Podcast appearances and mentions of gary swart

David Cancel of Drift, Peep Laja of Wynter, Chris Savage of Wistia, Niel Robertson of Influence.co, Stephen Lease of Goodr, Gary Swart, formerly of Upwork, Shafqat Islam of NewsCred, Sean Griffey of Industry Dive, Vaibhav Jain of Hublio, Rand Fishkin of Sparktoro, Jimmy Daly of Superpath, and Eric Remer of EverCommerce share wisdom of all sorts based on their experiences as founders and CEOs.

  This week we revisit our conversation with Gary Swart. Gary is a General Partner with Polaris Partners and until April 2014 he was the CEO of oDesk  (now UpWork, NASDAQ; UPWK). Gary is a thought leader in entrepreneurship; how best to hire and manage teams; and the future of work, including online work.  

Gary Swart, General Partner of leading venture capital firm Polaris Partners, focusing on investing in technology and healthcare companies. Prior to joining Polaris he was CEO of oDesk, now Upwork, the world's largest online work marketplace. He regularly appears in major media such as CNBC, NPR, Fox, and Washington Post to discuss marketplaces, the freelance economy, and the future of work.

Former oDesk (now Upwork) CEO Gary Swart explains the formula for a successful marketplace, predicts the future of workplaces, and shares his approach to investing.

Gary Swart is a General Partner with Polaris Partners, and until April 2014, he was the CEO of oDesk  (now UpWork, NASDAQ; UPWK). Gary is a thought leader in entrepreneurship, how best to hire and manage teams, and the future of work, including online work. He is passionate about helping small businesses thrive, fueled by his extensive experience working with startups and small businesses and mentoring entrepreneurs and business school students. Gary has spoken at the Inc. Leadership Conference, The Economist’s Ideas Economy panel, South by Southwest, TechCrunch 50, TiECon, GigaOM’s Net:Work Conference, and at Harvard Business School, which teaches a case study on oDesk. His commentary has appeared in various publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, The Washington Post, and The Next Web. He has also appeared on TV and radio shows, including the BBC, National Public Radio, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV and Startups Uncensored. Previously, Gary led SMB Sales for the Americas at IBM’s Rational Software Product Group and also served as VP of Worldwide Sales and Operations at Intellibank. Gary holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maryland.

2020 was so far the year of the Software as a Service (SaaS0 industry because of a complex combination of  factors including political changes that disrupted data processing  agreements in the UK, the ongoing global pandemic that impacted every industry, but validated the cloud-service, value proposition and a record-breaking year for SaaS IPOs that derived in a fertile ground to make this last year a good one for the SaaS industry.  With a new year on the “HoriZen”, in this episode, we'll re-cap the top 10 challenges that SaaS Startups and companies have faced in 2020 &  tips from top industry SaaS experts on how to overcome them going into 2021. During This Episode We Cover: 01:10 - Go To Market Strategy   04:28 - Viable Business Model 06:50 - Hiring Top Talent 10:00 - Rising Capital   12:50 - Onboarding  Strategy 14:45 - CX & Support 18:41 -  Lead Generation 21:13 - Marketing 24:56 - Churn  37:47 - Exiting Mentions: https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000493253248 (TK Kader) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000474829894 (Mike Watts) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000479561616 (Gary Swart) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000501935929 (Sydney Wong) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000486499730 (Jeff Epstein) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000479237130 (Peldi Guilizzoni) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000505199609 (Matt Wolach) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000488001620 (Rand Fishkin) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000490441847 (Patrick Campbell) https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/saas-district/id1513760083?l=en&i=1000495763380 (Sujan Patel) Tag us & follow: https://www.facebook.com/HorizenCapitalOfficial/ (Facebook)  https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)  https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)  More about Akeel: Twitter - https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber) LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar) More Podcast Sessions - https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast (https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast)

Interview with Gary Swart, Working with the founders of Netflix and beyond.

