SaaStr 762: How to Build a Product Customers Love and Drive Nearly $1B in Revenue Along the Way with Klaviyo CEO Andrew Bialecki and SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin
SaaStr 762: How to Build a Product Customers Love and Drive Nearly $1B in Revenue Along the Way with Klaviyo CEO Andrew Bialecki and SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin
Klaviyo is the most awesome SaaS company you don't know enough about yet. :)
Join SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin and Klaviyo CEO and Co-Founder, Andrew Bialecki as they discuss Klaviyo's rise as a leading marketing and customer data platform for B2C businesses. Discover the strategies behind its growth, the challenges faced in expansion, the pivotal partnership with Shopify, and insights into successfully navigating the journey from SMBs to enterprise markets.
Learn about the company's IPO experience, the impact of strategic product development, and how Klaviyo became an indispensable tool for e-commerce businesses that has millions of raving customers and nearly $1B in revenue.
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Join us at SaaStr Annual 2025:
Hey everybody - thanks to the 10,000 of you who came out to SaaStr Annual. We had a blast and big news -- we'll be back in MAY of 2025. That's right, the SaaStr Annual will be a bit earlier next year, May 13-15 2025. We'll still be back in the same venue, in the SF bay area at the 40+ acre sprawling san mateo county events center. Grab your tickets at saastrannual.com with code jason50 for an extra discount on our very best pricing.
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This episode is sponsored by: remote.com
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This episode is sponsored by: Anrok
A question for SaaS finance leaders, do you know where your customers are? Anrok tracks where your sales are creating exposure, and automates tax calculation and filing worldwide. Built for high-growth software companies, Anrok protects your revenue and saves you time. Visit anrok.com/saastr to learn more.
#199 CEO & Co-Founder Klaviyo, Andrew Bialecki: High Slope
Guest: Andrew Bialecki, CEO of Klaviyo
Whenever the marketing platform Klaviyo is hiring, says CEO Andrew Bialecki, “we sort of don't care so much what skills you have.” Instead, the company looks for “high slope” individuals who are curious and able to continually learn new things. “A big turnoff for me is [when] somebody says, ‘Oh, well, I was never good at that when I was growing up,’” Andrew explains. “You know, ‘I'm not a good writer’ or ‘I'm not good with numbers.’ And it's like, well, OK, but anybody can learn anything.”
In this episode, Andrew and Joubin discuss WeCrashed, Paul Graham, vertical integration, automating sales, Ed Hallen, The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, child prodigies, interview questions, public speaking and decompression, taking ownership, hiring engineers, burnout, and productivity habits.
Chapters:
(00:51) - Klaviyo's office
(02:36) - Attention to detail
(06:32) - Big decisions
(12:23) - What Klaviyo does
(14:50) - Its 2023 IPO
(20:35) - The founding story
(25:06) - Nature or nurture?
(28:47) - Science and hockey
(31:02) - Hiring for slope
(33:57) - Extroversion
(37:00) - Culture as product
(39:53) - Owning your success
(46:24) - “The algorithms of humanity”
(50:55) - Why Andrew runs
(52:35) - Sports psychology for startups
(55:34) - Richard Feynman
(58:27) - Who Klaviyo is hiring
(59:20) - What “grit” means to Andrew
Links:
Connect with Andrew
Twitter
LinkedIn
Connect with Joubin
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
20VC: Klaviyo's Andrew Bialecki on Going Public in an IPO Winter, Is Klaviyo Under-Priced in Public Markets and Why, Why Every VC Turned Klaviyo Down in the Early Days & How Shopify's Partnership Changed the Game
Andrew Bialecki is the Co-Founder and CEO of Klaviyo, the platform that powers smarter digital relationships for businesses and their data. To date, Klaviyo has raised over $778M from the likes of Accel, Summit Partners, Sands Capital, and Shopify, and raised an additional $700M after its IPO in September 2023.
In Today's Episode with Andrew Bialecki We Discuss:
Founding a $6.23BN Machine in Klaviyo: The Aha Moment
What was the aha moment for Klaviyo?
How important does Andrew think it is for founders to stick with their initial vision vs when is the right time to pivot?
