The Orbit Shift Podcast
Practical insights from founders, investors, and experts to help scale your startup. Powered by Freshworks for Startups.
S03E01: Unpacking the four âTsâ of investing with Ankit Sarwahi, Managing Director of Middle East Venture Partners
TAM, technology, team, and timing. There are the four âTsâ that Ankit Sarwahi, Managing Director of Middle East Venture Partners looks for in a startup when investing in them.Â
In our latest episode, we catch up with Ankit the MD of MEVP, one of the biggest venture capital firms in the MENA region whose portfolio companies include Anghami, Rain, and Nana Direct. Ankit talks to us about his early journey, the differences he sees in the Indian and Middle Eastern startup ecosystems, his four Tâs of investing, how he communicates clearly with his founders, and his due dil...
S02E48: The eight phases of cold calling with Charlie Locke, Co-Founder of SDR Nation
In this episode we talk to Charlie Locke, sales leadership expert and Co-Founder of the SDR community, SDR Nation. We explore the key skills that SDRs need to succeed. When founders should hire SDRs, and how they can incentivize them to retain their top sales talent, and the ways in which the industry is changing. Charlie also breaks down the eight phases of cold calling and how SDR professionals can identify their weaknesses and put theory to practice to boost their conversions.Â
Listen in. Â
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S02E47: Founder Institute presents How to Build a Customer-Centric Startup with - Lucas Fox, Head of Relationship Management, Brex & Pradeep Rathinam, Chief Customer Officer, Freshworks
In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast hosted by Founder Insititute; Ryan Micheletti, Head of Global Operations at Founder Institute talks to Lucas Fox, Head of Relationship Management, Brex, and Pradeep Rathinam, Chief Customer Officer, Freshworks about how founders can build a customer-centric startup.
They talk about how to define a customer-centric startup, the best practices of customer-centric startups, and how founders can listen to their customers without moving away from the ethos of their startups or the products that they're building.
Listen in.Â
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S02E046: Alex Theuma of SaaStock on building Europeâs largest SaaS conference (2020)
"Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is king" is the mantra that Alex Theuma repeats to us when quizzed about some of the learnings he has had as the founder of SaaStock â one of the largest SaaS conferences in the world.Â
Join us as Alex talks to us about why building a community is important for startups. He also walks us through his career and how he grew a SaaS blog meet-up into the global conference SaaStock, some of the mistakes and learnings he made in his career, and how to build and scale a com...
S02E45: Building and scaling a RevOps engine for startups with Siva Rajamani, Founder and CEO, Everstage
Revenue operations or RevOps is a key growth engine that a startup needs to put into place to become a scale up. The RevOps engine helps companies streamline their sales processes and their commission and incentives payouts. In this episode, we talk to Siva Rajamani the Founder and CEO of Everstage. Siva tells us about when startups should look to build a RevOps function, the talent that founders should look to hire for their RevOps teams, the key goals and metrics RevOps teams should track, and how the RevOps teams are evolving.Â
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S02E44: Live episode - Getting acquired: All you need to know about startup exits with Andrew Gazdecki and Rowland Savage
A lot is talked about fundraising and billion-dollar exits. But those are rare. How should startups get more realistic about building companies and look for meaningful exits? Whatâs the right way to approach an M&A so it makes sense both for the buyer and the seller?
In this episode, we unpack startup exits for founders with Andrew Gazdecki, the founder of startup acquisition marketplace MicroAcquire and Rowland Savage, VP of Corporate Development at Freshworks and the author of How to Stick the Landing: The M&A Handbook for Startups.
Th...
S02E43: Carson Drake, VP of Sales and BD at Firstbase.io on building modern sales teams for product and app-based startups
With experience across multiple geographies including India and the US; and with experience across some of the biggest startups in the world including Uber and Airbnb, Carson Drake knows what it takes to build modern sales teams that grow revenue across different markets.Â
In this episode we talk to Carson about his journey, launching Uber Eats in India, building trust with partner vendors, and how he has acquired over 7000 customers with Firstbase.io, a startup that helps you set up your company in the US.
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S02E42: Rebekah Bastian, CEO & Co-Founder of OwnTrail on building diversity and inclusion in startups
Today companies not only want to focus on profitability but also create a positive social impact. With consumers identifying strongly with brands that are committed to the greater good, profitability and positive social impact have become intertwined.
In this episode, we speak to Rebekah Bastian, CEO, and Co-Founder of OwnTrail and an award-winning writer, who is a strong advocate of such an approach to company building. We talk about:
đRebekahâs journey from Product Manager to VP of Product at Zillow
đHer new venture OwnTrail and the problem theyâre looking to solve
đThe...
S02E41: How Iddo Gino, Founder of RapidAPI, built the worldâs largest API hub
When he was 18 years old, Iddo Gino founded RapidAPI, a platform that allowed users to find, connect and manage APIs. Today the platform is the largest API hub in the world, where almost 3 million developers can discover, test, and connect to thousands of APIs.Â
In this episode, we sit down with Iddo to talk about his journey into the world of programming, the importance of building a community, how he approaches VCs and manages relationships with them, and his thoughts on the developer economy and the growth of APIs. Â
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S02E40: The product marketing framework every startup needs: Kevin Murray, VP, Product Marketing at Freshworks
Pitch, plays, proof, and plans are the four Ps of product marketing that Kevin Murray, VP of Product Marketing at Freshworks uses to elevate a brandâs marketing.Â
In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast Kevin walks us through each of these four Ps and how companies can leverage them. He talks about how companies can perfect their pitch with the right messaging, how to set up plays with repeatable sales motions, how to build analyst relations and get proof in the marketplace and how to avoid random acts of marketing by having a comprehensive plan tha...
S02E39: Sara Varni, CMO of Twilio on the four horsemen that drive startup growth
Sara Varni has spent more than a decade scaling marketing organizations for various enterprise SaaS companies. Currently, as the chief marketing officer of cloud communications platform Twilio, she looks after all of marketing including growth, brand, and product marketing, public relations, developer relations, and events.Â
In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, she talks to us about the four horsemen of a marketing org - Inbound, outbound, sales reps, and partner organizations and how companies can leverage these pillars for hypergrowth. She also talks about building marketing channels and how to budget for them, how to g...
S02E38: How founders can set up and lead sales teams with Jen Abel, Co-Founder Jjellyfish
As Co-Founder and Partner at Jjellyfish, a sales consultancy with experience guiding 120+ early-stage startups, Jen Abel has seen how early-stage sales teams can fail.Â
In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast Jen talks about why the onus lies with founders to make the early sales and get direct feedback from their customers about their product. She talks about the difference between a buyer and a user, how founders can hit the $1 million revenue mark, how to set up a sales team post the $1 million mark, how sales teams should go about prospecting, and how founders can c...
S02E37: Peter Johnston, Founder of Polywork on building the world's most powerful people search engine
A founder is often someone who recognizes a gap in the market and looks to address this gap. Our latest guest is one such founder who has spotted a gap in professional social media networks and is looking to provide a solution to it.Â
As the founder of Polywork, Peter Johnston is looking to change the way professional social media networks operate. In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, he talks to us about the problem with professional social media channels, how the idea of Polywork came about from his Google 20% project. His future plans for m...
S02E36: Sales plays for high-growth teams with Joe Manuele, SVP Corporate and Business Development, Dialpad
If youâre a founder and are wondering how to really get sales right, or if youâre a sales leader and want to figure out how to hire people, help them level up and really propel your company into the next orbit, you must listen to Joe Manuele, the SVP of Corporate and Business Development at cloud communications company Dialpad.Â
For several years now, Joe has had a ringside view of the transformation in the selling process. In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we talk to him about his journey and the need to conti...
S02E35: The sales road map for early-stage startups with Ken Lundin, Founder of Ken Lundin & Associates
Launch, Lift, Locate, and Level Flight. These are the four stages that Ken Lundin, Founder of sales consultation group Ken Lundin & Associates, prescribes to early-stage startups to attain high growth.Â
On this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we caught up with the sales leader to talk about
đHow the selling process, sales teams, and sales talent need to pivot during the pandemic and beyondÂ
đBreaking down the sales alpha roadmap and the four stages of Launch, Lift, Locate, and Level Flight
đBuilding a sales team and the Key Performance Indicators to set for...
S02E34: Marketing trends, ABM, and product-led growth for startups with Heather Zynczak, Board Member of DemandBase
Marketing has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. Today data empowers marketers to understand where their dollars are going and what their return on investment is. Heather Zynczak, a board member at DemandBase and ex-CMO of Pluralsight, has had a firsthand view of this change in the field.
In this episode, she talks to us about the changes in marketing trends and how startups need to react to them. Why she thinks the way Account-Based Management is defined is problematic and how companies can get ABM right. Heather also talks about how she led product-led growth at...