Hello everyone, welcome to a very special episode 50 today on the SaaS District Podcast Show In today's episode, I'll be talking about why we started this Podcast,  my favourite interviews, some unexpected things I've learned from building the podcast so far, why this podcast is important to you, me, for my brand, & what you can expect for the future of the SaaS District Podcast Show. During this interview we cover: 00:00 - Intro 01:15 - Why You Should Start a Podcast for Your Startup 03:06 - What We've Learned So Far 05:05 - The Idea Behind The SaaS District Podcast Show 06:10 - Some Unexpected Things Have Happened... 11:01 - Why is this Podcast & The Community Important 13:20 - A message To You, Yes… You! 14:15 - The Future of The SaaS District Podcast Show 18:43 - Get In Touch With Akeel Mentions: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/ (Patrick Campbell) https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/ (Neil Patel) https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/ (Rand Fishkin) https://www.linkedin.com/in/peldi/ (Peldi Guilizzoni) https://www.linkedin.com/in/diegottg/ (Diego Gomez) https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyswart/ (Gary Swart) https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlatka/ (Nathan Latka) https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmartell/ (Dan Martell) https://iamawesome.com/ (You, Yes...You!) Companies: https://www.profitwell.com/ (Profitwell) https://npdigital.com/ (NP Digital) https://sparktoro.com/ (Sparktoro) https://balsamiq.com/ (Balsamiq) https://rockcontent.com/es/ (RockContent) Tag us & follow: https://www.facebook.com/HorizenCapitalOfficial/ (Facebook) https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn) https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYvpqdVVSlSMunWiEwlMjzw (YouTube) More about Akeel: https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter) https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn) https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast (More SaaS District) https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast

This episode is sponsored by Catapult, an all-in-one Request for Proposal solution that empowers procurement departments to streamline their processes through automation. Visit https://catapulthq.com/ (Catapulthq.com) Today Steve brings more than 20 years of startup, Fortune 500, and nonprofit experience to his role at Verblio. As the CEO, he applies leading gig economy and SaaS principles to provide a high-quality, fast and flexible content creation platform. Steve was part of the early management team at marketplace services pioneer LiveOps, growing the company into the largest virtual contact center in the world. At LiveOps, Steve served as vice president of business development and strategy, and also spearheaded the creation of the award-winning LiveOps Foundation.  Steve holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Business and his MA in history from Wesleyan University. Outside the office, Steve is a Denver native and enjoys ultimate frisbee, hosting jazz concerts, history, telemark skiing, practicing Portuguese, and spending time with his two boys. During this interview we cover: 00:00 - Catapult,  A Better Way to Manage, Evaluate, Respond & Automate Your RPF's  (A Word From The Sponsor) 01:11 -  Intro 02:40 - The Idea of Launching Verblio, a SaaS Content Marketplace in 2010 04:11 - Staying Bootstrapped & Hitting 50% Growth Year Over Year  08:19 -The “Blue Apron ” Strategy   13:05 - How to Manage Over 3,000 Content Creators & Fit the Talent to the Client Needs 20:18 - Should You Invest Your Market Budget on Written Content? 29:07  - How to Leverage Video on Your Content Marketing Strategy 31:48 - Why You Should be Using An Content Marketing Agency 34:35 - Cut Back Your Marketing Budget or Adopt a More Aggressive Strategy in The Still Ongoing COVID Crisis. 40:17  - Outro Mentions: https://www.verblio.com/home-v-2?utm_expid=.2oFBELjzRMSh-KwwP7oqmQ.1&utm_referrer= (Verblio) https://www.verblio.com/show (The Verblio Show) Quotes: “Copy isn't written, is assembled” Terms: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blue_ocean.asp (Blue Ocean) https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/deals/roll-up-strategy/ (RollUp Strategy)  https://www.inc.com/molly-reynolds/how-blue-apron-cooked-up-its-delicious-content-marketing-strategy.html (Blue Apron Approach ) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnoninvestment.asp (ROI) People: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/ (Neil Patel) https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyswart/ (Gary Swart) https://www.verblio.com/show?wchannelid=tu2bsyshx8&wvideoid=cg3gxq4t0i (Andy Crestodina)  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan/ (Brian Halligan) https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/ (Rand Fishkin) https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-chaps/ (Chapman Bros) https://www.linkedin.com/in/orengreen/ (Oren Greenberg) Companies: https://www.liveops.com/ (LiveOps) https://www.upwork.com/ (Upwork) https://www.hubspot.com/ (Hubspot) Get in touch with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spockross/ (Steve's Linkedin) Tag us & follow: https://www.facebook.com/HorizenCapitalOfficial/ (Facebook) https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn) Instagram: @Horizen.Capital https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYvpqdVVSlSMunWiEwlMjzw (YouTube): Akeel Jabber - SaaS District More about Akeel: Twitter - https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber) LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar) More Podcast Sessions - https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast (https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast) 

