The SaaS Revolution Show Lessons in building BroadSoft to a $2 billion exit
May 1, 2025
Mike Tessler, founding CEO of BroadSoft and now a Managing Partner at True North Advisory, shares his incredible journey of scaling BroadSoft to a $2 billion exit. He discusses the critical moments leading to their IPO and acquisition by Cisco. The conversation dives into key lessons on building execution plans, effective leadership, and the importance of accountability. Tessler also opens up about the loneliness that can accompany top leadership roles and highlights the significant partner technology challenges facing the industry today.
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True North Advisory Origin
- Mike Tessler co-founded True North Advisory with colleagues after his time at Cisco ended.
- They leverage their BroadSoft ecosystem experience to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses.
BroadSoft Growth Journey
- BroadSoft started in 1998 focusing on migrating enterprise communications to the cloud.
- The company grew to $500M+ revenue with 2,000 employees before its 2018 $1.8B acquisition by Cisco.
BroadSoft Sale to Cisco
- The sale of BroadSoft took about a year with many suitors including private equity and strategics.
- They chose Cisco as the best home for employees, customers, and technology despite similar valuation offers.