BUILD with Blake Bartlett

Yamini points to navigating uncertainty and building resilience as the most important job of a leader. It’s always true, but especially so today. And don’t miss her experience of growing up in the cotton mill hub of Southern India.

2020 was a year of change and redefinition across the board for software companies. Yamini Rangan is HubSpot’s Chief Customer Officer, and she believes that when customers are struggling to adapt to change, the concept of “growth” itself needs to be redefined if your goal is to truly put customers first. Hear her advice for how to practice customer empathy by embracing the “customer-in, NOT function-out” approach to org design and GTM strategy.

AJ reveals how to win Product Hunt and why he loves Naval Ravikant. Also, don’t miss pro tips about his hometown of Nashville.

AJ never meant to start a company. He was building websites as a freelancer, but was frustrated with the popular website platforms. They were far too complex, so AJ built Carrd as the easiest way to make one-page websites. It launched on Product Hunt and took off faster than AJ had ever expected. Now with 800k users, it’s much more than a side project. And AJ has become much more than a freelancer. He’s a founder, even if it happened by accident. Tune in to hear AJ’s advice on what to do when your side project takes off with users and takes on a life of its own.

Leandra learned one big thing leading sales at Twilio and SendGrid: let developers build. You can’t be overly prescriptive when you are selling building blocks. And don’t miss the good things that come to you when hitchhiking in Australia.

Sales models are not one size fits all. There are key differences between traditional enterprise sales, high-volume inside sales, and product-led sales. In her 30 years of experience, Leandra Fishman has led teams in all of these environments. In this episode of BUILD, we unpack these different models and how to apply best practices of the past to a modern product-led sales model.

The secret to product-led sales is realizing the customer and the vendor have the same shared goal: more usage and more success with the product. And don’t miss a description of the many wonders found in Chardon, OH and North Andover, MA.

2020 was a big year for SaaS. From IPOs to record-breaking quarters to huge M&A deals, there was no shortage of activity. But how did the average SaaS company fare in 2020? Was the breakneck growth experienced by Zoom, Shopify, and Snowflake common to the rest of the industry? Or did COVID have a bigger impact on software than the standard press headline would suggest? OpenView surveyed 1,200 software companies for our annual SaaS Benchmarks study. This year’s survey revealed the impact of COVID-19 on software companies, and some of the results may surprise you. In this episode of BUILD, we hear from the masterminds behind the report, OpenView’s own Kyle Poyar and Sean Fanning.

Francesca says that data is good for more than analysis and modeling. It can lead to more customer empathy. And don’t miss what makes Queens the best borough in NYC.

Francesca Krihely knows developers. Many VCs and startup pundits suggest that the key to success is simply winning the “hearts and minds” of developers in the community. One problem: developers are notoriously allergic to traditional marketing. So, what’s the secret? Francesca wrote the developer experience playbook at companies like MongoDB and Snyk, and now she is sharing her best practices with the BUILD community.