Podcasts about emergence capital

Alex Levin is the cofounder and CEO of Regal, a platform for AI phone agents. They've raised $82M from amazing investors such as Emergence Capital.Alex's favorite book: The PayPal Wars (Author: Eric M. Jackson)(00:01) Introduction(02:37) Evolution of customer contact tools and legacy players(06:02) Launching Regal: Origin story and early challenges(08:41) MVP strategy and problems worth solving(11:46) Lessons from 0 to 10 customers: Growth mistakes and hiring(16:13) Ideal early-stage team construction and hiring philosophy(19:06) Sequencing hires as company scales(20:58) What makes a good investor and how to leverage them(25:42) Best and worst experiments while building Regal(29:04) Internal use of AI at Regal across teams(31:49) The future of AI phone agents and near-term blockers(34:13) Rapid Fire Round--------Where to find Alex Levin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlevin1/--------Where to find Prateek Joshi: Newsletter: https://prateekjoshi.substack.com Website: https://prateekj.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-joshi-91047b19 X: https://x.com/prateekvjoshi 

Jake Saper is a General Partner @ Emergence Capital, one of the leading venture firms of the last 20 years. Their many wins include being early investors in Salesforce, Zoom, Veeva and more. In total, the firm has invested $2BN and returned an astonishing $8BN in cash with much more to come.  In Today's Episode We Discuss: 04:45 The Zoom Investment Story 10:21 Founder, Market, Traction: Rank Them 26:37 Why Market Pull is the Most Important Thing and How to Know 27:23 Are the Best Deals Always Expensive? 28:25 What is the One Framework Emergence Use for Every Investment 29:08 Lessons from the 16x DPI Zoom Fund 30:44 Why Does Every Partner Do Reference Calls on Every Deal? 35:16 We Have Lied to SaaS Founders: The Revenue Rules Changed 37:53 Where Will Value Accrue in a World of AI?  41:37 Three Reasons Why AI Will Not Replace Vertical SaaS 46:38 Who Wins in AI: Startups or Incumbents? 50:09 Why Should Every Company Aim to Be a “Board Discussion” 55:12 Why is Jake Worried About AI's FTX Moment? 56:00 What Losing Billions on Salesforce Taught Us About Selling 01:00:07 Why Most VC Partnerships are Broken 01:03:07 Grok vs Anthropic vs OpenAI: Buy and Sell? 01:14:25 Quickfire Round: Insights and Reflections  

In this episode, Joseph Floyd from Emergence Capital joins CJ to dive into the venture capital firm's latest benchmarking report, offering insights into the enterprise software space. Compiled from over 650 responses from Emergence Capital's portfolio and additional seed firms, the report covers a range of companies from pre-seed to pre-IPO. Joe discusses key trends in AI adoption, highlighting the contrast between companies incorporating AI and those actually generating revenue from it. The conversation also touches on efficiency metrics like net dollar retention rates, and whether the rule of 40 still holds relevance. Joe sheds light on the struggles faced by companies in the "messy middle," grappling with slower growth and burning cash. Other topics include the lengthening time between early-stage funding rounds, the shift in fundraising dynamics, and why some founders are rethinking their need for venture capital altogether. Tune in for a comprehensive look at the current state of enterprise software and the challenges ahead.If you're looking for an ERP head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist.—SPONSORS:NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 38,000 thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist. Maxio is the only billing and financial operations platform that was purpose built for B2B SaaS. They're helping SaaS finance teams automate billing and revenue recognition, manage collections and payments, and put together investor grade reporting packages.

In the ever-evolving landscape of tech startups, few stories are as compelling as Rick Nucci's journey from founding Boomi to launching Guru. A serial entrepreneur with a track record of success, Rick's career is a masterclass in leveraging market opportunities and navigating the complexities of scaling a business. Rick's company, Guru, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like FirstMark Capital, Emergence Capital, MSD Capital, Slack, and Thrive Capital.

What does it mean to “make it”? What does it take? And how does your reputation play a role? This is what I explore with  Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital and a sales legend. His career journey is impressive and candidly abnormal. He climbed the ranks through sales and then became the Chief Storyteller at Box, which might be the coolest title ever. Now he puts his experience and expertise to good use being an advisor and mentor along with creating GTM strategies for Emergence Capital's portfolio companies.But that's not all I wanted to talk to him about. Beyond his sales and marketing prowess, what has it been like as the person behind the success? What does it take to hit that pinnacle of growth? What sacrifices has he had to make? And the lessons he's learned? Because Doug's reputation precedes him as someone who knows his stuff, is a great connector, and is an even better mentor, while being wildly successful. Here are a few highlights we'll dive into:Doug's lessons on walking the fine line between monetary motivation and the pursuit of success coupled with the sheer joy of doing something impactful.Why being positive and intentional can change your outlook and output, at work and beyond.And a few tips for driving accountability and better relationships between marketing and sales. (Okay, I had to ask a few practical questions, too.) Jump into the conversation: (05:00) Level 1 Sommalier(12:01) Struggle of Your Worth in Sales(23:40) “If tech was the mafia, he's a made man.”(45:10) The Power of Your Words & Self-Talk(1:08:10) How Can Marketers Be More Valuable?⬛ Follow Doug on LinkedIn⬛ Follow Doug on Twitter

IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode, our host Denise Silber welcomes recent HBS MBA, Kai-Tai Chang, General Partner at a quantitative crypto fund.  Kai-Tai Chang explains, step by step, how cryptocurrency works and  presents the key components and stakeholders in a session sure to interest crypto beginners and enthusiasts alike. Specialized in Alpha research, or detecting opportunities that offer returns above the market average, Kai-Tai Chang shares his journey from engineering to the world of cryptocurrencies, highlighting  technology's potential to redefine financial systems. He addresses misconceptions about crypto currency, its uses, and the importance of regulation. He dives right into the environmental impact of crypto mining, describes his experience at Binance Labs, and explains how he managed to do his MBA at HBS while  simultaneously working  in crypto. The conversation also touches on the future of cryptocurrency and the importance of education and community engagement for those interested in entering the field. GUEST BIO: A newly-minted  Harvard MBA graduate, Kai-Tai Chang is a tech-driven serial entrepreneur and investor actively exploring opportunities in the blockchain and digital verticals. A French-born Chinese, he embraces diverse paths, prioritizing a life without regret. Transitioning from a data scientist role in Paris to entrepreneurship, and later serving as a PE manager in Beijing, he pivoted to a web3 VC investor position at Binance Labs. There, he invested in impactful ventures and steered strategic projects, leading growth initiatives and fostering collaborations for synergies. Currently, he serves as the General Partner at Emergence Capital, a quantitative crypto fund.

Our guest for Episode 15 is Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital. Doug specializes in capturing and creating GTM strategies for Emcap's portfolio companies and the greater SaaS community. He brings a wealth of experience to the conversation and shares practical tips for how sellers can get better at closing and forecasting.  In this episode, Doug and Ross discuss why closing deals hinges on your ability to build consensus among stakeholders and align on a singular problem. They also explore the importance of identifying the ‘whys' behind the deal and why what you don't know will hurt you. 

