Today on the show, we welcome Alexander Theuma, founder of SaaStock and general partner at BackFuture VC. In this episode, Alexander dives deep into the shifting SaaS landscape, exploring how AI is redefining capital efficiency, company structure, and startup strategy. We discuss how VC trends are evolving, the rise of M&A and SaaS consolidation, and how lean, AI-powered startups are replacing bloated headcounts. Alexander also shares the lessons he’s learned from running SaaStock for over a...
Jun 25, 2025•42 min•Ep. 294
Today on the show we have Ramli John, founder of Delight Path and author of Product-Led Onboarding and the upcoming book Eureka. In this episode, Ramli shares why activation and onboarding are some of the most overlooked yet impactful levers for reducing churn, and how early-stage friction, especially emotional and social, can silently kill growth. We dive deep into what he calls the “Hierarchy of B2B Friction,” how companies can identify moments of delight and confusion, and why taking a cross-...
Jun 19, 2025•39 min•Ep. 293
Today on the show we have Jamie Davidson, the CEO and Co-Founder, and Kelley Turner, the SVP of Global Customer Success at Vitally. In this episode, Jamie and Kelley share their experience in helping over 600 companies scale customer success operations through Vitally’s platform. We then discussed how AI is reshaping CS workflows—from reducing manual data entry to enriching conversations with actionable insights. And we wrapped up by discussing the evolving role of CSMs, the importance of human ...
Jun 11, 2025•46 min•Ep. 292
Today on the show we have Andrew Davies, the CMO of Paddle. In this episode, Andrew shares his experience tackling the "champagne problems" that SaaS companies face as they scale globally. We then discussed how Paddle repositioned itself through the merchant of record model and brought a legacy concept back into the spotlight. We wrapped up by discussing the company's strategic phases, the ProfitWell acquisition, and the challenges of narrowing ICP without losing growth momentum. Mentioned Resou...
May 28, 2025•44 min•Ep. 292
Today on the show we have Ryan Seams, the Head of Customer Success at AssemblyAI. In this episode, Ryan shares his experience transitioning from Deloitte to the fast-paced world of startups, where he spent nearly a decade at Mixpanel scaling customer success and navigating product analytics. We then discussed the evolution of pricing models — from events-based to monthly tracked users and back again — and how that shaped customer behavior, retention, and satisfaction. We wrapped up by discussing...
May 15, 2025•37 min•Ep. 290
Today on the show we have Ziv Peled, the Chief Customer Officer of AppsFlyer. In this episode, Ziv shares his experience using AI to radically improve customer success performance. We then discussed the shift from product expertise to growth partnership and wrapped up by exploring how AI is changing internal team dynamics and go-to-market strategies. Mentioned Resources AppsFlyer Matik.io Churn FM is sponsored by Vitally , the all-in-one Customer Success Platform....
May 02, 2025•43 min•Ep. 289
Today on the show we have Sivan More, the VP of Customer Success at HiBob, an HR tech company driving company culture and employee engagement. In this episode, Sivan shares her experience in the evolution of customer success and how it has transformed over the years. We then discussed the role of AI and personalization in enhancing customer journeys, and we wrapped up by diving into how to build scalable, skills-based customer success teams in the age of AI. Mentioned Resources HiBob Vitally.io ...
Apr 25, 2025•45 min•Ep. 288
Today on the show we have Miguel Fernandez Larrea, the CEO and Co-founder of Capchase. In this episode, Miguel shares his experience helping B2B vendors recover customer acquisition costs faster and increase deal sizes through flexible payment terms. We then discussed the enterprise sales motion behind Capchase Pay, how Miguel’s team drives adoption across sales, finance, and rev ops, and how their CS team is optimizing activation to reach the first five closed deals. Mentioned Resources Capchas...
Apr 16, 2025•33 min•Ep. 287
Today on the show, we have Fran Brzyski, CEO and co-founder of Hark, a platform that helps brands build loyalty and achieve efficient growth through customer-generated content. In this episode, Fran shares insights into transforming customer feedback by leveraging the power of video and audio. He discusses the importance of capturing customer intent, the challenges of shifting from traditional feedback methods, and how to drive engagement by making feedback actionable. We also dive into strategi...
Apr 03, 2025•40 min•Ep. 286
Today on the show, we have Chris Savage, CEO and co-founder of Wistia, a leading video marketing platform. In this episode, Chris shares insights from Wistia’s journey—from a video hosting platform to a comprehensive suite of video tools. He discusses the impact of COVID on video adoption, how Wistia navigated major strategic shifts, and why betting on yourself is often the best investment. We also dive into AI’s evolving role in video creation and editing, the importance of onboarding for reten...