Does a great product sell itself? If you build it, will they come?
Bootstrapping Klaviyo: Would it Have Worked with More VC Cash Earlier?
Why did Andrew decide to bootstrap & not take VC money with Klaviyo?
Does Andrew think Klaviyo would have been successful if they raised a seed round? What would they have done differently?
Why does Andrew believe companies should take their time to find product-market fit? What are the most common mistakes founders make?
What is Andrew's advice to founders on fundraising?
When did Andrew decide to raise a seed round when he did?
How to IPO in an IPO Winter: Advice & Lessons
Why did Andrew decide to take Klaviyo public in a bad public market?
How was the IPO roadshow process? What were Andrew's lessons from it?
How has Andrew's role as CEO changed after taking Klaviyo public?
Does Andrew think Klaviyo is undervalued today?
What is Andrew's advice to founders on secondaries?
Behind the Shopify Partnership
How did Klaviyo's partnership with Shopify happen? What were Andrew's lessons working with Tobi Lütke & Harley Finklestein?
How does Andrew define a win-win partnership?
What does Andrew mean by "Partnerships are like a tug of war?"
What does Andrew think are the most common reasons partnerships go sideways?
EP 101: Andrew Bialecki (CEO, Klaviyo) on Building a $6B Software Company - Klaviyo’s Uncharted Path
Before Andrew Bialecki took Klaviyo public and scaled the company to $6B, he bootstrapped it to over $1M in ARR. In our discussion, Andrew reveals his philosophies around fundraising, finding the best talent, cultivating entrepreneurship inside Klaviyo, scaling culture, and more.
(00:00) Intro
(01:13) Klaviyo's Bootstrap Beginnings
(09:37) The Strategic Pivot to E-commerce and Retail
(15:02) Narrow Focus as a Catalyst for Growth
(25:48) Building a Culture of Learning and Growth
(34:02) The Entrepreneurial Path: From Engineer to Founder
(37:09) The Commute to Innovation: A Startup Journey
(37:57) From Performable to HubSpot: A Tale of Acquisition and Growth
(39:26) Building Klaviyo: Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Team Building
(40:40) Scaling a Startup: The Challenges of Leadership and Hiring
(47:04) Fostering a Culture of Experimentation and Entrepreneurship
(53:15) The Art of Hiring: Identifying Entrepreneurial Spirit
(58:39) Chronological Resumes and the Power of Storytelling in Interviews
(01:06:16) Embracing the Unsexy: The Philosophy of 'Eating Your Vegetables'
(01:13:33) Klaviyo University: Training Future Founders and Leaders
(01:15:25) Cultivating a Culture of Learning at Klaviyo
(01:16:17) The Genesis of Klaviyo University
(01:17:05) Core Curriculum and Electives: A Deep Dive
(01:20:46) Adapting Learning Programs in a Remote World
(01:21:56) The Art and Science of Effective Business Writing
(01:28:35) Recruitment and Onboarding: Strategies for Success
(01:38:05) Building and Sustaining Company Culture
(01:41:28) Leveraging Boston's Ecosystem for Growth
(01:47:06) The Future of Software: Productivity vs. Output
(01:52:33) Closing Thoughts and Acknowledgements
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
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SaaStr 461: SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin, and Klaviyo CEO, Andrew Bialecki, on the $9.5B Revolution in eCommerce: Part Two
In part two of this series, Klaviyo CEO Andrew Bialecki discusses the nitty-gritty details of the journey from the company's origins to its incredible $9.5 billion valuation.
Full video: https://youtu.be/zwzV0muXB64
SaaStr 460: SaaStr CEO and Founder, Jason Lemkin, and Klaviyo CEO, Andrew Bialecki, on the $9.5B Revolution in eCommerce: Part One
What does success look like for SaaS founders? Whatever the answer is, it rarely happens overnight. Meet Klaviyo –– a heavyweight industry player in the next generation of eCommerce and customer communication. In this podcast, Klaviyo CEO Andrew Bialecki discusses the nitty-gritty details of the journey from the company's origins to its incredible $9.5 billion valuation.
Full video + episode notes: https://www.saastr.com/klaviyo-ecommerce-ceo-andrew-bialecki/