My guest today is Henry Schuck, the founder and CEO of ZoomInfo. I’ve gotten to know Henry over the past year by virtue of him being on the board of Tegus, where I’m a board observer. I meet a lot of people and Henry is one of my favorites. His energy is unmatched and he knows his business down to the tiniest details. He has tenacity and curiosity in spades.ZoomInfo is a go-to-market software and data solution for B2B sales. Henry founded the business as DiscoverOrg in 2007 and bootstrapped it for the first 7 years of its life. Today, it’s an $8.5 billion public company with a database of over 140 million business contacts. We delve into the science of great sales, Henry shares some awesome stories, and we talk about his business philosophy more broadly. Please enjoy my great conversation with Henry Schuck.ZoomInfo Business BreakdownFounders Episode 136 - Estee LauderFounders Episode 288 - Ralph LaurenFor the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors, and provider of Canalyst. Tired of calculating fully-diluted shares outstanding? Access every publicly-reported datapoint and industry-specific KPI through their database of over 4,000 driveable global models handbuilt by a team of sector-focused analysts, 25+ industry comp sheets, and Excel add-ins that let you use their industry-leading data in your own spreadsheets. Tegus’ models automatically update each quarter, including hard to calculate KPIs like stock-based compensation and organic growth rates, empowering investors to bypass the friction of sourcing, building and updating models. Make efficiency your competitive advantage and take back your time today. As a listener, you can trial Canalyst by Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick.-----Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossusShow Notes(00:03:19) - (First question) - The story of Henry’s famous email about building a championship team(00:07:01) - Dealing with pressure in business(00:09:14) - Applying pressure from the top down as a CEO(00:10:28) - How ZoomInfo’s C-suite was constructed and how it operates(00:13:17) - A high-level picture of their product philosophy(00:19:29) - Rating the effectiveness of the average B2B go-to-market engine(00:21:25) - An anecdote about meeting with the head of commercial banking at one of world’s largest banks(00:23:06) - What separates the good from the great B2B go-to-market strategies(00:27:30) - Specific questions for screening potential salespeople; characteristics to look for(00:31:39) - The story of bootstrapping his startup(00:36:05) - His view on the process of pricing(00:40:54) - The importance of M&A in building the business(00:47:01) - The story of how ZoomInfo was acquired(00:50:06) - The ever-shifting goal posts of mergers and acquisitions(00:53:15) - Anecdotes of hustling in the early days(00:59:34) - Another story from the early days of selling(01:03:40) - Using information to influence a potential lead into a sale(01:04:57) - How companies can prepare for the advent of generative AI(01:12:10) - The stages of what it means to be a CEO(01:13:15) - Learning how to execute M&A(01:16:43) - What it means for a company to work in unison at scale(01:18:26) - His advice on M&A, company core values, and corporate communication(01:26:57) - Tips for going public with a company(01:28:33) - Lessons learned from leading a public company(01:34:47) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Henry Schuck is the Founder and CEO @ ZoomInfo. From ZoomInfo's founding moment, putting $25,000 on a credit card, Henry has led the company to today, with over $1BN in ARR, a market cap of over $10BN, and a team of over 3,600. This is one of the untold but truly great stories in software. In Today's Episode with Henry Schuck We Discuss: 1. From a $5,000 College Fund to Founding a $10BN Company: Why did Henry always believe early in life that he would be successful? Along the way doubt sets in, what did Henry do to combat that doubt when he questioned his own ability and potential? What does Henry believe he is running from? What is he running towards? How did seeing the work ethic of his single mother impact his work ethic with ZoomInfo? 2. Henry Schuck: The Leader: What does Henry believe is the difference between trust vs safety in team culture? Why does Henry believe safety is built through performance? How does Henry manage and communicate underperformance? How long do you give an under-performer? Why does Henry believe that happier teams outperform? What does Henry do deliberately and specifically to drive happiness in the business? ZoomInfo is magnitudes larger than some competitors who receive a lot more attention, how does Henry think about this? How does he manage his own ego as a leader today? 3. Henry Schuck: A Leader in a Changing Market: How does Henry maintain internal morale when employees see their stock options get smashed every day? Does it suck to be a public company CEO in the current market? What element is the worst? How are the buying patterns and behaviors of customers changing in 2023 vs 2021? How does this impact the sales cycle, retention rates, upsell plans, and the structure of the customer success teams? Dec 2023, will we be in a better or worse macroeconomic position? 4. Henry Schuck: Relationship to Money and Fatherhood: How does henry evaluate his relationship with money today? How has it changed over time? Why does Henry very rarely fly private planes? What does he believe this says about his values? How does Henry instill the same desire and worth ethic within his children despite being a billionaire? What does Henry know now that he wishes he could give to his 23-year-old self founding the company? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Henry's Favourite Book: The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work

Join the most tactical sales newsletter in the world: https://hubs.ly/Q01-R33G0Every 10th episode, we tear down one topic. This time, we’re hitting them all. The top 10 episodes and takeaways (so far) that change the way Nick and Armand sell.Prospecting Episode 118 Ryan Reisert: Use the right prospecting channel for the job. If they don’t open emails, stop emailing! Episode 114 Charly Johnson: Don’t be afraid of “out of cadence” effort Discovery Episode 110 Doug Landis: PPO Episode 137 Krysten Conner: The Menu of Pain Episode 123 Chris Orlob: When someone talks about initiative/change in state, ask what is driving it. Episode 113 Armand Farrokh: The 5-minute drill + big demo deck Process Episode 130 Morgan Melo: How are you gonna justify this internally? Episode 150 Adam Wainwright: Yes momentum. Agree on a problem. Tie solution to value. SE momentum. Episode 103 Miles Kane: What are you willing to offer in return? Episode 146 Henry Schuck: Don’t let the need for rapport block your advancement of the sale. The NUMBER ONE TACTIC!Episodes 134 & 135 Kevin “KD” Dorsey: Turn a “want” into a problem.RESOURCES DISCUSSED Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

Join the most tactical sales newsletter in the world: https://hubs.ly/Q01-R33G0ZoomInfo: 5 Plays, 30MPC StyleFOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS Don’t let the fear of breaking rapport prevent you from asking for the next step. Answer the yes-or-no questions and SHUT UP! Figure out their vision through discovery, then tell the story of their business in terms of how other world class teams use you to achieve it. Turn the CEO's team into your champions to get the inside scoop on everything about them beforehand. PATH TO PRESIDENT’S CLUB CEO & Founder @ ZoomInfo CEO & Co-founder @ DiscoverOrg Adjunct Professor @ Washington State University RESOURCES DISCUSSED Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

The podcast explores the transformative impact of AI on data enhancement, generative AI in customer outreach, and strategic AI implementation to retain data integrity. It discusses the founding of Zoom Info, evolution of AI integration in business operations, and maximizing data quality for effective AI utilization. Additionally, it delves into the balance between automation and personal time in leveraging AI for efficiency.