# Contributing Authors & About Salesforce for Startups

- Interactive version: https://salesforce-for-startups.relayto.com/e/contributing-authors-about-salesforce-for-startups-bweve69n5mm79
- Format: PDF document, 7 pages
- Published by: [Salesforce for Startups](https://salesforce-for-startups.relayto.com/)
- Last updated: 2022-11-23
- More from this site: https://salesforce-for-startups.relayto.com/llms.txt

## Page 1

The SaaS Startup
Founder’s Guide
Concepts, Strategies, and Tactics
from SaaS Leaders
Table of Contents
Introduction 7 Chapter 7 67
Sales Distribution & Segmentation
Strategies
- By Mike Wolff
Chapter 1 10 Chapter 8 74
Subscription Economics: How Customer Experience and Success:
Recurring Revenue Changes Both Science and Art
Everything - By Tien Tzuo - By Melinda Gonzalez
Chapter 2 24 Chapter 9 88
Do the Time CRM and Content: Two Ingredients
- By Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross for Early Startup Success
- By Greg Poirier
Chapter 3 34 Chapter 10 93
The Climb: How to Get to $10 Filling the Funnel with Content
Million Marketing
- By Tien Tzuo - By Amanda Nelson
Chapter 4 38 Chapter 11 101
Are You a Nice-to-Have? Tools of the Trade
- By Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross - By Greg Poi
Chapter 5 43 Contributing Authors 108
Nailing Your Go-to-Market
Positioning
- By Judy Loehr
Chapter 6 56 About Salesforce for 113
Grow Revenue Faster with Startups
Messaging Alignment, Playbooks
and Onboarding - By Elay Cohen

## Page 2

Contributing Authors
Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora
@tientzuo
Tien Tzuo is the CEO of Zuora, a company he
co-founded in 2007. Tien has not only built
one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies,
he’s also evangelized the shift to subscription-
based business models. Before Zuora, he
was one of the “original forces” at Salesforce,
joining as employee number 11. In his nine
years at Salesforce, Tien held a variety of
executive roles in technology, marketing, and
strategy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
electrical engineering from Cornell University
and a master’s in business administration from
the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Aaron Ross, Author,
Predictable Revenue
@motoceo
Aaron Ross is the co-author of From
Impossible to Inevitable. Aaron is married
with 12 children (mostly through adoption),
loves motorcycles, and keeps a 25-hour
workweek. He’s a keynote speaker, and
the best-selling author of Predictable
Revenue, called “The Sales Bible of Silicon
Valley,” based on an outbound prospecting
system that’s created more than $1 billion
across Salesforce and other companies.
He’s co-founder and chief revenue officer
of Carb.io, a pipeline automation software
company, and is also the co-founder of
predictableuniversity.com.

## Page 3

Contributing Authors
Jason Lemkin, Founder, SaaStr
@jasonlk
Jason Lemkin is a 2x founder, 1x VC, 1x
author (co-author of From Impossible to
Inevitable), and constant SaaS enthusiast.
He led or sourced the first VC investments
in many leading enterprise/SaaS startups
— now collectively worth more than $1
billion. Before SaaStr and VC investing,
Jason co-founded EchoSign and NanoGram
Devices, two successful startups selling
to the enterprise. Jason has been called
“The Godfather of SaaS” for the advice and
mentorship he provides via his popular blog
saastr.com.
Elay Cohen, CEO, SalesHood
@elaycohen
Elay Cohen is the author of SalesHood:
How Winning Sales Managers Inspire Sales
Teams to Succeed and the co-founder of
SalesHood, a software-as-a-service platform
and community for sales professionals. Elay
is the former senior vice president of sales
productivity at Salesforce. Recognized as
the company’s 2011 Top Executive, he ran
the teams that executed sales training,
onboarding, and deal support for thousands
of salespeople. He also created the partner
relationship management category. He lives
with his family in San Francisco.

