The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

Welcome to Episode 10 of The Official Saastr Podcast. To celebrate this milestone, we have a very special guest: Mathilde Collin. Mathilde is the CEO and Co-Founder of Front, one of the world's most innovative young SaaS startups working in the space of email collaboration and in today's show with Mathilde we discuss:

In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

This 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 scale so successfully?
• How can startup founders determine whether they have the ability to go the distance as CEO?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

• Jason Lemkin
• Harry Stebbings
• Saastr
• Josh Stein

If you enjoyed the conversation with Keith today and want to save your space at what promises to be the best Saastr Annual ever, Saastr Annual 2017! You can buy early bird tickets here!

This 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:

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

If you enjoyed the conversation with Keith today and want to save your space at what promises to be the best Saastr Annual ever, Saastr Annual 2017! You can buy early bird tickets here!

This 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 'How Hyper Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue', we would be so grateful for you to upvote the episode on ProductHunt!

In Today's Show We Cover:

• Why Keith rejoined the world of operations having been a VC with Khosla?
• Is domain expertise a good or a bad thing to have when entering an industry?
• When hiring, how do you achieve the balance of experience and potential?
• When is the right time to hire a COO? What are the signs?
• How Did Keith approach hiring in high growth rocketship companies?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

• Jason Lemkin
• Harry Stebbings
• Saastr
• Keith Rabois

If you enjoyed the conversation with Keith today and want to save your space at what promises to be the best Saastr Annual ever, Saastr Annual 2017! You can buy early bird tickets here!

This 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 'How Hyper Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue', we would be so grateful for you to upvote the episode on ProductHunt!

In Today's Show We Cover:

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

If you enjoyed the conversation with Keith today and want to save your space at what promises to be the best Saastr Annual ever, Saastr Annual 2017! You can buy early bird tickets here!

I am thrilled to welcome, Doug Pepper, Partner @ Shasta Ventures to the show today. Doug is a master when it comes to SaaS investments with his companies generating over $500m in revenue in 2015, having funded the likes of Marketo, Optimizely and Flurry. In today's show with Doug we discuss:

• How Doug made his approach into investing?
• What metrics are required for startups to get Series A investors interested?
• What are the guidelines for a startup to manage their burn rate?
• In future tough markets, we will see greater consolidation?
• How can startups stand out when selling to CIO, CEO's and VPs?

In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:

1. What has been the scariest moment of Doug's VC career?
2. Why Doug is so excited for the future of mobile SaaS?
3. What the main effects are of the rise of bottoms up sales strategies?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

• Jason Lemkin
• Harry Stebbings
• Saastr
• Doug Pepper

I am thrilled to welcome, Doug Pepper, Partner @ Shasta Ventures to the show today. Doug is a master when it comes to SaaS investments with his companies generating over $500m in revenue in 2015, having funded the likes of Marketo, Optimizely and Flurry. In today's show with Doug we discuss: 

In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

Joining us today, I am delighted to have Russell Fujioka, US President at Xero, the world's fast growing SaaS company making accounting software beautiful. Prior to joining Xero, Russ was the Global Vice President of Marketing at Dell, EIR at Bessemer Venture Partners and held executive roles at the likes of Adobe. In today's show with Russ we discuss:

• How Russ came to be US President at the world's fastest growing SaaS company?
• How has Russ seen the SaaS industry change over his 25 years?
• Why does Russ believe all the SaaS best companies are founder led?
• What were the determinants that allowed Adobe to go from 40m to $1bn?
• How does Russ view the current competitive landscape for accounting software?
• What were the main benefits of experiencing the VC industry with Bessemer?

In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:

1. Which pubic markets SaaS company does Russ most respect?
2. Russ' favourite SaaS resource?
3. Is accounting software a winner take all market?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

• Jason Lemkin
• Harry Stebbings
• Saastr
• Russ Fujioka

Joining us today, I am delighted to have Russell Fujioka, US President at Xero, the world's fast growing SaaS company making accounting software beautiful. Prior to joining Xero, Russ was the Global Vice President of Marketing at Dell, EIR at Bessemer Venture Partners and held executive roles at the likes of Adobe. In today's show with Russ we discuss:

In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

It is a huge honour to welcome, Mamoon Hamid, Partner @ Social Capital. One of the world's best performing funds with investments in the likes of Slack, Box, Intercom, Yammer and many more incredible companies. Prior to joining Social Mamoon was a Partner at US Venture Partners (USVP) and in today's show we discuss:

• How Mamoon made his way into the world of investing and VC?
• What were Mamoon's biggest takeaways from seeing the rocketship growth of the likes of Slack and Box? What were their challenges faced?
• What is the distinct value proposition of Social over other VC funds? How do you look to differentiate?
• What has been the effect of the rise of the bottoms up sales apprcach and what role will this play in the future for selling to enterprise clients?
• Which company will be the first to make a million on Slack?

In a round we call the 60 Second Saastr, we also hear:

1. Biggest challenge facing Mamoon and Social Capital?
2. Mamoon's favourite SaaS resource?
3. Biggest piece of advice to SaaS founders?

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:

• Jason Lemkin
• Harry Stebbings
• Saastr
• Mamoon Hamid