Ilana Weinstein, IDW Group CEO and founder, joins to discuss hedge funds and investing. Sonali Basak joins. Cam Harvey, Professor at Duke Business School, joins to give his economic outlook and potential for a hard landing in the US. Anton Posner, CEO at Mercury Resources, joins to discuss supply chain risks amid uncertainty in the Middle East. Jake Saper, General Partner at Emergence Capital, joins to discuss the outlook for artificial intelligence in 2024. Hosted by Paul Sweeney, Kailey Leinz, and Caroline Hyde.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FOUR ACTIONABLE LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Re-evaluate your Q4 incentives. Lots of sales reps aren't making money now. Throw in SPIFs and kickers that squeeze the juice out of ICP deals or even a $500 referral SPIF for customers. Build your 2024 model for efficiency instead of growth. Sell your CEO, board, or finance team on healthy attainment to keep your best reps fed. They will carry you through a downturn. Consider running hot. Your top sellers will over-perform and make up for a gap in capacity you might have with a bloated team. Get everyone on the same page on healthy growth. No one wants a horrible CAC payback, a burning sales team, or a team that can't keep their top reps. PATH TO PRESIDENT'S CLUB Growth Partner @ Emergence Capital Mentor &Advisor @ Sales Assembly Mentor & Advisor @ Forum Ventures Mentor @ GrowthX Academy THE LATEST FROM 30MPC Tactic TV Toolkits & Templates Twitter YouTube THINGS YOU CAN STEAL Prospecting Lavender: Sales Email Frameworks ZoomInfo: 5 Plays, 30MPC Style Woodpecker: Nick's Sales Cadence Orum: 5 Cold Call Objection Talk Tracks Owler: 4 Multi-Channel Prospecting Touchpoints (Try Owler Max) Boomerang: Tactics for Peak Productivity Hireframe: Fast Track your Prospecting Discovery & Demo Clari: How to Sell to the CFO Calendly: Speed up your sales cycle & increase revenue Klue: Dismantling Competitors Sales Process Demandbase: 6 Templates to Accelerate Deals Gong: Master Class Qwilr: Sales Proposal Upgrade Outreach: 1 Sequence to Create and 5 Templates to Close Accord: Business Case Template Prolifiq: Relationship Mapping Playbook Salesloft: Selling to Power ONE ASK You know we feel a bit awkward asking, but if you made it this far, it would mean the world if you joined our newsletter. It will increase your chances of making President's Club by 227%. Okay maybe not, but we'd still really love you for it :)

In a moment when unprecedented amounts of money are flowing toward projects involving AI, Robb and Josh welcome Jake Saper for a lively exploration of the VC mindset. Since 2003, Emergence Capital has invested in companies collectively worth $450B+, including Salesforce, Box, Yammer, and Zoom. As a General Partner, Jake has embraced the transformative power of generative AI. This conversation explores many different ways these technologies are impacting investor thinking as software becomes cheaper and easier to create.

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Camille Ricketts for the fifteenth episode of the Optimize podcast. Camille is the Operating Partner focused on all things marketing, brand, and communications for Emergence Capital, the longest-standing venture firm focused on B2B software. She's also known for being Notion's 10th hire, joining Notion as the first marketer when the team was just 10 people, and running content and marketing for First Round Capital, where she founded and built First Round Review. In this episode, Camille and Nate discuss her extensive background from her time with First Round Capital to Notion's 10th employee to becoming a member of The White House's US Digital Service. Camille gets tactical, sharing strategies and tips for creating user onboarding and tutorial content, generating case studies, and leveraging cross-functional teams. As a special bonus, Camille and Nate dive deep into Notion's go-to-market approach, revealing insights into building successful creator marketing campaigns. Closing out the episode is our popular lightning round of questions! For more information please visit www.positional.com, or email us at podcast@positional.com.Resources:Join Positional's Private Beta Here: www.positional.comCheck in with Nate on LinkedIn & TwitterCheck in with Camille on LinkedIn & Twitter & Emergence CapitalWhat to Listen For:02:30 Camille's Background04:49 Experience being Notion's 10th employee05:54 Was content always a priority at Notion?09:00 How do we create and distribute tutorial content?11:34 Driving success with pre-built templates for users13:30 What is a Director of Community?15:15 Notion's GTM strategy: Influencer Marketing21:26 Where did SEO fit in Notion's GTM strategy?23:12 How do you get a customer to agree to do a case study?25:35 Cross-functional teams drive the best results for content marketing25:58 Camille's White House experience (US Digital Service)27:38 Should VCs be creating content?28:39 Lightning question round

Join host James Mackey and his guest Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital as they discuss the tech industry's changing risk tolerance, adaptability, and smart decision-making for leaders. What is the impact of unit economics on bootstrapped organizations? Which compensation strategies can companies use amid high inflation? The answer to these questions and more in this engaging episode, including how you can achieve transformative success with Northstar metrics.   0:42 Doug Landis's background   2:18 Challenges in hiring and scaling businesses12:34 Challenges for startups and compensation strategy23:22 The importance of a people-first culture36:08 Importance of investors in company positioning41:58 The importance of having a defined process before hiring Thank you to our sponsor, SecureVision, for making this show possible! Our host James Mackey Follow us:https://www.linkedin.com/company/82436841/#1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2!https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviewsThanks for listening!

Alex Levin, the CEO, and co-founder of New York City-based Regal.io, a tech stack for powering calls and messages that might provide customers — as well as sales and marketing teams — a better outbound calling experience. Regal has raised $42.1 million with Emergence Capital leading and Founder Collective, Homebrew, Flex Capital, Inspired Capital, and Operator Collective.Regal.io was founded in 2020 to help brands drive more conversations with consumers and hit their growth goals way faster. They currently have 150 brands that use their product in ways they never imagined to power 40M customer conversations and $1 billion in brand revenue to date. Alex Levin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlevin1/Regal: https://www.regal.io/If you like our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe and support us on your favorite podcast players. We also would appreciate your feedback and rating to reach more people.We recently launched our new newsletter, Principles Friday, where I share one principle that can help you in your life or business, one thought-provoking question, and one call to action toward that principle. Please subscribe Here.It is Free and Short (2min).

