Humans of SaaS
134 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago -This weekly podcast shines a light on the human side of the tech industry, with an emphasis on mental health, perseverance, creativity, successes, and failures. It goes beyond the flashy funding and acquisition announcements and explores the entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders behind the scenes who make it all happen—what they’ve experienced, what they’ve overcome, and most importantly, what they’ve learned.
Humans of SaaS in its first season was called NPS I Love You and quickly became the largest and highest-rated Customer Success podcast in the industry.
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Episodes
E36- The Role Of Role-playing (With Porter Williams, Director of Customer Success at BetterUp)
June 08, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBPorter Williams is the Director of Customer Success at BetterUp, and in this episode, Porter and I discuss how to make your QBRs better than every other vendor, what Porter learned in his previous life as a performer that helps him in the tech world, and why role-playing might just be the one skill missing from your CS arsenal.
E35- Are You Content With Your Content? (With Mark Kilens, VP of Content & Community at Drift)
June 01, 2021 14:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBMark Kilens is the VP of Content & Community at Drift, and in this episode, Mark and I discuss the content and community equation, why he hires for character and trains for skill and his personal operating system.
E35- Are You Content With Your Content? (With Mark Kilens, VP of Content & Community at Drift)
June 01, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBMark Kilens is the VP of Content & Community at Drift, and in this episode, Mark and I discuss the content and community equation, why he hires for character and trains for skill and his personal operating system.
E34- Being Asked To Dance (With Sunil Joseph, Vice President of Customer Success at Stack Overflow)
May 25, 2021 14:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBSunil Joseph is the Vice President of Customer Success at Stack Overflow, and in this episode, Sunil and I discuss the impact of hiring a diverse team, why Stack Overflow holds ROI workshops with every customer, and what it really means to be product-led.
E34- Being Asked To Dance (With Sunil Joseph, Vice President of Customer Success at Stack Overflow)
May 25, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBSunil Joseph is the Vice President of Customer Success at Stack Overflow, and in this episode, Sunil and I discuss the impact of hiring a diverse team, why Stack Overflow holds ROI workshops with every customer, and what it really means to be product-led
E33- People Don’t Need Features; They Need Outcomes (With Shai Ritblatt, Head of Partner & Customer Success at Sisense)
May 18, 2021 14:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBShai Ritblatt is Head of Partner & Customer Success at Sisense, and in this episode, Shai and I discuss their partner success program, building versus buying, how they prioritize feature requests and why he believes CS just stands for common sense.
E33- People Don’t Need Features; They Need Outcomes (With Shai Ritblatt, Head of Partner & Customer Success at Sisense)
May 18, 2021 10:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBEPISODE SUMMARY: Shai Ritblatt is Head of Partner & Customer Success at Sisense, and in this episode, Shai and I discuss their partner success program, building versus buying, how they prioritize feature requests and why he believes CS just stands for common sense.
E32- A Tiger In The Bushes (With Eric Silverberg and Eli Gladstone, Founders of Speaker Labs)
May 11, 2021 14:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBEric & Eli are the brilliant founders behind Speaker Labs, a leading public speaking coaching program. In this episode, Eric, Eli, and I discuss the science of talk, the power of storytelling, the biggest barriers people face when public speaking, and some ways you can think about improving your next presentation today.
E32- A Tiger In The Bushes (With Eric Silverberg and Eli Gladstone, Founders of Speaker Labs)
May 11, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBEric & Eli are the brilliant founders behind Speaker Labs, a leading public speaking coaching program. In this episode, Eric, Eli, and I discuss the science of talk, the power of storytelling, the biggest barriers people face when public speaking, and some ways you can think about improving your next presentation today.
E31- A Bath Time Epiphany (With Jaimie Buss, Senior Vice President of Sales at Zendesk)
May 04, 2021 14:00 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBJaimie Buss is Sr. VP of Sales at Zendesk, and in this episode, Jaimie and I discuss sales & CS collaboration, leadership, battling stigma, and an epiphany Jaimie had that profoundly affected her life.
E31- A Bath Time Epiphany (With Jaimie Buss, Senior Vice President of Sales at Zendesk)
May 04, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBJaimie Buss is Sr. VP of Sales at Zendesk, and in this episode, Jaimie and I discuss sales & CS collaboration, leadership, battling stigma, and an epiphany Jaimie had that profoundly affected her life.
