SaaStr 788: Going Multi-Product in the Age of AI with Webflow, Rubrik, Zoom, and ProductBoard
SaaStr 788: Going Multi-Product in the Age of AI with Webflow, Rubrik, Zoom, and ProductBoard
At SaaStr Annual's AI Summit, we asked product leaders from some of the fastest-growing SaaS companies to share their insights on navigating the AI revolution while scaling multi-product strategies. This panel of product leaders featured Anneka Gupta, CPO at Rubrik, Mahesh Ram, Head of AI Product at Zoom, Hubert Palan, CEO at Productboard, and Rachel Wolan, CPO at Webflow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#103 Founder & CEO Productboard, Hubert Palan w/ Ilya Fushman: Chasing Perfection
Productboard founder and CEO Hubert Palan has made a point of studying the communication style of other leaders, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Elon Musk. But as the boss of a hot and growing tech startup, he’s realizing just how exceptional those people are. “You’re interviewing some of the top execs from companies are the Silicon Valley darling brands,” he says. “You leave the interview like, ‘This person has no idea what they’re doing. They just happen to be in the right spot at the right time.’” But that’s the necessary price, he explains, of doing something innovative instead of iterating on old ideas.
In this episode, Hubert and Joubin are joined by Kleiner Perkins partner and Productboard investor Ilya Fushman to discuss Christmas carp, entrepreneurial soft skills, extreme frugality, VCs-as-bosses, the unique reason Hubert went vegetarian, studying famous speeches, being self-critical, the truth about “killing it” in tech, mis-hiring, selling outside your target customer segment, and why Hubert schedules everything.
In this episode, we cover:
How Hubert and Ilya conducted due diligence on each other (08:49)
How Productboard drives revenue generation for modern companies (14:12)
The wild fluctuations of the “founder mood meter” (20:00)
The value of knowing how hard being a founder will be (28:25)
Tough quarters and being transparent with your board (34:35)
Holding oneself accountable vs. “showing what’s possible” (38:30)
The risk of losing the mission as companies scale (43:15)
Going upmarket is like running a new business (51:08)
Hubert’s economic survey of Productboard’s board (57:39)
Making time for your personal life (59:29)
Links:
Connect with HubertTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with IlyaTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
20VC: Why "Founder Insight" is Overrated, Why Big and Bold Product Visions Can Be Dangerous & Why Getting To Product Market Fit by Accident Can Lead to Danger with Hubert Palan, Founder & CEO @ ProductBoard
Hubert Palan is the Founder & CEO @ ProductBoard, helping product managers understand what customers need, prioritize what to build next, and rally everyone around the roadmap. To date, Hubert has raised over $64m for ProductBoard from the likes of Sequoia, Index, Kleiner Perkins, Bessemer and Credo Ventures to name a few. Prior to founding the company, Hubert was VP Product Management @ GoodData where he played an instrumental role in their scaling from 6 to 300 people.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Hubert made his way from Eastern Europe to SF, made his way into the world of product management and came to found ProductBoard?
2.) Why does Hubert believe that "founder insight" is overrated? What strategies and tactics does Hubert give to founders to be more mentally plastic and flexible? How does one know when to persist when things are not working vs when to give up? What is the decision-making framework?
3.) Why does Hubert believe that "big and bold product vision can be dangerous"? How does Hubert think about when is the right time to release a second product? What are the core elements to tackle when thinking about a second product? Where do many make mistakes here?
4.) Why does Hubert believe that, "if you get to product market fit by accident, you could be in trouble?" What does Hubert advise in terms of studying if and how you got to product market fit? How can one use post-mortem analyses here effectively?
5.) Why does Hubert believe that transparency is so necessary today with the team? Should founders be transparent when it comes to M&A, fundraising etc? Where are the limits? What makes it so hard to instil effectively? What do many founders misunderstand?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode
Hubert's Favourite Book: Elad Gil's High Growth Handbook
As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.