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Pendo CEO on category creation, differentiated platforms, pricing MAUs, and more | Todd Olson
In this episode of Second Acts, Krish is joined by Todd Olson, CEO and Founder of Pendo.
Todd talks about: why investors pushed him to sell to marketers in 2013 but he stubbornly built for product managers instead (a persona without a proven budget line), the decade-long journey of creating a new category from scratch, why raising minimum price from $99/m to $1,500/m overnight accelerated their growth, the platform vision that's been core to Pendo since 2014 and Todd’s "innovate at the intersections" philosophy, how AI is fundamentally reshaping product analytics (as "the incremental value of a click" has declined in the post-ChatGPT era), the innovator's dilemma facing scale-ups today, lessons from Bill Walsh's The Score Takes Care of Itself and why leading indicators matter more than lagging ones, running one’s own race, and so much more.
—
Chapters:
00:00 - Episode highlights
01:51 - Episode intro
04:25 - How Pendo created a budget line item
08:14 - Questions for AI-native product teams
10:14 - Devs vs PMs: JTBDs and inclinations
13:24 - New paradigms for product analytics
21:14 - Why charge for MAUs?
22:21 - A trajectory-shifting price change
27:19 - “We’ve been a platform since 2014”
31:57 - Differentiating on intersections
37:21 - Living the innovator’s dilemma
43:19 - “Run your own race”
46:24 - The Score Takes Care of Itself
—
Referenced:
Amp It Up (Frank Slootman)
Marty Kagan
Silicon Valley Product Group
Receptive (acquired by Pendo)
Crossing the Chasm (Geoffrey Moore)
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Claude Code
Lovable
Airtable:
Intercom:
Net Promoter Score
Product Operating Model
Innovator's Dilemma (Clayton Christensen):
The Score Takes Care of Itself (Bill Walsh)
—
Connect with Todd:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddolson/
—
Connect with Krish:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishs/
X: https://x.com/cbkrish
—
About Chargebee:
Chargebee helps thousands of recurring revenue businesses unlock second acts of scale with transformative billing, monetization, and growth infra.
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By ChargebeeIn this episode of Second Acts, Krish is joined by Todd Olson, CEO and Founder of Pendo.
Todd talks about: why investors pushed him to sell to marketers in 2013 but he stubbornly built for product managers instead (a persona without a proven budget line), the decade-long journey of creating a new category from scratch, why raising minimum price from $99/m to $1,500/m overnight accelerated their growth, the platform vision that's been core to Pendo since 2014 and Todd’s "innovate at the intersections" philosophy, how AI is fundamentally reshaping product analytics (as "the incremental value of a click" has declined in the post-ChatGPT era), the innovator's dilemma facing scale-ups today, lessons from Bill Walsh's The Score Takes Care of Itself and why leading indicators matter more than lagging ones, running one’s own race, and so much more.
—
Chapters:
00:00 - Episode highlights
01:51 - Episode intro
04:25 - How Pendo created a budget line item
08:14 - Questions for AI-native product teams
10:14 - Devs vs PMs: JTBDs and inclinations
13:24 - New paradigms for product analytics
21:14 - Why charge for MAUs?
22:21 - A trajectory-shifting price change
27:19 - “We’ve been a platform since 2014”
31:57 - Differentiating on intersections
37:21 - Living the innovator’s dilemma
43:19 - “Run your own race”
46:24 - The Score Takes Care of Itself
—
Referenced:
Amp It Up (Frank Slootman)
Marty Kagan
Silicon Valley Product Group
Receptive (acquired by Pendo)
Crossing the Chasm (Geoffrey Moore)
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Claude Code
Lovable
Airtable:
Intercom:
Net Promoter Score
Product Operating Model
Innovator's Dilemma (Clayton Christensen):
The Score Takes Care of Itself (Bill Walsh)
—
Connect with Todd:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddolson/
—
Connect with Krish:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishs/
X: https://x.com/cbkrish
—
About Chargebee:
Chargebee helps thousands of recurring revenue businesses unlock second acts of scale with transformative billing, monetization, and growth infra.