seed rounds...2023-08-091h 09
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch20VC: Jason Lemkin on Why Founders Do Not Care About Their VCs Anymore, Why Zoom Made Us All Worse Investors, Why 80-90% IRR Should Have Been Warning Signs and the Algolia Journey From Seed to $2.25BN Valuation Jason Lemkin is one of the OGs of SaaS of the last decade. As the Founder of SaaStr, he has inspired more SaaS founders than one can imagine building "The World’s Largest Community for Business Software." Jason also invests out of the $100M SaaStr Fund and in the past Jason has led rounds into TalkDesk, Pipedrive, Algolia, Gorgias, Salesloft, and many more incredible companies. Prior to founding SaaStr, Jason was the Co-Founder of Echosign, an early e-signature business, funded by Emergence Capital and that was acquired by Adobe for $100M. In Today's Ep...2022-11-3059 min
This Week in StartupsSaaS multiple compression, downturn outlook & advice for new VCs with Jason Lemkin of SaaStr | E1461Jason and Molly chat with Jason Lemkin of SaaStr (01:44). They discuss: advice for new VCs (16:14), the future of SaaS investing (27:37), playing offense as investors (35:50), secondaries and more.
(00:00) Jason and Molly tee up today’s interview show
(01:44) Jason and Molly speak with Jason Lemkin of SaaStr
(14:59) Notion - Get started for free at https://notion.com/thisweekinstartups
(16:14) Jason Lemkin’s advice for new fund managers
(26:16) Microacquire - Sell your business with no fees at https://try.microacquire.com/twist
(27:37) Will SaaS investments continue to be good?
(32:44) What makes Notion so g...2022-05-161h 12
This Week in Startups - VideoSaaS multiple compression, downturn outlook & advice for new VCs with Jason Lemkin of SaaStr | E1461Jason and Molly chat with Jason Lemkin of SaaStr (01:44). They discuss: advice for new VCs (16:14), the future of SaaS investing (27:37), playing offense as investors (35:50), secondaries and more.2022-05-161h 12
TractionSh*t VCs Say with Jason Lemkin and Justin KanOn this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Jason Lemkin, Founder at SaaStr, and Justin Kan, Co-Founder at Fractal.is. Justin co-founded Kiko Software, a Web 2.0 calendar that pre-dated Google Calendar by four years; Justin.tv, a lifecasting platform; Twitch, a live streaming platform for esports, music, and other creatives that was acquired by Amazon for almost $1 billion. More recent roles include Partner and GM at Y Combinator and CEO of Atrium, a software-powered law firm for startups. He is now a general partner at Goat Capital as well a...2022-03-2929 min
TractionHow to 10x Your SaaS with Jason Lemkin, SaaStrOn this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Jason Lemkin, Trusted Advisor at SaaStr. Jason, who is often regarded as the godfather of SaaS, shares 10 things you can do to grow 10x faster in 2022. Jason runs SaaStr, the world's largest SaaS community and $100M+ SaaS venture fund. Previously, Jason founded the web's most popular electronic signature service, EchoSign, which he grew to over $100M in revenue and sold to Adobe. Prior to EchoSign and SaaStr, he co-founded one of the only succ...2022-02-091h 11This Week in Startups - VideoE1147: “Godfather of SaaS” Jason Lemkin on 2020’s cloud software boom, public CEO mindsets, how Zoom conquered the competition & more | Rising Stars of SaaS 8Check out SaaStr: https://www.saastr.com
FOLLOW Jason Lemkin: https://twitter.com/jasonlk
FOLLOW Jason Calacanis: https://linktr.ee/calacanis2020-12-021h 10
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 394: How to Hack Venture Capital with Sunil Dhaliwal, GP @ Amplify Partners and and Jason Lemkin, CEO @ SaaStrWhere is Venture Capital today? And how do you hack it? SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin, sits down with Sunil Dhaliwal, General Partner at Amplify Partners to discuss. Full video: https://youtu.be/8w6K7slhLX4 Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-394-with-sunil-dhaliwal-and-jason-lemkin/2020-11-0640 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 392: 10 Simple Steps To Help Any Sales Exec Close More with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinIn today's SaaStr insider episode SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin shares 10 Simple Steps To Help Any Sales Exec Close More. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-10-3017 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 387: Where Product Development is Going in 2021 with Nick Mehta, CEO @ Gainsight and Jason Lemkin, CEO @ SaaStrIn this CEO to CEO catch up, Nick Mehta and Jason Lemkin discuss how to do product extensions, how to sell a second product, and where product development overall is heading. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-10-1623 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 369: How to Hire an A-Player VP Sales and Scale Your Team with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin and the Co-founder and CEO of HireSweet, Robin ChoyIn 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! Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-08-2834 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 369: How to Hire an A-Player VP Sales and Scale Your Team with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin and the Co-founder and CEO of HireSweet, Robin ChoyIn 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/ 2020-08-2834 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 366: Digital Transformation At Warp Speed with Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder @ SaaStr, and Aaron Levie, CEO, Co-founder and Chairman @ BoxThe 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/2020-08-2252 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 366: Digital Transformation At Warp Speed with Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder @ SaaStr, and Aaron Levie, CEO, Co-founder and Chairman @ BoxThe 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. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-08-2252 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 363: How to Make 1,000,000 Customers Happy with Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder @ SaaStr, and Loren Padelford, General Manager @ Shopify PlusSmall, 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/2020-08-1449 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 363: How to Make 1,000,000 Customers Happy with Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder @ SaaStr, and Loren Padelford, General Manager @ Shopify PlusSmall, 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. