Sally Duby - Sales in 2024: SaaS AE Metrics Report

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyduby/details/experience/">Sally Duby</a> is the Chief Sales Officer at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-bridge-group/">The Bridge Group Inc.</a>, a sales strategy consulting firm for B2B companies looking for more from sales development, sales, and customer success. </p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>Marketing contribution to the pipeline rose from <em>33% in 2022 to 40% in 2024.</em></li><li>Characterization of the account manager and customer success manager.</li><li>Who is responsible for renewal, upsell, and cross-sell?</li><li>Average years of experience required at hire by Annual Contract Value (ACV).</li><li>The increasing Account Executive (AE)’s average ramp time.</li><li>How tenure and ramp time affect productivity time -<em> Median time at productivity sits at 24 months</em>.</li><li>Increasing trend of quotas across all bands from <$5k to $250k+ by ACV.</li><li>Win rates declining from 23% in 2022 to 19% in 2024.</li><li>Decreasing trend of quota attainment among AEs from 2012 to 2024.</li><li>Common problems of clients The Bridge Group works with.</li><li>The Bridge Group playbook for improving sales.</li><li>Sally’s viewpoints on outbound sales and SDR functions.</li><li>Effective strategies for outbound sales efforts. </li><li>AI’s role in improving SDRs and AEs productivity.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/2024-ae-metrics-compensation-benchmark">https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/2024-ae-metrics-compensation-benchmark</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

01:16:50

Guy Rubin - 2024 B2B Sales Benchmarks

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubinguy/">Guy Rubin</a> is the Founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/ebsta/">Ebsta</a>, a Revenue Intelligence Platform that provides insights into what drives over 500 B2B companies' success. </p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>What is Ebsta’s 2024 B2B Sales Benchmark report?</li><li>Reliance on top sales representatives - 17% of reps generate 81% of revenue.</li><li>Difference in deal progression between average and top performers - <em>average performers tend to lose deals during negotiation, whereas top performers experience more losses during the qualification and discovery stages.</em></li><li>Guy’s insights on increasing pipelines and adopting best sales methodologies.</li><li>How does AI fit within Ebsta’s product suite?</li><li>How does discussing ROI accelerate the sales cycle?</li><li>Based on poor quota attainment and certain layoffs, has sales forecasting gotten harder?</li><li>Guy's insight on improving forecasting accuracy.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://www.ebsta.com/2024-b2b-sales-benchmarks/">https://www.ebsta.com/2024-b2b-sales-benchmarks/</a></p>About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:33:18

Matt Slotnick - Co-Founder + CEO of Poggio Labs, An AI Sales Workspace

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mslotnick/">Matt Slotnick</a> is the Co-Founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/poggio-labs/">Poggio Labs</a>, an AI Sales Workspace purpose-built for Account Executives. Poggio is backed by Accel and Spark Capital.</p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>Understanding end-user workflows in GenAI applications.</li><li>How understanding customer workflows influences team construction?</li><li>How Poggio Labs handles the new challenge of managing user expectations for AI.</li><li>Insights and lessons from early adopters of Poggio Labs software.</li><li>Potential competitive tensions arising from intersecting workflows.</li><li>Matt’s take on incumbent’s ability to innovate and why the “data is the new oil” narrative might not be true</li><li>How does an iterative approach drive real product innovation?</li><li>Implications for building AI versus established playbooks in SaaS.</li><li>What aspects of Poggio are generating raving enthusiasm among users?</li><li>Matt’s lessons learned from his cycling passion applied to entrepreneurship and company building.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://poggio.io/">https://poggio.io/</a> </p>Thread on building AI products + emerging moats: <a href="https://twitter.com/matt_slotnick/status/1747686262914568444">https://twitter.com/matt_slotnick/status/1747686262914568444</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:54:50

Scott Brinker - Martech in 2024

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjbrinker/">Scott Brinker</a>, VP of <a href="https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/">Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot</a>, shapes Hubspot's platform strategy and leads business programs for its global technology partner ecosystem. He is also an editor at <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/">chiefmartec.com</a>, with over 50,000 readers, analyzing topics at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management. </p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>How much does Scott Brinker see AI impacting marketing headcount?</li><li>Scott on the need to adapt and rethink categorizations in light of the evolving MarTech landscape.</li><li>What are some concerns about the sustainability of the current level of saturation in the martech industry? </li><li>How should companies in the torso (top 100 companies) and head (top 10 companies)  navigate the presence of a large number of competitors in the long tail (12,000 companies)?</li><li>What does composability truly mean for MarTech? </li><li>The business and technical risk of composability.</li><li>Scott's recommendations and principles to CMOs and marketing leaders for implementing composability. </li><li>How does competition among major platforms provide opportunities and leverage for smaller, long-tail partners in ecosystems?</li></ul><br /></p><strong>Sources:<br /></strong><a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2023/12/major-trends-in-martech-for-2024-the-real-changes-underway-in-a-99-platitude-free-report/">https://chiefmartec.com/2023/12/major-trends-in-martech-for-2024-the-real-changes-underway-in-a-99-platitude-free-report/</a></p><a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2023/10/products-in-the-long-tail-of-martech-have-a-wide-range-of-different-strategies-and-aspirations/">https://chiefmartec.com/2023/10/products-in-the-long-tail-of-martech-have-a-wide-range-of-different-strategies-and-aspirations/</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/p/mckinsey-cloud-roi-ai-roi">https://www.saasletter.com/p/mckinsey-cloud-roi-ai-roi</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:34:33

Scott Leese 6x Leader + Founder + 3x Author - Seller Realities + Go To Work

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottleese/">Scott Leese</a> is a six-time Sales Leader and a two-time best-selling Amazon author in the category of sales. He maintains active communities like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtm-united/">GTM United</a> and is also focusing on helping companies build revenue-driving motions across the organization. </p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>Scott's view on shifting away from traditional VP career paths and expectations.</li><li>What are the qualities to look for in someone who is a first-time VP of Sales?</li><li>Scott’s advice for someone who is considering transitioning into an account executive (AE) role + Director/VP Sales level.</li><li>The type of leaders or CEOs that Scott gets along with.</li><li>Overall framework of the evolution of Sales from Go-To-Market to Go-To-Network.</li><li>What type of seller performs best?</li><li>Scott on the sales productivity of Go-To-Network approach versus cold outbound strategy.</li><li>Scott's take on Sapphire Non-AE GTM Bloat - 90% of GTM spend is non-AE, down from 70% in 2018.</li><li>Strategies or approaches that are currently successful in the broader environment.</li><li>Scott elaborates his Linkedin post on self-inflicted errors: <em>“Most deals die from predictable self-inflicted errors. Avoidable problems turn into cyclical failures caused by a lack of focus on reverse engineering root causes.”</em></li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://www.surfandsales.com/">https://www.surfandsales.com/</a> </p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter/status/1700517476017246334?s=20">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter/status/1700517476017246334?s=20</a> </p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scottleese_you-dont-get-good-at-anything-by-giving-activity-6990657671431405568-lVpl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop">https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scottleese_you-dont-get-good-at-anything-by-giving-activity-6990657671431405568-lVpl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:39:26

Ashley Acosta - Founder + CEO of Maca - SaaS Pricing: Fix The Leaks

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-acosta-8aa28132/">Ashley Acosta</a>, Founder and CEO of <a href="https://maca.io/">Maca</a>. Previously, Ashley was the VP of Revenue at Pipe, on the founding team at Brex, and a Mentor at First Round Capital. Now, she's pioneering the first operating system for value-based pricing through Maca, empowering growing companies to achieve greater revenue efficiency through AI-driven data insights.</p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>How much potential revenue are companies losing by not optimizing their pricing strategies?</li><li>Maca’s methods of sourcing data + understanding their insights engine.</li><li>Ashley's insight on the growing complexity of revenue management in growing companies and hidden revenue channels.</li><li>Twitter Question #1: <em>What are the top key results in metrics to determine pricing effectiveness? </em></li><li>Twitter Question #2: <em>How do you think about testing pricing and gathering learnings for long sales cycle products?</em></li><li>Ashley expounds on her Tweet:<em> “Test pricing using your sales levers, not by changing your list price. This will promote learnings about internal levers faster and you'll be less likely to upset your customers by changing pricing on your website, requiring less internal uplift to change pricing.”</em></li><li>How to determine pricing decisions + levers for software products by understanding overall ROI at the feature level</li><li>Benefits of Maca's data-driven model over the traditional pricing consultant model (i.e. engaging Simon Kucher).</li><li>The scale and type of software companies that Maca works with.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://maca.io/">https://maca.io/</a></p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-acosta-8aa28132/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-acosta-8aa28132/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/ashleyacosta75/status/1678455416261419022">https://twitter.com/ashleyacosta75/status/1678455416261419022</a></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/roi-of-it-software/">https://cloudratings.com/roi-of-it-software/</a></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/software-roi-drivers/">https://cloudratings.com/software-roi-drivers/</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:37:45

