Traction

On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Anu Muralidharan, Chief Operating Officer at Expensify.   Expensify is one of the few profitable, multibillion-dollar tech companies out there, and went from 0 users to IPO by staying true to its vision.   Anu shares how she stepped off the well-traversed path along with Expensify to create her own rocket launcher by ignoring detractors, challenging the norm, and trusting her ideas.   More specifically, Anu covers:   1:49 - Not taking no for an answer without a fight  6:02 - Anu’s journey from an individual contributor to COO 9:19 - 3 core principles for growth 13:13 - Doing your own homework 15:52 - Having conviction in your renegade ways 18:20 - Why Expensify has only 140 employees, how to scale your team and key qualities to look for when hiring   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Anu Muralidharan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhamuralidharan/   Learn more about Expensify at https://www.linkedin.com/company/expensify/   This episode is brought to you by:   Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex, and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo at Boast.AI welcomes Anne Dwane, Co-Founder & Partner at Village Global.   Most investors spend only 1-3 minutes looking at a pitch deck, so how can you make sure that your pitch deck stands out from the crowd?   It all starts with a great startup story when delivering your pitch. It isn't just a marketing tool: your company's startup story is—your mission, your goals, and the problems you're here to solve.   It's a powerful resource that will help you find and build connections with the people who will help your startup grow; from the right investors to stellar team members, co-founders, advisors, and customers.   Today, Anne shares insider tips on fundraising pitches and running an efficient, effective fundraising process.   Specifically, Anne will cover:   6:21 - The best people to talk to when you're fundraising  11:24 - The most important things for an investor pitch 15:15 - How to pique curiosity 17:30 - How to give clarity on what you're doing 24:06 - The number one job of an investor meeting 27:39 - Modifying your pitch strategy based on time allocation 29:30 - The best pitch she's ever heard 33:38 - Pitch deck tactics 38:02 - Should you send your pitch deck before a meeting? 40:36 - Feedback on audience pitches   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Anne Dwane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwane/   Learn more about Village Global at https://www.villageglobal.vc/   This episode is brought to you by:   Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Jim Morris, the Founder of Product Discovery Group.   There's no point in creating something that no one wants, yet so many teams skip the product discovery process.   Even the most efficient process can’t make a bad idea good. Building untested ideas is risky and can cause lost time, wasted money, and low morale.   Jim presents concrete techniques you can start using immediately to weed out bad ideas and focus on the good ones.   Specifically, Jim will cover:   9:11 - Tailoring your roadmap to fit customer needs 13:56 - How to bring the discovery process to the forefront 15:10 - How to get your team to contribute to the product discovery process 21:46 - Defining success metrics 32:03- Best practices for designing experiments 37:50 - Where are your users? 43:13 - Velocity over perfection 46:50 - Addressing customers who want very specific features 51:03 - How many interviews are enough? 51:12 - The recommended framework for product prioritization when it comes to features 1:02:20 - How to onboard potential customers for discovery interviews   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Jim Morris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmorrisstanford/   Learn more about Product Discovery Group at https://productdiscoverygroup.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex, and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Henry Schuck, CEO & Founder at ZoomInfo.   Over the past five years, ZoomInfo has grown 10X to more than one billion in revenue with over 3,000 employees and 25,000 customers.   Today, Henry joins us to share lessons from starting and growing the company from his dorm room to global scale.   Specifically, Henry dives into: 2:32 - ZoomInfo's bootstrapped backstory 4:32 - Raising venture capital versus bootstrapping 7:26 - Finding your first customers 10:51 - Biggest challenges with sales in the beginning 14:40 - Milestones you should be setting in the early days 18:19 - Tactics to address customer retention 25:09 - When to onboard a CFO 28:39 - Key channels that were prioritized in ZoomInfo's go-to-market engine 36:50 - How raising funding changed the dynamic of the company 38:52 - How to maintain startup culture as you scale 44:17 - How to give feedback 49:16 - Key team members to hire from startup to scaleup 53:45 - The number one superpower a founder needs to develop 56:54 - Unconventional advice founders ignore, but shouldn't   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Henry Schuck: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hschuck   Learn more about ZoomInfo at https://www.zoominfo.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Udi Ledergor, CMO at Gong.   With massive shifts and uncertainty in the markets, most companies are working on defensive plans such as reducing spending and increasing cash.   Defensive strategies might help companies survive, but in order to exit the current climate in a market-leading position, companies must learn to play offense.   Udi shares his ideas on how to play offense during a downturn. He covers marketing topics such as demand, brand, channels, team, tools, and metrics.   More specifically, Udi covers:   3:00 - Important skills needed to become a CMO 4:24 - How to leverage data to become more creative 6:43 - Offensive versus defensive marketing tactics 14:46 - Getting early customers and building a marketing strategy with no budget 26:04 - How startups should identify and prioritize marketing channels 31:37 - Skills and resources needed when transitioning from startup to scaleup  37:39 - Key characteristics to becoming a mega-brand 44:23 - Gong's Superbowl ad and the results 48:58 - Balancing brand and performance investments 55:29 - Perfect marriage of creativity and data 1:00:21 - Book recommendations 1:01:55 - Unconventional advice founders shouldn't ignore    Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Udi Ledergor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor   Learn more about Gong at https://www.gong.io/   This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.    Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo welcomes Jason VandeBoom, Founder & CEO of ActiveCampaign.   ActiveCampaign has managed to build a big business by taking some less-than-obvious paths.   Jason shares his take on traditional growth strategies. He tells us why they don’t always make sense and gives a breakdown of the lessons learned from scaling the unscalable into a long term sustainable business.   More specifically, Jason discusses:   0:56 - ActiveCampaign’s founding story 3:12 - Prioritize customer experiences over product experiences 8:21 - Find your own path 12:58 - Don't go global, be global 15:34 - Why pain doesn't equal success 18:00 - Figure out the right validators   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Jason VandeBoom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvandeboom   Learn more about ActiveCampaign at https://www.activecampaign.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.    Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Eric Siu, Chairman of Single Grain and a serial entrepreneur, author, podcast host, investor, and advisor to many companies.     In his youth, Eric was not academically or socially successful, but he was a serious high-level eSports and poker player. He ultimately found how to convert his focus and success in gaming into a very successful career in marketing.   He recently published his book Leveling Up: How To Master the Game of Life, which shares a 15-level approach to winning the game.   Eric and Lloyed discuss what if businesses were video games, where leaders were players, using power-ups, taking risks, and using hidden strategies to achieve the next level?   Specifically, they dive into:   2:30 - Eric’s journey into entrepreneurship 4:43 - Acquiring Single Grain for $2 12:09 - The concept of leveling up in gaming and how apply it to life and business 14:57 - The newbie struggle and the challenges that come with it 18:49 - What an apprentice mentality means 20:35 - Teamwork skills and strategies leaders must use to achieve success 25:35 - How to delegate and hire amazing people when you're on a budget 30:22 - Staying on track as a CEO, marketing expert, public speaker, and podcaster 33:36 - General advice for businesses to scale 36:30 - An example of using level ups to win 38:55 - The most difficult chapter to write in his book   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Eric Siu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericosiu   Learn more at: https://www.levelingup.com    This episode is brought to you by:   DuploCloud is a one-stop solution for all your DevOps cloud automation and compliance needs - from infrastructure provisioning and application deployment to security controls, compliance certification, and alerts. Visit https://duplocloud.com. Get two months free access by contacting info@duplocloud.com   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com  