Today we're speaking with Peter Yang of OverSubscribe. Peter Yang is co-founder and CEO of OverSubscribe, a Creator Economy startup that is empowering creators to accelerate their growth as businesses by 1) allowing fans to financially invest in their favorite creator's growth in return for perks and, uniquely, regulated investment returns and 2) through guidance from our top-tier Creator Mentors⁠. Together with his co-founder Jae Kim (a long-time friend from their college days at MIT), Peter is deeply invested in the mission of OverSubscribe to help creators to reach their full potential, regardless of where they're starting from. Prior to OverSubscribe, Peter's career was largely spent in the worlds of tech and finance, at companies like Goldman Sachs, Emergence Capital, and Corel. TIMESTAMPS: 18:14 - Background. 24:48 - The creator economy, Oversubscribe overview. 34:38 - Perks of using Oversubscribe. 47:05 - Getting started with Oversubscribe as a Talent. 56:41 - Period of time it takes in raising investment funds. 1:10:39 - Exclusive preview. Check out Oversubscribe: Website Instagram Successful Creator Public Offering (CPO) page Current Audience Interest Poll (AIP) page YouTube video by Creator as part of promoting CPO to his subscribers: youtu.be/qnPG37uai1k Email: info@oversubscribe.co  Connect with Peter:LinkedIn Instagram Email: p@oversubscribe.co    Connect with Jessy: LinkedIn Instagram     Upcoming Events: LA Experience- members.iamwiim.com/event/laexperience NYC Experience - members.iamwiim.com/event/nycexperience More Events - https://members.iamwiim.com/events        Want to join WIIM's Membership? Check out our website Don't forget to follow us on Instagram: --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wiim/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wiim/support

Discovery deserves to die… Well, at least the discovery we have now. It does little to help the buyer.  Doug Landis is a renowned Growth Partner at Emergence Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in early and growth-stage enterprise cloud companies. With extensive experience in sales and marketing, Landis is widely recognized for his expertise in building and scaling high-performance revenue organizations. He has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by SaaS companies, particularly in the areas of sales strategy, customer engagement, and team development. Doug works closely with Emergence Capital's portfolio companies, providing strategic guidance and hands-on support to drive their growth and success In this episode, Doug and Kyle discuss the importance of data in sales and the role of a Rev Ops partner. They touch on the pitfalls of being too focused on discovery and the need to shift towards meaningful business conversations that take into account the risk-averse nature of buyers, the impact of the pandemic on sales, the potential of AI to accelerate research and provide insights for sales conversations while recognizing the importance of tangible outcomes that matter to revenue leaders, and more. Let's avoid revenue leak and achieve revenue precision, together.    Here's what's inside:  Meaningful interactions are key: Sales reps should focus on having business conversations with potential clients and strive to understand why they need to change and why they should do it now. This approach can lead to more genuine and productive conversations. Embrace hypothesis-based selling: Sellers should use hypothesis-based selling to build a hypothesis around what problems the person or organization they are selling to may be going through. This can help sellers prepare before getting on calls with prospects and tailor their offerings to better meet the client's needs. Re-assess ideal customer profiles: Due to the pandemic and its impact on the market, many companies may need to reassess their ideal customer profiles (ICP) and shift their buyer targets. CFOs are now getting involved in smaller deals, so it's important to adjust ICPs accordingly.   Grab this week's Checklist    Check out RunRevenue.Pro for tips, playbooks, and advice for stopping revenue leak and achieving revenue precision.    See how Clari's Revenue Platform can help you win more deals, protect your customer base, and achieve revenue precision—even in a downturn.  → Clari.com  

Fundraising is an incredibly complex and nuanced topic to cover - but we have invited two great guests to try to untangle it from an investor and founder's viewpoint. Here with us are: Carlotta Siniscalco, a Partner at Emergence Capital based in San Francisco.  Emergence Capital is known for investing in early and growth-stage enterprise cloud companies, they invested in companies like Zoom, Box, and Salesforce and Carlotta is the first female Partner in the firm's 18-year history.  At Emergence, Carlotta invests in early stage enterprise software and fintech companies. She serves on the Board of Directors of Whistic, High Alpha, and Federato, and is a Board Observer at Talent Hack and Oyster. She is passionate about helping immigrants and other underrepresented founders build iconic technology companies. She is also a fierce advocate for women in the Venture Capital industry. Raffaele Terrone, an Italian entrepreneur and co-founder of Scalapay, a successful buy-now-pay later fintech company. Raffaele served as CFO of Scalapay from its founding in 2019 to August 2022, over his tenure Scalapay became a global success with 200+ employees, over $600 million raised from investors like Tencent, Willoughby Capital Holdings, Tiger Global Management and Fasanara Capital — and having achieved unicorn status ($1 billion+ valuation). Raffaele is a mentor and advisor to several startups in the fintech and e-commerce industries, helping them to navigate the challenges of scaling and fundraising. Both Carlotta and Raffaele bring an incredible baggage of experience having led investments in successful global startups and having raised capital from some of the world's leading VC firms. Both of them also share a similar perspective: they are both Italian but Carlotta is an American VC investor and Raffaelle primarily raised capital from international investors. So that will be our focus. SPONSOR This Masterclass was powered by BCG. Unlocking the potential of those who advance the world is crucial for BCG, and this purpose has been leading the firm for 60 years now. Over that time BCG has supported companies and organizations in their process of growth and strategic transformation. BCG supports start-ups with the same care , to help them develop sustainably and innovate. If you're a founder and are interested in working with them email: ⁠⁠⁠MILTheSeeds@bcg.com⁠⁠⁠ SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@madeit.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@madeitpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

How do you build defensible business value in an era when, as AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli said on our last ACQ2 episode, the “cost of intelligence is going to zero”? Longtime friend of the show Jake Saper and his partners at Emergence Capital have been refining their thesis for this brave new world of Generative AI in B2B, and we sit down with him to discuss. We cover topics including: When do exactly correct answers matter, and when do they not? When are human-in-the-loop systems necessary? When do startups have an advantage vs. incumbents, and vice-versa? Where can companies capture value on a durable basis? When do you need proprietary data in order to be defensible? Whether you're building or investing in existing businesses from the “pre-AI” era or brand new startups that are native to GPT, this episode has plenty of takeaways you should consider. Tune in!Links: Jake's recent blog post on Generative AI and B2B Follow Jake on Twitter My First Million: https://www.mfmpod.com/

Jake Saper is a General Partner at Emergence Capital, one of the best SaaS VCs in the world. They've invested in iconic companies such as Salesforce, Zoom, Veeva, Gusto, Box, and Bill.com. He was previously at Kleiner Perkins as part of their Green Growth Fund and has an MBA from Stanford. In this episode, we cover a range of topics including: - Limitations of generative AI in B2B SaaS - Iterative AI vs Generative AI - How to solve the user engagement problem with AI - Coaching networks - Pricing model for AI companies - How to build a moat - How you invest in startups - GTM motion of successful AI companies - AI market trends Jake's favorite book: Freedom at Midnight (Authors: Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre) --------Where to find Prateek Joshi: Newsletter: https://prateekjoshi.substack.com Website: https://prateekj.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-joshi-91047b19 Twitter: https://twitter.com/prateekvjoshi 