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-08-1449 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 360: What’s Changed Since March 15 The Cloud at Hyperspeed. The World in Flux with Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr, and Rob Bernshteyn, CEO and Founder of CoupaDigital 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/2020-08-0751 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 360: What’s Changed Since March 15 The Cloud at Hyperspeed. The World in Flux with Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr, and Rob Bernshteyn, CEO and Founder of CoupaDigital 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. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-08-0751 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 354: 10 Things I Wish My Board and Investors Had Told Me with Jason Lemkin, CEO, and Founder of SaaStrWhether you've just raised your first round or are in hypergrowth mode, here are the 10 things SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin, wishes his board and investors had told him. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-07-1719 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 353: Unicorns and Decacorns in 2020: What's Changed and What Hasn't with Keith Rabois, General Partner at Founders Fund and Jason Lemkin, CEO, and Founder of SaaStrKeith Rabois (Paypal, Linkedin, Square) and SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin talk about the landscape of SaaS & Cloud fundraising and valuation in 2020. This episode is an excerpt from Keith and Jason’s session at SaaStr Summit: The New New in Venture. Full video: https://youtu.be/KxTZfx_QpjY Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-keith-rabois-and-jason-lemkin/2020-07-1628 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 353: Unicorns and Decacorns in 2020: What's Changed and What Hasn't with Keith Rabois, General Partner at Founders Fund and Jason Lemkin, CEO, and Founder of SaaStrKeith Rabois (Paypal, Linkedin, Square) and SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin talk about the landscape of SaaS & Cloud fundraising and valuation in 2020. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-07-1628 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 352: SaaS Decacorns and The Covid Beneficiaries with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinDecacorns ($10B+ valuation) are everywhere in SaaS, despite the downturn. SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin discusses what the new landscape of SaaS means for you in 2020. Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-chris-oneill-and-jason-lemkin/2020-07-1014 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 352: SaaS Decacorns and The Covid Beneficiaries with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason LemkinDecacorns ($10B+ valuation) are everywhere in SaaS, despite the downturn. SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin discusses what the new landscape of SaaS means for you in 2020. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-07-1014 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 347: Top 10 Questions to Ask a VP of Sales with SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason LemkinReady to hire your first VP Sales? But haven’t done it before? SaaStr CEO, Jason Lemkin shares his interview checklist. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-06-2617 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 346: What Nobody Tells You About Seed Investing, The Inside Scoop with Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures and Jason Lemkin of SaaStrAileen Lee is a U.S. seed investor. A venture capital investor, she is the founder of Cowboy Ventures. Lee coined the often-used Silicon Valley term unicorn in a TechCrunch article "Welcome To The Unicorn Club: Learning from Billion-Dollar Startups." In this episode of the SaaStr podcast, Aileen and SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin take a deep dive on how Aileen finds deals, her tips for a winning pitch, and the state of VC in 2020. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-06-2519 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 346: What Nobody Tells You About Seed Investing, The Inside Scoop with Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures and Jason Lemkin of SaaStrAileen Lee is a U.S. seed investor. A venture capital investor, she is the founder of Cowboy Ventures. Lee coined the often-used Silicon Valley term unicorn in a TechCrunch article "Welcome To The Unicorn Club: Learning from Billion-Dollar Startups." In this episode of the SaaStr podcast, Aileen and SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin take a deep dive on how Aileen finds deals, her tips for a winning pitch, and the state of VC in 2020. This episode is an excerpt from Aileen and Jason’s session at SaaStr Summit: The New New in Venture. Ful...2020-06-2519 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 342: Zapier CEO, Wade Foster, and SaaStr CEO, Jason Lemkin, on Distributed Teams and Building a Cloud ProductOn this episode of the SaaStr podcast, our CEO, Jason Lemkin, chats with Zapier CEO, Wade Foster, on Distributed Teams and Building a Cloud Product. Zapier is a global remote company that allows end-users to integrate the web applications they use. Although Zapier is based in Sunnyvale, California, it employs a workforce of 250 employees located around the United States and in 23 other countries. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-06-1125 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 324: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Bessemer Venture Partners' Partner Byron Deeter on The Current State of Venture Capital & CloudJoin SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Bessemer Venture Partners Partner Byron Deeter for a deep dive on what's going on in Venture Capital and Cloud. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2020-04-0939 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 320: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta on What It Was Like in 2008-2009 and What We Can Expect for 2020We’re obviously in a very unique situation today. The pace at which Corona is impacting us all right now is so fast, it’s hard to keep up. Today is different from other times but in SaaS. It will probably be like ’08-’09 downturn — just faster. Join Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr, and Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, as they take a look back at what happened to them as a SaaS vendor in ’08-’09, and what learnings you can leverage. Get on the email list at cloud.substack...2020-03-2633 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 280: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Mixmax Head of Revenue Don Erwin on The Secrets to Managing a Successful Sales TeamHow do you manage a sales team when you're at a company with both Free and Freemium Sales-Driven Segments? What about SMB vs. Enterprise Sales? SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin sits down with Mixmax's Head of Revenue Don Erwin to discuss it all. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2019-11-0422 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 277: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Shopify Plus GM Loren Padleford on Revenue, Ecosystems and The Right Time to Go UpmarketWhen is the right time to go upmarket and how do you serve small, medium and large customers in the same company. SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin sits down with Shopify Plus GM Loren Padelford to discuss. Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2019-10-2544 min
The JourneyLessons Learned from a Life in SaaS with Jason Lemkin, CEO of SaastrSoftware as a Service is so ubiquitous today that it's hard to remember that CDs were once shipped in physical packages. But Jason Lemkin has been a leader in SaaS from virtually the start. His Startup EchoSign was one of the first in the digital signature space, and after an acquisition from Adobe, he started SaaStr to learn about, educate, and connect the entire SaaS world. With two decades in the space, Jason shared many insights in our interview, more than we could fit into our regular episode. "You have to think in decades for these customers and you hav...2019-10-2253 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 275: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta on Founder Struggles from Imposter Syndrome to VulnerabilitesSaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin sits down with Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta to discuss what it means to be a SaaS leader. What are the day-to-day struggles? The fears and the worries and what it means to be "crushing it" today. If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here: Jason Lemkin SaaStr Nick Mehta This episode is sponsored by Owl Labs.2019-10-1731 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 275: SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta on Founder Struggles from Imposter Syndrome to VulnerabilitesSaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin sits down with Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta to discuss what it means to be a SaaS leader. What are the day-to-day struggles? The fears and the worries and what it means to be "crushing it" today. If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here: Jason Lemkin SaaStr Get on the email list at cloud.substack.com2019-10-1731 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 266: Zoom CMO Janine Pelosi on Why MQLs and SQLs Are Not Helpful As Labels, How To Create Alignment Between Sales and Marketing & How The Role of CMO Has Changed So Dramatically Over The YearsJanine Pelosi is the CMO @ Zoom, the next-generation enterprise phone system. Prior to their very successful IPO, Zoom raised funding from some of the best in the business including Sequoia, Emergence Capital, Horizons Ventures and 2 of my favourites in the form of Matt Ocko @ Data Collective and Dan Scheinman. As for Janine before joining Zoom, she spent 11 years at Cisco where among many incredible achievements she led worldwide demand gen for WebEx and led their worldwide digital marketing team with a $25M annual budget. In Today’s Episode We Discuss: How Janine made her way into...2019-09-1622 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 245: The Ultimate Guide To ACV's; When and How To Increase Them, Revenue Optimisation Per Lead & What It Means To Truly Be An ARR First CompanyDavid Skok is a serial entrepreneur turned VC at Matrix Partners. He founded four companies: Skok Systems, Corporate Software Europe, Watermark Software, and SilverStream Software and did one turnaround with Xionics. Three of the companies he founded went public and one was acquired. Jason Lemkin is the Founder @ SaaStr, the world’s largest SaaS community and leading early-stage SaaS fund with investments in Automile, TalkDesk, Algolia and more. Jason Vandeboom is the Founder of ActiveCampaign, a sales and marketing automation platform that enables small businesses around the world to meaningfully connect and engage with their...2019-06-2426 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 231: Why SQLs and MQLs Are Redundant, Why You Have To Eliminate Hand Offs Between Go-To-Market Teams & Why One North Star For The Whole Company Can Be Damaging with Jason Reichl, Founder & CEO @ GoNimblyJason Reichl is the Founder & CEO @ GoNimbly, the first SaaS consultancy to focus on revenue operations. Currently growing 100% year over year, working with companies to un-silo their operations and create one strategic revenue ops team to support their Go To Market strategy. In the past, Go Nimbly has helped companies like Zendesk, Twilio, PagerDuty and Coursera to achieve alignment and increase revenue by 26%. As for Jason, prior to co-founding GoNimbly, he was Director of Product Management @ TradeShift and before that was VP of Product Management @ Lanetix. In Today’s Episode We Discuss: How Jason made his...2019-05-0626 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 215: Qualtrics Co-Founder and CEO Ryan Smith on The Things Nobody Tells You About an $8 Billion AcquisitionQualtrics Co-Founder and CEO Ryan Smith sits down with SaaStr Founder and CEO Jason Lemkin as Ryan reflects on the survey software maker's acquisition by SAP this year. The company was acquired this November in an $8B deal ahead of its planned IPO. This is SaaStr’s founder favorites series where you can hear some of the best of the best of SaaStr Annual’s Speakers. Missed the session? Here’s what Jason and Ryan talk about: Why did Qualtrics turn down a $500M acquisition offer in 2012? What did Qualtrics’ path to fundraising look like? How...2019-03-0720 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 212: Who Must Fundamentally Own Renewals Within Your Organisation, Why Burying Customer Success Under Sales Does Not Work & The Biggest Truisms On Talent That Are False and So Dangerous with Nick Mehta, CEO @ GainsightNick Mehta is the CEO @ Gainsight, the #1 customer