Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission Podcast

By: Evergreen Podcasts
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to the Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission podcast. My name is Ton Dobbe. I am the founder of Value Inspiration and the author of ‘The Remarkable Effect’. I envision a world where every B2B SaaS business succeeds because they're creating software their customers would miss if were gone 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆: Research consistently shows 90% of all startups fail. That's bad. What's worse however is that +75% of SaaS Scaleups fail - companies that are supposed to have product-market-fit. Far too few Scaleups create the traction they aspire for and fail for the wrong reasons I believe this should stop - and hence I started my business and this podcast The goal I have with this podcast is two-fold: to inspire new forms of value creation by sharing compelling ideas and stories about the potential we can unlock when technology and people blend in the right way. Share experiences from tech entrepreneurs like you about what it requires to create a remarkable software business and how to overcome the roadblocks to do so.
    All rights reserved 2022-24
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Economics Leadership
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Episodes
  • #337 - Dan Uyemura, CEO of Pushpress - on Vertical SaaS differentiation

    #337 - Dan Uyemura, CEO of Pushpress - on Vertical SaaS differentiation
    Nov 6 2024
    This podcast interview focuses on the entrepreneurial journey to build deep vertical business solutions that deliver 10x value for every 1x in price charged. My guest is Dan Uyemura, CEO of Pushpress. Dan has had an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age. He was a Dot-com era pioneer: During college, he founded Mixture.com, a platform that was ahead of its time and preceded social media giants like Myspace. After working in tech, including a stint at Myspace, he made a dramatic career pivot by opening his own CrossFit gym. He quickly got frustrated with the poor software options available for gym management. So in January 2012, he leveraged his tech background to create PushPress and rebel against manual paperwork and complicated, overpriced software. Their mission: to make gym management
 the easiest part of starting a fitness business. And this inspired me, and hence I invited Dan to my podcast. We explore his journey from MySpace coder to gym owner to software entrepreneur. Dan shares his insights on what it takes to create a competitive advantage that's hard to beat. He elaborates on empathy-driven support, value-based pricing, and the "layer cake" approach that makes his SaaS products invaluable. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on customer value over traditional SaaS metrics and shares innovative strategies to outmaneuver competitors. Last but not least, he shares his data-driven decision-making framework and lessons on team building. Here's one of his quotes "Money is an output. It's the result of energy spent somewhere else. So the problem is, a lot of people build those businesses around money. How do I make more money? How do I generate more money? How do I increase my top line? Or bottom line? The reality is that's an output, and you can never affect an output. You can only affect the input. And the input is the order of magnitude and the sheer volume of value you provide to customers. That's what you got to focus on." During this interview, you will learn four things: How he's tuning his product strategy to grow a highly defensible position against competitors. His framework for building conviction and speeding up decision-making in feature development How he overcame the balancing act of horizontal feature breadth with vertical depth improvements His approach to innovating pricing models to outmaneuver competitors and accelerate growth. For more information about the guest from this week: Dan Uyemura Website: Pushpress Subscribe to the Daily SaaS Reflection Get my free, 1 min daily reflection on shaping a B2B SaaS business no one can ignore. Subscribe here Yes, it’s actually daily. And yes, people actually stay subscribed (Just see what peer B2B SaaS CEOs say) My promise: It’s short. To the point. Inspiring. And valuable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    47 mins
  • #336 - Victor Kristof, CEO of DemoSquare - on resilient customer-driven innovation.