The question is: "are VCs still investing?". Today we are joined by Jason Lemkin; one of the OGs of SaaS of the last decade. As the Founder of SaaStr, he has inspired more SaaS founders than one can imagine building “The World's Largest Community for Business Software.” Jason also invests out of the $100M SaaStr Fund and in the past Jason has led rounds into TalkDesk, Pipedrive, Algolia, Gorgias, Salesloft, and many more incredible companies. Prior to founding SaaStr, Jason was the Co-Founder of Echosign, an early e-signature business, funded by Emergence Capital and that was acquired by Adobe for $100M. In Today's Episode on "Are VCs' Still Investing" We Discuss: 1. What Does it Take To Get Funded Today: Early-Stage: How has what VCs want in early-stage investments changed in this new environment? Should startups prioritize growth? Profitability? Capital efficiency? How long a runway is sufficient enough for founders to feel comfortable? Why does Jason believe most founders are still deluded that they are fundable? Growth Stage Companies: Is the growth stage totally dead? What will we see happen to all the companies that raised $50M+ at large valuations that have very little revenue? Why does Jason believe that any operator who joined a $BN company in the past few years will not make any money on their equity? What should they do now? Will we start to see down rounds and structured rounds at the growth stage? If so, when? Public Markets: Why does Jason believe this is a time unlike any he has seen before? Are we in full recession now in Jason's mind? In Dec 2023, will this be better or worse? Which are the most under-priced assets in the public markets today? Why does Jason believe VCs investing in public markets are losers? 2. Micro Funds Will Be Decimated and LP Behaviour in 2023 Why does Jason believe that micro-funds in 2023 will be decimated and unable to raise new funds? How will the majority of LPs approach new fund investments? How will LPs approach re-investing in their existing managers? How has what they need to see changed? 3. Marketing and Sales: We Need To Change Budgets and Targets How should CEOS be changing their marketing budgets in 2023? What are the single biggest mistakes CEOs are making in this downturn with regard to their marketing budget? How do sales targets need to be amended in the face of changing buying patterns? How do the best sales and marketing leaders respond to these changing budgets and targets? How do the worst respond?        

This week's guest is Doug Landis. Doug is currently a Growth Partner at Emergence Capital, where he is responsible for capturing, creating, and sharing Go To Market Strategies and ideas with Emcap portfolio companies and the greater SaaS Community. In this week's episode, we discussed: Sales Skills Shared From Podcasting and Coaching Lessons From Acting To Sales The Art of Build Slides Conducting The 90 Second Assessment Building Executive Presence Learning How To Say No Much More! Please enjoy this week's episode with Doug Landis! ____________________________________________________________________________ I am now in the early stages of writing my first book! In this book, I will be telling my story of getting into sales and the lessons I have learned so far, and intertwine stories, tips, and advice from the Top Sales Professionals In The World! As a first time author, I want to share these interviews with you all, and take you on this book writing journey with me! Like the show? Subscribe to the email: https://mailchi.mp/a71e58dacffb/welcome-to-the-20-podcast-community I want your feedback! Reach out to 20percentpodcastquestions@gmail.com, or find me on LinkedIn. If you know anyone who would benefit from this show, share it along! If you know of anyone who would be great to interview, please drop me a line! Enjoy the show!

Jason Lemkin is one of the OGs of SaaS of the last decade. As the Founder of SaaStr, he has inspired more SaaS founders than one can imagine building "The World's Largest Community for Business Software." Jason also invests out of the $100M SaaStr Fund and in the past Jason has led rounds into TalkDesk, Pipedrive, Algolia, Gorgias, Salesloft, and many more incredible companies. Prior to founding SaaStr, Jason was the Co-Founder of Echosign, an early e-signature business, funded by Emergence Capital and that was acquired by Adobe for $100M. In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin On Algolia We Discuss: 1.) Meeting the Unicorn: Algolia: How did Jason first come to meet Nicolas (Founder) and Algolia? What specific elements of cold emails make the best attract Jason's attention? What do they have in them? What are the most common mistakes people make with cold emails? What is the single biggest mistake Jason made when making the deal with Algolia? How did Jason lead their seed round when their round was "oversubscribed"? 2.) Competition and TAM: The Reasons To Say No: Competing with Free: How did Jason analyze the competitive landscape Algolia was facing? How did he gain comfort that they could compete and win against free and open-source? TAM Analysis: The TAM at the time for Algolia was $2M. How did Jason analyze the TAM at the time? How did he get comfortable with such a small TAM? What are the single biggest mistakes investors make when analyzing competition today? What are the biggest mistakes founders make when presenting the competitive landscape? What are the single biggest mistakes investors make when analyzing TAM today? What are the biggest mistakes founders make when presenting the TAM and how it breaks down? 3.) Investing Lessons Transition from CEO to VC: Jason has previously said one of his biggest lessons is "bet on what you know when you go from CEO to VC"? What did he mean by this? How can one keep this operator knowledge and mentality when one is a VC for a long time? What are the biggest pieces of advice that Jason would give to operators becoming investors? What are the biggest mistakes that Jason made in his first 3 investments as a VC? How did he change? 4.) Mastering the World of Venture Today: Why does Jason believe that he has become a worse investor with the rise of "remote investing"? Why does Jason believe he is a worse investor without having a partner in SaaStr Fund? Why does Jason believe that even the best founders do not want hard feedback anymore? Should we as VCs still give it to them? What has Jason learned here? Will we see great LP churn and many LPs leaving the asset class? What will happen to the existing incumbents with massive AUM and reduced performance?

The theme for this special episode on Winning the Challenger Sale is Avoiding Death by Discovery. WTCS host, Jen Allen, is joined by Doug Landis to explore the major themes, such as “anti-discovery,” that disrupted the status quo of selling throughout the year 2022.

Autism Impact Fund (“AIF”) Founder Chris Male aims to become the investment and innovation arm of the autism community. AIF's mission is to revolutionize diagnosing, treating and living with autism through a venture capital model. With 1 in 44 children in the US diagnosed on the autism spectrum, over $350 billion in direct spend (over $60,000 per child with autism) and an 85% unemployment rate for autistic adults, AIF hopes to harness the power of the capital markets to create transformational change for people on the spectrum and with other neurodiverse challenges. AIF is advised by silicon valley heavyweights like Emergence Capital's Brian Jacobs and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Follow Yaz on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yazanelbaba Connect with Yaz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yazanelbaba/ Read Yaz'z Biz Ops post: https://www.emcap.com/thoughts/bizops-what-it-is-and-why-early-stage-companies-should-hire-for-it/ Learn more about Emergence Capital at https://www.emcap.com/

