Introduction
The SaaS Startup Founder’s Guide Concepts, Strategies, and Tactics from SaaS Leaders
CRM Benefits for Startups - By Greg Poirier Subscription Economics: How Building Great Marketing Recurring Revenue Changes Campaigns - By Amanda Nelson Everything - By Tien Tzuo Building a Multibillion-Dollar Category How Social Selling Has - By Mark Organ Transformed Sales - By Jill Rowley AppExchange: The Fastest Path Measuring Product/Market Fit to MVP - By Mike Kreaden - By Sean Jacobsohn Founder Lessons from the Salesforce Force Multipliers and Managing Incubator - By Mike Kreaden Growth - By Adrian Rosenkranz Driving Customer Engagement - By David Priemer
Introduction By Leyla Seka When I began working at Salesforce nine years ago, my title was Director, AppStore. No one had really heard of apps, the iPhone was only four months old, and I was intrigued by the idea that apps should be purchased like books on Amazon — an idea my CEO, Marc Benio , pioneered. Within a year, the Apple App Store launched, Marc gave the app store trademark to Steve Jobs, my title became Director, AppExchange, and the greatest professional adventure of my life began. I witnessed the creation of the largest and most vibrant enterprise application ecosystem. I had the great fortune of watching the best entrepreneurs in the world innovate on our platform and change the world for our customers. This book is homage to you: the entrepreneur — the fearless innovator who runs toward the challenge with an open heart and takes all the risks. We built Salesforce with that same drive and spirit, and nothing delights me more than celebrating the community that makes our company so amazing. In this book you will hear the real stories of people just like you and me. People who worked hard, saw an opportunity, and took it. Luck always plays a role, but luck is everywhere if you’re looking at things w ith d nt perspectives. Here you will get practical lessons about how to run a SaaS company because . . . guess what? This isn’t your grandmother’s software company model. You will hear from the pioneers who created and continue to re-create this industry and about the challenges we face as individuals, companies, and an industry that has a great impact on the future of the world economy. On a personal note, many of the insights in this book resonated with me because of the focus on change. To be truly great in technology, one must learn to love and embrace change. In fact, your future life will likely revolve around creating change. Your job will be to break things 77
Introduction and make them better. Sometimes the thing you will need to break is yourself. So, let me tell you a story. When I was in my younger years, I was a great product manager. I built great products with engineering, I helped sales sell giant deals, I was ng all over the world; it was awesome. But I was ready for the next step, I wanted to move up the ladder, I wanted to be a manager. All the things that made me an excellent individual contributor — my drive, my skills, my experience, and a healthy amount of self-con nce and self-promotion — got me noticed, and soon enough, I got the job. I was managing a team. And you know what, I sucked at it. I was awful. I was so used to talking about me, I didn’t know how to talk about the team. I didn’t realize that my personal brand had changed, and my team was now a part of it. I was lucky to have a great manager who guided me through this and taught me to bang the drum for my employees.It was a scary transition; I was worried I would lose the limelight. But what I got, in the end, was so much more: a team that has stood with me for years. We have celebrated victories together and propped each other up in defeat. That important lesson for me is akin to the transition you will have to make as a great founder. At the beginning, it’s all about you. Your idea. Your drive. Your vision. There will come the critical time when you need to bring others into your inner circle. Whether it is nding a co-founder or hiring the initial team, you will need to put your ego aside and trust in others to help your dream. This is but one of the changes that you will need to make as you embark on your startup journey. Embrace the change; it is the only constant. 88
