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In Episode #627, Nathan interviews Mark Mader. He\u2019s the CEO of Smartsheet. He\u2019s passionate about delivering superior, customer experiences. Mark strives to find innovative ways for customers to collaborate more intelligently using the Smartsheet platform and its partner ecosystem. Prior to Smartsheet, Mark served as SVP of Global Services for Onyx Software, leading the consulting and consumer operation team in America, Europe and Asia. In 2015, he was recognized as Ernst & Young\u2019s Entrepreneur of Technology for the Pacific NorthWest.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \u2013 Play Bigger
• What CEO do you follow? \u2013\xa0 Stat Mandella
• Favorite online tool? \u2014 Tripit
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\u2014 No
• If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 \u201cYou tell me what the major trends are in the next 3 decades, in tech, and I would make you a lot of money\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:40 \u2013 Nathan introduces Mark to the show
• 02:21 \u2013 Smartsheet is a software SaaS company
• 02:27 \u2013 The people who subscribe to Smartsheet are teams and enterprise teams
• 02:47 \u2013 Smartsheet is similar to Trello\u2019s space but in the enterprise class
• • 02:57 \u2013 Smartsheet has everything from time tracking to other things that are more diverse in nature
• 03:23 \u2013 Smartsheet serves 65K distinct brands on a paid basis
• 03:30 \u2013 Each brand pays an average of $1K annually
• • 03:36 \u2013 The range is\xa0 $200 to $1.6M annually
• 04:08 \u2013 Average MRR is $5.4M
• 04:20 \u2013 Smartsheet has been growing really well for the past 4 years
• • 04:43 \u2013 \u201cAs you grow bigger, the gross rate is more challenging\u201d
• 04:47 \u2013 Smartsheet isn\u2019t only focused on getting new customers, but on helping their customers grow as well
• 05:23 \u2013 2016 revenue
• 05:37 \u2013 2017 target ARR
• 06:10 \u2013 First year revenue was zero
• 06:37 \u2013 Smartsheet\u2019s promise didn\u2019t change, but how they brought the product to the market changed dramatically
• • 06:55 \u2013 60% of Smartsheet\u2019s revenue came from customers who learned about Smartsheet organically
• 07:18 \u2013 Smartsheet\u2019s first million ARR was in 2010
• 08:02 \u2013 Smartsheet has raised a total of $70M
• 08:16 \u2013 Mark feels that they have a really good platform
• 08:21 \u2013 Team size
• 08:55 \u2013 Have the balance sheet in your model if you want to invest more this year
• 09:06 \u2013 Smartsheet is still trying to focus on efficiency in their growth model
• 09:34 \u2013 Smartsheet\u2019s current status is that they have the decision to slow their growth or drive profit overnight
• 09:57 \u2013 \u201cControl your own destiny\u201d
• 10:06 \u2013 Smartsheet is currently not cash flow positive, but still a healthy business
• 10:20 \u2013 Smartsheet is based in Seattle, Washington and will have an office in Boston
• 10:48 \u2013 Smartsheet has a diverse funnel
• • 11:02 \u2013 Smartsheet spends millions of dollars in paid advertising a year
• 11:34 \u2013 One of Smartsheet\u2019s keys to growth is to go where the action is
• • 11:39 \u2013 \u201cDominate in the world of collaborative, work management and partner effectively with the tools people use and love\u201d
  • 11:50 \u2013 \u201cPartner with the places where heat exists\u201d
  • 12:08 \u2013 It\u2019s about having an ecosystem mindset
• 12:30 \u2013 Gross customer churn
• 13:17 \u2013 Smartsheet has a broad population service
• 13:31 \u2013 \u201cThe key to sustain long-term growth is not just keeping up, but expanding\u201d
• 13:59 \u2013 Smartsheet can still grow by 30% in 2017, without new customers
• 14:17 \u2013 Smartsheet charges the people who create new work in their application
• 15:00 \u2013 Smartsheet\u2019s safe LTV
• • 15:25 \u2013 Smartsheet looks at their specific sources and campaigns
• 16:06 \u2013 Smartsheet\u2019s cohort analysis
• 17:22 \u2013 Smartsheet\u2019s last round of raising was in 2014
• 19:16 \u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

• Focus not only on acquiring new customers, but helping your current customers to grow their company.
• The key to sustaining long-term growth is not just keeping up, but expanding.
• Dominate in the world of collaborative, work management and partner effectively with the tools people use and love.

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Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox\xa0 \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Organifi \u2013 The juice was Nathan\u2019s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
• Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator\xa0\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible\xa0\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
• Freshbooks \u2013 Nathan doesn\u2019t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives