![]() Almost like clockwork, he’d ping me each quarter and my response was always the same: We’re not fundraising we’re focused on execution. As he mentioned above, we met two years ago during our Series B fundraise and while he didn’t invest then, he stayed in nearly constant contact. If I had two words to describe Rajeev, they’d be enthusiastic and persistent. To that end, Todd’s unique combination of being incredibly down-to-earth yet fiercely competitive with an unrelenting desire to win deeply resonated with me and my partners and will make for a great partnership! Why Partner with Sapphire Ventures? Investment decisions are often influenced by the relationship, the human connection between entrepreneur and investor given we’re in this together for the long haul. Ultimately, however, venture capital investing isn’t as formulaic as I or others may make it sound. The intangibles are what create something special and Pendo’s got it! ![]() Bottom line - Pendo’s team, led by Todd and his co-founders Erik Troan, Rahul Jain, and Eric Boduch, is one of the strongest I’ve seen. More impressive than Todd’s ability to execute, is his ability to lead, proven by the management team he’s been able to attract, many of whom were hired only in the last two years - Bill Binch (CRO), Jennifer Kaelin (CFO), Jake Sorofman (CMO) and many others. That said, execution without leadership can only get you so far. Fast forward 2+ years and, admittedly much to my pleasant surprise, Todd had nailed the plan he had laid out for me way back then. That said, given any company at this stage, execution risk was still meaningful. I first met Todd in mid-2016 and despite Pendo being early for our stage focus back then, I came away incredibly excited about what he was building and his product-driven approach to the business. The next product and experience cloud platform is in the making!Īs we at Sapphire seek to partner with “companies of consequence,” the team ends up being one of, if not the, most critical driver. They smartly combine visibility via analytics with action via communication - a combination that dozens of customers were thrilled by. Pendo is the enabler behind this broader trend as they allow folks in product, UI/UX, customer support and success organizations to understand user behavior within their digital services and iterate on product features and flows, but also inform smart in-app communication as a result of the deep analytics they are collecting. Rather, the ability for end-users, folks like me and you, to achieve rapid time-to-value and experience ongoing satisfaction with the product is paramount. As I spend a good portion of my time searching for the next big SaaS business, I’ve come to the realization that the largest and most sustainable differentiator from one application to the next isn’t necessarily based on technical complexity. But first, let me tell you my partners and I decided to Spendo on Pendo! Why Partner with Pendo?Īt its core, Pendo provides a product cloud platform that improves users’ experience with digital services. I’m happy to welcome Todd Olson, CEO of Pendo, to the Sapphire family and to share his views here on why he decided to partner with Sapphire. I’m thrilled to announce that Sapphire Ventures is leading the Series D financing for Pendo, an incredibly exciting SaaS business re-defining the product and user experience software category. See /privacy for more information.By Rajeev Dham, Partner, Sapphire Ventures and Todd Olson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pendo ![]() Before Pendo, Olson served as VP of products at Rally Software Development which he led through its public offering.įor more episodes of the Just Get Started Podcast or learn more about the host, Brian Ondrako, check out or find Brian on Instagram the Just Get Started Podcast on Instagram Facebook Todd Olson is co-founder and CEO of Pendo, a product experience platform that helps product managers deliver successful products. We cover those topics and more on this episode of the Podcast! I was interested to understand how he came to be a Co-Founder of Pendo, how they've scaled, and what lessons he learned early in life that has propelled him to this success. Todd and I have some mutual connections but we've never had the opportunity officially meet before. Todd lives right in my backyard in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and I have been an admirer of Pendo for many years. One of the people on the "short list" I wanted to speak with was the Co-Founder and CEO of Pendo, Todd Olson, and was thrilled when he accepted my invitation.
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