Lessons in Building BroadSoft to a $2Billion Exit

Nov 2, 2023

Mike Tessler, former CEO of BroadSoft, shares his lessons in building the company to a $2 billion exit. Topics include decision making behind the acquisition, scaling the business, team accountability, success with go-to-market partners, and handling loneliness as a leader.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Visiting Austin, Introducing Mike Tesla, and his Career in Tech

02:01 • 2min

Creation of True North Advisory and Ideal Stage for Scaling

03:40 • 4min

Building BroadSoft: From Startup to Acquisition

07:23 • 24min

Career, Leadership, and CEO Isolation

31:49 • 2min

Importance of Support Systems and Learning from Business Books

34:07 • 3min

In this episode of the SaaS Revolution Show our host Alex Theuma is joined by Mike Tessler, Managing Partner at True North Advisory and founding CEO at BroadSoft, who shares his lessons in building BroadSoft to a $2 billion exit. I had to reserve more time in my pie for internal communications, culture, employees, so on. As a leader, you've got shareholder stakeholders, you have employee stakeholders, you have customer stakeholders, and you've got to figure out how you split your time. Mike shares: ⚡️ BroadSoft's journey from their 1998 founding, to going public in 2010 on Nasdaq, and being acquired by Cisco in 2018 for upwards of $1.8B ⚡️ The decision making process behind selling BroadSoft to Cisco ⚡️ Three key lessons from scaling the business to $500M+ ARR ⚡️ Building realistic execution plan and holding teams accountable ⚡️ Why the senior team have to act as ambassadors as a company grows ⚡️ BroadSoft's secret to success with go to market partners ⚡️ The biggest partner technology challenge the industry is currently facing ⚡️ How he handled feelings of loneliness when at the top and more! --- Check out the other ways SaaStock is serving SaaS founders - SaaStock Dublin 2024: The largest concentration of SaaS decision makers in one place for three days of networking, connecting, and learning all things SaaS (https://www.saastock.com/saastock-2024/) - SaaStock Founder Membership: A private members group of B2B SaaS founders between $100K - $10M ARR who are committed to growth and helping others (https://www.saastock.com/founder-membership/) - SaaStock Local: Monthly meet-ups in cities all around the world, bringing together SaaS enthusiasts and experts to discuss the most pressing topics in SaaS (https://local.saastock.com/home Check out the other ways SaaStock is helping SaaS founders move their business forward: 🇮🇪 SaaStock Europe: 14-15 October 2025 | Dublin, Ireland Book you tickets: https://saastock-europe.com/tickets/ 🇺🇸 SaaStock USA 2025: April 2026 | Austin, Texas Join the waitlist: https://saastock-usa.com/ 🤝 SaaStock Founder Membership: A private members group of B2B SaaS founders between $100K - $10M ARR who are committed to growth and helping others (https://www.saastock.com/founder-membership/) 🌎 SaaStock Local: Monthly meet-ups in cities all around the world, bringing together SaaS enthusiasts and experts to discuss the most pressing topics in SaaS (https://local.saastock.com/home)