Gary Swart is a tech and healthcare investor at Polaris Partners and a former executive with experience in general management of all size organizations, including leading sales, operations, staffing, and strategy. Up until April 2014, Gary was the CEO of oDesk (UpWork now), the world's largest online workplace. He guided the company to industry leadership and through a merger with eLance, while serving as a leading voice for the future of work and the emerging online work industry. Gary is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build their businesses, where he regularly shares his knowledge and provides mentorship on how to craft a successful path with fellow business people and anyone building their career. His past positions included: -VP of Sales and Operations at Intellibank, a SaaS collaboration platform -Business Unit Executive (SMB Division), IBM Rational Software -Director of Corporate Sales, Rational Software -Western Region Sales, Pure Atria Gary is an expert in the future of work, fundamentals of management, effective interviewing and staffing methods, entrepreneurship, online marketplaces/platform strategy and sales/go-to-market During this interview we cover: Going through a merger and getting  acquired by IBM Leaving IBM and Gary's career path criteria Growth and development not to steep that you go off of the cliff Turning down an offer on Netflix as employee #3 Why you should consider merging with a better business model (oDesk & eLance merge) User Experience as the best marketing tool. Insights on the Future of Work and the landscape after COVID-19 Hiring talent criteria as a SaaS founder Investing trends surrounding Healthcare and Technology Adding value to a company post-acquisition Productivity and effective leadership habits advice (Hint: ABR) Book Recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/That-Will-Never-Work-Netflix/dp/0316530204 (That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea) Links and mentions: UpWorks Website Polaris Partners Website Get in touch with Gary: Gary's LinkedIn Profile More about Akeel:

This week we interview Gary Swart, Partner at VC firm Polaris Partners, former CEO of oDesk (now UpWork, NASDAQ;UPWK), the world’s largest online service marketplace. Gary’s portfolio includes investments in innovative medtech and pharmaceutical companies. And in this episode, he shares his valuable perspective on how the pandemic may transform the opportunity landscape, at the intersection between AI and Healthcare technology. Discover our full range of high-ROI use cases for AI with Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1

This week we interview Gary Swart, Partner at VC firm Polaris Partners, former CEO of oDesk (now UpWork, NASDAQ;UPWK), the world’s largest online service marketplace. In this episode, he offers a pragmatic perspective about opportunities and challenges for AI adoption in the current economic climate. Discover our full range of high-ROI use cases for AI with Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1

Come spend some time learning about what a typical work-day could look like in the future! The future of the common workday is changing rapidly in the current world and Gary Swart has spent years developing the remote work landscape. Come join as he talks about his journey, the future, and his experience at Polaris Partners. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nyu-svs/support

Gary Swart is a partner at Polaris Partners, investing in technology and healthcare companies, out of their San Francisco office. He represents Polaris on the boards of Quantcast, SimplyInsured, FloQast, Falkonry, Faro Health, and Qstream. He also served on the board of CliQr (Cisco). This Episode is Sponsored By: Freshbooks invoicing and accounting software is designed specifically for small business owners. Freshbooks grows alongside your business, so you’ll always have the tools you need when you need them without ever having to learn the ins and outs of accounting. Try it FREE for thirty days, no catch and no credit card required, just go to: millionaire-interviews.com/freshbooks Hubstaff makes invoicing super easy. Hubstaff is not designed for one type of business, which is why there are over 34,000 companies using their application. To help your business get started with Hubstaff, use promo code YOLO and get 60 days FREE when you visit: millionaire-interviews.com/hubstaff On Episode 104, Eric Gilbert Williams talks about his journey from rock-bottom to building and selling a multi-million dollar business. Now, Eric is taking his business experience and coaching entrepreneurs like you, so you can increase your bottom line. For a limited time, you can book a complimentary one-on-one session with Eric to find solutions for your business, no strings attached, simply visit: millionaire-interviews.com/egw-coaching   Want to Support the Show? Well we'd love for you to join our Patreon Group!  What's in it for you?  Well you'll instantly get a scheduled call from Austin, where he'll help you with your current or future business... Sign-Up Now at millionaire-interviews.com/patreon.

