The SaaSiest Podcast

115. Wes Bush, CEO, ProductLed.com - Here is why you struggle when adding a PLG motion to your current strategy?

In this episode, we speak with Wes Bush, CEO, ProductLed.com, the PLG agency behind the ProductLed System™ which has generated more than $1B in self-serve revenue for their B2B SaaS clients.

We talked with Wes about the reasons why Sales-led and Marketing-led companies struggle when moving/adding a PLG motion to their flow! We are particularly looking into what an organization needs to get right when transitioning into a PLG strategy:

- What are the most common misconceptions that sales-led or marketing-led SaaS companies have about PLG that contribute to their failure?
- What are the key strategic shifts that a company must make when transitioning to a PLG model, and how can a failure to make these shifts lead to poor outcomes?
- How do the cultural and operational aspects of a company need to evolve when adopting a PLG approach, and what are the consequences if these changes are not effectively implemented??
- What is the role of product design and user experience in PLG, and how a lack of focus on these elements can cause a PLG motion to fail?
- What metrics should SaaS companies focus on to successfully guide and measure their PLG efforts, and why might relying on traditional sales or marketing metrics lead to misguided strategies?

These are some of the many topics we address with Wes. Please tune in to learn about how you can make your PLG strategy successful!

114. Mick Weijers, Director Customer Success, Channext - How should you compensate your CSMs?

In this episode, we speak with Mick Weijers, Director Customer Success, Channext, the partner marketing engagement platform that scales and measures through-partner marketing and partner engagement.

We talked with Mick about the dynamic role of CSMs and how it has evolved into a customer-owning function. We are particularly looking into how CSM compensation models should be structured:

- What are key deliverables from the CSM function?
- Should CSMs have a variable income piece, and if so related to what?
- Why NRR, Adoption, and Customer advocacy should be the guiding metrics for CS?
- What does the future CS role look like and why does it matter? 
- What is the profile of a future CS - which skillset is required to be successful?

These are some of the many topics we address with Mick. Please tune in to listen to his experience in building compensation plans for future-proof CS teams.

113. Marcus Wennmo, CEO, Eletive - Outbound Sales still works when done right!

In this episode, we speak with Marcus Wennmo, CEO, Eletive, the fast-growing People Success platform that allows companies to measure and increase engagement and performance in their organisation.

We talked with Marcus about growing efficiently with their own capital with a strong outbound strategy. We are particularly looking into how they've structured their outbound efforts to success:

- What are the critical parts of an outbound sales strategy?
- How to define messaging that works for your ICP?
- How is their team set up?
- What channels and tools are used and how do they interplay?
- Volume vs super personalized, how to think about the two methods? 
- What is the difference between markets, and how to approach it?

These are some of the many topics we address with Marcus. Please tune in to listen to his experience in building a self-financed, growth company based on a strong outbound sales strategy.

112. Remco de Vries, VP Revenue Marketing, Gainsight - How to create an engaging Customer Community!

In this episode, we speak with Remco de Vries, VP Revenue Marketing, Gainsight, the Customer Success & Engagement platform that has pioneered the CS profession, a powerhouse in the space with an ARR of 200M+ USD and customers all over the world. 

We talked with Remco about building engaged communities. We are particularly looking into how you as a SaaS company can secure high engagement in your community:  

- What defines a community?
- Why it is so important to define the USE CASE for your community?
- How to best explain what is in it for the community members?
- How to get to the point where the community drives some of the initiatives? 
- How to measure the effects of a successful customer community?

These are some of the many topics we address with Remco. Please tune in to listen to his experience in building engaging customer communities.

111. Heta Pirttijärvi, VP Product, Sievo - How to build product together with your customer!

In this episode, we speak with Heta Pirttijärvi, VP Product, Sievo, the SaaS procurement analytics solutions which include: Spend Analysis, Savings Lifecycle, Contract Analytics, Materials Forecasting, and CO2 Analytics which is used by many of the largest enterprise in the world today.

We talked with Heta about building products together with customers. We are particularly looking into how that can be operationalized:  

- What does it mean to build with the customer?
- Which channels can you leverage to interact with customers for product discovery?
- What is it in for the customer to engage in such a process?
- How to avoid the Mum trap when asking for early feedback?
- What are the risks to be aware of when involving the customer in the building? 

These are some of the many topics we address with Heta. Please tune in to listen to her learnings from both good and not-so-good experiences when building products together with customers.

