Building a SaaS Platform for Equity Management

Kim Anson, CEO of Cake Equity, discusses the journey of building a SaaS platform that helps startup founders and their teams manage equity. The idea to solve the complex problem of equity management came from experiencing the difficulties of setting up option pools and ownership transfers in other companies. Cake Equity offers an online platform that simplifies equity management by providing solutions to the tricky problems of understanding contracts and determining how much ownership to give to the team. The company also focuses on cross-border ownership, aiming to make it easier for remote teams to have access to ownership and liquidity. Kim and his co-founder saw an opportunity in the Australian market, where there was a lack of cap table solutions and founders were struggling with equity management. They decided to build a better solution and started with a real problem for real users. Cake Equity has undergone a mindset shift from a sales-led approach to a more product-led approach. They found that being sales-led was a working strategy, but not the path they wanted to take. This shift required reducing salaries, transitioning to a product-led growth model, and investing in experienced chief product and marketing officers who accelerated the transformation of the company. Cake Equity emphasizes the importance of hiring slow and building efficiency. They value product thinking, creating a seamless user experience, and leveraging technology to automate processes. The company also emphasizes the significance of data and using it to optimize the product and improve customer experience. The team at Cake Equity focuses on effective communication, breaking down silos, and having a cross-functional mindset. They involve the entire team in customer interviews and use tools like CRMs and video communication to enhance collaboration. The company believes that efficiency and innovation can be achieved with a small team, and they prioritize creating value with less resources.