E30- The Worst Interview Question Of All Time (With Debra Squyres, Chief Customer Officer, at HackerRank)
April 27, 2021 14:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBDebra Squyres is an expert in all things HR and Customer Success, and she is about to join HackerRank as CCO, supporting over 2,000 customers and 11 million developers. In this episode, Debra shares the worst question she was ever asked in an interview, what it means to be data-driven in HR, and her thoughts on the future of work.
E30- The Worst Interview Question Of All Time (With Debra Squyres, Chief Customer Officer, at HackerRank)
April 27, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBDebra Squyres is an expert in all things HR and Customer Success, and she is about to join HackerRank as CCO, supporting over 2,000 customers and 11 million developers. In this episode, Debra shares the worst question she was ever asked in an interview, what it means to be data-driven in HR, and her thoughts on the future of work.
E29- It's Harder To Be You Than You Might Think (With Diana De Jesus, Customer Success Manager, at Catalyst)
April 20, 2021 20:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBDiana De Jesus is one of the top 100 CS strategists, co-creator of the Open Book of Customer Success, and a CSM at Catalyst Software. In this episode, Diana talks about tips, tricks, mistakes, and learnings around Customer Success, parenting, personal branding, and vulnerability.
E29- It's Harder To Be You Than You Might Think (With Diana De Jesus, Customer Success Manager, at Catalyst)
April 20, 2021 16:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBDiana De Jesus is one of the top 100 CS strategists, co-creator of the Open Book of Customer Success, and a CSM at Catalyst Software. In this episode, Diana talks about tips, tricks, mistakes, and learnings around Customer Success, parenting, personal branding, and vulnerability.
E28- What Do Mark Twain & Elon Musk Have In Common? (With Jeff Breunsbach & Jay Nathan, Director of CX and CCO, respectively, at Higher Logic)
April 13, 2021 20:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBJeff Breunsbach & Jay Nathan are Director of CX and CCO, respectively, at Higher Logic. They are also the founders of Gain Grow Retain, one of the world’s largest CS communities that exploded in 2020. In this episode, Jeff & Jay talk leadership, customer experience, community building, and Jay’s dream of being in a Jimmy Buffet cover band.
E28- What Do Mark Twain & Elon Musk Have In Common? (With Jeff Breunsbach & Jay Nathan, Director of CX and CCO, respectively, at Higher Logic)
April 13, 2021 16:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBJeff Breunsbach & Jay Nathan are Director of CX and CCO, respectively, at Higher Logic. They are also the founders of Gain Grow Retain, one of the world’s largest CS communities that exploded in 2020. In this episode, Jeff & Jay talk leadership, customer experience, community building, and Jay’s dream of being in a Jimmy Buffet cover band.
E27- Our Brains Are Piles of Mush With Electricity (With Jon Johnson, Senior Customer Success Manager at Splash)
April 06, 2021 17:00 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBJon Johnson is a professional musician turned Senior Customer Success Manager at Splash. He also led customer success at Zinier and is a founding member of the BreakoutCS community. In this episode, Jon talks about his experience as a musician and the lessons it taught him that have allowed him to excel in Customer Success.
E27- Our Brains Are Piles of Mush With Electricity (With Jon Johnson, Senior Customer Success Manager at Splash)
April 06, 2021 13:00 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBJon Johnson is a professional musician turned Senior Customer Success Manager at Splash. He also led customer success at Zinier and is a founding member of the BreakoutCS community. In this episode, Jon talks about his experience as a musician and the lessons it taught him that have allowed him to excel in Customer Success.
E26- Alexa-Controlled Oil Diffuser (With Matt Myszkowski, VP CX at Cision)
March 30, 2021 14:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBMatt Myszkowski is Vice President of Customer Experience at Cision, and led Customer Success at other organizations like SAP, Rant & Rave, and Autodesk. On this episode, Matt talks about change management, being opinionated, photography, and his favorite podcasts.
E26- Alexa-Controlled Oil Diffuser (With Matt Myszkowski, VP CX at Cision)
March 30, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBMatt Myszkowski is Vice President of Customer Experience at Cision, and led Customer Success at other organizations like SAP, Rant & Rave, and Autodesk. On this episode, Matt talks about change management, being opinionated, photography, and his favorite podcasts.
E25- The Mental Health Unicorn (With VP of Customer Success at Modern Health, Lorna Henri)
March 23, 2021 14:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBLorna Henri is VP Customer Success at Modern Health, which has recently surpassed the $1 Billion valuation mark, officially making them a unicorn. In this episode, Lorna talks parenting, career paths, mental health, and the challenges of scaling quickly.