success platform for corporate services, turning your customers into your best growth engine. To date Gainsight have raised over $156m from some of the world’s best VCs in the form of Lightspeed, Bessemer, Insight Venture Partners, Battery Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. As for Nick, prior to Gainsight he was the CEO @ LiveOffice where he grew cloud archiving ARR from $2m in 2008 to $25m in 2011 and drove and negotiated the acquisition by Symantec for $115m in cash. Before LiveOffice Nick was Senior Director of Product Management @ Symantec where he led $378 MM...2019-02-1938 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 207: 13 Years To 20 People; 3 Years Later 350 People and $50m ARR, Why Thinking There Is A Price Point You Need For A Rep Is BS & Why SMB First Works And You Must Not Design For EnterpriseJason VandeBoom is the Founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign, a sales and marketing automation platform that enables small businesses around the world to meaningfully connect and engage with their customers. Jason founded the company in 2003 and under Jason's leadership, ActiveCampaign has flourished from a successful but small company and then in 2013, they transition to SaaS, since they have grown to more than $50 million in ARR in less than five years, while still maintaining profitability and its culture. They have also only raised a single $20m PE round to accelerate their growth, making them a market leader in terms of...2019-01-1530 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 201: How To Prioritise Your Sales Pipeline, Why You Should Spend Your Time on the 10% Least Likely Leads & Why The Secret To Success In Sales Is "Calls Between The Calls" with Hannah Willson, VP Sales @ Rainforest QAHannah Willson is the VP of Sales @ Rainforest QA, the on-demand QA solution that allows companies to discover problems that affect the customer experience before the code hits production. To date, Rainforest have raised over $40m in funding from some of the very best in SaaS including the legendary Byron Deeter @ Bessemer, Jason Lemkin @ SaaStr, Marc Benioff himself, Andreesen Horowitz and YC. As for Hannah, she has over 10 years of experience leading sales and customer teams at both startups and publicly traded companies including seeing the first hand hyper-growth of Zenefits in their heyday and being VP of BD...2018-11-1928 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 184: Step by Step Guide To Scaling Your Sales Team, Why Founders Need To Spend More Time On Top of Funnel & Why Discounting Is A Great Tool with Sam Blond, Chief Sales Officer @ BrexSam Blond is Chief Sales Officer @ Brex, the startup that provides corporate cards for startups. To date they have raised over $57m in funding from the likes of Y Combinator, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Yuri Milner, Elad Gil and many more incredible names. Prior to Brex, Sam Was Chief Revenue Officer at Rainforest QA. Before Rainforest, Sam saw firsthand the hypergrowth scaling of Zenefits as VP of Sales where he saw the company grow from 18 employees and $1m in ARR to over 1,800 employees and over $70m in ARR. Sam got his start in the SaaS industry with Jason Lemkin...2018-07-1630 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 180: David Skok on Why You Should Not Focus On CAC/LTV In The Early Days, What Is The Right Way To Analyse Sales Rep Productivity & The Leading Indicators Early Stage VCs Use to Assess Product Market FitDavid Skok is a serial entrepreneur turned VC at Matrix Partners. He founded four companies: Skok Systems, Corporate Software Europe, Watermark Software, and SilverStream Software and did one turnaround with Xionics. Three of the companies he founded went public and one was acquired. In 2001 David joined Matrix Partners, who had backed his last two startups, as a General Partner. David’s successful exits as an investor at Matrix include: HubSpot, JBoss, AppIQ, Tabblo, Netezza, Diligent Technologies, CloudSwitch, TribeHR, GrabCAD, OpenSpan and Enservio. David currently serves on the boards of Atomist, CloudBees, Digium, Meteor, Namely HR, Salsify, and Zaius. You...2018-06-1830 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 175: Lemkin's Lesson on How To Approach Long Sales Cycles, When Is The Right Time For A Founder To Take A Step Back From Selling & How To Deal With Being Cloned with Jason Lemkin, Founder @ SaaStrJason Lemkin is the Founder @ SaaStr, the world’s largest SaaS event with over 20,000 of the world’s best SaaS founders and investors attending every year. Jason also invests from SaaStr’s debut $70m fund and has made prior investments in the likes of Algolia, TalkDesk, MixMax, Rainforest QA and many more incredible companies. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How does Jason think founders should approach long sales cycles in the early days? Why does Jason believe that ultimately long sales cycles do not matter? What can the truly great VPs do to impact...2018-05-1418 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 175: Lemkin's Lesson on How To Approach Long Sales Cycles, When Is The Right Time For A Founder To Take A Step Back From Selling & How To Deal With Being Cloned with Jason Lemkin, Founder @ SaaStrJason Lemkin is the Founder @ SaaStr, the world’s largest SaaS event with over 20,000 of the world’s best SaaS founders and investors attending every year. Jason also invests from SaaStr’s debut $70m fund and has made prior investments in the likes of Algolia, TalkDesk, MixMax, Rainforest QA and many more incredible companies. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How does Jason think founders should approach long sales cycles in the early days? Why does Jason believe that ultimately long sales cycles do not matter? What can the truly great VPs do to impact those lo...2018-05-1418 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 173: Lemkin's Lesson on What To Look For In Your First Sales Reps, How to Approach Variable Compensation, The Right Way To Acquire Customers When Starting Paid Marketing and more with Jason Lemkin, Founder @ SaaStrJason Lemkin is the Founder @ SaaStr, the world’s largest SaaS event with over 20,000 of the world’s best SaaS founders and investors attending every year. Jason also invests from SaaStr’s debut $70m fund and has made prior investments in the likes of Algolia, TalkDesk, MixMax, Rainforest QA and many more incredible companies. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: When is the right time to hire your first sales rep? What characteristics must those sales have? Why does Jason believe it is impossible to poach a rockstar from another fast scaling startup? Should you...2018-04-3016 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 173: Lemkin's Lesson on What To Look For In Your First Sales Reps, How to Approach Variable Compensation, The Right Way To Acquire Customers When Starting Paid Marketing and more with Jason Lemkin, Founder @ SaaStrJason Lemkin is the Founder @ SaaStr, the world’s largest SaaS event with over 20,000 of the world’s best SaaS founders and investors attending every year. Jason also invests from SaaStr’s debut $70m fund and has made prior investments in the likes of Algolia, TalkDesk, MixMax, Rainforest QA and many more incredible companies. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: When is the right time to hire your first sales rep? What characteristics must those sales have? Why does Jason believe it is impossible to poach a rockstar from another fast scaling startup? Should you then hir...2018-04-3016 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 136: What Role Should The CEO Play With The Marketing Strategy, What Do CEOs Most Often Get Wrong About CMOs & What Makes The Optimal CEO-CMO Relationship with Stacey Epstein, CEO @ ZincStacey Epstein is the CEO @ Zinc, the secure communications platform for workers in front of customers, not computers. They have backing from some of the best in SaaS investing including the likes of Jason Green @ Emergence, CRV with George Zachary and GE Ventures. Prior to Zinc, Stacey was CMO at Banjo. Before Banjo, Stacey was CMO at ServiceMax where she helped fuel 5 consecutive years of triple-digit growth. Finally, before ServiceMax, Stacey was the Vice President of Global Marketing Communications at SuccessFactors. During her tenure with SuccessFactors, Stacey pioneered the marketing function in 2005, and was instrumental in the company’s...2017-07-3124 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 131: The Secret To Selling To SMBs & Creating A Sales Model That Scales with Jens Nylander, Founder & CEO @ AutomileJens Nylander is the Founder and CEO @ Automile, the startup that makes fleet and asset management much much easier. They have backing from some of the best in the business including Godfather of SaaS himself Jason Lemkin, the wonderful team at Point Nine, Justin Kan and Dawn Capital in London. As for Jens, he really is a serial entrepreneur with past endeavours including creating Sweden’s largest music player and founding Jays, the manufacturer and developer of innovative headphones that went public and is listed on the NASDAQ. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How...2017-06-2622 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 128: Algolia's Nicolas Dessaigne on The Journey To $10m in ARR, Why You Must Separate The Work You Do From The Culture You Build & How To Successfully Create A Developer CommunityNicolas Dessaigne is the Founder & CEO @ Algolia, the most reliable platform for building search into your business. Just last week they raised $53m in funding led by Accel with participation from Jason Lemkin @ SaaStr, Point Nine Capital, AppDynamic’s Jyoti Bansal, Intercom’s Des Traynor and InVision’s Clark Valberg and more incredible investors. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How Nicolas made his way to YC and came to found Algolia? What are the key things that change when you cross the 10m in ARR milestone? What have been the fundamental learnings in the...2017-06-1220 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 127: Why $1-2m ARR Is Not The Hardest Phase Of A SaaS Startup, Why Your Developer Talent Pipeline Is Broken & How To Approach Regrettable and Non-Regrettable Churn with Ryan Carson, Founder & CEO @ TreehouseRyan Carson is the Founder & CEO @ Treehouse the startup that teaches you to code and learn the skills needed to launch a new career. They have backing from some of the best investors in the business including the likes of Social Capital, Greylock Partners and then notable individuals such as Reid Hoffman, Josh Elman and Mark Suster just to name a few. As for Ryan, prior to Treehouse he was the creator of famous The Future of Web Apps Conference, showing his unparalleled access to the top tier of West Coast founders. Due to the success of the conference...2017-06-0524 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 122: How To Successfully Scale The 1-10 Customer Phase Of Any SaaS Business, The True Signs Of A Great Sales Person & How To Analyse NPS Effectively with Edith Harbaugh, Founder & CEO @ LaunchDarklyEdith Harbaugh is the Founder & CEO @ LaunchDarkly, the startup that allows you to fearlessly and swiftly release software by separating feature rollout from code deployment. They have raised over $10m in funding from many previous guests of The Twenty Minute VC including Andy McLoughlin @ SoftTech, Josh Stein @ DFJ and the wonderful team at Bloomberg Beta. As for Edith, prior to LaunchDarkly, she was a Director of Product @ Tripit and Concur. Edith also holds two patents in deployment from her time in engineering at Vignette. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How Edith made her way...2017-05-1525 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 108: Growing To $500m In ARR & How To Hit 7 Figure Sales with Veeva Systems Founder, Peter GassnerPeter Gassner is the Founder & CEO @ Veeva Systems, the industry cloud for life science systems. With just $4m in capital raised, Peter has taken Veeva to almost $500m in ARR and a prominent force in the rising tide of enterprise SaaS. As for Peter, prior to Veeva, Peter was a Senior Vice President of Technology at Salesforce where he experienced the successful IPO of the company and their rise into the most successful SaaS platform in the industry. Before Salesforce, Peter was with PeopleSoft for 9 years where he led a team of 450 professionals to support PeopleSoft’s technology platform...2017-03-2722 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 103: Why You Must Sell Your Product Before It's Done Being Built, Why Product-Organisation Fit Is Key & Why The Best Sales Process Is The Customer Success Process with Matin Movassate, Founder & CEO @ HeapMatin Movasatte is the Founder and CEO @ Heap. the startup that provides analytics infrastructure to automate away the annoying parts of user analytics. They have raised funding from some of the best in the business including our friends and former guests of The Twenty Minute VC including Pejman Nozad, Alexis and Garry @ Initialized, Josh Reeves at Gusto, Redpoint and more