Mar 27, 2025•47 min•Ep. 285
Today on the show, we have Lucas Lovell, VP of Product at Paddle, a comprehensive payments and billing platform that helps businesses streamline transactions, reduce churn, and scale globally. In this episode, Lucas shares his insights on the critical role payments play in churn reduction and strategies like smart payment retries, network tokenization, and local payment methods to maximize revenue. We also dive into retention tactics and Lucas’ perspective on the evolving payments landscape and ...
Mar 21, 2025•41 min•Ep. 284
Today on the show, we have Guillaume Cabane, Co-Founder and General Partner at Hypergrowth Partners. G has helped scale some of the fastest-growing B2B companies, including Ramp, Retool, Vercel, Reddit, and more. In this episode, we dive deep into how AI is fundamentally changing growth strategies, making outbound sales more efficient, and reshaping how companies think about customer acquisition. G shares why the economics of marketing are shifting rapidly, how AI-generated content and ads are u...
Mar 12, 2025•39 min•Ep. 283
Today on the show we have Advith Chelikani, the Co-founder and CTO of Pylon. In this episode, Advith shares his journey from engineer to co-founder and how Pylon is redefining B2B customer support. We then discussed the role of product velocity in driving retention, the challenges of scaling customer success at an early-stage startup, and why founders should stay close to customers for as long as possible. We wrapped up by exploring the balance between growth and efficiency, the impact of AI in ...
Feb 26, 2025•35 min•Ep. 282
Today on the show, we have Brian Balfour, the Founder and CEO of Reforge and former VP of Growth at HubSpot. In this episode, Brian shares his perspective on the foundational laws of retention that remain unchanged, even as AI continues to transform the way we build and grow products. We then discussed why many AI products are struggling with high churn, the role of natural usage frequency in product retention, and how businesses can avoid falling into the trap of ignoring core retention princip...
Feb 12, 2025•46 min•Ep. 281
Today on the show we have Emeric Ernoult, the Founder and CEO of Agorapulse. In this episode, Emeric shares his experience navigating Agorapulse’s bold pivot from serving SMBs to targeting mid-market and enterprise clients. We then discussed the challenges of combating endemic churn, why moving upmarket was critical for growth, and the lessons learned from multiple pivots along the way. We wrapped up by discussing the complexities of scaling a SaaS business while bootstrapped, including how to a...
Feb 05, 2025•50 min•Ep. 280
Today on the show we have Paul Yacoubian, founder and CEO of Copy.AI. In this episode, we explore how Copy.AI evolved from an AI copywriting tool into a full-scale enterprise workflow automation platform. Paul shares how LLMs (Large Language Models) are reshaping go-to-market strategies, the challenges enterprises face in AI adoption, and why data management is the biggest bottleneck for AI-driven automation. We also dive into Paul’s approach to angel investing, why he prioritizes founders over ...
Jan 29, 2025•56 min•Ep. 279
Today on the show we have Yuriy Timen, investor and advisor to companies like Airtable, Canva, and Oyster, and former Global Head of Growth & Marketing at Grammarly. Yuriy shares his journey from leading performance marketing to building a high-impact growth product team—and why aligning these functions is crucial for retention. We explore the challenges of balancing acquisition and retention, how to structure growth teams effectively, and why the first user session is the biggest lever for ...
Jan 22, 2025•44 min•Ep. 278
Today on the show we have Saravana Kumar, the CEO and Founder of Kovai.co. In this episode, Saravana shares his journey from launching a single-product business to building a multi-product SaaS company. He reflects on the challenges of scaling multiple products and offers candid insights into why he wouldn’t recommend his approach. Saravana also reveals the story behind Churn360, the customer success product he ultimately decided to shut down after significant investment, and what this taught hi...
Jan 09, 2025•38 min•Ep. 277
Today on the show, we have Kyle Poyar, Co-founder and Operating Partner at Tremont. In this episode, Kyle shares his journey from consulting at Simon-Kucher to becoming a leading voice in SaaS pricing. We dive deep into the challenges and opportunities of evolving pricing models, exploring the shift from traditional seat-based pricing to success-based frameworks. We also discuss how AI is reshaping the SaaS landscape, influencing not just products but also how companies think about customer valu...
Jan 01, 2025•50 min•Ep. 276
Today on the show we have Tim Schumacher, the Co-Founder of SaaS Group, a company specializing in acquiring and scaling SaaS businesses. In this episode, Tim shares his insights on how SaaS founders can prepare their businesses for acquisition, covering key metrics, processes, and strategies to stand out in the market. We then discussed the importance of revenue, profitability, and team structure in determining valuation and how SaaS Group evaluates potential acquisitions. We wrapped up by explo...