E25- The Mental Health Unicorn (With VP of Customer Success at Modern Health, Lorna Henri)
March 23, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBLorna Henri is VP Customer Success at Modern Health, which has recently surpassed the $1 Billion valuation mark, officially making them a unicorn. In this episode, Lorna talks parenting, career paths, mental health, and the challenges of scaling quickly.
E24- LinkedIn To Mental Health (With Head of Customer Success, Americas at LinkedIn, Daniel Hayward)
March 16, 2021 14:00 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBDaniel Hayward is Head of Customer Success for the Americas at LinkedIn. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on how leaders can support the mental health and wellness of their team members, how they can fight stigma with vulnerability, and how he personally is taking care of his mental health during the pandemic.
E24- LinkedIn To Mental Health (With Head of Customer Success, Americas at LinkedIn, Daniel Hayward)
March 16, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBDaniel Hayward is Head of Customer Success for the Americas at LinkedIn. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on how leaders can support the mental health and wellness of their team members, how they can fight stigma with vulnerability, and how he personally is taking care of his mental health during the pandemic.
E23- What CS & Sales Can Learn From the FBI: A Conversation with Jack Schafer
March 09, 2021 16:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBJack Schafer, Ph.D., is a psychologist, professor, author, intelligence consultant, and former FBI Special Agent. He's conducted counter-intelligence and counterterrorism investigations worked as a behavioral analyst and has trained agents in the art of interrogation and persuasion. He’s also written some fantastic books, including The Like Switch and The Truth Detector. In this special episode, Catalyst CEO Edward Chiu speaks with Jack about how CS & Sales can uncover truth quickly, build r...
E23- What CS & Sales Can Learn From the FBI: A Conversation with Jack Schafer
March 09, 2021 11:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBJack Schafer, Ph.D., is a psychologist, professor, author, intelligence consultant, and former FBI Special Agent. He's conducted counter-intelligence and counterterrorism investigations, worked as a behavioral analyst, and has trained agents in the art of interrogation and persuasion. He’s also written some fantastic books, including The Like Switch and The Truth Detector. In this special episode, Catalyst CEO Edward Chiu speaks with Jack about how CS & Sales can uncover truth quickly, buil...
E22- Is It Pronounced Data or Data? (With Global Head, Customer Success Strategic Programs at Google, Brian LaFaille)
March 02, 2021 16:00 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBBrian LaFaille is the Global Head, Customer Success Strategic Programs at Looker, a business intelligence platform that was bought by Google in 2020 for $2.6 Billion. In this episode, we explore unique ideas that blend the human touch with powerful data to drive customer happiness like behavior mapping instead of customer journey mapping, predictive analytics for Customer Success, and how the 5 love languages can apply to CS.
E22- Is It Pronounced Data or Data? (With Global Head, Customer Success Strategic Programs at Google, Brian LaFaille)
March 02, 2021 11:00 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBBrian LaFaille is the Global Head, Customer Success Strategic Programs at Looker, a business intelligence platform that was bought by Google in 2020 for $2.6 Billion. In this episode, we explore unique ideas that blend the human touch with powerful data to drive customer happiness like behavior mapping instead of customer journey mapping, predictive analytics for Customer Success, and how the 5 love languages can apply to CS.
E21- Who Should Own Renewals, Sales Or CS? (With Scott Dzialo of Braze & Sabina Pons of Mavenlink)
February 23, 2021 16:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBCatalyst recently released The Great CS Debate which had CS leaders vote on the top 10 most controversial topics in Customer Success. This episode features a friendly debate between two experienced CS leaders; Scott Dzialo, Director of Customer Success, Enterprise & Strategic Accounts at Braze and Sabina Pons, Vice President of Client Success, Support & Community at Mavenlink. During this episode, these CS masters found themselves on opposing sides of the issue: Who should own renewals, Sal...
E21- Who Should Own Renewals, Sales Or CS? (With Scott Dzialo of Braze & Sabina Pons of Mavenlink)
February 23, 2021 11:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBCatalyst recently released The Great CS Debate which had CS leaders vote on the top 10 most controversial topics in Customer Success. This episode features a friendly debate between two experienced CS leaders; Scott Dzialo, Director of Customer Success, Enterprise & Strategic Accounts at Braze and Sabina Pons, Vice President of Client Success, Support & Community at Mavenlink. During this episode, these CS masters found themselves on opposing sides of the issue: Who should own renewals, Sa...
