SaaStr 222: Flexport CRO Ben Braverman on Why It Is Total Horseshit That The Best Sellers Don't Make Good Managers, Why Specialisation Does Not Lead To The Best Customer Experience & Scaling Revenue From $18k MRR in 2014 to a $472m Year In 2018

Ben Braverman is the CRO @ Flexport, one of the world’s fastest growing startups combining technology, infrastructure and expertise, to build the operating system for global trade. To date they have $1.35Bn in funding from some of the biggest and best in the business including Softbank’s Vision Fund, Founders Fund, DST, Susa Ventures and Y Combinator, just to name a few. As for Ben, he spearheads global sales and go to market teams. Prior to Flexport, Ben helped drive two high-growth companies to successful acquisitions: URX (acquired by Pinterest) and Heyzap (acquired by Fyber).

In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

• How Ben made his way into the world of startups and came to be CRO of one of the world’s fastest growing startups in the form of Flexport?
• Why does Ben fundamentally disagree with the specialisation of roles within SaaS companies? What does he believes this does to the customer journey and relationship? How should one thing about role segmentation and allocation of accounts with this in mind? Where does Ben see many people going wrong here?
• Why does Ben believe it is “total horseshit to say the best sellers don’t make the best managers”? What must founders try and figure out before hiring their sales leader? What are the leading indicators that suggest a sales rep has the ability to be a sales manager? How does Ben determine between a stretch VP and a stretch too far?   
• What does Ben mean when he says, “there are 3 distinct buckets of sales management”? What are they and what is their relationship between one another? Why does Ben believe one does not need sales management in the early days? What is the best way to train reps and determine payback period fast? Why does Ben believe sales ops is the most underappreciated role in the valley?

60 Second SaaStr:

1. What does Ben know now that he wishes she had known at the beginning?
2. What is the optimal relationship between CRO and CEO?
3. What does Ben believe in SaaS that most around his disbelieve?

Read the full transcript on our blog.

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Jason Lemkin

Harry Stebbings

SaaStr

Ben Braverman