The B2B Playbook #200: How B2B SaaS Companies Scale from 1 to 10 | (EVP’s Allen Zhu Playbook)
How do you go from a scrappy B2B SaaS with early traction… to a repeatable, scalable growth machine?
In this episode, we sit down with EVP’s Allen Zhu — founder-turned-PM-turned-investor — to unpack the go-to-market playbook for scaling from 1 to 10. We dive into how top SaaS companies segment their market, fund sales and marketing early, and build moats that compound.
Allen shares real examples from EVP’s portfolio (including Nexl) and explains how segmentation, workflow-driven expansion, and smart early investment helped them scale fast without burning cash.
Tune in and learn:
+ How segmentation drives efficiency — and the Nexl case that proves it
+ The “self-funding” model for early sales & marketing investment
+ Product expansion frameworks: follow the workflow, then follow the money
+ How to build switching-cost moats and pre-board ROI for enterprise deals
This is a must-watch for any B2B marketer or founder navigating the jump from early traction to scalable growth.
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00:00 The counter-intuitive truth: Sales & marketing can be self-funding
01:00 Meet Allen Zhu (EVP): founder → PM → investor
03:00 Early ventures, lessons from agency → apps → D2C
06:30 From Citi to Freelancer to EVP: why B2B SaaS
09:30 What EVP does at Series A (and how they partner)
12:00 The #1 scaling mistake: skipping segmentation
15:10 Case study: Nexl’s segmentation unlock (who, where, and why)
19:40 Why SDR “spray & pray” fails in small total addressable lists
22:10 Invest in S&M early: the “self-funding” window explained
24:30 Measuring what matters when attribution gets messy
29:30 Product expansion playbook: follow the workflow, follow the money
33:30 Moats 101 for SaaS: switching costs, data, and process power
37:30 Selling enterprise: pre-boarding ROI to win the room
42:30 Timing outreach with public contract intel (governments)
46:30 Customer advocacy flywheel: advisory boards & reference power
53:00 Leading vs lagging: how EVP reads GTM progress
56:30 What “active partner” really means at Series A
58:30 Final takeaway: segmentation first, everything else follows
59:30 Where to find Allen & EVP
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S07 E200 - The B2B Playbook
#b2b #b2bmarketing #b2bsaas #gotomarket #seriesA #evpventures #demandgeneration