SaaStr 615: Where Venture Capital Really is Right Now, With Accel, Iconiq Growth, and Salesforce Ventures at G2 Reach
SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin recently moderated a session with 3 of the best investing in SaaS: Doug Pepper, GP at Iconiq, Arun Mathew, GP at Accel, and Alex Kayyal, VP and head of all of Salesforce Ventures. The four deep-dive on the real state of venture capital today and into 2023.
This podcast was recorded live during G2's digital reach event. Check out the rest of the sessions over at Reach.G2.com
This episode is an excerpt from the session. Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/hTvNqr395nY
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Salesforce: The Cloud & SaaS Pioneer [Business Breakdowns, EP. 29]
Today, we are breaking down the cloud and SaaS trailblazer, Salesforce. Founded by Marc Benioff in 1999, Salesforce has grown rapidly to become the global leader in the $100 billion CRM market. The business has 150,000 customers, including 90% of the Fortune 500, and is currently valued north of $270 billion.
To break down Salesforce, Patrick O’Shaughnessy is joined by Matt Garratt, general partner at VC firm CRV and former head of Salesforce Ventures, where he led investments in companies like Snowflake, Twilio, and Zoom.
In our conversation, we discuss the attributes that make Marc Benioff special, how he pushed against convention to usher in a new era of cloud-based businesses, and ways in which he has built a world around Salesforce’s product lines. We also cover decision-making in the company, why its culture derives from the beaches of Hawaii, and how it’s transitioning from builder to buyer. Please enjoy this breakdown of Salesforce.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
[00:03:14] - [First question] - What Salesforce is and what it does
[00:04:55] - The scale and revenue scope of the business today
[00:06:13] - Driving variables of revenue growth and their current model
[00:09:10] - The unique founding story and becoming the first SaaS company
[00:11:06] - What about Marc Benioff made him so compelling and successful
[00:14:20] - An experience in his time at Salesforce that changed and moved him
[00:15:16] - The first buyer and what they were served as a product
[00:17:07] - Overview of Salesforce as a software platform
[00:19:58] - The core database that powers their infrastructure and user experience
[00:21:26] - Transitioning from being mostly a builder to largely a buyer and acquirer
[00:23:46] - Why building trust early on is so crucial when doing something new
[00:25:45] - What is Dreamforce, and how it’s evolved over time
[00:27:24] - The connection between Hawaiian culture and Salesforce
[00:29:14] - How they continue to market and acquire customers and spend so much on marketing
[00:30:44] - Their current addressable market and plans to expand into those areas
[00:35:05] - How priorities are set, picked, and followed through on
[00:35:58] - What is V2MOM and the role it plays with the executive team
[00:38:08] - The philosophy behind Salesforce Ventures and the function it serves
[00:40:27] - Potential risks the business faces going forward
[00:44:24] - Key characteristics that separate Salesforce from other businesses out there
[00:46:47] - Lessons for investors and builders when studying Salesforce’s story
SaaStr 359: The Secrets to Vertical Growth, What it Really Takes to Build a $1B SaaS Company with Matt Garratt, SVP, Managing Partner @ Salesforce Ventures, Trisha Price, Chief Product Officer @ nCino and David Schmaier, CEO & Founder @ Vlocity
From strategies in recruitment and team building to sales tactics, these leaders from Salesforce, nCino, and Vlocity, will discuss the top tips for moving beyond horizontal SaaS and building a billion-dollar SaaS company.
Matt Garratt, SVP, Managing Partner, Salesforce Ventures
Trisha Price, Chief Product Officer, nCino
David Schmaier, CEO & Founder, Vlocity
This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.
Full video: https://youtu.be/ZxmCVOTW1lQ
Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-matt-garratt-trisha-price-david-schmaier-rob-bernshteyn-and-jason-lemkin/
SaaStr 336: Salesforce Ventures Managing Partner Matthew Garratt and Salesforce SVP of Commercial Sales, Adnan Chaudhry on Shifting Your Sales & GTM Strategy in Uncertain Times
Leveraging survey data from 66+ enterprise SaaS companies, Matt Garratt, Managing Partner of Salesforce Ventures shares the landscape of how businesses are shifting their sales & GTM strategies to react to today's uncertain times. Adnan Chaudhry, SVP of Sales at Salesforce then provides actionable takeaways on how to refocus your sales teams, engage with customers, adjust your sales comp and how you can properly forecast in today's new landscape.
This podcast is an excerpt from Matt and Adnan's session at SaaStr Summit. You can see the full video here: https://youtu.be/3Li7tuLQidY
SaaStr 035: Matt Garratt on The Strategy Behind Salesforce Ventures
Matt Garratt currently runs Salesforce Ventures with the mandate to build out salesforce's ecosystem of partners with equity investments. Matt has led key strategic investments at Salesforce in companies such as former guests Gainsight, and Invoca as well as Anaplan and Insidesales.com just to name a few. Prior to salesforce Matt was a VP at the prestigious SaaS investor Battery Ventures. Also in the show today we mention Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross new book From Impossible to Inevitable: How Hypergrowth Companies Create Predictable Revenue and if you have not read that, that is a must and can be found here!
In This Episode With Matt You Will Learn:
How Matt made his entry into the world of VC and came to run Salesforce Ventures?
What did Salesforce do right to give Matt the ability to formalise the fund? What did Matt learn in the less formal stages of investing?
What are the benefits that startups receive from being portfolio companies of Salesforce Ventures?
How does matt view Salesforce Ventures in the early stage investing landscape? Does Matt like to co-invest with other prominent funds?
How does M&A work within Salesforce Ventures? Are you willing to sell to your competitors?
If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented you can follow us on Twitter here:
Jason Lemkin
Harry Stebbings
Saastr
Matt Garratt