S02E33: Dave Kellogg on the two essential SaaS metrics for a SaaS startup
Dave Kellogg, known as the âYoda of SaaS metrics,â is our latest guest on The Orbit Shift Podcast. We talk to the SaaS veteran about
đThe two essential SaaS metrics - ARR and ARR growth
đThe importance of picking a big enough TAM
đImportance of measuring NDRÂ
đCAC vs NDR, when to use what
đThe limitations of an NPS
đWhy startups shouldnât become metric slaves
This episode was recorded live at SaasBoomiâs annual event.
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S02E32: Marketing and metrics that matter with Melissa Sargeant, CMO of Litmus
With Melissa Sargeant, the chief marketing officer of email marketing company Litmus, we explore the role of a chief marketing officer, how theyâre hired, why they last the least in the c-suite, and e-mail marketing, one of the most powerful channels for marketers.Â
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About the Gues...
S02E31: Decoding Value SaaS with Prasanna, Partner at Upekkha
When you sell subscriptions to a SaaS product that needs to be renewed frequently, it is necessary to prove the value of your product to customers every day. This not only prevents them from churning but also eventually makes them evangelists for your product. This is the essence of value SaaS.Â
In our latest episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we talk to Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, the Managing Partner at SaaS accelerator Upekkha about value SaaS.Â
We discuss how founders, can cut through the noise and build a sustainable SaaS company including how to find early ado...
S02E30 The founders guide to navigating a boardroom with Cindy Padnos, Illuminate Ventures
Founders are often in the trenches when it comes to fund-raising, making new hires, and driving their companyâs growth. What often goes under the radar however is how founders can navigate their way through a board room. In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we talk to Cindy Padnos, a VC with 25 years of experience in the tech industry who sits on the board of six companies. We talk about
đWhat is the profile of an ideal chairperson
đWhen should founders get an independent board member
đHow to deal with conflicts in the boar...
S02E29: How to nail your product positioning with April Dunford, Author of Obviously Awesome
In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we look at how to position a product or brand in a market. Weâre joined by April Dunford, a leader in the field of positioning. April has positioned and launched 16 products across her 25 years in marketing. Â
April talks to us about how what we think as positioning is actually what we do after we have identified positioning, how to identify bad positioning, the power of setting context, and how to layer trends on your positioning to supercharge your marketing RoI.Â
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S02E28: Scaling your startupâs people function for high-growth with Andrew Bartlow, Author and Founder, Series B Consulting
With 25 years of Human Resources and Talent Management experience, Andrew Bartlow is a veteran people officer. In his latest avatar as an author, he attempts to distill his 25 years of experience into his latest book âScaling for Success: People Priorities for High-Growth Organizationsâ.Â
We caught up with the founder to talk aboutÂ
đBlitz-scaling and its drawbacks
đThe two types of founders; the mule-drivers and the prophets
đHiring new leaders and how to attract talent to an organization
đHow to structure an employee equity ownership plan
đThe need to re-think...
S02E27: IPO Special: Decoding the Indian IPO boom
More than half a dozen Indian tech companies, including Zomato, Paytm, Flipkart, InMobi, Nykaa, and PolicyBazaar, have said they are likely to go public this year. This is obviously a big milestone for India's tech ecosystem, which has seen very few public offerings in the past. What has changed, and why are Indian companies talking about going for an IPO now?Â
In this special, we pick up a hot topic from the world of startups and help you parse it with the help of top experts. In today's episode, we take a look at India's IPO boom with G...
S02E26: Stacey Epstein, CMO of Freshworks on building an outbound engine for a product-led-growth startup
Several top companies today are product-led companies. This includes the likes of Atlassian, Slack, Zoom, and Freshworks. What does it really mean to be a product-led company? Does product-led growth work for all startups? How do you design your outbound sales motion if you started with a product-led, inbound growth strategy? In today's episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, Stacey Epstein, the Chief Marketing Officer of Freshworks Inc. answers all these questions and more. Stacey joined Freshworks in March to lead the company's marketing organization. She oversees growth marketing, product marketing, branding, corporate marketing, communications, and analyst/ public relations...