incredible investors. As for Matin, prior to Heap Matin was a product manager at Facebook and spent time at both Google and Mozilla. I would like to say a big thank you to Jason Lemkin for the intro today.2017-03-1022 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 091: Jason Lemkin on Why Hire Fast Fire Fast is BS, Why He Never Invests In Quarterly MRR & Why The Key Is Successful ReinventionJason Lemkin is the Founder and VC @ SaaStr, or more accurately put Jason is a 2x founder, 1x VC, and constant SaaS enthusiast. He led or sourced the first VC investments in many leading enterprise/SaaS start-ups, Greenhouse.io, Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, RainforestQA, Automile, and more. He is also an advisor or smaller investor in Showpad, FrontApp, Influitive, BetterWorks, and other SaaS leaders. Jason has co-founded two successful start-ups selling to the enterprise. Before SaaStr and VC investing, he was CEO and co-founder of EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service, from inception through its acquisition by...2017-01-2015 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 091: Jason Lemkin on Why Hire Fast Fire Fast is BS, Why He Never Invests In Quarterly MRR & Why The Key Is Successful ReinventionJason Lemkin is the Founder and VC @ SaaStr, or more accurately put Jason is a 2x founder, 1x VC, and constant SaaS enthusiast. He led or sourced the first VC investments in many leading enterprise/SaaS start-ups, Greenhouse.io, Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, RainforestQA, Automile, and more. He is also an advisor or smaller investor in Showpad, FrontApp, Influitive, BetterWorks, and other SaaS leaders. Jason has co-founded two successful start-ups selling to the enterprise. Before SaaStr and VC investing, he was CEO and co-founder of EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service, from inception through its acquisition by Ado...2017-01-2015 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 090: SaaStr's Own Jason Lemkin on The Specific Characteristics Jason Looks For In Founders? What Levels Of ACV Suggest The Potential For A Unicorn? Why Founders Always Undersell & How You Should Hire Your First Sales Reps?Jason Lemkin is the Founder and VC @ SaaStr, or more accurately put Jason is a 2x founder, 1x VC, and constant SaaS enthusiast. He led or sourced the first VC investments in many leading enterprise/SaaS start-ups, Greenhouse.io, Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, RainforestQA, Automile, and more. He is also an advisor or smaller investor in Showpad, FrontApp, Influitive, BetterWorks, and other SaaS leaders. Jason has co-founded two successful start-ups selling to the enterprise. Before SaaStr and VC investing, he was CEO and co-founder of EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service, from inception through its acquisition by...2017-01-1624 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 090: SaaStr's Own Jason Lemkin on The Specific Characteristics Jason Looks For In Founders? What Levels Of ACV Suggest The Potential For A Unicorn? Why Founders Always Undersell & How You Should Hire Your First Sales Reps?Jason Lemkin is the Founder and VC @ SaaStr, or more accurately put Jason is a 2x founder, 1x VC, and constant SaaS enthusiast. He led or sourced the first VC investments in many leading enterprise/SaaS start-ups, Greenhouse.io, Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, RainforestQA, Automile, and more. He is also an advisor or smaller investor in Showpad, FrontApp, Influitive, BetterWorks, and other SaaS leaders. Jason has co-founded two successful start-ups selling to the enterprise. Before SaaStr and VC investing, he was CEO and co-founder of EchoSign, the web’s most popular electronic signature service, from inception through its acquisition by Ado...2017-01-1624 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 073: David Skok Part 2: What Is Negative Churn? How To Get Different ACV's From The Same Product? Should Customer Success Be Involved In The Up Sell Process?Part 2 with David Skok, now David is a serial entrepreneur turned VC at Matrix Partners. He founded four companies: Skok Systems, Corporate Software Europe, Watermark Software, and SilverStream Software and did one turnaround with Xionics. Three of the companies he founded went public and one was acquired. In 2001 David joined Matrix Partners, who had backed his last two startups, as a General Partner. David’s successful exits as an investor at Matrix include: HubSpot, JBoss, AppIQ, Tabblo, Netezza, Diligent Technologies, CloudSwitch, TribeHR, GrabCAD, OpenSpan and Enservio. David currently serves on the boards of Atomist, CloudBees, Digium, Meteor, Namely HR...2016-11-1115 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 072 Part 1: David Skok, SaaS Legend on How Long Should Your Payback Period Be, How To Assess Sales Rep Productivity & What Is A Good LTV In Relation To CACDavid Skok is a serial entrepreneur turned VC at Matrix Partners. He founded four companies: Skok Systems, Corporate Software Europe, Watermark Software, and SilverStream Software and did one turnaround with Xionics. Three of the companies he founded went public and one was acquired. In 2001 David joined Matrix Partners, who had backed his last two startups, as a General Partner. David’s successful exits as an investor at Matrix include: HubSpot, JBoss, AppIQ, Tabblo, Netezza, Diligent Technologies, CloudSwitch, TribeHR, GrabCAD, OpenSpan and Enservio. David currently serves on the boards of Atomist, CloudBees, Digium, Meteor, Namely HR, Salsify, and Zaius. You...2016-11-0729 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 071: 5 Steps To Building A Cohesive Team & How Founders Should Structure Off-Sites with Taro Fukuyama, Founder & CEO @ AnyPerkTaro Fukuyama is Founder & CEO @ AnyPerk. Born and raised in Tokyo, Taro is a Y Combinator graduate with AnyPerk and part of the first Japanese team ever to be admitted to YC. He was also named one of Business Insider’s “Silicon Valley 100 Coolest People in Tech Right Now.”Fun fact, Taro co-founded AnyPerk in a Taco Bell car park! What a story! They also have investment from the likes of DCM, YC, Gary Vaynerchuk, previous SaaStr guest Nick Mehta and many more incredible people. I would also like to say a huge thanks to Jason lemkin for the...2016-11-0422 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 068: Flexport's Ryan Petersen on Why NPS Is The Most Important Metric, How To Structure Internal Compensation Schemes & How To Implement @ Bottoms Up Decision Making OrganisationRyan