110. Ashley Herbert Popa, Global Director of Product Marketing, Tellent - Product Launch Strategies - the right way to do it!

In this episode, we speak with Ashley Herbert Popa, Global Director of Product Marketing, Tellent, the Talent Management Suite, that enables People teams to improve the full employee lifecycle with a cutting-edge Applicant Tracking System, CoreHR, and Performance Management Software. Today they empower over 7,000 organizations across 100+ countries with their HR tech solutions

We talked with Ashley about the strategies to put in play when releasing new products and features. We are particularly looking into the topic of what makes a good Product Release Strategy:  

- What is the difference between a Product launch vs a Feature Release?
- Which internal stakeholders, and how, are involved in a Product Launch?
- How do you align between product engineering and GTM teams?
- What is the role and output needed from the Product Marketing team to support a launch?
- How and when do you involve external stakeholders such as customers and partners?
- Which KPIs do you track to measure the success of a Product Launch?  

These are some of the many topics we address with Ashley. Please tune in to listen to her learnings from bringing several key launches to the market in recent years.

109. David Heinemeier Hansson, CTO, 37signals - Is it time to leave the cloud?

In this episode, we speak with David Heinemeier Hansson, CTO, 37signals, who built Basecamp, Hey, and created Ruby on Rails!

We talked with David about his decision to leave the cloud. Yes, you read that right, they've moved their offerings out of the cloud setup we all know as standard in B2B SaaS. Here is what we address in this episode:  

- What does it mean to leave the cloud?
- Why and how is it done?
- What are the risks associated with such a move?
- How does this affect internal competence needs?
- What does it do to customer relationships?

These are some of the many topics we address with David. Please tune in to hear from his learnings on doing what many would consider, the unthinkable, moving out of the cloud.

A big thanks to Vanta for sponsoring this episode. SaaSiest listeners get 20% off Vanta at https://vanta.com/SaaSiest

108. Evelien Sanders, Global Director Customer Success, GoodHabitz - Revenue Org = Marketing + Sales + Customer Success

In this episode, we speak with Evelien Sanders, Global Director Customer Success, GoodHabitz, the learning platform used by companies worldwide to support the personal development of their staff.

We talked with Evelien about the setup of a Revenue organization and the role of CS in such a setup.  We are particularly looking into the topic of leadership and process:  

- What is the definition of a Revenue team?
- What is the role of CS in a revenue team?
- What role does internal enablement play in aligning the revenue team?
- Which are the key different roles in a CS team that complete a team?
- How should a revenue team be led?

These are some of the many topics we address with Evelien. Please tune in to listen to her learnings from optimizing the collaboration between CS, Marketing and Sales.

107. Monica Elgemark, CMO, Oneflow - What can SaaS scaleups learn from traditional enterprise organizations?

In this episode, we speak with Monica Elgemark, CMO, Oneflow, the platform that automates the entire contract process from start to finish, all in one place. 

We talked with Monica about her learnings from working with large enterprise companies and which of those learnings we can benefit from in SaaS scaleups.  We are particularly looking into the topic of leadership and process:  

- How are investment decisions being made and prioritized?
- What is the role of the business case?
- How to lead is different in an enterprise organization - how can we leverage that in SaaS?
- How to have a clear emphasis on performance in the cultural values?

These are some of the many topics we address with Monica. Please tune in to listen to her learnings from bringing the best of the Enterprise world into the SaaS scale-up organization.

106. Bastian Karweg, CEO, Dealfront - SaaS Merger - when 2 become 1!

In this episode, we speak with Bastian Karweg, CEO, Dealfront, the Go-to-Market Platform giving sales and marketing teams the data, applications, and insights they need to win any European market.

We talked with Bastian about his learnings from the merger of two SaaS businesses with each 10M+ Euro ARR and 100+ strong workforces into one unified organization.  We are particularly looking into the challenging and rewarding elements of a journey of this kind:  

- What was the origin of this merger?
- Why the C-suite merger workshops are key prior to finalizing a full company merger?
- What are the critical stages of a merger of this size that you need to get right?
- How do you bridge two established company cultures into something that unites everyone?
- How do you allocate new roles, teams, and responsibilities in a way that moves the business forward?

These are some of the many topics we address with Bastian. Tune in to listen to his learnings on the key activities to focus on to optimize the chances of a smooth and successful merger.