The SaaSiest Podcast

182. Karel Callens, CEO & Founder, Luzmo - Stacking S-Curves: How Luzmo Future-Proofs SaaS Growth Through parallel thinking!

In this episode, we’re joined by Karel Callens, CEO & Founder, Luzmo, an embedded analytics platform, purpose-built for SaaS companies. They bring complex data to life with beautiful, easy-to-use dashboards, embedded seamlessly in any SaaS or web platform and are doing serving many well known customers across Europe and US. 

We explore with Karel the concept of stacking S-curves on top of each other, making sure to always make the most of opportunities ahead and support an upward trajectory, even when that means pivoting, changing ICPs and more to make sure to fuel future growth!

Here are some of the key questions we address:

- How do you know it’s time to evolve or expand your ICP?

- What’s the actual process you use when making that kind of pivot or expansion?

- When you make a move to a new ICP, what happens to the existing one?

- What impact does this kind of ICP shift have on the org structurally and culturally?

- How do you align Sales, Marketing, Product, and CS around what might feel like a moving target

- What have been your biggest missteps in making these transitions - and what did you learn from them?

- We talked about stacking S-curves”—how do you plan that kind of growth without losing focus or diluting execution?

Tune in to learn how Karel and his team have set up a process to future-proof their business and always be ready for the next thing, not just to follow but to lead and control their business destiny. 

181. Massimo Arrigoni, CEO, Beefree - What SaaS Founders Can Learn from Beefree’s Embedded Growth Strategy

In this episode, we’re joined by Massimo Arrigoni, CEO, Beefree, a powerful design suite that lets you create no-code beautiful, high-performing emails that work with any marketing platform. Today the Beefree platform is embedded in over 1000 SaaS products powering the email component for some of the most well-known SaaS companies in the world. 

We explore how an embedded and white label product strategy has fueled Beefree's growth and specifically what the learnings are from this journey.

Here are some of the key questions we address: 

- What does it really take from a company to offer an embedded white-label product?

- How do you determine if a part of your product is a good candidate to be sold as an embeddable component?

- What are the key differences between a traditional SaaS GTM strategy and an embedded/white-label model?

- How do you price an embeddable SaaS component to reflect the value it provides without overcomplicating contracting?

- How do you mitigate the risks or limitations of not being a domain expert in the industries you're embedding into?

Tune in to learn how Massimo and Beefree have leveraged an embedded strategy to grow to 15m+ USD in ARR, 30% year on year growth with practically 0 churn and a happy customer base all over the world. 

180. Anna Jäger, VP Marketing, Sinch - Size Matters & Speed Wins - How Sinch approached marketing in the U.S. market!

In this episode, we’re joined by Anna Jäger, VP Marketing at Sinch, a global leader in customer communications with over $3B in revenue and operations in 60+ countries. Anna shares hard-earned lessons from expanding into the U.S. - one of the most competitive and complex SaaS markets in the world.

We explore how marketing strategies, buyer expectations, and team dynamics shift dramatically when crossing the Atlantic, and why failing fast, bold messaging, and the right hires are essential to making it work.

Here are some of the key questions we address: 

- What makes U.S. marketing radically different from EMEA?

- Why do ROI-driven messages matter more in the States?

- Should your first U.S. hires be local or from your European team?

- What budget and timeline should you plan for?

- How do you build one unified brand across very different regions?

Tune in to learn how Anna and her team cracked the code and what you can take away for your own U.S. expansion journey.

179. Ashley Faus, Head of Lifecycle Marketing, Atlassian - Lifecycle Marketing That Wins Hearts, Minds and Wallets!

In this episode, we sit down with Ashley Faus, Head of Lifecycle Marketing at Atlassian, to unpack what lifecycle marketing really means and how one of the world's best-known SaaS companies makes it work at scale.

Ashley walks us through Atlassian’s approach to lifecycle marketing across its vast product suite, shares key moments that matter most in the customer journey, and breaks down what a successful campaign looks like in action.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What lifecycle marketing is (and what it isn’t)

• How to identify the most critical touchpoints in the customer journey

• The metrics that matter most

• The pitfalls even experienced marketers fall into

Whether you're running onboarding flows, retention campaigns, or upsell motion - this episode is packed with takeaways for any marketer looking to drive sustainable growth.

178. Maja Voje - GTM strategist and Best Selling Author - Why Every New Product (Especially AI) Needs an ECP Strategy!

In this episode, we sit down with GTM strategist and best-selling author Maja Voje to dive deep into the concept of the Early Customer Profile (ECP) - and why it’s more important than ever in the AI era. Maja explains what defines an ECP, where to find them, how to speak their language, and how to avoid the most common mistakes when launching new (especially AI-driven) products.

We explore how to validate willingness to pay, protect yourself from underpricing, and structure a GTM team for success. This episode is a must-listen for anyone launching new products or features - whether you're an early-stage startup or an established company entering new territory. Here are some of the questions we addressed with Maja:

• What is an Early Customer Profile (ECP) and how does it differ from an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)?

• Where and how can you find your ECPs - especially in AI-related markets?

• How should you message and sell to early adopters who are skeptical or risk-sensitive?

• How do you validate willingness to pay before fully launching a product?

• What pricing models work best in early-stage AI product launches - and how do you avoid underpricing?

• What are the most common GTM pitfalls when launching new products or features?

• Who should be on your internal "launch squad" to successfully bring a new AI product to market?

Tune in and find out how you can successfully launch your new AI feature set.

177. Frederic Laziou, CEO, Puzzel - How to make the transition from a Feature Factory to an Outcome-Driven product approach!

