In Depth

A masterclass in founder conviction | Eilon Reshef (Co-founder and CPO at Gong)


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Eilon Reshef is the co-founder and CPO at Gong, an AI-powered platform that tracks, records, and analyzes sales calls to drive revenue growth. In 2021, Gong raised $250M at a $7.25B valuation. Gong was one of the fastest SaaS companies to hit $100m ARR, and now has over 4000 customers. Before Gong, Eilon sold his previous e-commerce startup, Webcollage.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

  • Why Eilon was so bullish on recording sales calls
  • How Gong knew they had product market fit
  • The importance of design partners
  • Expanding into multi-product offerings
  • Lessons from riding the AI wave since 2015
  • The future of AI in B2B sales efficiency
  • Referenced:

    • Act-On Software: https://act-on.com/
    • Amit Bendov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbendov/
    • BlueJeans: https://www.bluejeans.com/
    • Crossing the Chasm: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Geoffrey-Moore/dp/0062292986
    • Gong: https://www.gong.io/
    • Mistral: https://mistral.ai/
    • OpenAI: https://openai.com/
    • Salesforce: https://salesforce.com/
    • Webcollage: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/webcollage
    • Webex: https://www.webex.com/
    • Zoom: https://zoom.us/
    • Where to find Eilon Reshef:

      • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilonreshef/

      Where to find Todd Jackson:

      • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddj0/
      • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/tjack
      • Where to find First Round Capital:

        • Website: https://firstround.com/
        • First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/
        • Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstround
        • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital
        • This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast
        • Timestamps:

          (00:00) Introduction

          (02:32) Eilon’s unwavering conviction in Gong

          (09:34) Initial reactions to Gong’s demo

          (13:48) Keeping the beta lean

          (15:33) Gong’s monetization strategy

          (16:38) Early signs of product market fit

          (18:14) The importance of design partners to Gong’s growth

          (21:52) Why VCs were afraid to invest

          (23:43) Reaching 100 customers

          (26:10) Eilon’s unique product roadmap framework

          (28:22) Going from $2M to $9M ARR in one year

          (29:02) The journey to multi-product

          (30:52) How Gong measures success

          (34:07) Lessons from building AI products for sales

          (37:45) Predicting the future of B2B sales

          (38:48) The concept of “raving fans”

          (39:31) Why it’s “easier” for second-time founders

          (42:00) Eilon’s favorite books

          (42:45) Gong in 2024

          ...more
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