B2B SaaS Podcast Upendra Varma

Robin Singhvi, Founder of SmartCue, talks how about how they acquired over 30 paying customers ( of 5-6 figure ACV deals ) primarily with founder-led sales. We deep dive into his entrepreneurial journey and learn how his monthly newsletter and enterprise sales expertise are propelling SmartCue's growth! 🚀
Here’s what we will discuss,
🚀 Building Credibility: Robin leveraged a decade in enterprise sales, positioning himself as a thought leader to establish trust early on, setting SmartQ apart in a competitive landscape.🌟 Navigating Enterprise Sales: With a background in million-dollar deals, Robin's diligence, proactivity, and methodical engagement laid the groundwork for successful sales in the enterprise market.💼 Founder-led Power: Emphasizing a personal touch, Robin's active involvement in the sales process boosted SmartQ's credibility, building confidence and trust.📅 Monthly Newsletter Magic: Initiating a monthly newsletter since SmartQ's launch in October 2021, it evolved into a valuable tool for lead generation, sharing experiences, and fostering relationships.
📊 Key Metrics Discussed:
📈 Current Customers: 30+ organizations.💰 Revenue Target: Aiming for $1M+ by March 2024.🚀 Growth Goal: On track to reach 100 organizations on SmartCue.🛠️ Sales Approach: Founder-led with plans to build a robust sales engine.💸 Funding: Raised capital from an accelerator program and angel investors.👥 Team Size: Core team of 3, augmented with interns and contractors.⏳ Product Age: SmartCue launched officially in May 2023.
You can also watch this on youtube here,
https://youtu.be/43rQNJnh16c

Sunny Saurabh, CEO of interviewer.ai, unveils the compelling journey of how his company is modernizing the recruitment landscape. By automating the initial round of interviews and offering stack ranking of candidates, Interviewer.ai offers businesses and universities a revolutionary way to streamline the hiring process.
Here’s what listeners will explore:
🤖 The Digital Recruiter: Sunny discusses the genesis of Interviewer.ai, the inspiration behind the platform, and its evolution as a "smart video recruiter."💼 Shaping Tomorrow's Workforce: How top universities in Singapore are leveraging Interviewer.ai to train their students for job interviews, especially those not fluent in English.📈 Rapid Growth: The impressive uptake from 700+ customers within a few months on the AppSumo marketplace and the expansion into serving global giants.🎯 The Right Fit: Understanding the primary use case for Interviewer.ai in high volume recruitment and why it might not be the perfect fit for high-level executive recruitment.📡 Inbound Success: Sunny dives into the successful channels that drive their customer acquisition, emphasizing the power of content marketing and organic search.💰 Monetizing AI: Learn about the company’s revenue models, average deal size, and how they adapted to the seasonality of recruitment.🚀 The Road Ahead: Sunny talks about the vision for Interviewer.ai, including the planned expansion to Europe, the U.S., and the imminent funding rounds.🔧 Integration Magic: A sneak peek into the future collaborations, including a game-changing integration with Microsoft Teams.🌍 Scaling Globally: Discover the challenges and aspirations of serving a global clientele, especially with a significant customer base in the U.S.
Join us as Sunny delves deep into the transformation of recruitment, highlighting the incredible benefits of asynchronous AI interviews in today's remote-working era.

Adam Stone, CEO of StartAdam, sheds light on how his unique communication consolidation tool skyrocketed in user acquisition using the power of SEO. By connecting platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, and Telegram, StartAdam simplifies B2B communication in an ingenious way.
Here’s what you'll discover:
🤖 Behind the Brand: Dive deep into how StartAdam evolved from its early beginnings as Speedlancer.🎯 Pinpointing Pain Points: Understanding the challenge of scattered B2B communication tools and offering a seamless solution.🔍 The SEO Play: How Adam leveraged his SEO knowledge and the powerful keyword formula "Connect X to Y" to dominate user acquisition.📌 Unique Positioning: Discover why Adam doesn’t see other platforms as competitors and how StartAdam offers an experience unlike any other.💼 Enterprise Insights: The dual strategy for both inbound and outbound leads, and how they seal the deal with big companies in record time.🔒 Security and Integration: Why simple solutions like Zapier can't rival what StartAdam offers and how they ensure seamless cross-platform communication.💡 The Future Vision: Adam's upcoming strategies and the next steps in the StartAdam journey, from hiring to integrations.
Join us as Adam takes us on a journey from a unique product conception to rapid growth, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs and capitalizing on SEO’s might in the SaaS world.
You can watch this episode on youtube here,
https://youtu.be/gs8P1amE3xI

Tom Burton, Co-founder of LeadSmart Technologies talks about how he's reinventing CRM for the wholesale distribution space, where Excel sheets rule and cutting-edge tech is sparse.
What to expect:
🚀 LeadSmart's Birth Story: How an industry vet and tech guru created a game-changing CRM.🎯 Cracking a Unique Market: It's more than just software. It's about introducing businesses to the digital age.📈 Growth Unleashed: Over 60 enterprise customers and counting! Dive into LeadSmart's skyrocketing journey and their almost 100% YoY growth secret sauce.💡 The Adoption Playbook: It's not just about selling but ensuring businesses thrive with the software.🎙️ Marketing Wins: From webinars to their own podcast, "Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution", discover LeadSmart’s unique approach to trust-building.💰 Bootstrap to Big Time: Their mostly self-funded adventure is turning heads and attracting investors.🥊 In the CRM Arena: Why the big CRM players might not always be the best for niche markets.
Join us for a deep dive into the world of niche tech solutions, as Tom Burton paints a vivid picture of LeadSmart’s journey, challenges, and their vision for the future.
You can watch this episode on youtube below,
https://youtu.be/hOz7Wgaa_y8

Brendan Weitz, Co-founder of Journey, joins host Upendra Varma to deep dive into how his company is revolutionizing the B2B sales and marketing realm with an innovative storytelling format. Brendan walks us through how Journey emerged from a prototype to a game-changing tool, aiming to make B2B transactions as seamless as B2C purchases on platforms like Amazon.
Key insights from this episode:
The inception of Journey and its mission to create a captivating buying experience for sales and marketing teams.How Journey transcends the conventional 16x9 presentation format to offer a more interactive, mobile-first experience in an asynchronous remote world.Brendan's take on targeting sales and marketing sectors, yet being open to a wide range of storytelling use cases.A snapshot of Journey's current customer base (around 200 customers) and its freemium model attracting tens of thousands of users monthly.The product's self-sufficient viral loop driving 50% of their signups, and their aspirational aim to match viral growth akin to tools like Loom or Calendly.A nostalgic journey into Brendan's past roles at major companies like Facebook, AdRoll, and Quora, and how these experiences shaped Journey's growth.The vision of Journey and its future go-to-market strategy.Team dynamics, funding details, and Brendan's ambitious outlook for the platform.
You can also watch this episode on youtube here.

Jane Portman, CEO & Co-Founder of Userlist, discusses how they repositioned themselves from a customer messaging platform to a more established email service provider (ESP) category tailored specifically for SaaS businesses. In this interview, she shares insights on how they acquired their first set of customers, how they use content marketing to drive leads, and how their repositioning has helped them, among other topics.
The interview covers the following topics:
How Userlist helps B2B SaaS companies with email automationHow they acquired logos like SavvyCal and Transistor fm as customersHow they used personal branding to acquire their first few customers and why it doesn't scaleHow most of their top-of-funnel leads come from inbound leads via content marketingWhat their sales cycle looks like and why customers switch from their competitorsThe backstory of their repositioningTeam, funding, and vision.