Laying the foundation for long-term company alignment with Salsify's Rob Gonzalez
Summary:
This week on How To Win: Rob Gonzalez, co-founder and CMO of Salsify, a commerce experience management platform that helps its clients win on the 'digital shelf.' Salsify defines the digital shelf as: "The collection of diverse and rapidly evolving digital touch points used by shoppers to engage with brands and discover, research, and purchase products.”
Rob co-founded Salsify in 2012 and has grown the company to over 740 employees serving a roster of high-profile clients. Salsify concluded their Series F funding in 2022, securing $200M in funding which brought their valuation to over $1B.
In this episode, Rob breaks down some of the strategies that have helped Salsify win, and some of the mistakes they've made along the way. We discuss diversifying customer acquisition channels, promoting employee autonomy, and why you might be under-charging your customers.
I weigh in on the increasing costs of customer acquisition, transitioning to a multi-product team, and employee surveys.
Key Points:
- Rob discusses the customer acquisition channels that worked in the early days of Salsify (01:21)
- When is it the right time to change your customer acquisition tactics? (04:58)
- I reflect on the rising cost of customer acquisition (06:04)
- