This video for this talk from Business of Software Conference USA 2019 will be published here soon: http://businessofsoftware.org/videos

1. D H A R M E S H S H A H
CO-FOUNDER & CTO
Facing Fears to
Build a Better
Software Business
Version 01.04.01

2. Hi, I’m
@dharmesh
This is #bos2019

3. Marketing, sales and CRM software.
I’m co-founder/CTO

4. My History With Business of Software

5. My History With Business of Software
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 3…

6. SoftwareBusiness

7. PUBLIC
SPEAKING
Personal stories
can you make
you seem
almost
human.
Yes, you can say
words out loud!
INTROVERTS
FOR

9. DREADx
FEARS WORTH SHARING

10. DREADx
FEARS WORTH SHARING
x = independently made-up non-event.

12. Professional FearsPersonal Fears

13. Professional FearsPersonal Fears
(B2B)(B2C)

14. My Biggest Fears

15. My Biggest Fears

16. My Biggest Fears

17. My Biggest Fears

28. People Who Did Not Invent
The Venn Diagram

29. John Venn (1834 - 1923)
People Who Did Not Invent
The Venn Diagram

30. GarfunkelSimon
Simon
&
Garfunkel

31. Loves
Carrots
Loyal
Friend

32. Sven Diagram
Loves
Carrots
Loyal
Friend

33. Overcoming obstacles
often involves the
intersection of different
but complementary things.

35. The Five Fears

36. 1
Fear Of
Commmitment

37. A hesitation to
commit often stems
from wanting to
hedge your bets.
Fear of Commitment1

38. When you commit
to nothing, you
compromise on
everything.

39. Opportunity
T.A.M.
(Total Addressable Market)

40. T.A.M.
Opportunity
I.A.M.
(Total Addressable Market)

41. T.A.M.
Opportunity
I.A.M.
(Immediately Accessible Market)
(Total Addressable Market)

42. Fear of Commitment1

43. We should stop
debating this
and just decide.
Fear of Commitment1

44. Small Enough
to Delight
Big Enough
to Grow
Defining Your Market
Fear of Commitment1

45. When you narrow your focus instead of
broadening your market,
it’s easier to grow.
Fear of Commitment1

46. Need to e x p a n d your market?

47. Existing Product
Existing Customer
Existing Product
New Customer
New Product
Existing Customer
New Product
+ New Customer
Customer
Product

48. Existing Product
Existing Customer
Existing Product
New Customer
New Product
Existing Customer
New Product
+ New Customer
Customer
Product

49. Existing Product
Existing Customer
Existing Product
New Customer
New Product
Existing Customer
New Product
+ New Customer
Customer
Product

50. It’s usually easier to build a new product
than it is to build a new customer base.
Pro tip: New products can often
reuse parts of old product.

51. The long-term success of a software company
is correlated to the level of leverage.
Commit to your code.
Don’t compromise.

52. What We Should FearWhat We Fear
Unwavering
Commitment
Uninspired
Compromises

54. Fear Of
Differences
2

56. Fear of Differences2

57. Dharmesh Shah (Me 1.0)
Fear of Differences2

58. David Shah (Me 2.0)
Fear of Differences2

59. @dharmesh (Me 3.0)
Fear of Differences2

61. I met this guy
named Brian.
He was very clueful.

62. There was just
one problem
with Brian.

63. I MBAs.
MBA
Fear of Differences2

64. My Friends
MBANot MBA
Fear of Differences2

65. I’m an MBA
student too.
Fear of Differences2

66. VP Marketing
VP Sales
VP Customer Support
VP Engineering
Founder/CEO
Founder/CTO
MBA
MBA
MBA
MBA
MBA
MBA
Fear of Differences2
Early HubSpot Team

67. Not all geeks are technology geeks.
There’s such a thing as business geeks.
As important as tech geeks

68. VP Marketing
VP Sales
VP Customer Support
VP Engineering
Founder/CEO
Founder/CTO
Fear of Differences2
Early HubSpot Team
MBA
MBA
MBA
MBA
MBA
MBA

69. The best time to
build with diversity:
time t=0

70. The next best time:
t=(n w)
The best time to
build with diversity:
time t=0

71. Being
different is
not just OK,
Fear of Differences2

72. The “Are You an Introvert” Test™
Fear of Differences2

73. Think of a sentence
that uses the word “network.”
The Quick
“Are You an Introvert” Test™
Fear of Differences2

74. EXTROVERT
net·work
verb
“I went to that party so
I could network.”

75. EXTROVERT
net·work
verb
“I went to that party so
I could network.”
INTROVERT
net·work
noun
“I didn’t go to the party because
the network was down.”