In today's episode of How We Got There (which was recorded earlier this year, before the downturn), I talk with Doug Landis, who is a Growth Partner at Emergence Capital. Doug spent some time at Salesforce and Box before moving into his current role in helping Emergence's portfolio companies with go-to-market assistance. He was working in the early days of sales enablement and now recommends hiring rev ops and sales enablement roles earlier than you think, even at Series A, to drive productivity in the sales organization. Emergence Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in B2B Enterprise SaaS businesses for their Series A and B funding rounds. They've invested in Veeva, Steelbrick, Box, and many more household names in the Salesforce ecosystem. The biggest challenge every early stage company will face is pipeline and that can be helped by hiring Marketing leadership before sales leadership, because sales professionals won't enjoy being full cycle for very long. His message to early stage founders is to become obsessed with pipeline. In deals over $10k, there are normally 8-10 people in the buying decision even if there is a single major person that your solution will help. A good benchmark for any AE is they should be generating ~20% of their own pipeline. Key metrics to look at are by account, how many contacts are on each account and then dive deeper into touches by contact to know depth of engagement in a given opportunity. Looking at conversion rates can help you zero in on gtm priorities to work on. Technical founders make mistakes by hiring a salesperson too early because you need to learn how to sell early on. A good target is for you to sell the first $1M in ARR and collect insane insights along the way for your product while capturing referrals. Hiring customer success people early on the other hand is wise because your first few customers need to be successful, you can't afford to churn your first customers (unless you learn they aren't a good fit for where you're going). Before starting the process of fundraising, you need to know your data inside and out beyond your pitch deck that includes a strong “why”. Include customer stories to help tell your story. It's important to make a thoughtful list of potential investors that will be good long-term partners with you who will offer you the right level of engagement to guide you on the things you might be missing. For the ecosystem specific advice, he shares a word of caution for ISVs in getting Salesforce Ventures to participate in your round. Doug's view is when you take Salesforce Ventures money…..and it's cause for pause. If they build something like what you're offering, you could be in big trouble. He share the story of Steelbrick (Emergence was the lead investor here) and Apttus and how Salesforce leveraged their relationship to strong arm Steelbrick during the acquisition. Here's a closer look at the episode: 1:37 How did you find your way into the ecosystem? 5:13 Sales enablement 9:55 Who is Emergence and what's your role there? 14:16 What are some elements that make a great go to market approach in a series A or B company? 22:07 What's the biggest mistake you see technical founders make before they hire professional salespeople? 25:53 So founders in the ecosystem, if they're considering raising institutional capital, what should they know before starting the process? 34:15 What are you most proud of in your career? 36:10 The final three Doug's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglandis/ Emergence Capital's Website: https://www.emcap.com/ Emergence Capital's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emergence-capital-partners/

FOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS Don't just set an agenda. Use PPO (purpose, plan, outcome) to set clear expectations for you and your prospect. Avoid deep-diving into features until you've established “why change?” and “why now?”. Show up to your discovery with a theory about their pains and your solutions. Don't just start peppering questions. Soften the CTA with “would you be open to” instead of heavier asks before the customer is ready to dive deep. PATH TO PRESIDENT'S CLUB Growth Partner @ Emergence Capital VP of Sales Productivity @ Box Sr Director, Corporate Sales Productivity @ Salesforce RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Time is running out to register for our upcoming 30MPC Live. Download our exclusive cold calling battlecard by signing up for the newsletter. Click this link for some extra goodies from 30MPC. HELP US OUT! What do you love about our podcast? Please consider leaving a rating and review for the show. We always enjoy reading your comments and feedback!

Timestamps: 2:01 - How consulting makes you a better entrepreneur 7:27 - Spending your sabbatical in Rheinfeld 31:18 - Staying healthy as a founder 42:18 - Complex and non-complex system 47:35 - Getting acquired by Zoom Info About Roy Raanani: Roy Raanani is the co-founder, former CEO and current president of Chorus.ai, a B2B SaaS platform that helps sales teams improve the quality of their conversations and sales processes by analyzing how top performers engage with customers in calls and video meetings. He holds a BA in Engineering Science from UoT and an MBA from Stanford, and previously worked for companies like Bain & Company and Innovation Endeavors. After quitting his consultancy job and spending a sabbatical in Rheinfeld thinking about business ideas, Roy developed an interest in undervalued data sets in business, specifically conversations – he wanted to use machine learning to discover what makes a conversation end badly and what makes it end well. He founded Chorus.ai in 2015 and has since grown it to millions in revenue and over 100 employees, and raised over $65M in capital from Emergence Capital, Redpoint and Georgian Partners. But the sailing wasn't always this smooth. Thinking back to when they were first building the product, Roy recounts an interesting cycle he observed: When you're building a product, the feedback you get from your first customers will be mostly negative, which decreases both your motivation and your customer's excitement level about the product. However, simultaneously to this, your product's quality level is slowly going up. At some point these first customers might lose their patience and stop using your product. But then you acquire new customers whose excitement level is just as high as your first customers' once was, and this time your product is starting off from a slightly better position. Rinse and repeat. Finally you reach a point when your new customer doesn't have a bad experience! And the only thing that kept you going through this entire process was the fact that, flaws and all, people were still using your product, so you must be answering a real need. In conclusion, so long as you don't run out of hope or cash, perseverance will get you to product-market fit. In Chorus.ai's case, it also got them to a tradesale. They were acquired by Zoom Info in 2021 for $575M and have since seen their yearly growth rate double from 100% to 200%. Memorable Quotes: "A lot of investors are too comfortable giving entrepreneurs advice having never been in their shoes." "We're always focused on older, experienced people, but I think it's just as important to get to know the amazing people that are maybe a couple years behind you." If you would like to listen to more conversations with expats living in Switzerland, check out our episode with Ross Mason. Don't forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there's no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

Doug Landis (Growth Partner at Emergence Capital and Advisor to companies like Sales Assembly) mentioned in a recent Forbes article: “When selling to larger companies you must come to every social, email and live conversation with a point of view about their business...You have to know what they are focused on as those strategic initiatives for the business will trickle down to every department across the organization.” You need to show the role you can play in their strategic initiatives and the impact you will have otherwise, and you will just be another item on their list of things to do eventually.You cannot come to every interaction with a point of view about your future customers' businesses if your team does not have a clear point of view about their business. Unfortunately, too many teams do not have a POV and even the experts are getting POVs wrong.  In the podcast below, Kristina Jaramillo (President of Personal ABM) shares:·         Why a VR tech firm targeting the Fortune 1000 with solutions to help with employee training and engagement are only getting interest from Directors and below and are not capturing attention from VPs and the C-suite. ·         Why a digital asset management tech firm was challenged to compete with Bynder that would win on price and with suites like Adobe and Sitecore.·         How top marketers like Sangram Vajre are getting POVs wrong and how its limiting the ability of GTM teams to create a category, drive demand with status quo accounts and teach for differentiation.  ·         How you need to build the foundation (including creating your POV) before you can effectively complete ABM where you can come to each interaction with a POV about your future clients' businesses. We need to build the foundation to change sales and marketing motions as it is our POV that you are just doing targeted demand gen if you are not changing sales and marketing motions, interactions, and experiences. This is why companies are challenged to go upmarket, why they have accounts go dark after sales engagement and why sales cycles are too long. 