Learn how Grammarly scaled while staying true to its mission and values with Co-Founder Max Lytvyn. Topics include the importance of values in interviews, staying authentic in scaling companies, and the role of mission and values in company growth.

On this episode of the Traction podcast, I welcome Daniel Saks, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at AppDirect.   As more and more enterprises put employees in the driver’s seat to pick the right tools for their organizations, you need to balance between designing for both end-users and the IT department to stay competitive.   Daniel shares tips on how to transition from a traditional sales-led model to a product-led growth (PLG) model and how that transition helped AppDirect get more enterprise customers.   Specifically, Daniel will discuss: 1:29 - AppDirect's journey from startup to unicorn 5:55 - Pivoting from enterprise sales-led to PLG 10:52 - What PLG means and how companies should think about it 17:05 - Comparing enterprise sales to PLG 24:49 - Key traits for success when transitioning from sales-led to PLG 27:43 - Reducing the friction during transition in an 800-person company 34:02 - An example of a collaborative PLG project at AppDirect and the outcomes it produced 37:20 - Issues that deter collaboration, and solutions to improve collaboration 43:31 - Resources to implement PLG 47:24 - PLG metrics that drive the leading indicators of success 55:00 - Coming up with the price point for your first PLG offering   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Daniel Saks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielsaks/   Learn more about AppDirect at https://www.appdirect.com/   This episode is brought to you by:   DuploCloud is a one-stop solution for all your DevOps cloud automation and compliance needs - from infrastructure provisioning and application deployment to security controls, compliance certification, and alerts. Visit https://duplocloud.com. Get two months free access by contacting info@duplocloud.com   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca  Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Yinon Costica, Co-Founder and VP of Product at Wiz.   Explosive growth is every startup’s dream but it’s not easy. It’s rarely ever a linear path.   Mistakes are inevitable. They can make or break your business’ success while you’re scaling your teams, troubleshooting your product, and onboarding your first clients.   In this episode, Yinon shares the mistakes the team at Wiz made early on that ended up helping their business skyrocket into exponential growth and become the fastest-growing cybersecurity company in the world.   Specifically, Yinon covers:   1:12 - The backstory behind Wiz 3:43 - Key developments that shape you as a founder 6:44 - Coming together to work with co-founders from a previous company 9:27 - Keeping the team together during the toughest times 13:27 - Becoming a $6 billion company in 18 months 17:18 - Key questions that founders should ask potential customers 21:12 - Picking initial questions to ask future customers 25:22 - Tactics to acquire customers early on 30:24 - How culture plays a role in scaling 37:07 - Recruiting too many employees 40:32 - How to prioritize what to build and what not to build 42:23 - What is product debt and how do you determine it within a company? 50:25 - How startups should think about building products with simplicity 54:49 - Key KPIs to measure success 1:00:14 - How to find people who don't require micromanagement   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Yinon Costica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yinonc/?originalSubdomain=il   Learn more about Wiz at https://www.wiz.io/   This episode is brought to you by:   DuploCloud is a one-stop solution for all your DevOps cloud automation and compliance needs —from infrastructure provisioning and application deployment to security controls, compliance certification, and alerts. Visit https://duplocloud.com. Get two months free access by contacting info@duplocloud.com   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com