Disrupting Travel with Spotnana: Sarosh Waghmar on Building the AWS for the Travel Industry

In this episode, we hosted Sarosh Waghmar, Founder and Chief Product Officer at Spotnana.

Sarosh shares his journey of over two decades in the travel tech industry and discusses Spotnana's mission to transform travel by creating an 'AWS for the travel industry.'

The conversation delves into the challenges and innovations of building a platform that emphasizes trust, transparency, and a seamless user experience.

We also discussed the impact of AI and the future of travel tech.

Key insights include the importance of building a platform that allows others to innovate, the role of cloud-native architectures, and the significance of standing on the shoulders of giants to drive industry-wide change.

Connect with Sarosh on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/swaghmar/

00:00 Introduction
00:40 Sarosh Waghmar's Background and Travel Industry Insights
01:33 Challenges and Innovations in Travel Tech
03:04 Spotnana's Vision and Platform Approach
04:00 Building During COVID and Overcoming Obstacles
07:31 Creating a New Category: Travel as a Service
20:18 Future of Travel Tech and AI Integration
29:51 Lightning Round: Personal Insights

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode of the SaaS Sessions podcast, we hosted Bill Macaitis who is currently the founder & CEO of SaaS CMO Pro.

SaaS CMO Pro helps you learn B2B SaaS and AI marketing with fun and easy-to-understand videos.

Previously, Bill was the CMO at Slack and Zendesk. Before that, he held the title of SVP of Marketing at Salesforce.

Bill shares his rich career journey from media companies to leading roles in SaaS giants like Salesforce, Zendesk, and Slack.

The discussion covers essential strategies for building a marketing career, navigating career pivots, and capitalizing on emerging opportunities like AI.

Bill emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, staying employable, and managing stakeholder relationships.

This episode concludes with practical advice for aspiring marketing leaders, including managing work-life balance, leveraging career opportunities, and understanding AI in modern marketing.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmacaitis/
Subscribe to SaaS CMO Pro Newsletter - https://www.saascmopro.com/
Subscribe to SaaS CMO Pro YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@SaaSCMOPro/

00:00 Introduction

00:46 Bill Macaitis' Career Journey

05:28 Transitioning to B2B SaaS

11:12 The Importance of Career Pivots

13:59 From Individual Contributor to Director

21:09 Building Relationships with Stakeholders

21:52 The Visibility of Marketing

22:18 Climbing the Marketing Ladder

23:58 The Importance of Continuous Learning

29:00 Navigating Career Choices in B2B Marketing

34:14 Lightning Round: Quick Tips and Recommendations

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode of SaaS Sessions, we sit down with Dan Herd, VP of Customer Success at Outreach, one of the most popular sales engagement platforms.

We dive deep into how Outreach leverages a "Desired Business Outcomes" (DBO) framework to align customer success strategies with the business goals of their clients.

Dan also offers invaluable insights into driving adoption, improving customer retention, and maintaining a seamless handoff between sales and customer success teams.

Whether you're a SaaS leader, founder, or working in customer success, this episode provides practical strategies and best practices to help your customers succeed and ensure long-term growth for your company.

All this and more with Dan in this episode.

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-herd1/

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, Thejo Cote, founder and CEO of Airbase, shares his entrepreneurial journey, which spans over 15 years.

From his early days in India to moving to the US in 2009, Thejo discusses how he founded Airbase, a procure-to-pay solution that simplifies corporate purchasing.

He highlights the challenges and successes of growing a business in a new country, the importance of building networks, and how to adapt a product for different markets.

Thejo also provides insights into finding product-market fit, the nuances of selling in the US versus India, and early-stage customer acquisition and validation strategies.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:44 Thejo's Background and Early Career
02:42 Journey to the US and Founding Airbase
04:04 Target Market and Initial Challenges
07:35 Building a Network and Getting Early Customers
18:16 Product Customization and Market Adaptation
23:00 Metrics, Milestones, and Scaling
29:18 Lightning Round: Personal Insights
36:39 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Connect with Thejo on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejo/

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode of the SaaS Sessions podcast, we hosted Andy Ramirez, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Docker to explore the complexities of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) within a Product-Led Growth (PLG) context.