Gary Swart was an early CEO at Upwork (formerly oDesk), now a public company and the largest freelancer marketplace in the world. He is now a partner at Polaris Partners, investing in technology and healthcare companies. Prior to oDesk, Gary was the vice president of worldwide sales for Intellibank, responsible for building the direct and indirect sales organization and channel development. Previous to Intellibank, he was a business unit executive for IBM's Rational Software Product Group. www.polarispartners.com www.linkedin.com/in/garyswart/

My guest for Episode 90 of The Startup Playbook Podcast is the former CEO of Odesk (now known as Upwork) and General Partner of Polaris Partners, Gary Swart. The post Ep090 – Gary Swart (Former CEO of oDesk) on focusing on your strengths appeared first on Startup Playbook.

In this episode, Gary Swart and Joseph Fung discuss what it means to combine the power of competency and frequency, both of which AI can help deliver to sales teams.  Gary is a General Partner at Polaris Partners and a thought leader on marketplaces, sales leadership, the future of work and scaling sales teams. Listen to this episode to hear Gary Swart and Joseph Fung discuss: How Gary’s experience starting out as a sales rep led him to become a Polaris investor Augmentation, atomization, and automation; and how these play into the future of work The importance of increasing frequency and competency among sales teams What current sales reps can do to keep up with changes in sales and build their career You can learn more about our podcast here:  http:///www.kiite.ai/podcast Know someone who we should interview? Drop us a line at marketing@kiite.ai  

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed venture capitalist and UMD alumnus Gary Swart. Gary operates out of Silicon Valley as a general partner at Polaris Partners, a Boston VC firm that invests in technology and healthcare companies. Prior to his role at Polaris Partners, Gary was CEO of oDesk, a job-search platform that aimed to be the number one destination for job-seekers looking to work remotely. During his eight-year stint as CEO, Gary gained keen insights on customer acquisition, global expansion and staying ahead of competitors, lessons that as an investor he imparts to the entrepreneurs he works with. In this episode, Gary describes the challenges of being CEO, the key factors a startup needs before seeking investment and the differences between the startup ecosystems of Boston and Silicon Valley.

Getting an investor's perspective in AI is always a good idea for companies looking to raise money, in terms of understanding of excites VC's, but even more broadly an investor's perspective can point to emerging  factors in how AI is going to impact a particular industry, shining a light on industry developments, including the commonalities that matter for any company, in any industry, leveraging these tools that are increasingly embedded with AI. In this episode we interview Polaris Partners' Gary Swart, who speaks about elements of companies that are laying the right foundations for using AI optimally and making a more defensible, durable company in an increasingly competitive landscape.

On this episode of The Angry Millennial, we're chatting with former oDesk (Now called Upwork) CEO + partner with Polaris VC, Gary Swart. In this episode, we chat about meeting a few years back at CreativeLive's Secrets of Silicon Valley event, what it's like working in an early-on startup, a bigger company, and even a big conglomerate, how important it is to see which is a good fit for you, the shift in the workplace to working remotely in the new gig economy of today, what it was like helping so many freelancers create more steady streams of income, having oDesk become a case study at Harvard Business School, passing up on being employee #3 at Netflix, how important his wife's support has been in embracing taking big risks, and more on this episode of The Angry Millennial. Remember to always use #theangrymillennial on social media + follow @millennialangry on Twitter to ask any questions you'd like any of the upcoming guests to answer during the show.

Gary Swart joined oDesk in 2005 as CEO and led the company for over 8 years, turning into the market leader in the online work industry. It was the first workplace to reach $1 billion in work, and has over 5 million freelancers and thousands of jobs posted daily. Gary led the company through a merger with #2 player eLance before leaving to join Polaris. In this episode, part II of our conversation, he shares with us the importance of focus in a company, iterating quickly, why he thinks being an execepreneur is a good idea – and why he’s ok being hit by a pitch. My question for Gary this week: Having been involved with large corporations like IBM, and a number of startups, what motivates you to help grow small to large and what’s your advice for execepreneurs? “I remember flying home from Seattle in a small Alaska Airlines plane and I got claustrophobic… I said I don’t want to wake up 15 years from now saying I didn’t step up to the plate.  That wasn’t going to be good enough for me.  Even if I didn’t hit the ball I wanted to stand at the plate” Questions: You started to discuss focus last week and how that was critical for oDesk - can you give us examples of tradeoffs you had to make? What are your thoughts about Executives taking the leap to entrepreneurship, similar to your situation? What’s the one thing you’d leave our Execepreneur audience with?

