Evolving Enterprise 2021 - Scaling as a CEO from Startup to Public Company

TL;DR

Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader discusses the early days, growth, and lessons learned from building a successful SaaS company.

Transcript

hey everybody i'm jeff richards one of the managing partners here at gtv capital welcome to evolving enterprise uh thrilled to be here with ceo of smartsheet mark mader who i've known for a very long time went to college together mark thanks for joining us great to see you good to be here can you do a quick intro of of you and smartsheet sure uh le... Read More

Key Insights

• 🗯️ Success in the early stages of a startup requires conviction, patience, and a focus on building the right product for the target market.
• 🪡 A bottoms-up approach can be successful in attracting customers of all sizes, as long as there is an understanding of their common needs and preferences.
• ❓ Transitioning to a growth stage requires disciplined hiring and a focus on customer retention and expansion.
• 😤 Building a strong leadership team and culture requires the right balance of trust, accountability, and intentional growth.
• 😃 Going public brings increased stress and accountability, but also provides opportunities for lasting impact and joy.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Smartsheet overcome the challenges of being a lesser-known startup in the early days?

Smartsheet believed in the potential of productivity software beyond traditional offerings and built a product that garnered interest from small, mid-sized, and even large companies. They welcomed customers across the board, focusing on the value they could provide.

Q: How did Smartsheet initially attract customers and navigate the market in the early stages?

Smartsheet adopted a bottoms-up approach, allowing anyone to use their software. They were open to serving companies of all sizes, recognizing the commonalities in needs and preferences among team members regardless of the company's size.

Q: When did Smartsheet transition to a more focused go-to-market strategy and hire a dedicated sales team?

After reaching certain milestones in revenue growth, such as hitting the $10 million ARR mark, Smartsheet built out a sales team. They took a deliberate approach, hiring new business reps first, then expansion reps, and later added strategic reps for large enterprise customers.

Q: How did the leadership team at Smartsheet address the challenges of scaling the company while maintaining the right team culture?

Smartsheet was intentional about under-titling roles to create room for growth and avoid managerial overload. The company focused on individual commitments to the mission and trust among team members. Furthermore, they recognized the value of stress and embraced it as an opportunity for growth.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Mark Mader joined Smartsheet, a cloud-based software company, with fewer than 10 employees and helped lead it to become an eight and a half billion dollar company.

• In the early days, the company focused on building a product and experimenting with different ideas, while understanding the need for patience as the market matured.

• Smartsheet's growth was driven by a bottoms-up approach, serving companies of all sizes and learning that there were commonalities in needs and preferences across different types of customers.