
SaaStr 351: How to Adjust your Sails to Navigate Today’s Choppy Waters with Chris O'Neill, Partner at Portag3 Ventures
07/09/20 • 23 min
Chris O'Neill (Google, Evernote) shares his lessons from previous downturns and how to chart a new course for growth in today's changing market.
This episode is an excerpt from Chris’s session at SaaStr Summit: The New New in Venture.
Full video: https://youtu.be/ZYdcMpAFQas
Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-chris-oneill-and-jason-lemkin/
Chris O'Neill (Google, Evernote) shares his lessons from previous downturns and how to chart a new course for growth in today's changing market.
This episode is an excerpt from Chris’s session at SaaStr Summit: The New New in Venture.
Full video: https://youtu.be/ZYdcMpAFQas
Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-chris-oneill-and-jason-lemkin/
Previous Episode

SaaStr 350: Scaling SaaS To Well Over $1M ARR with No Funding, How Being A Sommelier Helped Neha Break The Glass Ceiling of Business & How to Successfully Scale Remote Teams Efficiently
Neha Sampat is the Founder and CEO @ Contentstack, a modern content management system bringing business and tech teams together to deliver personalised, omnichannel experiences. Atypical in our world, but Neha scaled the business to well over $1M in ARR before raising funding. Now Neha has raised over $31M from the likes of Insight Partners and Illuminate. Prior to Contentstack, Neha was the Founder and CEO @ Built.io and before that spent 10 years as the Founder and CEO @ Raw Engineering, building a leading digital transformation consultancy.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
- How did Neha make her way into the world of SaaS and content management systems having previously built a digital transformation agency?
- How the heck did Neha scaled Contentstack to over $1M in ARR without raising capital, whilst being based in the Bay? What were the signals that made Neha realise she had a scalable software business? What did Neha look for in her first seed round investors? How did that profile change when she went out to raise the Series A?
- How has being a sommelier helped Neha break the glass ceiling of business? What are some lessons Neha has learned in terms of build true and genuine relationships with customers beyond the transaction? What are the counter-intuitive strategies Neha has found works when it comes to motivating remote teams?
- Why did Neha decide to build out so much of the tech team well outside of the Bay in a town outside of Mumbai? Does Neha believe the future of tech is in the valley or decentralised?
Neha’s 60 Second SaaStr:
- Neha’s biggest strength and biggest weakness as a leader?
- What does Neha believe that many around her do not?
- The biggest obstacle to the success Neha has achieved?
Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcast-350-with-contentstack-founder-ceo-neha-sampat/
If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:
Next Episode

SaaStr 352: SaaS Decacorns and The Covid Beneficiaries with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin
Decacorns ($10B+ valuation) are everywhere in SaaS, despite the downturn. SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin discusses what the new landscape of SaaS means for you in 2020.
Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-chris-oneill-and-jason-lemkin/
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