In this episode, we speak with Frederic Laziou, CEO, Puzzel, a leading European provider of cloud-based contact center solutions, helping businesses deliver seamless customer service across multiple channels. Their AI-powered CX platform integrates voice, email, chat, and social media, enhancing efficiency and personalization. With 25+ years of experience, Puzzel continues to innovate, ensuring businesses stay ahead in customer engagement. 

We talked with Frederic about their journey well on their way to reaching 100m Euro in ARR, how M&A has been an important strategy, and a focus on defining a product operating model that supports sustainable and continued growth. Specifically in this episode, we discuss how a focus on building the right things from a product perspective is key, which also at times means sunseting product programs and features that don't support the P&L in a positive manner.

• How do you assess which features are adding real value versus those that are just adding complexity?
• Once you identify redundant or low-value features, what practical steps do you take to sunset them? 
• How do you communicate this to customers, and what challenges can you expect to face in ensuring a smooth transition?
• What are the biggest cultural or leadership challenges shifting from a "feature factory" mindset to an outcome-driven approach? 

This and much more. Tune in to learn mode from Frederic and his team's journey moving away from a feature factory to an outcome-driven product approach that drives tangible financial value to both the customer and the business.  

176. Maja Lindström, CPO, Talentech - Lessons learned from 8 acquisitions - The CPO perspective!

In this episode, we speak with Maja Lindström, CPO, Talentech, a leading developer of HR providing a seamless talent journey through a centralized platform. With main hubs in Oslo, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Copenhagen, Talentech's scalable solutions support every stage of the talent pipeline, offering personalization and flexibility to meet tomorrow's challenges.

We talked with Maja about their M&A journey, 8 acquisitions to date and counting, and how you make the unifying process work from a product and technical staff perspective. Some of the questions we discuss in this episode are: 

• First, what are the different underlying strategies that can fuel an M&A strategy of this nature?
• What is the process of "onboarding" separate product teams into a new unified and larger team working on a platform strategy?
• What are the most common pitfalls to avoid here, and why?
• What is the process of integrating different products, at times on different tech stacks and different maturity levels?
• To be successful with this amount of frequent and large acquisitions, it requires a lot from the organization. Which are the key players, processes and characteristics needed from an organization to be successful in a process like this?
• How do you find a balance between product autonomy vs central platform thinking to avoid losing speed in deployment and releases?

This is for all the product leaders out there and people considering an M&A strategy. Tune in to learn mode from Maja's journey of acquiring and integrating 8 product organizations into one platform unit.

175. Mie Elmkvist Schneider, VP Sales & CS, Queue-it - The Sales Leadership KPI Dashboard!

In this episode, we speak with Mie Elmkvist Schneider, VP of Sales & CS, Queue-it, a leading developer of virtual waiting room services, empowering 1,000+ organizations worldwide to build and nurture trust with 25+ billion visitors annually by delivering reliable, fair, and transparent online experiences. 

We talked with Mie about the important measures and KPIs to track for a sales leader when focusing on profitability. Some of the questions we discuss in this episode are: 

• What does your Sales Leadership Dashboard look like - what metrics are you keeping track of?
• What are the key metrics when focusing on profitability vs growth?
• Which are key metrics to focus on in new client acquisition vs existing customer expansion?
• Who is involved, why, and how in the ongoing process of monitoring these KPIs, and triggering necessary actions if/when needed based on deviations?
• What tool stack do you use to track this?

This is for all the sales leaders out there, tune in to see if your dashboard aligns with Mie's and if there are any KPIs that you also need to double down on.

174. Marie Claire Silfer Head of Community Management, SaaSiest - MC is in the house and here is why you should care!

This is a special episode with our very own MC, our new Head of Community Management over here at SaaSiest! 

We're building this community in the open together with all of you, and in this episode, we want to invite you on the inside, for you to start getting to know MC! And yes she does have full name, it is Marie Claire, but everyone calls her MC and we hope you will too 😀!

With MC's arrival, we can now get even closer to you, and create even more personal experiences and content helping you accelerate your career. As you can imagine we are thrilled to have her here and we are confident you will see the great impact from her work very soon.

So, who is this MC? What makes her all that special ❤️

Tune in and find out for yourself - you'll get to know the real MC, her story, what she'll be focusing on, and why that matters to you! 

Welcome MC!

173. Nataly Kelly, CMO, Zappi - AI or Die? How CMOs Can Prioritize AI Investments Under Pressure!

In this episode, Nataly Kelly, CMO, Zappi, a leading consumer insights platform that connects brands with consumers. Through AI-powered software that delivers connected insights, Zappi empowers brands to make faster, smarter, and consumer-driven decisions by leveraging real-time, continuous consumer feedback. 

We talked with Nataly about the pressure CMOs have to AI-enable their organization, both from internal demands as well as external requirements to stay competitive and efficient.

Some of the questions we discuss in this episode are: 

• What’s the biggest misconception about adopting AI in marketing that you’ve seen among CMOs?
• With so many potential AI applications, how can CMOs determine where AI will deliver the most value for their specific organization?
  
• How should CMOs balance the pressure to adopt AI quickly with the risk of making investments that don’t deliver results?
• What metrics or indicators should CMOs use to evaluate the success of their AI initiatives?
• What are some of the common mistakes CMOs make when integrating AI into their marketing strategy, and how can they avoid them? 

It is clear that it is not about AI or not AI, it is about how and where to leverage AI for the greatest outcome of the business. Tune in to hear Nataly's thoughts on this from the CMO perspective.