    #336 - Victor Kristof, CEO of DemoSquare - on resilient customer-driven innovation.
    Oct 30 2024
    This podcast interview focuses on the entrepreneurial journey to democratize political data and anticipate regulatory changes. My guest is Victor Kristof, Co-founder and CEO of DemoSquare. Victor is a fascinating individual with a unique blend of academic excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, and a passion for leveraging technology to enhance democratic processes. He holds a Ph.D. in Machine Learning from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, where he developed algorithms and statistical models to study human behavior within social and political systems. That research became the foundational idea behind DemoSquare, a SaaS startup he co-founded in November 2022. Their mission: to "democratize democracy" by making political and regulatory data more transparent and accessible with artificial intelligence. It will change how companies and their public affairs teams navigate the complex world of politics and regulation and, potentially, how citizens engage with democracy. And this inspired me, and hence I invited Victor to my podcast. We explore the journey of transforming academic research into a change-making political data platform. Kristof shares his lessons learned by doing customer interviews and pivoting in the right direction. He highlights the value of sharing ideas openly, adapting to constant change, and maintaining resilience in the face of rejection. Last but not least, he offers practical advice on investor relationships, sales strategies, and personal stress management. Here's one of his quotes I've heard several times people saying, "I have this super cool idea. I don't want to share it with anyone until I do it. I had the complete opposite experience. Even when it wasn't completely ready, we were not selling it, just talking about it to people, not even in a professional or formal context. You go to a party, you go to a family gathering, and you meet with some friends. You just share your ideas and see what's happening. The most important feedback I got came from these informal discussions. I cannot count how many introductions to potential customers I've gotten through these informal discussions. During this interview, you will learn four things: How to gather feedback and validate your idea - and use both positive and negative feedback to refine (or even pivot) your product. How finding the right co-founder can have a multiplicative effect on your business. How to stay resilient in the Face of Rejection from both customers and investors. What to look for to select investors who will make a difference for your business. For more information about the guest from this week: Victor Kristof Website: DemoSquare Subscribe to the Daily SaaS Reflection Get my free, 1 min daily reflection on shaping a B2B SaaS business no one can ignore. Subscribe here Yes, it’s actually daily. And yes, people actually stay subscribed (Just see what peer B2B SaaS CEOs say) My promise: It’s short. To the point. Inspiring. And valuable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    42 mins
  • #335 - Joaquim Lecha, CEO of Typeform - on creating SaaS products customers love.

    #335 - Joaquim Lecha, CEO of Typeform - on creating SaaS products customers love.
    Oct 23 2024
    This podcast interview focuses on the entrepreneurial journey to help all of us to have conversations that drive action and meaningful connections. My guest is Joaquim Lecha, CEO of Typeform. Joaquim (Kim) is a tech entrepreneur on a big mission, bringing over 20 years of experience in high-growth companies. He started his career in M&A, strategy, and financial advisory. In 2012 he joined the tech world as the CFO of Socialpoint, a world-renowned mobile game developer, later taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer. In 2018 he joined Typeform as Chief Operating Officer and quickly rose to become the CEO. Their mission: to create a world where conversations drive action and meaningful connections. Under his leadership, Typeform has grown impressively (+$1B valuation), now serving well over 150,000 paying customers worldwide and achieving profitability. He recently got recognized as one of the Top 50 SaaS CEOs of 2023 by The Software Report. This inspired me, so I invited Joachim to my podcast. We explore what it takes to profitably scale a SaaS business as it experiences rapid growth. He discusses what fueled their initial growth and what strategic changes he had to make to ensure growth won't stall. Last but not least he offers practical wisdom on product development, customer-centric innovation, and maintaining resilience in the face of challenges. Here's one of his quotes I was coming from games. I had not heard from those types of products so many times the word 'Love'. People love Typeform. So my most immediate reaction to all of that is, how can we make more people aware of this great product? And I even thought, since I come from a financial type of background; 'if we can find that scalable with quick feedback loop type of motion, and in addition to that, it's got a less than 12 month payback period. Then we can fund it.' So with that in mind, we got to work. We grew our customer base by 2.5x and our revenue by almost 4x. During this interview, you will learn four things: How to ensure your pricing reflects the true value your product provides to customers - so you don't undervalue your offering. How to choose marketing and sales approaches that can bring in thousands of new customers and provide quick feedback loops. How he found a segment in the market where Typeform provided the most value - and what that meant to their growth trajectory.. What to focus operations and hiring strategy on - if you aim to create a sustainable, resilient, and easily scalable business over time. For more information about the guest from this week: Joaquim Lecha Website: Typeform Subscribe to the Daily SaaS Reflection Get my free, 1 min daily reflection on shaping a B2B SaaS business no one can ignore. Subscribe here Yes, it’s actually daily. And yes, people actually stay subscribed (Just see what peer B2B SaaS CEOs say) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins

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