Presentation deck from SaaStock 2019

1. Build Your
Winning Playbook
Our keys to 4x SaaS Success

2. Godard Abel
Co-founder & CEO, G2
2

3. Born in Germany
Moved to Pittsburgh
3

4. Education
Studied @ MIT
Worked @ McKinsey
in USA and Germany
Studied @ Stanford GSB
1st StartUp @ Alyanza
acquired by Niku (IPO)
4

5. Confidential
Building 4x Winning SaaS Companies
5
Founded in 2000
CPQ cloud software
Grew to $50M+ ARR
acquired $400M+
in 2013
Launched in 2019
3D visualization
Grew to $1.5M ARR
in one year
Re-launched in 2014
Next gen CPQ software
Grew to 10OM+ ARR
acquired $390M+
in 2016
July 2012 founded
1M+ B2B Reviews
50+ Million Buyers
$100M invested by

6. 6
... this is what
we learned.

7. Confidential
4 Keys to Building SaaS Winners
7
COMMIT
TO THE
PEAK
BUILD A
WINNING
TEAM
SELL
WITH
PASSION
TAKE
CARE OF
YOURSEL
F

8. #1 Commit to the
Peak

9. Solve a
problem
you uniquely
know and
personally
care about...
9

10. Persevere
10
EMPLOYEES
65
20
2000 2003 2007 2010 2013
Matt
Gorniak
300

11. 11
Ride a bigger
Wave

12. #2 Sell with
Passion

13. No
Boring Pitches
13

14. Tell a Story
“We were selling, a singular idea
drove all our accomplishments:
we never sold features…
We sold the model and the
customer’s success.”
14
- Marc Benioff
Salesforce
Behind the Cloud

15. Sell as a
Team
15

16. 16
BUILD YOUR
PLAYBOOKS
build your own
systems and
processes that
can scale

17. Embrace the
Audible
“His success stemmed
from his ability to
audible, to read the
defence and change his
plays on the go.”
17
Tony Dungy on
Peyton Manning

18. Let Your
Customers
Sell for You!
18

19. European
SaaS Leaders
Reach Globally
with authentic
reviews
19

20. #3 Build a
Winning
Team

21. 21
Don’t climb
alone…
build your
entrepreneurial
family
BigMachines Team 2000 G2 Founders 2012
SteelBrick 2014 ThreeKit Launch 2019

22. Don’t
Use Recruiters
22

23. Bring the best talent with you...
Nurture your people and your network
23

24. 24
BUILD
PARTNERSHIPS
with like-minded
entrepreneurs
Marc Benioff
Salesforce Founder/CEO
Ryan Westwood
Simplus Founder/CEO

25. 25
ACQUIRE TO
ACCELERATE
KEEP THE
ENTREPRENEURS
IN THE FAMILY
Name and Surname
Position
InvoiceIT
Joins
SteelBrick!
Siftery
Joins
G2 Crowd!

26. 2626
ALIGN
YOUR
VECTORS
FOR
MAXIMUM
IMPACT
What Elon Musk
taught me about growth

27. PEAK
Culture
Inspired by
Chip Conley
Customer Evangelism
MEETS
UNRECOGNIZED
NEEDS
MEETS DESIRES
MEETS EXPECTATIONS
LEGACY
RELATIONSHIP
ALIGNMENT
TRANSITION ALIGNMENT
MEANING
RECOGNITION
MONEY
Investor
Pride
Employee
Inspiration
27

28. 28
#4 Take care
of yourself

29. 29
Be authentic

30. Breathe
30

31. Follow your divine
path to the peak.
31

32. Thank You
Connect with me:
@godardabel
in/godardabel
... find the right tools
for your business
www.G2.com