Today, Sam is talking to Kevin Spain, General Partner at Emergence Capital and they talk about Kevin's experiences as a founder and CEO during the .com crash, his time as an investor, healthy mechanisms for dealing with failure, the value of coaches, the launch of Xbox Live, and what venture capital firms look for in startups. All of this and more, on the Launch Lessons podcast. Kevin Spain is the founder of atMadison.com and a General Partner at Emergence Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage enterprise software companies. Kevin was an early investor in some of the biggest tech companies today, including Salesforce, Box, Yammer, and Zoom. He's also spent time as a corporate development executive at Microsoft and EA Games. If you'd like to get in touch with us, email us at launchlessons@airwallex.com, or contact our host, Sam Kothari, on LinkedIn. For show notes and past guests on Launch Lessons, please visit airwallex.com/launchlessons. Follow Airwallex: Website: airwallex.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/airwallex/ Twitter: twitter.com/airwallex Follow Sam: Twitter: twitter.com/samk92 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kotharisam

FinTech is both an undeniable tech movement, as well as, an ambiguous buzzword that founders can use for caché. So what is it and how can startups truly utilize tools from the FinTech world to give their own companies superpowers. Our guest today, Joe Keeley, is the Co-Founder and CEO of JustiFi, a platform that allows Vertical SaaS companies to add sophisticated FinTech to their service offerings and how that can save companies in processing fees and give customers more flexibility in payments. We also discuss how startups should think about choosing third-party service providers when entering the embedded fintech arena and why it may not be the smartest choice to build your own in-house payments team from scratch. They recently announced a Seed+ round led by our good friends at Crosslink Capital aligned with existing investors Rally Ventures and Emergence Capital.About Joe Keeley:Joe is the CEO and Co-founder of JustiFi Technologies, a venture-backed fintech business providing payments and fintech infrastructure and strategy for vertical SaaS platforms.Prior to JustiFi, Joe founded and grew College Nannies, Sitters & Tutors (CNST), the nation’s largest in-home childcare and tutoring company. He led CNST to over 200 franchises in the USA and United Kingdom (a milestone less than 5% of franchisors achieve) and over 13,000 employees. In 2016, College Nannies, Sitters & Tutors was acquired by Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE: BFAM), the largest corporate-sponsored childcare operator globally.He has been named the prestigious Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of The Year”, the “Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year”, “Top 25 under 25 to Watch” by Business Week Magazine, “20 under 30 Who Will Change the World” by Citizen Culture magazine, one of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal’s “Young Entrepreneurs” and “40 under 40”, Glass Door’s Top 100 Companies to Work For, Minnesota Business 100 Best Companies to Work For, and Entrepreneur Magazine's top 100 Franchise concepts many years running.A word from our sponsor:At Ripple, we manage all of our fund expenses and employee credit cards using Jeeves.The team at Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at any time. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or to pay any setup or monthly SaaS fees.Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us up to 3% cash back on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook or AWS every month. The best part is Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days in any currency you want, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month.Jeeves also recently launched its Jeeves Growth and Working Capital initiative for startups and fast-growing companies to enable more financial freedom for every entrepreneur. The best thing of all is that Jeeves is live in 24 countries including Canada, the US and many other countries around the world. Jeeves truly offers the best all-in-one expense management corporate card program for all startups especially the ones at Ripple and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to officially partner with them.Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of our Tank Talks special with a $700 sign-on bonus and skip the waitlist that already has thousands of companies by visiting tryjeeves.com/tanktalks - Use Referral Code - TankTalks to get setup today!In this episode we discuss:02:42 Joe journey to creating CNST04:19 How Joe embraced technology as a solution for childcare and tutoring05:42 Why Joe’s first company was bootstrapped07:51 Why Joe and his co-founders decided to launch JustiFi11:21 Solving the processing fee problems for small business13:06 The history of FinTech and embedded FinTech16:05 How smaller businesses can benefit from embedded FinTech18:53 Why startups benefit from outsourcing FinTech tools21:02 How businesses should choose an embedded FinTech partner23:45 Choosing a generalist vs specialist service partner26:40 Why being the best at what you do is the most important thing as a startup28:32 Why Vertical SaaS is JustiFi’s current target market31:48 What lowering fees has meant to JustiFi’s customers34:12 How bigger is JustiFi’s Total Addressable Market35:58 Plans for JustiFi’s recent fundraiseFast FavoritesPodcastThe BBC MinuteNewsletter/BlogMorning BrewTech GadgetSonosNew TrendBack to officeBookThe Giving TreeLife LessonWork Hard and Be NiceFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

We sit down with the CEO founders of two of the most capital efficient success stories of all time — Zoom and Veeva Systems — to understand how they grew to billions of dollars in revenue (and tens of billions in market cap) on very, very little capital invested. With the fundraising environment changing rapidly, we couldn't think of a better topic to discuss or better sources of wisdom for founders, operators and investors all to learn from. Very special thanks to Jake Saper and our friends at Emergence Capital for inviting us and putting this conversation together at their 2022 CEO Summit! This episode has video! You can watch it on Spotify (right in the main podcast interface) or on YouTube. Links: Peter's great Medium blog Sponsors: Thanks to the Solana Foundation for being our presenting sponsor for this special episode. Solana is the world's most performant blockchain, the BEST place for developers to build Web3 applications, and of course very near & dear to the Acquired community's heart. You get in touch with them here, and learn more about GenesysGo here. Just tell them them at Ben and David sent you! Thank you as well to Modern Treasury and to Mystery. ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

We sit down with the CEO founders of two of the most capital efficient success stories of all time — Zoom and Veeva Systems — to understand how they grew to billions of dollars in revenue (and tens of billions in market cap) on very, very little capital invested. With the fundraising environment changing rapidly, we couldn't think of a better topic to discuss or better sources of wisdom for founders, operators and investors all to learn from. Very special thanks to Jake Saper and our friends at Emergence Capital for inviting us and putting this conversation together at their 2022 CEO Summit!Sponsor: https://acquired.fm/zoominfoThis episode has video! You can watch it on YouTube.Links:Peter's great Medium blog‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Jason Lemkin is the Founder and Managing Partner @ SaaStr, a social community of 500,000+ SaaS founders and a $100M venture fund. In the past, Jason has made investments in the likes of Algolia, Talkdesk, Pipedrive, and RevenueCat to name a few. Prior to SaaStr, Jason was the Co-Founder and CEO @ Echosign, backed by Emergence Capital, Echosign was bought by Adobe and is Adobe Sign as we know it today. In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin You Will Learn: 1.) Origins into Venture: How Jason made his way into the world of venture having sold EchoSign? What were some of Jason's biggest lessons from his first 4 investments being unicorns? 2.) The Importance of Ownership & Multi-Stage Funds How does Jason assess the importance of ownership today? If companies can be $20BN, does ownership really matter? How does Jason advise founders who have offers from multi-stage funds at seed? Why does taking multi-stage money at seed result in less pressure for founders? Does Jason believe that signaling risk from large funds is real, when investing at seed? 3.) Building Your Sales Team Does the founder have to be the one to create the sales playbook? What are the nuances? Should you hire a Head of Sales or sales reps first? What should you expect from each? What are the one criteria that you must look for when hiring your first sales reps? What are the signals that a sales rep or leader is a 10x hire? What works when hiring sales reps, 80% of the time? 4.) Boards and VC Value Add: Why has Jason changed his mind when it comes to boards? Why are some inefficient and some very efficient? How do the best founders manage their board? How do they bring in their exec team? What is the right documentation to prepare for board meetings? Why does Jason prefer slide decks over Notion and Coda? How can leaders use board meetings to direct and goal set with functional leads? Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin Jason's Most Recent Investment: Owner

In May 2017, Founder and General Partner of Emergence Capital, Gordon Ritter joined High Alpha Managing Partner Scott Dorsey for our monthly Speaker Series.  Prior to founding Emergence, Gordon spent over fifteen years founding and building companies that pioneered new markets. One of these was Software As Service, a web services platform company he co-founded with Marc Benioff. Before that, he ran IBM's $3 billion Global Small Business division. Gordon gave a presentation around the Rise of Coaching Networks and the next era of software that won't be based on forms. In this episode, we revisit Gordon's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Gordon's background in SaaS and his coaching network thesis Evolution of the software sector How fast the SaaS investing market is today His coaching network thesis

Siniscalco is the firm's first female partner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As an early-stage founder, going through the recruitment process on your own might prove to be a bigger challenge than envisioned. How do you select competent executives who also understand and integrate your company culture? How do you recruit top talents in a highly competitive and demanding market? This is where search firms and recruiters come in.

Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital, discusses the importance of core values, and how recent events have forced companies and individuals to rethink those values. The great recession and how to attract and retain talent. Discussions and opinions on NFTs and the metaverse and the impact they're having on business.

On August 25th, 2021, Carlotta Siniscalco, Principal at Emergence Capital sat down with High Alpha Managing Partner Scott Dorsey for an interview unpacking her experience as an enterprise technology venture investor and her mission to elevate underrepresented founders in the world of tech, VC, and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Emergence Capital, Carlotta was an investor in financial services and financial technology companies at Advent International, a large global private equity fund. At Advent, Carlotta worked on acquisitions both in Europe (including the carve-out of Cartasi/Nexi from ICBPI) and in the United States, and was a board observer at Transunion. She also spent time in the Business Operations group at Nerdwallet (a fintech startup) and was an early-stage investor at Ribbit Capital, a fintech-focused VC. In this episode, we revisit Carlotta's Speaker Series where you'll learn: The ingredients that lead to successful founders How to be a change agent and create more opportunities for underrepresented groups The importance of peer-to-peer, coaching support in Venture Capital The power of deep self-awareness

Ryan O'Hara and Jon Mazza go through their favorite quotes and tips from B2B Tonight (LeadIQ's webinar programs). Video if you wanna watch instead: https://academy.leadiq.com/leadiq-academy/episode-24-top-sales-tips-of-2021 Getting a Start in Sales - Dale Dupree, Leader of The Sales Rebellion (02:49) Setting Sales Goals & Purpose - Gabrielle Blackwell, SDR Manager, Gong (05:42) Reaching Out Based on Company Size - Shikha Bindra, Senior Manager, Marketing Development, DocuSign & Sarah Brazier, Account Executive, Gong (11:30) The Science of Prospecting in 2022 - David Priemer, Founder & Chief Sales Scientist, Cerebral Selling (17:57) Getting Better Odds on a Cold Call - Jason Bay, Chief Prospecting Officer, Blissful Prospecting (20:34) Opening Up on a Mobile Line - Steve Richard, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist, ExecVision (25:08) Prospecting with Voicemail - Shikha Bindra, Senior Manager, Marketing Development, DocuSign & Sarah Brazier, Account Executive, Gong (27:34) Cold Calling a Past Customer - Lauren Bailey, Founder & President, Factor 8 (30:54) Saying "Hello, How Are You?" - Nick Liemandt, Sales Development Manager, HackerOne (33:23) Images in Your Email - Justin Michael, Founder, Salesborgs.ai (36:56) Good, Relevant, Fun Subject Lines - Jack Wilson, Senior Director Enterprise Sales, Seismic (42:07) Prospecting from Content Engagement - Tom Boston, Social Sales Evangelist, SalesLoft (45:11) Finding Your Purpose - Nikki Ivey, Marketing Comms Manager, Emtrain (48:23) Anybody Can Create a Community - Jared Robin, Co-founder, RevGenius (52:24) The Discovery Process - Rich Stone, VP of Sales, Tech Target (56:03) Talk About What Similar Companies Do - Josh Normand, SVP Sales, Vimeo & Scott Leese, CEO and Founder, Scott Leese Consulting (59:08) Worked With vs. Learned From - Doug Landis, Growth Partner, Emergence Capital (01:01:17) Most Important Part of the Buyers Journey - Roderick Jefferson, VP Field Enablement, Netskope (01:05:25) Is a Stalled Deal Really a Deal? - Josh Normand, SVP Sales, Vimeo & Scott Leese, CEO and Founder, Scott Leese Consulting (01:08:43) Sales Process Causing Sales Issues - Andy Paul, Host, Sales Enablement Podcast (01:12:10) Avoiding Churn with the Right Product - Patrick Campbell, CEO, Profitwell (01:14:17)

Continuing his series on the human side of investing and company building, Outliers Venture Capital Founder & Managing Partner, Mohammed Almeshekah, sat down with Emergence Capital Founder & General Partner, Jason Green, to discuss early-stage investing and what founders and investors should look for in one another.

In this episode, Craig sits down with Doug Landis, growth partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Emergence Capital. Craig and Doug discuss the actionable insights from Doug's experiences that drove impressive growth at Salesforce and Box and across the Emergence Capital portfolio. They discuss Doug's repeatable framework for hypergrowth and dive into specifics around pipeline generation, sales enablement, tech stack and more.

We make yet another visit to Emergence, one of Silicon Valley's most successful venture firms, to discuss its new follow-up fund with Kevin Spain.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital was formerly the Chief Storyteller at Box. Before being the Chief Storyteller at Box, Doug was an executive in the Sales Productivity group at Salesforce.In this episode of Selling the Cloud, we dive deep into how storytelling has become a critical skill for enterprise-class, B2B sales professionals.One of Doug's early learnings came directly from paying his dues initially as a quota-carrying sales professional at Oracle. Over those early years, Doug discovered his passion for helping others and sharing the secrets that made him successful as an individual sales contributor with his colleagues, thus the move to sales enablement/productivity at Salesforce.The journey to becoming the "Chief Storyteller" at Box started with the hiring of a new SVP Sales. As the new executive interviewed sales reps across the company, he quickly identified that Box did not have one common message that they were communicating to the market. This inconsistently led to the new SVP Sales challenging Doug with the task to replicate and scale his ability to communicate consistently through storytelling to the entire sales organization. One of the key areas Doug first identified was that most customer stories were very "rote", and needed to become more interesting to the target buyer(s).First, Doug engaged Customer Success to capture the Voice of the Customer, and start the journey to train the sales force how to storytelling by focusing on the customer and their experiences and stories. Secondly, the story could not be the same story that the founder and CEO of Box told, because that was his own story and did not easily translate to being told by Account Executives. Storytelling is not just for natural storytellers, it can be learned by listening to your environment. But it does take thoughtful practice and needs to be tailored to a relevant story, that resonates with the individual buyer(s) needs.Improv was highlighted as an interesting format to learn how to put yourself in the persona of the person you are speaking with and make your storytelling more impactful. Storytelling helps one to learn how to transition from one part of the story to the next. This skill is highly relevant to how a B2B Sales professional can learn to enhance the transition from one slide to the next in their sales presentation or demo.The discussion evolved into "Getting to WOW" and why storytelling is so relevant to founders and CEOs pitching to investors. A common theme for B2B Sales professionals and founders pitching to investors is about getting to the "why" you or your company are uniquely positioned to help the recipient of the story.Finally, we discussed the benefit of establishing a "Story Library" by stage, by buyer persona, and even the creation of a "storytelling" coach role in the sales enablement function. Stories should focus on telling stories that relate to individuals by telling the story about how your solution impacted people (buyer personas) not companies.In today's extremely noisy and saturated B2B SaaS and Cloud market, making your solution and value stand above all others is critical. Storytelling may just be the best way to differentiate yourself and your solution. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Maze has closed a $15 million Series A funding round led by Emergence Capital. The company lets you run user tests at scale so that you can get feedback before rolling out a design update or test copy. When you have a lot of users, you don't want to roll out some changes before testing […]

