The SaaS Revolution Show is a weekly podcast that brings insights and tactics from leading SaaS entrepreneurs and operators across the world. Hosted by Alex Theuma, the show is brought to you by SaaStock. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast.
In September 2016, Adrien Menard, CEO of Paris-born Botify packed his bags and moved together with his wife and two kids to New York to open Botify’s US office.
He had chosen New York mainly due to the slightly shorter time difference with Paris in comparison to the much more unsurmountable 9 hours with the West coast. Adrien was leaving 24 employees behind and venturing into the new world all by himself. These 3 hours would make a huge difference.
The move had been a far more complicated ordeal that he had suspected. Visas took more time, the advice his lawyer gave him was wrong multiple times, and Adrien would have to reinvent overnight how Botify communicated and made decisions.
Despite all that, there was not a grain of doubt that he was doing the right thing. He had a $7 million Series A funding round and a 10% US-based customer base to give him confidence as the going got tough. As the primary users of Botify’s full-service SEO platform were enterprise companies, Adrien moved only when he had the confirmation Americans had enough interests and trust in the French company. He had gotten that when a potential customer invited him for a meeting in Seattle with a day’s notice. At the time Adrien was living in Paris, so he just about made the meeting jumping on the first flight out to Seattle.
Shortly after he moved Adrien hired two account executives and everything got more comfortable.
Fast forward almost two years later after Adrien moved to New York, US customers now represent 60% of the revenue, and the Botify employee count has risen to 100 with 25 of them based in the New York office. How did all that work out?
Listen on to hear:
- What’s the one thing you need to have achieved to secure a funding round for scaling
- What are the two most important teams in a US HQ
- What has been the most challenging thing in scaling to the US and how did Adrien address it
- Why as beloved as Slack is for remote teams, it’s not the best solution according to Adrien and what he uses instead
- How Botify stays cash efficient
Adrien is one of many speakers we will have at SaaStock18 in Dublin, coming from all corners of the world and sharing a variety of lessons and experiences. 3000 attendees will come to see and learn from Corey Thomas, April Dunford, Christoph Janz and many more speakers we have. Grab your ticket now.