SaaStr Podcast #208: SendGrid Board Member Anne Raimondi on Why We Have To See Innovation In SaaS Pricing
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Welcome to Episode 208! Anne Raimondi has more than 20 years experience driving growth at startups and building them into nationally recognized brands. She has served as a leader and executive for technology innovators including Zendesk, Survey Monkey, Blue Nile, and eBay. Anne is also a Lecturer in Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching two popular courses, “Startup Garage” and “POWer: Building the Entrepreneurial Mindset.” She currently serves on the board of directors for SendGrid (NYSE: SEND) and MyHealthTeams. If that was not enough, Anne is also an active angel investor with an incredible portfolio including the likes of Canva, ipsy, and Minted just to name a few.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
- How Anne made her way into the world of startups with Zendesk? How did seeing the hyperscaling of Zendesk impact Anne’s operational approach and mindset?
Does Anne agree that certain individuals destined for certain stages of company development? What are the leading indicators that one can or cannot scale? What are the inflection points in company growth where process tend to break? What can managers do to provide security in these times of change?
Why does Anne believe that everyone should be a product person in SaaS? What are the inherent benefits of this product-centricity? How does the element of product-centricity change when catering to 2 customers, CIO and consumer? How does Anne advise on this issue of agency?
How does Anne approach optimizing internal decision-making processes? Where do many leadership teams make mistakes here? What is the right way for leadership teams to communicate their decisions to the wider team? How does Anne approach ensuring cross-functional communication at scale?
How has Anne seen her style of board membership change over the last 8 years? What has been an inflection point that has changed the way she thinks about what it takes to be a great board member? Who has been the best board member Anne has worked with? What made them so special?
Anne’s 60 Second SaaStr:
- What does Anne know now that she wishes she had known at the beginning?
The right way for founders to view competition?
What would Anne most like to change in the world of SaaS today?
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Jason Lemkin
Harry Stebbings
SaaStr
Anne Raimondi
Transcript
Harry S: We are back for another very special episode of the official SaaStr Podcast with me, Harry Stebbings. If you’ve ever thought, “Oh, I wonder who is coming on the show over the next few episodes?” Well, head over to hstebbings1996 with two b’s on Instagram, and there we will be posting the schedules for the upcoming episodes. It will be great to see you there.
Harry S: However, to our episode today, and I’m so thrilled to welcome Anne Raimondi to the hot seat today. Now, Anne has more than 20 years experience driving growth at startups and building them into nationally recognized brands. She’s served as a leader and exec for technology innovators including Zendesk, Survey Monkey, Blue Nile, and eBay. Anne is also a lecturer in management at Stanford Graduate School of Business teaching two really popular courses: Startup Garage and POWer: Building the Entrepreneurial Mindset and she currently serves on board of directors for SendGrid and MyHealthTeams.
Harry S: And if that wasn’t enough, Anne’s also an active angel investor with an incredible portfolio, including the likes of previous guests in Melanie at Canva, ipsy, and Minted, just to name a few. I do also want to say a huge thank you to Karen Peacock for the intro to Anne today. I really do so appreciate that, Karen.
Harry S: However, it’s now time for the show, and I’m so happy to welcome Anne Raimondi.
Harry S: Anne, it is absolutely fantastic to have you on the show. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a very long time, having heard so many great things both from Karen Peacock at Intercom.Thank you so much for joining me today, Anne.
Anne R: Thank you for having me. It was very kind.
Harry S: Not at all, but I would love to kick off today, Anne, with a little on you. Tell me, how did you make your way into what I always call the wonderful world of SaaS–I know I need to get out more–and come to be one of the leading execs and investors that you are today?
Anne R: Well, I didn’t start out in SaaS. My background had been in product management and product marketing, actually, in consumer companies. So Blue Nile, eBay during a growth period, Zazzle, but I came to SaaS really through products that I loved.
Anne R: First company that was B2B that I joined was Survey Monkey. I’d been a customer a number of times over the years, and I understood the approach. It was really focused on the end user, what are her needs, how do you make her life better, and building a product around that. It just happens that the people paying the bills are companies versus the end consumer. So that was my entry, really, into SaaS.
Harry S: I absolutely love it. I do have to ask though Anne,given that introduction and your early days spent at eBay and Zazzle, as you mentioned, two of the most prominent consumer companies of the day, we constantly hear about the consumerization of enterprise. I actually chatted with your fellow board member at SendGrid, Byron Deeter before the show, but he and I are super interested, how do you think that a start in consumer affected your enterprise mindset today?
Anne R: I think the way it affected my mindset going into enterprise was to always keep that end customer experience in mind. I really believe if you build a great product for that end customer and really focus on how we are making her life better, you’ll build a great business around that. And I’ve had the privilege of working with great founders with that mindset and I think what happens is when there are hard decisions to make–trade-offs on prioritization, where to invest resources–if you have that guiding principle of doing right by the end customer, it does help you make those tough trade-offs and really build enduring brands and companies.
Harry S: Yes for sure it does and that kind of customer-centricity often leads to growth and I want to discuss the growth element. I’m really align
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