Petersen is the Founder and CEO of Flexport, the freight forwarder for the internet age. Flexport recently raised a phenomenal $65m Series B from the likes of Founders Fund, First Round, Felicis, Bloomberg Beta, Yuri Milner, Susa Ventures and more incredible investors. With none other than YC founder Paul Graham stating ‘Ryan has the rare ability to not just satisfy the market but grow it’. Prior to Flexport, Ryan was Founder and CEO of ImportGenius.com, the largest provider of business intelligence to the import-export industry. A huge hand to Chad Byers @ Susa and Jason Lemkin for the...2016-10-2422 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 067: Gusto's Joshua Reeves on How To Optimise The Hiring & Interview Process, How To Build Create An Ownership Culture & Why Every 6 Months A Company Becomes A New CompanyJosh Reeves is the Founder and CEO @ Gusto. Gusto reimagines payroll, benefits, HR, and personal finance and it is this reimagination that has led to their recent addition to the unicorn club with investors including Google Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Data Collective and General Catalyst, just to name a few. As for Josh, he was selected for the 2012 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Prior to co-founding Gusto, he was the CEO and co-founder of Unwrap, a SaaS startup which was acquired in 2010, and he began his career as an early employee at Zazzle. I would also like to give a big hand...2016-10-2123 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 063: The Sales Script That Increases Conversion By 80%, How To Optimise Events Increasing Leads & Demos & How Bootstrapped Startups Can Scale Teams Alongside Revenue with Brandon Bruce, Founder & COO @ Cirrus InsightBrandon Bruce is the Co-Founder and COO @ Cirrus Insight, the plugin for Gmail and Outlook that automatically updates Salesforce as you work. Cirrus is a bootstrapped startup with triple-digit yearly growth since it's founding 4 years ago and has grown from 2 co-founders in 2011 to a team of 55 people today. And I have to say a huge thanks to Aaron Ross, Author @ Predictable Revenue for the intro to Brandon today. Likewise, if you want to join me and Jason for mojitos at SaaStr Annual 2017 and also want an incredible 20% off ticket prices, then all you have to do is click here!2016-10-0729 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 051: Hire Slow & Fire Fast & Why scaling Product Is All About Consistency with Kristen Koh Goldstein @ HireAthenaKristen Koh Goldstein is the Co-Founder @ HireAthena, the on demand workforce specialising in accounting, HR and payroll. Prior to Hire Athena, Kristen was the Co-Founder @ Scalus, where she raised millions of dollars in venture capital from top VCs including Google Ventures and Sherpa Capital. Before that Kristen was the Co-Founder @ BackOps, the world’s fastest growing back office solution. If you enjoy the show with Kristen today and would like to join Jason and I @ SaaStr Annual 2017 next year, then all you have to do is checkout SaaStr and buy your tickets for SaaStr Annual 2017. In Today’...2016-08-2625 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 047: How To Increase Leads & Conversion Through Optimising Your Marketing Funnel with Meagen Eisenberg, CMO @ MongoDBToday’s episode is taken from SaaStr Annual 2016, featuring Meagen Eisenberg, CMO at MongoDB and former VP Demand Gen at DocuSign, sharing her playbook for optimizing the funnel at every stage and converting leads into real, paying customers. If you want to join me and Jason @ SaaStr 2017 then head to saastr.com where you can buy tickets. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: Why you need to think about more than just pipeline? What are the other elements of the funnel you should focus on? How to optimise your forms for data capture...2016-08-1231 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 046: Predictable Revenue’s Aaron Ross on The Importance of Sales Specialisation and How Companies Scale Into Hyper-Growth mode?Aaron Ross is the author of the best selling book, Predictable Revenue, providing the framework for the outbound process & sales team Aaron created for Salesforce.com. During his time at Salesforce as Director of Corporate Development and Acquisitions, he added an extra $100 million in revenue in just a few years. In today’s show we discuss his and Jason Lemkin’s fantastic new book, From Impossible To Inevitable, which outlines how hyper growth companies create predictable revenue? If you are a founder asking why aren’t we growing faster, how do we go into hyper-growth mode and then how...2016-08-0823 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 043: Why You Should Focus More On Upsell Than Customer Acquisition & Forget The MBA, Take A Psychology Degree with Kirsten Helvey, COO @ Cornerstone On DemandToday we bring you one of the highlights from SaaStr Annual 2016 with Jason Lemkin talking to Kirsten Helvey, COO of Cornerstone Ondemand, a cloud-based learning and talent management solutions provider. in the episode Kirsten discusses her 11 years of experience with rising up in the ranks from employee #30 to her current position in the company, which is now 1500-strong, it is a phenomenal scaling story and so many insights nuggets of wisdom from Kirsten here. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: Why you should always be thinking about building, no matter the scale? ...2016-07-2929 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 041: Hubspot's Dharmesh Shah onToday we bring you a highlight from SaaStr Annual 2016 featuring a conversation between Hubspot's Dharmesh Shah and SaaStr's own Jason Lemkin. Prior to founding HubSpot in 2006, Dharmesh was founder and CEO of Pyramid Digital Solutions, which was acquired by SunGard Data Systems in 2005. In addition to co-authoring “Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs”,Dharmesh published HubSpot’s Culture Code, which has garnered over 2.5 million views on SlideShare. Named an Inc. Founders 40 in 2016, he is an active member of the Boston-area entrepreneurial community, an angel investor in over 60 startups, and a frequent speaker on startups and...2016-07-2229 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 038: Rainforest QA's Fred Stevens-Smith on Firing Fast, The Transition From Founder To CEO & Why You Should Spend The Most Time with Your Highest PerformersFred Stevens-Smith is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Rainforest QA, which if you listened to 20VC with Byron Deeter, you will remember he discussed them and their