S02E25: Starting up and fundraising in MENA with Hasan Haider, Co-Founder and Managing Partner +VC
On this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we zoom in on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Partner of (Plus)+VC. MENA is a region with one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems in the world today, and with blockbuster deals like Careemâs exit to Uber, the region is poised for a take-off. We speak to Hasan on the evolution of the startup ecosystem in the region, the sectors lacking in the region today, what he looks for in founders as a VC, and what his funding process looks like. Â
S02E24: Inside Duolingoâs growth engine with Gina Gotthilf
With over 500 million registered learners, 40 million active users, and $190 million in revenues (2020), Duolingo is one of the most successful consumer apps out there.Â
The app, which helps millions of users learn new languages, did all this in just under 10 years. From being one of the first apps to use gamification, and entering popular culture through its quirky notification copy, Duolingo is an app that has carved a unique voice for itself.Â
Gina Gotthilf, who led international growth as well as marketing at the startup has an insider's view on how they pulled it off. In th...
S02E23: Product Management at PhonePe: Understanding a product engine that serves 300 mn+ users
In November 2020, PhonePe had about 250 million registered users. In the next six months, the company added 50 million more, taking the total count to 300 million users. With over 125 million monthly active users and transactions worth over $390 billion (May 2021) happening over its platforms, PhonePe is the largest payments company in India. The company has set an ambitious target of getting to 500 million Indians by 2023, which is nearly half the countryâs population.Â
With such a large user base, every new product and feature needs to be well thought through. How does PhonePe approach product management and prioritize building the rig...
S02E22: Building and scaling your leadership team with Matt Blumberg, Author of Startup CXO
Matt Blumberg is the author of Startup CXO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company's Critical Functions and Teams. Matt led his first startup, Return Path, an email marketing company, to $100 mn in revenue and a successful exit in 2019. He is now building Bolster, an on-demand executive talent marketplace for startups. On the latest episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we caught up with the New York Based entrepreneur to discuss his latest book, Startup CXO.Â
We talked about:
đMattâs journey and what heâs looking to solve with Bolster
đConsiderations when exitin...
S02E21: How Saravana Kumar built a $10 mn SaaS startup from Coimbatore with $0 funding
As the Founder & CEO of Kovai.co Saravana Kumar has bucked every trend that a start-up playbook advises you to do. He is a solo entrepreneur, his company is based out of Coimbatore, a town in Southern India, and his product is sold exclusively to enterprise customers.Â
Yet, he has scaled his organization to $10 million in revenue with a total of 0 dollars in funding. In the latest episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we caught up with the entrepreneur to learn more about his journey and about how he sells to enterprise customers, builds trust among prospects, m...
S02E20: How to embrace the chaos of the internet to build your MVP with David Weinberger, HBR Author
Every once in a while, itâs important for us to zoom out a little to see the big picture. So we took a little break from the practical aspects of company building on this episode to talk about the future.Â
How is the future changing with AI and the internet? What does this mean for entrepreneurs looking to create lasting companies?Â
These are the questions that we look to answer on the latest episode of the podcast with David Weinberger, renowned Harvard Business School researcher, technologist, philosopher, and the author of Everyday Chaos: Technology, Comp...
S02E19: Startup hiring with Cristina Fonseca, Co-Founder & CEO at Cleverly.ai
Our latest guest is the co-founder of Talkdesk, one of Portugalâs first unicorns. She is also a venture capitalist at Indico Capital Partners and was recognized in the Forbes â30 under 30â in 2016. Meet Cristina Fonseca, the Portuguese entrepreneur who is now looking to re-imagine customer experience in her latest startup Cleverly.ai.
In the latest episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we talk to Cristina about her journey building her previous startup, Talkdesk. What she looks for in a startup as a venture capitalist with Indico Capital Partners and about all things hiring, including how she sets up pro...
S02E18: Koray Bahar, CEO of Figopara on scaling culture, fundraising and exiting a startup
Koray Bahar is one of the most prolific entrepreneurs to come out of the MENA region. A computer engineer by profession, Koray joined Foriba in 2001. He helped the company establish itself as a leading player in e-invoicing, scaling it from $2 million to $14 million in revenue, entering eight new countries, and a successful acquisition by global tax software provider Sovos.Â
In the latest episode of the podcast, Koray talks to us about:Â
đHis entrepreneurial journey
đHow to have a successful exit from a startupÂ
đHis latest venture, fintech company FigoparaÂ
đHow to scale cul...
