Exploring Market Validation and Beachhead Strategy in the Technology Sector

Eilon Reshef is the co-founder and CPO at Gong, an AI-powered platform that tracks, records, and analyzes sales calls to drive revenue growth. In 2021, Gong raised $250M at a $7.25B valuation. Gong was one of the fastest SaaS companies to hit $100m ARR, and now has over 4000 customers. Before Gong, Eilon sold his previous e-commerce startup, Webcollage.

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In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Why Eilon was so bullish on recording sales calls
• How Gong knew they had product market fit
• The importance of design partners
• Expanding into multi-product offerings
• Lessons from riding the AI wave since 2015
• The future of AI in B2B sales efficiency

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Referenced:

• Act-On Software: https://act-on.com/
• Amit Bendov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbendov/
• BlueJeans: https://www.bluejeans.com/
• Crossing the Chasm: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Geoffrey-Moore/dp/0062292986
• Gong: https://www.gong.io/
• Mistral: https://mistral.ai/
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/
• Salesforce: https://salesforce.com/
• Webcollage: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/webcollage
• Webex: https://www.webex.com/
• Zoom: https://zoom.us/

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Where to find Eilon Reshef:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilonreshef/

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Where to find Todd Jackson:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddj0/
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/tjack

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Where to find First Round Capital:

• Website: https://firstround.com/
• First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstround
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital
• This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:32) Eilon’s unwavering conviction in Gong

(09:34) Initial reactions to Gong’s demo

(13:48) Keeping the beta lean

(15:33) Gong’s monetization strategy

(16:38) Early signs of product market fit

(18:14) The importance of design partners to Gong’s growth

(21:52) Why VCs were afraid to invest

(23:43) Reaching 100 customers

(26:10) Eilon’s unique product roadmap framework

(28:22) Going from $2M to $9M ARR in one year

(29:02) The journey to multi-product

(30:52) How Gong measures success

(34:07) Lessons from building AI products for sales

(37:45) Predicting the future of B2B sales

(38:48) The concept of “raving fans”

(39:31) Why it’s “easier” for second-time founders

(42:00) Eilon’s favorite books

(42:45) Gong in 2024