E20- Prioritize Ruthlessly (With Head Of Customer Experience at GitHub, Bonnie Chatterjee)
February 16, 2021 16:00 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBBonnie Chatterjee is the Head of Customer Experience at GitHub, and is focused on building GitHub’s CX function and instilling customer-obsessed thinking, measurements, and actions into every decision. In this episode, Bonnie discusses prioritization, building positive habits, and how customer experience and customer success can collaborate.
E20- Prioritize Ruthlessly (With Head Of Customer Experience at GitHub, Bonnie Chatterjee)
February 16, 2021 11:00 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBBonnie Chatterjee is the Head of Customer Experience at GitHub, and is focused on building GitHub’s CX function and instilling customer obsessed thinking, measurements and actions into every decision. In this episode, Bonnie discusses prioritization, building positive habits, and how customer experience and customer success can collaborate.
E19- The Mary Poppins of Startups (With Customer Experience Lead at Cutback Coach, Cairo Amani)
February 09, 2021 16:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBCairo Amani is a career coach and CS leader. She’s the founder of ThriveNetwork, a community for the women of CS, and she currently heads up CX at Cutback Coach, a new tool to help people proactively build positive habits around alcohol consumption. In this episode, Cairo discusses alcohol consumption during the pandemic, the biggest challenges she sees as a career coach, and the advantages of working at early-stage startups.
E19- The Mary Poppins of Startups (With Customer Experience Lead at Cutback Coach, Cairo Amani)
February 09, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBCairo Amani is a career coach and CS leader. She’s the founder of ThriveNetwork, a community for the women of CS, and she currently heads up CX at Cutback Coach, a new tool to help people proactively build positive habits around alcohol consumption. In this episode, Cairo discusses alcohol consumption during the pandemic, the biggest challenges she sees as a career coach, and the advantages of working at early stage startups.
E18- Real Housewives of Customer Success (With Vice President of Customer Success at IntelliShift, Kristi Faltorusso)
February 02, 2021 16:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBKristi Faltorusso is VP Customer Success at Intellishift and one of the most prolific Customer Success leaders in the industry. On today’s episode, Kristi talks about finding success through helping others, how to think about your next promotion, her inspirations, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta.
E18- Real Housewives of Customer Success (With Vice President of Customer Success at IntelliShift, Kristi Faltorusso)
February 02, 2021 11:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBKristi Faltorusso is VP Customer Success at Intellishift and one of the most prolific Customer Success leaders in the industry. On today’s episode, Kristi talks about finding success through helping others, how to think about your next promotion, her inspirations, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta.
E17- Going Bananas (With VP CS & People Ops at Swiftly, Maranda Dziekonski)
January 26, 2021 16:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBMaranda Dziekonski is VP Customer Success & Operations at Switfly, and is on the governing council of the Customer Success Leadership Network, a community group and Slack team with 2400 CS leaders and counting! In this episode, Maranda and Ben discuss CS in the boardroom, building your personal brand, using Slack to manage customers, and some of the biggest mistakes they’ve both made at work.
E17- Going Bananas (With VP CS & People Ops at Swiftly, Maranda Dziekonski)
January 26, 2021 11:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBMaranda Dziekonski is VP Customer Success & Operations at Switfly, and is on the governing council of the Customer Success Leadership Network, a community group and Slack team with 2400 CS leaders and counting! In this episode, Maranda and Ben discuss CS in the boardroom, building your personal brand, using Slack to manage customers, and some of the biggest mistakes they’ve both made at work.
E16- Bytes Scale and Atoms Don’t (With IBM Digital Transformation Lead, Anthony Coppedge)
January 19, 2021 16:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBAnthony Coppedge is leading Agile Transformation for Digital Sales at IBM. He is an expert in coaching Sales & Marketing teams on implementing an Agile mindset and he’s taught leaders, managers, and teams how to manage the tension between planned and unplanned work so that they can deliver value at scale. On this episode, Anthony shares his insights into change management at scale, the value of BEING agile rather than DOING agile, and how teams can leverage agile thinking to become faster, m...
