The SaaSiest Podcast

163. Matt Lerner, Founder & CEO, SYSTM - Why creating new categories could be killing your startup’s growth

Think you need to create a whole new category to win? Think again.

In this episode of the SaaSiest Podcast we had a chat with Matt Lerner, the founder & CEO of SYSTM and a seasoned tech and venture capital expert, who reveals why focusing on growth levers beats the allure of creating new categories.

Matt dives into his personal productivity hacks, from his morning routine to daily goal setting, and shares how his time at PayPal shaped his growth philosophy. He stresses the power of experimentation in finding a scalable go-to-market strategy and the critical role of understanding your customers' needs, not just building for the sake of it.

Here are a few key takeaways from the episode:

• Why morning routines can turbocharge productivity.
• How startups can avoid the trap of unnecessary category creation.
• The Jobs to Be Done methodology for uncovering what your customers really want.
• The magic of strategic messaging transformations that boost conversion rates.
• Insights on managing investor expectations and staying laser-focused on growth.

Whether you’re a founder or part of a scaling startup, Matt's no-nonsense approach will leave you inspired to prioritize your customers and experiment your way to success. Don't miss this one!

162. Birte Steen, Fractional CRO, Centra - The unstoppable formula to drive scalability and growth in SaaS

In our latest episode, we’re joined by Birte Sten, the CRO at Centra and industry leader in SaaS. From her early days as a competitive swimmer to leading high-impact sales teams, Birte shares how she’s used a structured, factory mindset to drive scalability and growth in the SaaS space. She dives deep into building a sustainable go-to-market strategy, customer retention, and enabling others in the organization to create lasting impact.

What’s covered in this episode:

• What does it mean to adopt a “factory mindset” in sales, and how can it enhance efficiency and scalability?
• How does revenue architecture support both acquisition and retention, and why is this balance essential for sustainable growth?
• How can companies use a systematic framework to create a growth formula and measure success with a data-driven approach?
• Why is it crucial to understand your ICP when scaling, and how can it guide your strategy?

This episode is packed with Birte’s hard-won insights. Make sure to tune in to learn from her strategic roadmap for growth and scalability. 

161. Saahil Karkera, Vice President of Customer Success, Oaky - Here is how CS teams can make the most of the whitespace opportunity!

In this episode, we had an insightful conversation with Saahil Karkera, VP of Customer Success at Oaky, to explore how customer success is evolving into a critical driver of growth and efficiency in the travel tech space. Saahil dives into his approach to building high-performing CS teams, with a focus on strategic initiatives that go beyond the day-to-day tasks of customer management. Here are some highlights from our discussion:

• Saahil’s strategy for segmentation, prioritizing future potential value over current revenue to boost retention and expansion.
• The importance of identifying white space opportunities within existing accounts to unlock new growth.
• Why customer success qualified leads are becoming key to showing the value of CS teams in driving revenue.

We also explore the growing need for CS professionals to adopt a commercial mindset, the power of sales and CS collaboration, and the operational benefits of having a dedicated CS Ops role to streamline efficiency. If you want to elevate your customer success strategy and see real results, this episode is a must-listen!

160. Chris Cunningham, Founding Member & Head of Social Marketing, ClickUp - How to win the the SaaS Attention Economy!

In our latest episode of the SaaSiest podcast, Chris Cunningham, Founding Member & Head of Social Marketing, ClickUp, shares how you need to adapt your communication on Social Media to meet the needs of a demanding audience, in times when there is an abundance of information and competitors all fighting for the same attention and budgets. Chris discusses the evolution of ClickUp's marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of humor, brand awareness, and innovative content creation. He shares insights on scaling content production, leveraging social media for engagement, and the challenges of converting views into signups. He also highlights the significance of building brand loyalty through creative partnerships and the need for companies to humanize their brands. The discussion touches on the Validate 48 challenge, budgeting for social media, and ClickUp's bets, including a focus on long-form content.

These are some of the questions we answered:

• How can SaaS companies effectively leverage social media to drive brand awareness and customer engagement?
• What is the key to balancing humor and professionalism in B2B marketing content?
• How do you track the success of short-form content in terms of sign-ups and business growth?
• Why should companies consider hiring a dedicated creator to manage their social media strategies?
• What role does consistency play in building a strong social media presence and maintaining audience engagement?

Don’t miss this episode—tune in to gain inspiration from Chris's journey and advice!

159. Gauri Chawla, SVP, Global Alliances Stibo Systems - Building Effective Partner Ecosystems for Growth

In our latest episode, Gauri Chawla dives into the pivotal role that partnerships play in fueling revenue growth for B2B SaaS companies. She shares insights on building structured partner ecosystems, ensuring marketing alignment, and maintaining strong communication. Whether you’re just starting to explore partnerships or looking to enhance your existing programs, this episode offers actionable tips to make partnerships a powerful growth driver for your business.

 

Key questions we explore in the episode:

• How can B2B SaaS companies leverage partnerships as a key growth lever?
• What systematic approach should organizations adopt for successful partnerships?
• How do trust and alignment with company strategy impact partner relationships?
• What role does enablement play in ensuring partner success?
• How can co-selling strategies enhance the effectiveness of partnerships?

