The SaaS Journey: Is it All Blood, Sweat and Tears? With Carl Carell of GetAccept

Episode Summary:

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil is joined by Carl Carell, Co-Founder of GetAccept, a digital sales room empowering revenue teams to increase their win rates by engaging and understanding buyers. Previously, Carl was also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adsensus Denmark Aps, and was a Sales Manager AtlasTM SRL.

They have an insightful discussion about just how educated buyers are now compared to years ago; why you need to be careful about who you choose to run a business with; the importance of learning through failure; and the impact of having a healthy working culture. They also get into why, as a startup, you need to be able to execute your ideas quickly, but also why you shouldn’t overwork yourself.

Guest at a Glance:

Name: Carl Carell

About Ran: Carl Carell is the Co-Founder of GetAccept, a digital sales room empowering revenue teams to increase their win rates by engaging and understanding buyers. Previously, Carl was also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adsensus Denmark Aps, and was a Sales Manager AtlasTM SRL.

One of his colleagues, Kevin Montano, had this to say about him: “It is rare to possess as much charisma and emotional intelligence as Carl. I was lucky enough to learn from him during my time with the company he founded, GetAccept.”

Carl on LinkedIn

Carl on Twitter

GetAccept on LinkedIn

GetAccept’s Website

Topics we cover:

• How GetAccept helps create fantastic opportunities for businesses
• Carl’s advice for choosing business partners
• The hardships of building a SaaS business
• Learning curves in starting a business
• The importance of retaining a healthy business culture
• Make sure you execute your ideas
• The process of funding your business
• Health is wealth - don’t overwork yourself!

Key Takeaways:

Buyers Are Significantly More Educated Nowadays 

Being a sales rep in this day-and-age can be a tricky business. Afterall, with so much accessibility to a wide range of information (and also misinformation) on the internet, customers are far more educated on certain topics and, as a result, are more weary when it comes to listening to sales reps. 

Carl explains that, at GetAccept, they want to create a better experience for both sales reps and buyers, making it smoother and having a much clearer understanding of each other. 

“So, how do we create a journey that is not just helping sales reps sell better, but also helping buyers have a better experience and understand that vendor in a better way? That's what got GetAccept to be where we are today. That is essentially the problem that we think about; I fall asleep thinking about our product and I wake up [still] thinking about it, every single day.”

Be Careful Who You Choose to Start Your Business With

Carl’s business background has certainly been a rich and busy one, but one piece of advice he has for anyone looking to start a business, whether that be in SaaS or another respectful industry, is that you shouldn’t just start a business with anyone. Just because someone is a good friend, it doesn’t mean they’ll be a good business partner. It’s an easy mistake to make, one filled with so much excitement and enthusiasm for a business idea that it can be hard to remember the importance of how well you and your partner will mesh and work together in the long run. 

“We started a business in college [...] That was an interesting journey, it taught me a lot about how you should think around your business. You should just start a business with whoever’s around, you should really think about the co-founders you choose and what their ambitions are.”

To Get to Where You Want, You Have to Try and Fail

SaaS is notoriously difficult to build a business in, and just like many of host Phil’s guests, Carl has started multiple businesses before hitting the jackpot with GetAccept. There’s a danger with the way the media shows off many entrepreneurs in recent times, portraying them as figures who can do no wrong and are unquestioned geniuses, but Carl warns us not to listen to them that much, as almost every entrepreneur he knows has had to try and fail before making something great. 

It’s the dream of many SaaS entrepreneurs to move to Silicon Valley and smash it out of the park, but it’s important to remember: it won’t always be that easy.

The Importance of Culture in Business

Carl acknowledges that, when he first started in SaaS, there was a certain toxicity to the culture - tight deadlines, short tempers, inflated egos - but now, it has calmed down a lot. It’s so vitally important that your business creates a culture that people want to be a part of; culture is what makes people want to come back to the office and work with others, it creates a sense of belonging that is absolutely needed for any one in any sort of environment. 

“If you hire really fantastic people and have that as a strategy, you also have to have a strategy to retain that talent and to keep them happy.”

How Quickly You Can Execute Your Ideas as a Startup is Vital

When you first create your business, meeting deadlines and executing your ideas is paramount, because you still have to prove yourself. This can lead to long hours and hard work which will require a strong work ethic, resilience, and determination. It’s important, then, to try and stay optimistic, and keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Eventually, all of your hard work will pay off, it’s just a matter of time.