76. “This person is a
culture fit.”
“This person is a
clone of me.”
a fine line
Fear of Differences2

77. How do I know if I’m correctly
hiring for culture or convenience?

78. Communicate
Your Culture
CultureCode.com
Clearly articulate
what you value,
who you value, and
how you operate.
Fear of Differences2

79. What We Should FearWhat We Fear What We Should FearWhat We Fear
Dealing with
Differences
Surrendering to
Sameness

80. Fear Of
Change
3

81. Deliver shareholder value.
Purpose of a Corporation:

83. Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation:
Investing in
our employees
Delivering value
to our customers
Generating long-
term value for
shareholders
We share a fundamental commitment to all
of our stakeholders. We commit to:
Fear of Change3

84. Companies should focus on
two delightful experiences:
1
An experience
for customers
An experience
for employees
2
Fear of Change3

85. Your people are
customers too.
The product they
adopt is your culture.
Fear of Change3

86. The goal is not to make
your product awesome,
but to make your
customer awesome.
Kathy Sierra

87. There’s an imbalance
between the demand…
…and supply of
exceptional talent.

88. What’s the flagship feature
people want from your company?
What will help you win?

89. You need a machine
learning powered
approach to recruiting
on the blockchain.

90. You need a machine
learning powered
approach to recruiting
on the blockchain.
(just kidding)

91. Future of Work = (flexibility)
geographic flexibility (where)
schedule flexibility (when)
method flexibility (how)

92. where, when, and
how they want.
customers
want to connect
Fear of Change3

93. Fear of Change3
employees
want to work
where, when, and
how they want.

94. where, when, and
how they want.
customers
want to connect
+
employees
want to work
Fear of Change3

95. The best way to win the
battle for talent is to go
big on a distributed team.
Fear of Change3

96. Remote
Employees
Most searched term
on HubSpot jobs site
Biggest office is
the living room
Remote Work at HubSpot
Fear of Change3

97. Growth of Remote
Employees Over Time
Fear of Change3

98. remote people
=
people
Fear of Change3

99. Times I’m
truly happy
Times when I’m
wearing pajamas
Fear of Change3

100. Pajama Principle
Pajama Time
Success
Success is proportional to
the degree to which you
let people stay in their
pajamas.
Fear of Change3

101. What We Should FearWhat We Fear
Change Stagnation

103. Fear Of
Disappointing
4

104. Peanut
Butter
Chocolate
Fear of Disappointing4

105. Peanut
Butter
Chocolate
Fear of Disappointing4

106. The OG PBC
Fear of Disappointing4

107. We want
more cups!

108. Actually, we
want one
ginormous cup.

109. Actually, we like
M&M’s. Can you
make them like
M&M’s?

110. Wait, we’ve got
it! Put the tiny
Reese’s inside
a bigger one!

112. h/t Brenden Mulligan

113. "Stop!
This is crazy!”
Steve Jobs
Apple iCEO, 1997

114. LaptopDesktop
Consumer Pro
Fear of Disappointing4

115. –Your Customers
We love having the freedom
of choice, but we hate the
complexity of choosing.
Fear of Disappointing4

116. How do you fight complexity
and get comfortable
disappointing some?

117. MISSION: Helping millions of organizations grow better
SERVING
CUSTOMERS SERVICE PARTNERS APP PARTNERS EMPLOYEES COMPANY
PLAYS TARGETS
Customer First approach to delight customers and spin HubSpot’s flywheel
Fight friction to improve the customer experience
Open Platform to move from all-in-one suite to all-on-one platform
Inclusive Content to attract, retain, and empower passionate employees of all
genders and ethnicities
OMISSIONS
HubSpot MSPOT

118. What We Should FearWhat We Fear
Disappointing
a Few
Not Delighting
the Many

120. Fear Of
The Truth
5

121. Fear of Truth5

124. IN THE AGE OF
ANXIETY
CUSTOMERS
CRAVE TRUST

125. Doesn’t Do
Things We
Don’t Want
Does Things
We Want
Trust
Fear of Truth5

126. We will deliver the experience,
the whole experience, and
nothing but the experience.
The Oath Of Experience:
Fear of Truth5

127. Growth
Value
Usability
Performance
Reliability
Infrastructure
Security
GOALSGUARDRAILS
Earning Trust With The Mainsail (& Code Red)

128. What We Should FearWhat We Fear
Being
Truthful
Being
Untrustworthy

130. Fear of Inferiority5

131. 0.0
Fear of Inferiority5

132. Thank You.
,
@dharmesh

133. You’ve got questions,
I’ve got opinions.
(some of them are even well informed)
?