Eldar Tuvey - Founder + CEO of Vertice - Cutting Cloud Costs

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eldar-tuvey-452133/">Eldar Tuvey</a>, CEO and Founder of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/verticeone/">Vertice</a>, an automated SaaS purchasing platform that simplifies buying, renewals, and management of software applications, helping businesses streamline their procurement and save on SaaS spend. They recently <a href="https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/cloud-cost-optimization-launch">launched a Cloud Cost Optimization platform</a>, a new product built for finance leaders to optimize their AWS spend.</p><br />Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>Eldar’s earlier experiences as an operator buying + renewing software that led to the launch of Vertice.</li><li>Profile of Vertice's ideal customer profile (ICP) in terms of software spend, number of customers, and employees.</li><li>How do software vendors view “working against” SaaS purchasing platforms like Vertice?</li><li>What inning of the cloud cost optimization game are we in?</li><li>The potential impact of Vertice on reducing wasted cloud spend - a <a href="https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/reports/cloud-spend-report-2024">recent Vertice report</a> showed organizations <em>"wasting as much as a third (32%) of their cloud budget."</em></li><li>Understanding how cloud cost optimization is achieved - “<em>50% to 55% of savings come through financial elements (like EDPs and Reserved Instances) and 45 to 50 from engineering, different scaling, processing, etc.”</em></li><li>The time to value for cloud cost optimization.</li><li>Eldar's insight on Morgan Stanley's survey that cloud optimization efforts could ultimately increase cloud spending.</li><li>Eldar on the 66% of companies exceeding their cloud budgets.</li><li>How are Vertice customers responding to the average 12% price increase software vendors are implementing?</li><li>Vertice’s recommended playbook for customers dealing with significant price hikes from vendors for must-use tools.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/cloud-cost-optimization-launch">https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/cloud-cost-optimization-launch</a></p><a href="https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/reports/cloud-spend-report-2024">https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/reports/cloud-spend-report-2024</a></p><a href="https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/cloud-spend-insights-september-2023">https://www.vertice.one/inside-saas/cloud-spend-insights-september-2023</a></p><a href="https://www.vertice.one/saas-purchasing-insights">https://www.vertice.one/saas-purchasing-insights</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/board-management-software/">Board Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:47:48

Andy Wilson - Co-Founder + Former CEO of Logikcull - A Big Exit, AI Realities, + 19 Lessons From 19 Years

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andylogik/">Andy Willson</a>, Co-Founder and former CEO of <a href="https://www.logikcull.com/">Logikcull</a>, a cloud-based eDiscovery solution trusted by hundreds of legal teams to automate discovery and legal holds for disputes, subpoenas, investigations, record requests, and more. After 19 years of building, Logikcull was acquired by Reveal in late August 2023.</p><br />Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>How Andy is feeling post-exit.</li><li>How Logikcull created an inbound GTM motion with product-led growth dynamics.</li><li>Andy's insights into managing customer expectations in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) in legal tech.</li><li>Andy's advice and strategies for people outside legal tech expanding into AI.</li><li>We then dive deep into Andy’s excellent “19 Lessons From 19 Years” </li><li>“#1.  The team you build is the company you build. Want to build a great company? Find great people and never settle”.</li><li>“#4.  Get written agreements for the work you need done, not assumed expectations. ASSUME = ASS + U + ME.”</li><li>“#5.  Hire leaders that run at high tempos with high energy & high capability. The team will mirror them and the force will multiply.”</li><li>“#8.  Build something people want and value. Price accordingly.”</li><li>“#9. No customers -> No employees -> No revenue -> No business. Focus on customers and have all employees, especially engineers, frequently interact with customers. This will create empathy and empathy drives urgency.”</li><li>“#16.  Small teams with high agency & chips on their shoulders will win. Keep your teams small and give them the direction & freedom to succeed. More customers and more revenue is > more employees. “Chips on shoulders puts chips in pockets.” - Josh Wolfe”</li><li>“#18.  Extinction-level events will happen (we had a few ourselves =). The team you build will define whether your business lives or dies during these times. So, when in doubt, hire for grit. Tough times don’t last. But tough people do.”</li><li>“#19.  Never give up.”</li><li> A final question: How did Andy maintain a healthy relationship with a co-founder for two decades?</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p>“19 Lessons From 19 Years” Twitter Thread: <a href="https://twitter.com/iDedupe/status/1678381125042044931">https://twitter.com/iDedupe/status/1678381125042044931</a></p><a href="https://www.logikcull.com/">https://www.logikcull.com/</a></p><a href="https://resource.revealdata.com/en/press/logikcull-ipro-acquisition">https://resource.revealdata.com/en/press/logikcull-ipro-acquisition</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/account-based-marketing-abm-software/">Account-Based Marketing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/cap-table-equity-management-software/">Cap Table + Equity Management Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-conversation-intelligence-software/'">Sales Conversation Intelligence Software</a>.</p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:47:12