amazing trajectory. So for QA first, it is essentially QA as a service making it fast and easy to test your webapp in multiple browsers and they are backed by some of the best as we said there Byron Deeter @ Bessemer, our own Jason Lemkin, Y Combinator, previous guest Kris Duggan @ Betterworks and Marc Benioff just to name a few. As for Fred he is the man at the helm as Co-Founder & CEO and...2016-07-1130 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 037: Why The Whole SaaS Pricing Model Is Going To Change with Quang Hoang, Co-Founder @ BirdlyQuang Hoang is the Co- Founder @ Birdly, Birdly are convinced by the power of messaging within organizations, they decided to build a broader service that connects your favorite business softwares to messaging apps. It is this vision that has led to them being named one of the hottest startups from YC Winter 2016 batch and has led to funding from some of the best in the industry including our own Jason lemkin, Slack, previous guest Nicolas Dessaigne and prestigious french investors Alven Capital and Partech Ventures. In Today’s Episode with Quang We Discuss: How did Quang...2016-07-0821 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 036: Point Nine's Christoph Janz on The War For Talent, When To Move To The US & The Importance Of Local InvestorsChristoph Janz is the Co-Founder and the Managing Partner @ Point Nine Capital, one of Europe’s best early stage venture funds and Christoph himself specializes in all things SaaS at Point Nine and has made more than 20 SaaS startup investments. Prior to Point Nine, Christoph co-founded two Internet startups and in 2008, became an angel investor and discovered Zendesk, which was his first angel investment. Also if you would like to congratulate Jason for the raising of the incredible new SaaStr Fund then you can click here to send him a congratulations tweet. In Today’s Episode with...2016-07-0427 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 035: Matt Garratt on The Strategy Behind Salesforce VenturesMatt Garratt currently runs Salesforce Ventures with the mandate to build out salesforce’s ecosystem of partners with equity investments. Matt has led key strategic investments at Salesforce in companies such as former guests Gainsight, and Invoca as well as Anaplan and Insidesales.com just to name a few. Prior to salesforce Matt was a VP at the prestigious SaaS investor Battery Ventures. Also in the show today we mention Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross new book From Impossible to Inevitable: How Hypergrowth Companies Create Predictable Revenue and if you have not read that, that is a must and...2016-07-0122 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 030: Building & Training a Non-Technical Sales Team & Why A Heavy Inbound Model Is Like 'Driving A Racecar' with Harry Glaser, Co-Founder @ Periscope DataI am delighted to welcome my first ever Harry to the show today in the form of Harry Glaser, Co-Founder & CEO @ Periscope Data, the worlds fast analysis suite providing data analysts with the tools they need to improve their analysis by over 150X and an astonishing fact here they have doubled their revenue every 3 months ever since launch. Periscope’s investors include Ellen Pao, Matt Ocko @ Data Collective, Chad Byers @ Susa Ventures, Wes Chan @ Felicis, Benjamin Ling at Khosla and many more. Also in the show today we mention Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross new book From Impossible to...2016-06-1324 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 029: Having Jason Lemkin As An Investor & Selling Sexy SaaS To The Legal Space with Andy Wilson, Founder & CEO @ LogikcullAndy Wilson is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Logikcull, where he really is the visionary behind Logikcull’s product and marketing strategy focusing on simplifying and democratizing the discovery process into three simple steps: upload > search > download. Andy leads the company it its mission to put an end to eDiscovery with the use of Discovery Automation. In Today’s Episode with Andy We Discuss: The origin story of Logikcull for Andy and what a-ha moment was for him? How did Andy approach the transition from service based business to SaaS business? Does the increase of customer success...2016-06-1024 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaaStr 020: What Do Salesforce Look For In Potential Investments with John Somorjai, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development & Salesforce VenturesTo Commemorate the 3 month anniversary of the best conference ever, SaaStr Annual 2016. We thought we would take a trip back to the conference with one of our favourite discussions featuring Jason Lemkin, Founder @ SaaStr and John Somorjai, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development & Salesforce Ventures. Salesforce Ventures invests in the next generation of enterprise technology. The Salesforce Ventures portfolio includes companies such as Box, DocuSign, Dropbox, Evernote, GainSight, MongoDB, MuleSoft, Stripe, SurveyMonkey, Twilio, and Xactly. Salesforce.com has invested in more than 150 enterprise cloud startups in 11 countries since 2009. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: What...2016-05-0927 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaastr 009: What Makes A Truly Great SaaS CEO with Josh Stein @ DFJThis episode was recorded at Saastr Annual 2016 featuring Jason Lemkin, Founder @ Saastr and Josh Stein, Partner @ DFJ. For those that do not know, Josh is arguably one of the most successful investors in the SaaS space having backed the likes of Box, Twilio, Yammer and many more from the very earliest of stages.In Today's Show We Cover:What is the fundamental differing between a great and a good CEO in SaaS?Is it possible to learn to become a great CEO?What did Aaron Levie do to enable Box to...2016-04-0117 min
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | InvestorsSaastr 008: Hiring 101 with Keith Rabois @ OpenDoor & Khosla VenturesThis episode was recorded at Saastr Annual 2016 and it is an incredible conversation whereby Jason Lemkin deep dives into the career and wisdom of Keith Rabois. For those that do not know, Keith is a legend of the tech industry having helped build some of the most important companies in Silicon Valley including Paypal, Square and Linkedin. He is also a very prominent VC with Khosla Ventures and has recently rejoined the world of operations, looking to disrupt the world of property with OpenDoor.For your chance to win a signed copy of Jason's new book...2016-03-2833 min