Gary Swart joined oDesk in 2005 as CEO and led the company for over 8 years, turning into the market leader in the online work industry.  It was the first workplace to reach $1 billion in work, and has over 5 million freelancers and thousands of jobs posted daily.  Gary led the company through a merger with #2 player eLance before leaving to join Polaris.   In this Episode he shares with us his path to oDesk and how he was able to grow the company the way he did.  In next week's episode (part 2), we dig more into the topic of focus, iterating quickly, why he thinks being an execepreneur is a good idea - and why Gary’s ok being hit by a pitch.   This week's questions:   Set the stage for us - how did you become the CEO of oDesk? What did you grow it to become the world’s largest online workplace with over 5 million freelancers?   For more information about this episode: www.launchandlead.com/gary.

Gary is the CEO of oDesk, the largest online workplace — where more than $1 billion dollars of work has been done. From his unique position witnessing disruption in the way the world works, Gary shares wisdom on today's best hiring and management strategies.

Gary Swart is a Venture Partner at Polaris Partners, an 18-year old venture capital firm. Gary is also the former CEO of Odesk, the world's largest online workplace with over 1 million clients and 5 million freelancers. He joined the company as its CEO in 2005 and has guided the company to industry leadership and through their recent merger with Elance. Links & Resources Mentioned ODesk Polaris Partners Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the podcast Leave a rating and review Follow Omer on Twitter Need help with your SaaS? Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support. Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue. Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Gary Swart is a Venture Partner at Polaris Partners, an 18-year old venture capital firm. Gary is also the former CEO of Odesk, the world's largest online workplace with over 1 million clients and 5 million freelancers. He joined the company as its CEO in 2005 and has guided the company to industry leadership and through their recent merger with Elance.Links & Resources MentionedODeskPolaris PartnersEnjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the podcastLeave a rating and reviewFollow Omer on TwitterNeed help with your SaaS?Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Gary Swart is the CEO of oDesk, the world’s largest online workplace—which has more than 4 million freelancers, and on which more than $1 billion of work has been done. Gary is a thought leader in entrepreneurship; how best to hire and manage teams; and the future of work, including online work. He is passionate about helping small businesses thrive, fueled by his extensive experience working with startups and small businesses that use oDesk, as well as by mentoring entrepreneurs and business school students. Gary has spoken at the Inc. Leadership Conference, The Economist’s Ideas Economy panel, South by Southwest, TechCrunch 50, TiECon, GigaOM’s Net:Work Conference in 2010 and 2011, and at Harvard Business School which teaches a case study on oDesk. His commentary has appeared in a variety of publications including Forbes, TechCrunch and The Washington Post. He has also appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including BBC, National Public Radio, and the Fox Business program “After the Bell.” Previously, he led SMB Sales for the Americas at IBM’s Rational Software Product Group, and also served as VP of Worldwide Sales at Intellibank, where he was responsible for leading the sales organization.

Gary is the CEO of oDesk, the largest online workplace — where more than $1 billion dollars of work has been done. From his unique position witnessing disruption in the way the world works, Gary shares his wisdom about today's best hiring and management strategies.

The new employment model is here: Work 3.0. Work is on demand, virtual and remote. Successful businesses build their online workteams on oDesk. In fact, as a CEO, president or business owner, you can build an entire department and more on oDesk! Join Howard Lewinter and his guest, Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk, as they discuss the new employment model, the future of the new work environment and how oDesk can help you build a better, more successful business. Plus much more. Join us! About Gary Swart: Gary brings a passion for helping small businesses succeed and more than 17 years of experience in the enterprise software market. Before oDesk, as the VP of Worldwide Sales for Intellibank, he was responsible for building the sale organization, but Gary's enthusiasm for small businesses was born during his tenure as a Business Unit Executive for IBM's Rational Software Product Group, where he led Small and Medium Business sales for the Americas. Before IBM, Gary was with Pure Software, where he held sales, management and leadership positions.