Andy shares his journey from a 'recovering engineer' to a seasoned marketing leader at top companies like AWS, Amazon Prime, Smartsheet, and New Relic.

We discussed the synergies between PLG and ABM, strategies for using first-party and third-party data to target accounts efficiently, and practical advice on tailoring messaging for different buyer personas and stages of the customer journey.

Andy also emphasizes measuring success without overcomplicating analytics and leveraging qualitative feedback from sales teams to refine marketing campaigns.

This episode offers valuable insights for companies looking to integrate ABM within their PLG models.

Connect with Andy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyramirez/

00:00 Intro
00:30 Andy's Career Journey and Passion for Technology
02:42 Docker and Kubernetes: A Historical Insight
04:56 Navigating Enterprise ABM with PLG
11:00 Leveraging Data for ABM Success
17:07 Tailoring Content for ABM Campaigns
29:57 Metrics and Feedback Loops in ABM
36:10 Lightning Round: Personal Insights
39:15 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

All this and more in this episode with Andy.

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode of the SaaS Sessions Podcast, we hosted Joe Aurelia, Senior Vice President of Operations at Cyware, who shares his extensive journey in scaling businesses globally.

Joe discusses his transition from heavy applications to SaaS, his role in growing Cyware from two to seven countries, and the challenges and strategies in managing remote teams.

He emphasizes the importance of process standardization, continuous learning, and risk mitigation in business operations.

Joe also sheds light on the balance between speed and perfection, and the importance of allowing team autonomy for growth.

He concludes with insights on leveraging external resources, documenting processes, and maintaining a proactive approach to risk management.

All this and more in this episode with Joe Aurelia.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephauriliajr/

00:00 Welcome to the SaaS Sessions Podcast
00:49 Joe Aurelia's Journey into SaaS
03:05 Scaling Cyware: From 2 to 7 Countries
05:55 Navigating Remote Work
13:55 Standardizing Processes Across Regions
17:30 Process Standardization and Scalability
17:53 Documenting and Sharing Processes
20:12 Balancing Speed and Perfection
25:05 Mitigating Risks in Business
30:19 Lightning Round: Quick Insights
35:16 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, Anupam Rastogi, General Partner at Emergent Ventures, shares his extensive experience investing in SaaS companies.

Anupam discusses his journey from an engineer to a venture capitalist and provides insights into the challenges and mistakes SaaS founders often face when entering the US market.

Key topics include the importance of spending time in the US, the balance between science and art in building SaaS products, pricing strategies, and why Indian SaaS companies need to find a distinct product-market fit for the US.

Anupam also emphasizes the need for founders to integrate into local ecosystems and learn from various communities to ensure success.

00:00 Introduction
01:07 Anupam's Journey in the SaaS World
02:11 Building Emergent Ventures
03:30 Common Mistakes in Setting Up GTM for the US Market
04:56 When to Move to the US as a Founder
16:51 Navigating the US-India Founder Community
21:44 Pricing Strategies for the US Market
28:39 Determining Product-Market Fit in the US
34:16 Lightning Round and Conclusion

All this and more in this episode with Anupam.

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Krati Seth, Head of Global Sales Enablement at Whatfix to discuss how companies can build a sales enablement function to support sales teams and drive business impact.

With over a decade of experience across different roles, Krati is Currently the head of global sales enablement at Whatfix.

Before Whatfix, she spent 8 long years at Zycus - starting as a Business Development Associate and leaving as a Senior Sales Enablement Manager.

Krati shares that there are 3 types of companies in India - those who are aware and convinced about enablement, those who are aware but are not convinced, and those who are unaware of enablement.

She shares her insights on helping build enablement functions at Zycus and Whatfix, plus all the other companies she has consulted.

She also talks about the problems that enablement will solve and the impact it drives.

All this and more with Krati in this episode.

Connect with Krati on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kratiseth/

Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/
Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/