SaaStr 721: How Revenue Leaders at Box, Calendly, and Lattice Scaled From $0 to $100M+ and Beyond
Feb 6, 2024
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Mark Roberge, Dini Mehta, Kate Ahlering, and Mark Wayland share their advice on refining an ICP, stopping a PLG motion, differentiating Enterprise and Mid-Market reps, diagnosing and solving churn, and handling challenges as a new C-suite member.
Analyzing sales data, setting a minimum contract size, and defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) can address growth challenges and align go-to-market strategies.
Transitioning from SMB customers to enterprise involves investing in vertical solutions, adapting the product, and aligning marketing efforts to convey value to enterprise buyers.
Deep dives
Scaling from Zero to 100 Million: Lessons from Revenue Leaders
In this podcast episode, three experienced Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) discuss the pivotal moments and strategies that led to scaling their companies from zero to over 100 million in revenue. Denny Mehta, former CRO at Lattice, shares how he diagnosed and addressed a softening growth issue by implementing changes such as establishing a minimum contract size, shifting focus away from product-led growth, and defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Kate Ollering, CRO at Calendly, explains their transition from SMB customers to enterprise and the need for investments in solutions marketing, vertical solutions, and aligning the product with enterprise buyer needs. Mark Wayland, CRO at Box, emphasizes the importance of recognizing product challenges underlying high churn rates. Mark highlights how they made multiple acquisitions, adjusted pricing, and messaging while engaging the entire company to prioritize renewals as a critical motion. The episode provides valuable insights into scaling strategies for revenue leaders.
Diagnosing Growth Challenges and Addressing Product-Market Fit
Denny Mehta, former CRO at Lattice, shares his experience in addressing growth challenges by analyzing sales data and customer feedback. He discovered that despite high activity levels, the output did not match expectations. Denny implemented changes such as setting a minimum contract size, pausing full product-led growth, and defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to increase focus. These changes led to improved productivity and better alignment between customer needs and their go-to-market strategy.
Transitioning from SMB to Enterprise and Aligning with Buyer Needs
Kate Ollering, CRO at Calendly, explains the transition from serving SMB customers to targeting the enterprise segment. They identified key use cases and invested in vertical solutions to meet the specific needs of sales, customer success, and recruiting teams. Kate emphasizes the importance of adapting the product, expanding the sales team with the right profiles, and aligning marketing efforts to convey value to enterprise buyers. She highlights the significance of building corporate-wide infrastructure and product enhancements to support enterprise sales initiatives.
Addressing Churn and Prioritizing Renewals for Sustainable Growth
Mark Wayland, CRO at Box, discusses the challenge of high churn rates and the impact it has on company growth. Mark emphasizes the need to understand the underlying product issues leading to churn and the importance of aligning the entire organization to focus on renewals. By implementing acquisitions, adjusting pricing and messaging, and enhancing product features, Box successfully improved customer retention and achieved sustainable growth.
SaaStr 721: How Revenue Leaders at Box, Calendly, and Lattice Scaled From $0 to $100M+ and Beyond
Mark Roberge, SaaStr fan-favorite and Co-Founder and Managing Director of Stage 2 Capital brought together some of the top CROs in SaaS during the SaaStr Annual to share some of their greatest learnings and pivotal moments leading some of the Cloud 100 SaaS companies.
Dini Mehta, former CRO at Lattice, Kate Ahlering, CRO at Calendly, and Mark Wayland, CRO at Box, share their stories and offer advice to founders on:
How do you define and refine an ICP?
Can you start and stop a PLG motion?
What should you look for in an Enterprise rep vs. a Mid-Market rep?
How do you diagnose and solve churn?
How should you handle presenting challenges to your C-suite team when you’ve just joined the company?
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SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20
SaaStr Europa: June 5-6 in London. We'll be hosting the 5th SaaStr Europa in London for two days of content and networking. Join 3,000 SaaS and Cloud leaders. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on Europa tickets here: https://www.saastreuropa2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave200
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