Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 14, 2022

What the soon-to-be podcast host and venture capitalist calls to mind is a somewhat forgettable scene where Peter Thiel becomes Facebook’s first major investor. It was the first time Harry came across venture capital, and, he tells us, he was instantly hooked. There’s no right way to do venture. Delighted to have you.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Interviewing Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team 129

SaaStr

JULY 28, 2021

Even after we did our pivot to the accounting automation and optimization, we still had desperate moments. year sales cycles. You have to learn things like how do I scale my sales force? How do we sell to accountants? Venture capitals are playing a numbers game. They move at a glacial pace. How do we market?

Startup 270

Startup CTO Hire Sales Hiring CTO Coach 270

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

We started the business in 2007. We raised $0 of venture capital. SalesLoft, why was that Pardot, I tried to recruit this guy, Kyle Porter, to come run sales at Pardot. Let’s be 50/50 co-founders and let’s start a company in the sales space.” And at time of sale, we had burned all $3 million.

Sales Recruiting 163

Sales Recruiting Scale Outsourcing Services Sales Hiring 163

SaaStr

OCTOBER 3, 2019

I’ve been in venture capital for about 20 years, made my first SaaS investment about 18 years ago and have really been focused on this space for a long time. I work at a firm called Shasta Ventures. And Marketo very, very early on had to make a very significant team change in our first VP of sales.

SaaS 142

SaaS Sales Hiring Scale Innovation 142

Point Nine Land

OCTOBER 22, 2019

For Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau, the lightbulb moment that led to the creation of Clio came out of a casual conversation they had in 2007 with the director of practice standards at the Law Society of British Columbia, an organization that can be compared in function to the National Bar Association in the U.S. Again, this was 2007.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Scale Sales Hiring Business 40

SaaStr

MARCH 11, 2019

Ryan Smith: And so we had to switch and we chose Qualtrics, and it was the best thing we’ve ever done because everything we ever wanted to do, pivot the company or get away from surveys, which in 2007 were like, “Whoa, this is way bigger.” Jason Lemkin: Everyone stopped hiring salespeople.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Sales Hiring Venture Capital Scale 100

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

And we were about a $50 million sales run rate, but I’d never done a media interview. Ryan Smith: And so we had to switch and we chose Qualtrics, and it was the best thing we’ve ever done because everything we ever wanted to do, pivot the company or get away from surveys, which in 2007 were like, “Whoa, this is way bigger.”

Acquisition 126

Acquisition Sales Recruiting Scale Sales Hiring 126