The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

Whitney Sales is the VP of Sales at TalentIQ, has been involved in bringing products to market and managing high growth sales teams for over a decade. She is the creator of the Sales Method, a strategic framework for launching products, which she used to help three companies earn a place on the Inc 5000 fastest growing companies list. Prior to joining TalentIQ, Whitney held executive positions at Wanelo and SpringAhead and currently serves as a mentor at StartX, Alchemist, and previous guest Acceleprise and a huge thanks to Michael Cardamone @ Acceleprise for the intro to Whitney today.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How did Whitney make her way into the world of SaaS and more specifically sales?
• What are the 5 key criteria that founders need to consider before embarking on the sales process?
• How specific and targeted should a customer profile be? How many profiles can they have? What are the best questions to determine the optimal customer segment?
• How can founders identify which buyers are innovators? What tools are best for this? Once discovered, how should founders approach these innovators?
• Founders learn about gaps in customer information from selling. So how close should the integration of content marketing and selling be in the early days?

60 Second SaaStr

1. What are Whitney's preferred tools for her tech stack?
2. What does Whitney know now that she wishes she had known at the beginning?
3. Does the proliferation of sales tools make it harder or easier?

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

Whitney Sales

Whitney Sales is the VP of Sales at TalentIQ, has been involved in bringing products to market and managing high growth sales teams for over a decade. She is the creator of the Sales Method, a strategic framework for launching products, which she used to help three companies earn a place on the Inc 5000 fastest growing companies list. Prior to joining TalentIQ, Whitney held executive positions at Wanelo and SpringAhead and currently serves as a mentor at StartX, Alchemist, and previous guest Acceleprise and a huge thanks to Michael Cardamone @ Acceleprise for the intro to Whitney today.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

• How did Whitney make her way into the world of SaaS and more specifically sales?
• What are the 5 key criteria that founders need to consider before embarking on the sales process?
• How specific and targeted should a customer profile be? How many profiles can they have? What are the best questions to determine the optimal customer segment?
• How can founders identify which buyers are innovators? What tools are best for this? Once discovered, how should founders approach these innovators?
• Founders learn about gaps in customer information from selling. So how close should the integration of content marketing and selling be in the early days?

60 Second SaaStr

1. What are Whitney’s preferred tools for her tech stack?
2. What does Whitney know now that she wishes she had known at the beginning?
3. Does the proliferation of sales tools make it harder or easier?

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

Whitney Sales

Ryan 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 intro

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How did Ryan make her way into the world of SaaS and come to found Flexport?
• How does Ryan view NPS? Why is he so bullish? Why is it the most important metric? What are the downsides to relying on NPS?
• What is the optimal method to structure internal compensation structures? Why is compensation based on NPS and Net not effective and what are the dangers of this?
• How can founders look to implement bottoms up decision making in their organisation? What are the benefits of this and what are the challenges to it's implementation?
• Ryan is hiring his first VP of Marketing? What should founders look for in their VP of Marketing? Why is now the right time and what challenges has Ryan faced in the process?

60 Second SaaStr

1. Fave SaaS reading material?
2. What does Ryan know now that he wishes he had known when he started?
3. What has been his biggest learning throughout the Flexport journey?

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

Ryan Petersen

Ryan 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 intro

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

• How did Ryan make her way into the world of SaaS and come to found Flexport?
• How does Ryan view NPS? Why is he so bullish? Why is it the most important metric? What are the downsides to relying on NPS?
• What is the optimal method to structure internal compensation structures? Why is compensation based on NPS and Net not effective and what are the dangers of this?
• How can founders look to implement bottoms up decision making in their organisation? What are the benefits of this and what are the challenges to it’s implementation?
• Ryan is hiring his first VP of Marketing? What should founders look for in their VP of Marketing? Why is now the right time and what challenges has Ryan faced in the process?

60 Second SaaStr

1. Fave SaaS reading material?
2. What does Ryan know now that he wishes he had known when he started?
3. What has been his biggest learning throughout the Flexport journey?

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

Ryan Petersen

Josh 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 to Jason Lemkin and Phil Libin for the intro to Josh today.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• HR and Payroll is not sexy so how did Josh make his way into the industry and what was the a-ha moment for Gusto?
• Josh has said before 'he lives and breathes how a company is built.' How has Josh looked to grow and develop his own internal organisation at Gusto? How does this vary with stage?
• Josh has hired over 300 people at Gusto, how does he approach the interview process? What is the right way for employers to approach the 'making offers' stage?
• How important does Josh feel it is to have an ownership culture and internal entrepreneurialism? How can this environment be fostered and developed?

60 Second SaaStr

1. How employers can ensure new employees have an amazing first day?
2. What does Josh know now that he wishes he had known when he started?
3. The biggest mistake SaaS companies make with their HR and payroll organisation?

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 Reeves

Josh 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 to Jason Lemkin and Phil Libin for the intro to Josh today.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

• HR and Payroll is not sexy so how did Josh make his way into the industry and what was the a-ha moment for Gusto?
• Josh has said before ‘he lives and breathes how a company is built.’ How has Josh looked to grow and develop his own internal organisation at Gusto? How does this vary with stage?
• Josh has hired over 300 people at Gusto, how does he approach the interview process? What is the right way for employers to approach the ‘making offers’ stage?
• How important does Josh feel it is to have an ownership culture and internal entrepreneurialism? How can this environment be fostered and developed?

60 Second SaaStr

1. How employers can ensure new employees have an amazing first day?
2. What does Josh know now that he wishes he had known when he started?
3. The biggest mistake SaaS companies make with their HR and payroll organisation?