E16- Bytes Scale and Atoms Don’t (With IBM Digital Transformation Lead, Anthony Coppedge)
January 19, 2021 11:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBAnthony Coppedge is leading Agile Transformation for Digital Sales at IBM. He is an expert in coaching Sales & Marketing teams on implementing an Agile mindset and he’s taught leaders, managers, and teams how to manage the tension between planned and unplanned work so that they can deliver value at scale. On this episode, Anthony shares his insights into change management at scale, the value of BEING agile rather than DOING agile, and how teams can leverage agile thinking to become faster, ...
E15- Engineering Your Career (With Catalyst VP of Engineering, Sha Ma)
January 12, 2021 16:00 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBSha Ma is the Vice President of Engineering at Catalyst and the former VP of Engineering at Github and SendGrid, where she was part of the leadership team that took them through IPO in 2017. In this episode, Sha discusses misconceptions about engineers, the key to her career success, and advice for those early on in their careers today.
E15- Engineering Your Career (With Catalyst VP of Engineering, Sha Ma)
January 12, 2021 11:00 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBSha Ma is the Vice President of Engineering at Catalyst and the former VP of Engineering at Github and SendGrid, where she was part of the leadership team that took them through IPO in 2017. In this episode, Sha discusses misconceptions about engineers, the key to her career success, and advice for those early on in their careers today.
E14- Hopin to Hard Problems (With CCO at Hopin, Rosie Roca)
January 05, 2021 16:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBRosie Roca is the Chief Customer Officer at Hopin, one of the world’s leading virtual events platforms which was recently valued at over $2 Billion. Rosie is a customer experience pro, having started her career with the New England Patriots before moving into software at RelateIQ which was acquired by Salesforce in 2014 where she then became SVP of Salesforce Essentials Customer Experience. In this episode, Rosie discusses pivotal moments in her career, virtual events, and the challenges fac...
E14- Hopin to Hard Problems (With Rosie Roca, CCO at Hopin)
January 05, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBRosie Roca is the Chief Customer Officer at Hopin, one of the world’s leading virtual events platforms which was recently valued at over $2 Billion. Rosie is a customer experience pro, having started her career with the New England Patriots before moving into software at RelateIQ which was acquired by Salesforce in 2014 where she then became SVP of Salesforce Essentials Customer Experience. In this episode, Rosie discusses pivotal moments in her career, virtual events, and the challenges faci...
E14- Hopin to Hard Problems (With CCO at Hopin, Rosie Roca)
January 05, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBRosie Roca is the Chief Customer Officer at Hopin, one of the world’s leading virtual events platforms which was recently valued at over $2 Billion. Rosie is a customer experience pro, having started her career with the New England Patriots before moving into software at RelateIQ which was acquired by Salesforce in 2014 where she then became SVP of Salesforce Essentials Customer Experience. In this episode, Rosie discusses pivotal moments in her career, virtual events, and the challenges fa...
E13- Progress Not Perfection (With Head of Customer Advocacy at Asana, Kalina Bryant)
December 15, 2020 16:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBKalina Bryant is an incredibly accomplished customer advocacy executive, podcaster, writer, and speaker in Silicon Valley, where she is now leading the customer advocacy function at Asana. In this episode, Kalina discusses customer advocacy, challenges getting executive buy-in, and the lessons and philosophies that have brought her success.
E13- Progress Not Perfection (With Head of Customer Advocacy at Asana, Kalina Bryant)
December 15, 2020 11:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBKalina Bryant is an incredibly accomplished customer advocacy executive, podcaster, writer, and speaker in Silicon Valley, where she is now leading the customer advocacy function at Asana. In this episode, Kalina discusses customer advocacy, challenges getting executive buy-in, and the lessons and philosophies that have brought her success.
E12- Subject Matter Expertise vs. Core CS Skills (With Alex Farmer of Cognite AS & Shari Srebnick of Searchmetrics)
December 07, 2020 16:00 - 35 minutes - 33 MBCatalyst recently released The Great CS Debate which had CS leaders vote on the top 10 most controversial topics in Customer Success. This episode features a friendly debate between two experienced CS leaders who found themselves on opposing sides of the issue: What is more important, core CS skills or subject matter expertise?
E12- Subject Matter Expertise vs. Core CS Skills (With Alex Farmer of Cognite AS & Shari Srebnick of Searchmetrics)
December 07, 2020 11:00 - 35 minutes - 33 MBCatalyst recently released The Great CS Debate which had CS leaders vote on the top 10 most controversial topics in Customer Success. This episode features a friendly debate between two experienced CS leaders who found themselves on opposing sides of the issue: What is more important, core CS skills or subject matter expertise?