Dec 11, 2024•36 min•Ep. 275
Today on the show we have Elliott Poppel, the CEO and founder of General Collaboration. In this episode, Elliott shares his experience identifying activation milestones to separate casual visitors from engaged users and how these metrics drive early retention success. We then discussed the challenges of integrating multiple tools into a seamless user experience and the importance of positioning and marketing in product adoption. We wrapped up by exploring the lessons Elliott learned as a third-t...
Dec 04, 2024•36 min•Ep. 274
In this episode, Elias Torres shares his journey from building and selling Drift for $1.2 billion to launching Agency and how he’s leveraging AI to revolutionize customer success. We then dove into the challenges of scaling customer success teams, the role of AI in automating tasks, and the potential to create a unified "customer brain" for better insights and engagement. We wrapped up by discussing the future of customer success, the shift to outcome-based pricing models, and Elias' vision for ...
Nov 28, 2024•42 min•Ep. 273
Today on the show, we have Crystal Widjaja, Executive-in-Residence at Reforge and angel investor and advisor to several startups. In this episode, Crystal shares her expertise on activating growth through data-driven insights, focusing on the importance of well-structured retention funnels. She explains how to design impactful onboarding experiences, track the right metrics, and identify key points of abandonment to improve user activation and engagement. We then delve into the power of segmenta...
Nov 22, 2024•42 min•Ep. 272
Today on the show, we have Krishna Raj Raja, the CEO of SupportLogic. In this episode, Krishna shares his journey from engineering at VMware to founding SupportLogic, a platform that transforms support interactions into actionable customer insights. We discuss his approach to turning support into a growth engine by monitoring customer interactions for hidden signals that can prevent churn. Finally, Krishna reveals how leading companies are adopting a proactive support experience management strat...
Nov 13, 2024•43 min•Ep. 272
Today on the show, we have Ruslan Nazarenko, the Head of Growth at Scale AI. In this episode, Ruslan shares his approach to boosting retention in marketplace models through strategic engagement and quality management. He dives into Scale AI's unique model for retaining skilled gig workers, emphasizing how tailored experiences can overcome common marketplace retention challenges. We then explore the role of dormancy and reactivation in maintaining a resilient workforce, and how Scale AI balances ...
Nov 07, 2024•44 min•Ep. 270
Today on the show, we have Gaurav Vohra, Head of Product Growth at Superhuman. In this episode, Gaurav shares how Superhuman transitioned from a solo (single-player) tool to a powerful team-based (multiplayer) product, enabling them to break through their growth ceiling. We explore the deliberate strategies behind Superhuman’s shift to team use, including the challenges of adapting a high-quality, individual-focused product for broader team functionality. Gaurav discusses the key product changes...
Oct 30, 2024•51 min•Ep. 269
Today on the show we have Evgenia Mkrtychian, the Director of Customer Success and Corporate Communication Strategy at LoyaltyPlant, a full-scale customer engagement platform. In this episode, Evgenia shares her decade-long journey in B2B SaaS, emphasizing practical strategies for customer engagement and retention and discussing LoyaltyPlant's 30% revenue growth, process improvements, and the introduction of gamification elements. We then discussed the release of her new book, "Customer Success ...
Oct 25, 2024•39 min•Ep. 268
Today on the show, we have Adam Fishman, interim SVP of New Products at Mozilla and a growth advisor to various startups. In this episode, Adam dives into the concept of controllable vs. seemingly uncontrollable churn, sharing strategies he used at Patreon and Imperfect Foods to effectively manage churn. He explains how to identify what appears to be out of your control and the tactics that can tame it, turning seemingly uncontrollable churn into manageable factors. From improving customer onboa...
Oct 16, 2024•46 min•Ep. 267
Today on the show, we have Marija Skobe-Pilley, Co-Founder and Director of Fractional SaaS and host of the Women in Customer Success podcast. In this episode, Marija shares her incredible journey from a professional musician to a leader in customer success. We explore how she turned seemingly unrelated skills from her music career into strengths in customer success, applying talents like discipline, project management, and audience engagement to build strong client relationships and drive busine...
Oct 12, 2024•38 min•Ep. 266
Today on the show, we have Henrique Cruz, Head of Growth at Rows. In this episode, Henrique shares how Rows radically transformed its user acquisition and activation strategy by making the product the homepage. He breaks down the bold decision to remove traditional barriers like signups, creating an ungated, no-account-required experience that tripled user signups—from 8% to 27%. We then explore the impact this change had on their key metrics, the power of onboarding through real-time product us...
Oct 02, 2024•46 min•Ep. 265
