On March 9th, an event called 'Evolving Enterprise' featured leading SaaS founders discussing key aspects of successful sales and company culture. Notable insights included the importance of direct involvement in sales, recognizing market opportunities beyond initial perceptions, and fostering a culture of change and mission-driven engagement among employees. The discussions highlighted that scaling enterprise tech requires experienced hires and a strong focus on aligning investors with the company's vision.

2. On Thursday, March 9th, we hosted
Evolving Enterprise, an afternoon event
with top founders and leaders in SaaS.
Here are some of the more memorable
quotes from our speakers.

3. The timing was right for
Slack. Messaging had
become a core part of our
personal lives, and we’re in an
era where transparency has
become key in corporate
culture.
- APRIL UNDERWOOD | SLACK

4. One great piece of advice I
was given early on which I
share with founders: take a
direct role in sales. You’ve
got to be close to the
customer, no matter what
your background as a
founder.
- JYOTI BANSAL | APPDYNAMICS

5. Your market opportunity is
often bigger than people see
initially. At Square, early on,
people thought we were
replacing payment terminals.
They didn’t see we were
creating a whole new
category for credit.
- SARAH FRIAR | SQUARE

6. One of the biggest
challenges I see in scaling
enterprise sales is making
the hard decisions on
people. You’ve got to have
that as part of your culture
along with everything else.
- SUSAN ST. LEDGER | SPLUNK

7. It was a good thing that I
wasn’t a technologist,
because if I was I would
never have built half the
things I have. I’d have
thought them impossible.
- JOSH JAMES | DOMO

8. Inside of every great
consumer technology
company is an awesome
B2B tech team. You have to
have those insights and skill
sets to scale in any
environment.
- APRIL UNDERWOOD | SLACK

9. You have to build in a
culture of change, so people
see it’s part of the growth of
the company and not
random. We constantly
strived to change and get
better at AppDynamics.
- JYOTI BANSAL | APPDYNAMICS

10. Your employees have to feel
like they are part of a
movement. If it’s just about
a P&L and capitalism, they’ll
leave when things get
tough. They have to believe
in the broader mission.
- SARAH FRIAR | SQUARE

11. - SUSAN ST. LEDGER | SPLUNK
At some point when you’re
scaling an enterprise tech
company, you’ve got to hire
people who have done it before.
There’s a science to scaling,
and you can’t have everyone
doing it for the first time.

12. With DOMO, I learned to
focus my energy on the best
investors who really loved
my vision and the market I
was going after, and stopped
spending time with those
who didn’t.
- JOSH JAMES | DOMO