## Page 4

Contributing Authors
Mike Wolff, SVP,
Commercial Sales, Salesforce
@mike_wolf
Mike Wolff leads sales efforts across North
America for Salesforce’s small and midsize
business teams. Mike joined Salesforce in 2002
and has held a number of leadership roles. He’s
well regarded for hiring top talent, building a
culture of coaching, operational excellence,
consistently overachieving bookings, and
cultivating customer success. Prior to joining
Salesforce, he worked in sports marketing at
the Air Force Academy and the University of
California, Berkeley. Mike grew up in the Bay
Area and holds a political science bachelor’s
degree from University of California, Davis, and
an MBA in marketing from the University of San
Francisco. When he’s not focused on customer
success and trying to “make every month,” he is
most often spending time with his wife and two
daughters, or rooting for one of his hometown
Bay Area teams including the 49ers, Warriors,
and Giants.
Greg Poirier, CEO, CloudKettle
@gregpoirier
Greg Poirier is the president of CloudKettle, a
Salesforce consulting partner that specializes
in helping startups improve their lead and
sales pipeline. Early in his career, Greg
introduced digital marketing at a national
cinema chain, rolling out its first social media
campaigns, e-commerce strategies, mobile
ticketing, and couponing initiatives. The first
technology company Greg joined was Radian6
(later acquired by Salesforce), where he
oversaw and grew the digital marketing team.
He later joined TitanFile and then Livelenz,
where his knack for creating efficiencies
helped expand his role to chief operating
officer. Greg mentors at the Volta Startup
House and teaches on the subject of digital
marketing and sales for startups.

## Page 5

Amanda Nelson, Content Marketing
Specialist, Salesforce
@amandalnelson
Amanda Nelson is senior manager of
AppExchange content and community at
Salesforce. She has a content marketing
and community management background,
and has worked in account management
for interactive and full service advertising
agencies.
Melinda Gonzalez, Principal,
Melinda Gonzalez Advisors
@RealMelindaG
Melinda Gonzalez is a customer experience
advisor, consultant, speaker, and author. As
an early member of Salesforce’s corporate
customer success team, she was part of a
collective that defined and established the
customer success management industry
as it exists today. During her 10 years at
Salesforce, she pioneered programs that
institutionalized customer advocacy. She
currently helps startups understand what it
takes to create loyal customers and brand
advocates, while increasing revenue through
exceptional customer experiences. Melinda
also develops strategies for companies to
manage the customer funnel from adoption
to retention through renewal and advocacy.
Her philosophy is that creating remarkable
customer experiences is both a science and
an art. Based in San Francisco, she maintains
a creative mind and learns about new
cultures by traveling the world.

## Page 6

Contributing Authors
Judy Loehr, General Partner, Cloud
Apps Capital Partners
@judyloehr
Judy Loehr is a venture partner with Cloud
Apps Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based
firm focused on early-stage cloud business
application companies. Judy has 15 years of
operating experience in the cloud business
application market and deep expertise in
both SaaS and business freemium models.
As one of the original Salesforce product
managers, Judy owned all new products and
helped develop and launch the Salesforce
AppExchange. She then built out the first
integrated marketing team, managed 20+
major marketing launches, and worked closely
with the first generation of AppExchange
partners. Upon leaving Salesforce, Judy
became one of the world’s leading marketing
consultants for cloud business application
companies, applying her messaging,
packaging, and product launch expertise
to 30+ companies. Judy has a bachelor’s in
economics from Occidental College.
Mike Kreaden, Sr. Director, Startup
Relations, Salesforce
@mikekreaden
Mike Kreaden has helped hundreds of
startups get to market during his 14 years at
Salesforce. Mike got his startup mojo flowing
as a co-founder of Honeybee Software,
a Canadian business software company
that successfully IPO’d in 1998. He holds a
bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering
from McGill University.

## Page 7

About Salesforce for Startups
Salesforce for Startups is a program designed to provide access to
the Salesforce technology, tools, and expertise needed to become a
customer- and community-focused company — and succeed.
As a member, you gain access to a self-service website where you are
able to discover products, track your progress, and inspire others by
sharing your startup story with the Salesforce for Startups community.
Join us today at startups.salesforce.com.
Follow us on Twitter @salesforcestart to stay current on program news
and book updates.