Join us as we unpack the secrets to thriving partner ecosystems and learn how to navigate the complex landscape of B2B partnerships for long-term success.

 

158. Gabriela Warren, CMO, Puzzel - The Evolving Role of a CMO in Tech

In our latest episode of the SaaSiest podcast, Gabriela Warren, CMO of Puzzel, shares her journey from political science to leading marketing in tech. She emphasizes the importance of seeing beyond marketing metrics, stressing that CMOs must listen, learn, and understand team dynamics to drive success. Gabriela discusses her quick wins in the role, the challenges of managing both up and down, and her vision for Puzzel's future in the AI-driven contact center market. 

These are some of the questions we answered:

• How has Gabriela's political science background shaped her approach to marketing?
• Why is it essential for CMOs to understand the broader business beyond just marketing metrics?
• What quick wins can new CMOs focus on to establish credibility?
• How can aspiring CMOs prioritize continuous learning from their peers?

Don’t miss this episode—tune in to gain inspiration from Gabriela's journey and advice!

157. Gökçe Ceylan, Principal, Oxx - Decoding SaaS Success: Applying Math to Drive Strategy!

In this episode, we speak with Gökçe Ceylan, Principal, Oxx, the specialist SaaS investor. The firm's strategy is built around the concept of “Go-To-Market Fit”, developing a structure for thinking about how to build a repeatable, sustainable growth engine that accelerates and propels the growth of SaaS companies. 

We talked with Gökçe about how you can apply math, to more areas than you'd think in your SaaS, to make the right decisions! 

Here are some of the things we talked about: 

- What is Bayesian statistics and why does it matter for us in SaaS?

- How do you see Bayesian statistics transforming decision-making in SaaS companies?

- What are specific examples where a SaaS successfully applied decision trees to simplify their sales process?

- Many founders struggle with pricing strategies. How can game theory, specifically positive-sum games, help them reframe pricing conversations with customers?

- What are the key challenges in applying these mathematical frameworks to non-technical aspects of SaaS businesses?

This and much more was discussed as we explored how applying mathematical principles can help CEOs and leaders make better decisions for their organizations. Tune in to learn how you can apply this thinking in your business as well. Bonus, you will hear about the templates that will get you started!

156. Adam Robinson, CEO, Retention.com & RB2B - How shall a CEO build a personal brand that drives business revenue!

In this episode, we speak with Adam Robinson, CEO, Retention.com & RB2B , 20m+ in combined ARR and growing at a fast rate, fueled by a strong founder brand!

We talked with Adam about how he has built a personal brand as a CEO that benefits the business! In just 2 years he's gone from limited presence to being one of the most heard voices in B2B SaaS leadership with 100k followers on Linkedin. The best part of this, it moves his business and revenue forward!

Here are some of the things we talked about: 

- What is the purpose of a CEO/Founder personal brand?

- How did Adam go about it to build up his brand?  

- What does it take in terms of resource and time allocation to build and grow a strong personal brand as a CEO?

- What defines Adam's content strategy that gets him this engagement?

- How do you measure the success and ROI of this exercise?

Make sure to tune in to learn how Adam is fueling the growth of his business to a large extent by being a trusted and valuable source of knowledge to his potential customers. Being authentic, credible, and having the courage to stand his ground, and at times dear to be different has worked wonders for him. This episode is for all leaders who are looking to build a strong personal brand that customers, partners, and competitors will trust and look up to.

155. Anthony Roux, Head of Product Developer Platform, Miro - How do you build a Developer Platform and Ecosystem around your core product?

In this episode, we speak with Anthony Roux, Head of Product Developer Platform at Miro, the AI-powered visual workspace that brings teams together to collaborate and make faster decisions, with over 500M in ARR and millions of users all over the world! 

We talked with Anthony about what it takes to build a Developer Platform around your core product and how to acquire, enable, and incentivize external development resources to build on top of your product.

Here are some of the things we talked about: 

- What is the meaning of a Development Platform? Why build one in the first place?

- What are the key components of a successful Development Platform?  

- How do you identify your IDP (Ideal Developer Profile)?

- Which metrics shall you use to measure the impact and success of your Development Platform initiative?

 

Make sure to tune in to learn how Miro is building their ecosystem with a development program that takes care of the onboarding, enablement, and incentives for developers to continuously extend the core product!

154. Johan van Mil, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Peak - What does it take to raise capital today for an early stage SaaS?

In this episode, we chat with Johan van Mil, Co-Founder and managing partner at Peak, a venture firm specializing in seed and pre-seed investments in software companies and marketplaces.

Johan shares insights from his journey as an entrepreneur and investor, diving into what makes Peak’s investment strategy unique. We discuss the approach to evaluating seed investments, including the crucial role of team dynamics, resilience, and investor-founder fit.

These are some questions that are answered in this episode:

• What criteria do investors use to assess the potential of early-stage software companies?
• What are the most common reasons deals fall through during due diligence? How can a company proactively address those potential issues?
• Sometimes deals die right away - What red flags or “deal-breakers” are you seeing more often when evaluating startups now?
• How can companies build a competitive fundraising process that creates urgency and drives better terms from investors?
• What should founders consider when choosing investors to ensure a successful partnership?

Tune in to catch all of Johan’s insights on what it takes to raise capital today for your early stage SaaS.