20VC: What VCs Really Mean They Say 'Stay In Touch', Why Incentivisation Through Perks Is Lazy & Why Founders Should Always Under-Promise & Over-Deliver with David Politis, Founder @ CEO @ Bettercloud
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2016
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
David Politis is the Founder & CEO @ Bettercloud, the first ever unified SaaS management platform. Bettercloud have raised over $40m in funding from some of today's best investors including past guests from Accel, Greycroft Partners and Flybridge Partners, just to name a few. Before founding BetterCloud, David was an early employee of Cloud Sherpas (acquired by Accenture [NYSE: ACN]) where David led Cloud Sherpas to become the leading Google Apps services provider and reseller to SMBs worldwide. Prior to Cloud Sherpas, David was the founding employee and General Manager of Vocalocity (acquired by Vonage [NYSE: VG]), which he grew into one of the top providers of cloud PBX technology.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Dave came to found Bettercloud? What was the a-ha moment for him?
2.) Why does David like to invest in everything but perks? What are the challenges of incentivising a team with Perks? What are the alternatives?
3.) What are the limits to transparency? Can there ever be too much transparency? How do you engender a culture of radical transparency within the workforce?
4.) How was the fundraising process for David? how did it alter and develop with every round? What did he do well and what would he improve upon?
5.) How can founders optimise the on boarding process for new hires? What is fundamental? What are the common mistakes and how can this be hacked for success?
Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:
David's Fave Blog: Recode
David's Fave Book: Banker To The Poor
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and David on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to Founders Friday on the 20-minute VC with your host, Harry Stebbings, at H. |
| 0:04.4 | Stebbings on Snapchat with 2Bs, and on the incredibly named new blog, mahitovc.com, I really would |
| 0:10.0 | love to hear your thoughts on that. However, to the show stay, and I'm thrilled to be joined by an |
| 0:13.8 | incredible founder in the form of David Politis. Now, David is the founder and CEO at BetterCloud, the first ever unified SaaS management platform. |
| 0:21.6 | Now, BetterCloud have raised over 40 million in funding from some of today's best investors, |
| 0:26.4 | including past guests from Excel, Greycroft partners and Flybridge partners, just to name a few. |
| 0:31.5 | And before founding BetterCloud, David was an early employee of Cloud Sherpers, which was acquired by Accenture, |
| 0:36.6 | where David led Cloud Sherpers to become the acquired by Accenture, where David led Cloud |
| 0:37.7 | Sherpers to become the leading Google app service provider and reseller to SMBs worldwide. |
| 0:42.7 | And prior to Cloud Sherpers, David was the founding employee and general manager of Vocalosity, |
| 0:47.4 | acquired by Vonage, which he grew into one of the top providers of Cloud BPX technology. |
| 0:52.2 | However, before we jump into the world of operations today with David, |
| 0:55.2 | what if accounting could be easy, efficient, dare I say, maybe even enjoyable? That's where |
| 0:59.4 | Zero can come in. Zero is beautiful, easy to use online accounting software for small businesses. |
| 1:04.7 | With Zero, you can easily manage your accounting anytime, anywhere from your computer or mobile |
| 1:09.4 | device. When you add zero to your small business, you're able to send online invoices and get paid |
| 1:14.1 | faster, get an instant view of your cash flow, track your payroll and keep tabs on your |
| 1:18.4 | inventory, partner with your accountant and bookkeeper in real time whenever you like. |
| 1:22.7 | You can also customize your zero experience with over 500 business apps, including |
| 1:27.1 | advanced solutions for point of sale, |
| 1:29.3 | time tracking, e-commerce, and more. It's no wonder over 860,000 customers in more than 180 |
| 1:35.3 | countries, use Zero. So sign up for a free trial at 0.com slash 20VC. That's zero.com slash 20VC. |
... |
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