Saper - never far from his guitar - talks with Scott about leadership and AISee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Founder's FAQ: answers to all the possible questions of a founder. Hosted by Ilker Koksal. This episode's guest is Jake Saper. Jake is a general partner at Emergence Capital, a venture capital firm, invested in companies collectively worth $100B+, including Salesforce, Veeva, Box, Yammer, and Zoom.In this episode;1-) Authentic passion for solving the problem2-) Long-run relationships with the board3-) Ability to sell a vision4-) When to pivotFounder's FAQ is a book for founders and you can pre-order through the website. You can also reach us through @foundersfaq on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Episode Summary: Tune into this episode to hear from Kevin Spain, General Partner at Emergence Capital. Kevin's background in both VC and corporate development over the last 20 years brings a unique perspective on how M&A have changed, the trends he is seeing in this space along with great advice for entrepreneurs looking to go public. What is Uncovered: How the landscape of M&A has changed over the last 20 years Kevin's advice to startups who are looking to make the M&A process go smoothly Why startups shouldn't be focusing their energy on exiting and instead should stay focused on building an amazing business and culture Advantages and disadvantages of SPACS vs traditional IPOs The trends Kevin is seeing in the VC space as it relates to IPOs The common mistakes entrepreneurs make when negotiating with a buyer Financial vs strategic acquisitionsAdvice to founders as they get approached from buyersLearn more about: Kevin Spain: Working closely in a team of equals is what drew Kevin to Emergence. The mission of the firm excited him, and he loved the culture they wanted to build.Early in his career, he co-founded and was CEO of atMadison.com. Founding and running a company in the heat of the dot-com bubble was an exciting and challenging experience that strongly influenced his decision to ultimately enter the venture business. Today, he enjoys the high of creating new businesses vicariously through the entrepreneurs he invests in.He has also spent time as a senior member of the corporate development teams at Microsoft, and was part of the group that launched Electronic Arts' original online gaming business. During that part of his career, he learned an incredible amount about digital media, online services, and software businesses from some of the most successful executives in the technology industry.Kevin earned his MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and completed his undergraduate education at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a graduate of the Kauffman Fellows Program.As a native Texan and foodie, he's always trying to find great barbecue and southern food joints (though unfortunately there are few in the Bay Area). Kevin lives in Palo Alto and loves spending time with his wife and two sons.Emergence CapitalQuotes: “The best companies that we have worked with at Emergence don't think about exits, they're focused on solving a huge problem for their customers, building an outstanding business, and a great culture.” On assimilating into a larger corporation: “How you show up in those meetings and your willingness to demonstrate that you can actually shift and work successfully in that kind of environment is something that I know acquirers are assessing.”“An IPO is a little bit of a rite of passage, it forces you to grow up, forces you to think about how much you can grow and serve your customers in ways you haven't before, when staying private doesn't necessarily force you to do” On counseling companies on selling or not selling: “I listen to the entrepreneur very intently when it comes to decisions like this. They're the founders of the company, they had the vision for this company initially…. what is it in their guts that they really want to do or are drawn to?”“I think the real key is you've got to be in an area that is deemed highly strategic and just an absolute top priority for a company, and if you're in that range, then you can expect a strategic deal rather than a financial deal. “This episode was recorded on October 14, 2020

Episode Summary: Join us for season two of The Uncovered Podcast where we explore the world of corporate development.  On our intro episode you'll hear from PJC partners, Rob May, Matt Hayes and David Martirano as they discuss this past season's episodes, the biggest takeaways and consistent lessons uncovered from the world of corporate development.   Find out more on what is uncovered in this season by tuning into this episode and stay up to date on the latest episodes by simply subscribing on your preferred directory.  We hope you enjoy. This season you'll hear from corporate development execs at iRobot, Toast, IBM, Datadog, Emergence Capital, HubSpot, Commvault, Cooley, Culligan International, and Zendesk! What is Uncovered in Season Two: The different roles of corporate development and the way teams are structured How much of corp dev is hunting vs fielding inbound requests How startups should prepare in advance to ensure a smooth M&A process What causes deals to fall apart When a startup should sell vs. continue to raise The best time to start talking to a corporate development team The pros and cons of strategic vs financial deals The different avenues that lead to a career in corporate development And much, more! 

Zak Kukoff is an enterprise investor at Emergence Capital, a Series A venture firm specializing in B2B enterprise companies. Connect with Zak:TwitterEmergence CapitalConnect with Igor:TwitterScience Inc.Check out our newsletter here! Thanks for listening!

Tu abuela usa Zoom, tu escuela usa Zoom, tu gimnasio usa Zoom, tus amigas usan Zoom. Lo que no sabías es que la app de videoconferencias que estalló en popularidad en la crisis del coronavirus probablemente no existiría sin el apoyo temprano de un inversionista argentino. Santi Subotovsky, socio de Emergence Capital en Silicon Valley, fue el primero en apoyar al entonces desconocido y ahora famoso CEO de Zoom, el inmigrante chino Eric Yuan. Y lo ayudó a crear una empresa que hoy cotiza en Bolsa y vale más de 35 mil millones de dólares. Hoy, Santi nos cuenta la historia de Zoom y por qué cree que la próxima Zoom va a venir de un emprendedor hispanohablante. SÚMATE A LA COMUNIDAD No estaríamos acá sin la Comunidad Terca, las personas que aportan unos dólares por mes en Patreon. ¡Gracias por estar ahí! Súmate para tener acceso a la Comunidad Terca en Slack y la videoconferencia mensual. Súmate aquí. RECOMIÉNDANOS Escribe una reseña en Apple Podcasts. ESTAMOS EN ELVALLEDELOSTERCOS.COM Y en Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. MÚSICA Pablo Calvi y su banda Demon Verlaine. EDICIÓN MULTIMEDIA Mariano Graglia LOS #TERCOS SOMOS Fernando Franco y Diego Graglia ¡TE QUEREMOS! #startups #emprendedores #latinos #SiliconValley #innovación #inspiración