The SaaS Revolution Show

From Zero to IPO: Lessons in Scaling Mimecast with Peter Bauer and Ari Helgason


Listen Later

Back in 2003, tech wasn’t exactly having its most glorious days. The bitter taste of the dot-com crash was still pungent. Few entrepreneurs would be blamed for not willing to take a punt by starting a new tech company. Peter Bauer, however, didn’t succumb to that too much. He sensed SaaS would outlive that and become the next big thing.

Peter placed a bet on a cloud-based email management system and Mimecast was born.

From the early days, Mimecast defied rules and expectations. While everyone advised Peter to focus on just one aspect of email, he and his co-founder were religious about creating a supercategory.

15 years on the journey, Peter has had the rare chance to lead the company through all stages, including an IPO. He knows equally well the problems of having 5k in the bank and 35 people on the payroll as well as having 140 million in the bank and figuring what is next.

Listen on to hear:

  • How does the thinking behind the product change over time
  • How do you know it’s time to move to a new market
  • How Mimecast kept the cultural cohesion as it scaled
  • What is the best way to approach compensation
  • Which is the toughest stage on the journey and how to prepare for it
  • P.S.

    This conversation was part of a fantastic first stop of SaaStock on Tour in London. The next stop on SaaStock on Tour is Paris on May 3rd. Find out more information https://www.saastock.com/ontour

     

     

     

    Check out the other ways SaaStock is helping SaaS founders move their business forward: 

    🇮🇪 SaaStock Europe: 14-15 October 2025 | Dublin, Ireland
    Book you tickets: https://saastock-europe.com/tickets/

    🇺🇸 SaaStock USA 2025: April 2026 | Austin, Texas
    Join the waitlist: https://saastock-usa.com/

    🤝 SaaStock Founder Membership: A private members group of B2B SaaS founders between $100K - $10M ARR who are committed to growth and helping others (https://www.saastock.com/founder-membership/)

    🌎 SaaStock Local: Monthly meet-ups in cities all around the world, bringing together SaaS enthusiasts and experts to discuss the most pressing topics in SaaS (https://local.saastock.com/home)

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    The SaaS Revolution ShowBy The SaaS Revolution Show, Alex Theuma

    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4

    4.4

    27 ratings


    More shows like The SaaS Revolution Show

    View all
    This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

    This Week in Startups

    1,273 Listeners

    Startups For the Rest of Us by Rob Walling

    Startups For the Rest of Us

    693 Listeners

    a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

    a16z Podcast

    1,030 Listeners

    The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship by Omer Khan

    The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship

    181 Listeners

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

    517 Listeners

    The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors by SaaStr

    The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

    175 Listeners

    Founders by David Senra

    Founders

    1,877 Listeners

    How I Built This with Guy Raz by Guy Raz | Wondery

    How I Built This with Guy Raz

    30,217 Listeners

    Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

    Masters of Scale

    3,995 Listeners

    Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

    Y Combinator Startup Podcast

    217 Listeners

    REWORK by 37signals

    REWORK

    211 Listeners

    My First Million by Hubspot Media

    My First Million

    2,616 Listeners

    The Startup Ideas Podcast by Greg Isenberg

    The Startup Ideas Podcast

    198 Listeners

    Marketing Against The Grain by Hubspot Media

    Marketing Against The Grain

    352 Listeners

    AI Explored by Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner—AI marketing

    AI Explored

    78 Listeners