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 Reeves

Jeff Fernandez is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Grovo, the enterprise learning solution that allows you to educate and empower your employees. At Grovo, Jeff oversees sales, investor relations, and the building of Grovo's award-winning culture. Prior to founding Grovo in 2010, Jeff served as product manager at Clickable (acquired by Syncapse). From 2006 until 2009, he led business development and sales for Doostang (acquired by Universum Global), an online career networking community. Jeff is also a bit of a rockstar off the field getting the highest honours from Harvard penning his thesis on human performance and then playing semi pro football for the New York Rebels in 2008. I would also like to say a massive thank you to Greg Sands @ Costanoa Venture Capital for the intro to Jeff today.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Jeff came to found Grovo? What was the a-ha moment for him?
• Jeff is renowned to 'lead from the heart'. What are the advantages of this as a CEO? How does this affect the company, the culture? What are the inherent challenges?
• Question from Greg Sands: Jeff likes to 'work the sales floor', how does that work? What does Jeff actually do? What have been Jeff's observations having seen the sales floor up close?
• How does Jeff look to structure the compensation for his sales team? How does this vary with time and stage?
• What does Jeff mean when he says 'sometimes you have to go slow to go fast'? How does that play out in his management style?

60 Second SaaStr

1. Jeff's biggest productivity tips?
2. Biggest challenge for Jeff in being CEO @ Grovo?
3. What does Jeff know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?

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

Jeff Fernandez

Jeff Fernandez is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Grovo, the enterprise learning solution that allows you to educate and empower your employees. At Grovo, Jeff oversees sales, investor relations, and the building of Grovo’s award-winning culture. Prior to founding Grovo in 2010, Jeff served as product manager at Clickable (acquired by Syncapse). From 2006 until 2009, he led business development and sales for Doostang (acquired by Universum Global), an online career networking community. Jeff is also a bit of a rockstar off the field getting the highest honours from Harvard penning his thesis on human performance and then playing semi pro football for the New York Rebels in 2008. I would also like to say a massive thank you to Greg Sands @ Costanoa Venture Capital for the intro to Jeff today.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

• How Jeff came to found Grovo? What was the a-ha moment for him?
• Jeff is renowned to ‘lead from the heart’. What are the advantages of this as a CEO? How does this affect the company, the culture? What are the inherent challenges?
• Question from Greg Sands: Jeff likes to ‘work the sales floor’, how does that work? What does Jeff actually do? What have been Jeff’s observations having seen the sales floor up close?
• How does Jeff look to structure the compensation for his sales team? How does this vary with time and stage?
• What does Jeff mean when he says ‘sometimes you have to go slow to go fast’? How does that play out in his management style?

60 Second SaaStr

1. Jeff’s biggest productivity tips?
2. Biggest challenge for Jeff in being CEO @ Grovo?
3. What does Jeff know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning?

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

Jeff Fernandez

Sangram Vajre is the Co-Founder & CMO at Terminus, the leading account-based marketing platform. Prior to Terminus, Sangram was the Head of Marketing @ Pardo, prior to it's acquisition by Salesforce. Sangram is also the brains behind the marvel that is Flip My Funnel which challenges the status quo of traditional B2B marketing practices and transform how B2B marketers approached driving revenue in their organization. You might remember in a recent episode Tim Kopp @ Hyde Park Ventures cited Sangram and his revolutionary approach with Flip My Funnel as one to watch. If that was not enough, Sangram is also the author of "Account-Based Marketing For Dummies".

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

• How Sangram came to found Flip My Funnel and Terminus? What was the a-ha moment and origin story for Sangram?
• Why does Sangram believe the funnel needs to be reinvented? Where are the inefficiencies? What can be done to optimise the funnel and what are the steps to do so?
• How did Sangram establish such a strong brand in the B2B space on a shoe-string budget in such a short space of time? What tactics can be done to exert your authority over a domain?
• How does Sangram look to create an ownership culture of internal entrepreneurs at Terminus? Why is it so important to try and hire people who know more than you?
• Why did Sangram decide to hire a customer success rep before any other function? What did he look for in his first CS person? What does Sangram thinks is fundamental to being successful at CS?

60 Second SaaStr

1. Biggest learning from founding and scaling Terminus?
2. Sangram's Favourite SaaS reading material?

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

Sangram Vajre

Sangram Vajre is the Co-Founder & CMO at Terminus, the leading account-based marketing platform. Prior to Terminus, Sangram was the Head of Marketing @ Pardo, prior to it’s acquisition by Salesforce. Sangram is also the brains behind the marvel that is Flip My Funnel which challenges the status quo of traditional B2B marketing practices and transform how B2B marketers approached driving revenue in their organization. You might remember in a recent episode Tim Kopp @ Hyde Park Ventures cited Sangram and his revolutionary approach with Flip My Funnel as one to watch. If that was not enough, Sangram is also the author of "Account-Based Marketing For Dummies".

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

• How Sangram came to found Flip My Funnel and Terminus? What was the a-ha moment and origin story for Sangram?
• Why does Sangram believe the funnel needs to be reinvented? Where are the inefficiencies? What can be done to optimise the funnel and what are the steps to do so?
• How did Sangram establish such a strong brand in the B2B space on a shoe-string budget in such a short space of time? What tactics can be done to exert your authority over a domain?
• How does Sangram look to create an ownership culture of internal entrepreneurs at Terminus? Why is it so important to try and hire people who know more than you?
• Why did Sangram decide to hire a customer success rep before any other function? What did he look for in his first CS person? What does Sangram thinks is fundamental to being successful at CS?

60 Second SaaStr

1. Biggest learning from founding and scaling Terminus?
2. Sangram’s Favourite SaaS reading material?

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

Sangram Vajre