Ben Schaechter from Vantage - Cloud Cost Optimization Explained

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bensign/">Ben Schaechter</a> is the Co-founder & CEO of <a href="https://www.vantage.sh/">Vantage</a>, a cloud cost optimization platform for AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, Datadog, Snowflake, Databricks, Fastly, and more. </p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>The current maturity level of the Cloud Cost Optimization cycle.</li><li>The dollar threshold of cloud spending at which organizations should consider pursuing cloud optimization services</li><li>Understanding how Vantage facilitates the process of cloud optimization.</li><li>Ben's view on the hyperscaler cloud service providers' included cost management tools + looking at all elements contributing to cloud usage-based cost.</li><li>Ben's take on the Morgan Stanley thesis that cloud cost optimization leads to greater spending / more workloads long-term.</li><li>Do all optimization efforts lead to greater lock-in with the cloud provider?</li><li>Commitment mechanisms + taking advantage of Enterprise Discount Program (EDP).</li><li>The timeframe for yielding positive results after implementing cloud optimizations.?</li><li>Ben’s commentary on trends outside the hyperscalers, including Snowflake, Databricks, and Datadog.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://www.vantage.sh/">https://www.vantage.sh/</a></p><a href="https://www.vantage.sh/cloud-cost-report/2023-q2">https://www.vantage.sh/cloud-cost-report/2023-q2</a></p><a href="https://www.vantage.sh/cloud-cost-report/2023-q1">https://www.vantage.sh/cloud-cost-report/2023-q1</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-conversation-intelligence-software/'">Sales Conversation Intelligence Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/partner-relationship-management-software/">Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software</a></p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:33:59

Elena Hutchison - Analyst Relations Explained

Our Guest: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenahutchison/">Elena Hutchison</a>, formerly an Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/medallia-inc./">Medallia</a>, is now the Founder of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/up-right-ar/">Up/Right Analyst Relations</a>. The firm offers coaching, consulting, and fractional analyst relations services, specifically designed to enhance companies' engagement with Gartner, Forrester, and other industry leaders.</p><br /></p>Episode Topics:</p><ul><li>Understanding the analyst relations function beyond quadrants + how analyst firms serve their own customers</li><li>Elena’s insights on the accuracy of Gartner’s Magic Quadrants and Forrester’s Wave</li><li>Elena expands on her “<em>Most Important Sales Cycle of the Year</em>” post </li><li>Should companies always participate in an analyst Request for Information (RFI)?</li><li>How can early + mid-stage companies best work with analyst firms?</li><li>How analysts evaluate emerging vendors within categories + significance of vendor financial stability</li><li>The value of customer stories around ROI when collaborating with analysts</li><li>How to gain buy-in for an analyst relations program?</li><li>Understanding the timeline for tangible, positive results from an analyst relations program.</li><li>Elena’s insights on the differences between the largest analyst firms and niche analyst firms.</li></ul><br /></p>Resources:</p><a href="https://www.uprightar.com/blog/your-analyst-evaluation-is-the-most-important-sales-cycle-of-the-year">https://www.uprightar.com/blog/your-analyst-evaluation-is-the-most-important-sales-cycle-of-the-year</a></p><a href="https://www.uprightar.com/blog/debunking-five-myths-of-analyst-relations-for-startup-ceos">https://www.uprightar.com/blog/debunking-five-myths-of-analyst-relations-for-startup-ceos</a><br /><a href="https://www.saasboost.io/outsourced-sales-blog/top-saas-directory-and-review-sites-complete-guide-2023">https://www.saasboost.io/outsourced-sales-blog/top-saas-directory-and-review-sites-complete-guide-2023</a></p><br />About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:</p><br /></p>Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a <a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">SaaS podcast</a> covers all aspects of the business of software.</p><br /></p>Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">@saasletter</a> and writes "<a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaSletter</a>", an investing-oriented <a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">SaaS newsletter</a> on Substack.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/">https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/</a></p><a href="https://twitter.com/SaaSletter">https://twitter.com/SaaSletter</a></p><a href="https://www.saasletter.com/">https://www.saasletter.com/</a></p><br /></p>About Cloud Ratings:</p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">Cloud Ratings</a> is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.</p><br /></p>Our <a href="https://cloudratings.com/category-reports/">Cloud Ratings Category Reports</a> combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: <a href="https://cloudratings.com/lead-routing-software/">Lead Routing Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-training-software/">Sales Training + Onboarding Software</a>, <a href="https://cloudratings.com/sales-conversation-intelligence-software/'">Sales Conversation Intelligence Software</a>, and <a href="https://cloudratings.com/partner-relationship-management-software/">Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software</a></p><br /></p>Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.</p><br /></p><a href="https://cloudratings.com/">https://cloudratings.com/</a></p>

00:37:12