S02E17: Essential content strategy for startups with Steph Smith, head of Trends at the Hustle
How do you create engaging content and gives your startup a great return on investment in an increasingly competitive marketplace?Â
Today generating content that is engaging and has high visibility is an integral part of a brand's inbound marketing strategy. In this episode, Steph Smith, the head of Trends at The Hustle, a newsletter with over a million readers, breaks down essential content strategy for startups. She talks about how brands should set up their content strategy, how to differentiate in the market, find a niche, set up their SEO process, master distribution, set goals, and measure s...
S02E16: Future-proofing your business with the Three-Box Solution, Manish Tangri, Author HBR Press
The Three-Box solution posits that every project that your organization executes can be put into one of three boxes. Box one manages the present and focuses on the customers that you serve today. Box two selectively forgets the past and contains projects that do not fit into the companyâs vision for the future. And Box three is about creating the future by taking into considerations innovations and technological disruptions. In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, Manish Tangri unpacks the Three-Box Solution. He discusses how leaders can apply this solution to their startups and established businesses so th...
S02E15: Max Rofagha, Founder of Finimize, on the three steps to leverage the power of community
Max Rofagha is building the largest and most engaged finance community at Finimize, a UK-based startup media platform that envisions a world where you donât need a financial advisor. Max talks to us about leveraging the power of community by driving up Net Promotor Scores (NPS), increasing retention, and enabling user-generated content. He also explains his philosophy of âhire slow, fire fastâ and talks about how he organically created the worldâs largest financial gathering through the Finimize newsletter.  Â
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S02E14: Kamal Hassan on how Loyal VC built a diverse and inclusive startup portfolio
Weâve had several venture capital investors on this podcast. But Loyal VC certainly stands out.Â
The Toronto-based firm operates a global startup index fund with over 130 investments across more than 30 countries. It is designed to minimize systemic bias in the investment process, unlocking greater returns.Â
Its diverse portfolio of founders, of whom currently over 30% are women CEOs and almost 30% are from emerging markets, includes 80% social impact entrepreneurs who leverage technology to address one or more of the United Nations sustainable development goals.Â
In this episode, Kamal Hassan, the founding partner at Loyal VC ta...
S02E13: Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner at Antler on the founder's journey, product market fit and fundraising
Rajiv Srivatsa co-founded Urban Ladder, a top online furniture brand in 2012. With over 5000 designs across 35 categories such as living, dining, bedroom, study, and decor, Urban Ladder was established as an online-first brand. The company went on to become one of the most loved brands in India and was sold to Reliance in November 2020.Â
Srivatsa now leads global venture capital firm Antler in India. The firm has plans to invest in over 150 early-stage startups over four years. In this episode, Rajiv talks to us about product-market fit, early-stage fundraising, the professional growth of a founder, and more.Â
You...
S02E12: Bootstrapping your startup from a lean MVP all the way to an exit with Andrew Gazdecki, Founder of MicroAcquire
Andrew Gazdeckiâs entrepreneurial journey started right out of college when the serial bootstrapper founded Bizness Apps a low code DIY mobile app builder that enabled small businesses to create, edit and manage mobile apps online. Over eight years he led the startup from 0 to $10 million+ ARR right up to a successful acquisition. In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast Andrew talks to us about his latest venture MicroAcquire, a startup up acquisition marketplace. Andrew talks about how minimum your MVP needs to be, the advantages of bootstrapping, how he builds in public, and tips based on his ex...
S02E11: Startup hiring, scaling your people function and management lessons from Covid with Suman Gopalan, CHRO at Freshworks
How do you scale your startup from three to thirty to three hundred people without losing sight of your companyâs culture, values, and mission? When do you bring in specialists, put in processes at your startup?
In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast HR leader and CHRO of Freshworks Suman Gopalan talks about how a company can scale its people function, how to set up an HR function from scratch and scale it as your company scales, how to avoid conflicts between new recruits and the old guard, and how to retain your company's culture an...
S02E10: Johanna Flower, Former CMO of Crowdstrike on building a marketing org that can take your startup to an IPO
Wen Johanna Flower joined Crowdstrike in late 2014, cybersecurity was a growing field with a large number of vendors supplying solutions to enterprises. Worldwide spending on information security was expected to grow 4.7% to $75 billion in 2015, according to Gartner.Â
Dozens of companies with competing products were in the market. Through her six-year career at the company, Johanna successfully led Crowdstrikeâs marketing organization to differentiate the product, launch outside the United States and cross over $700 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) all the way to a successful Initial Public Offering in 2019.Â
In this episode, the marketing leader takes us through her...
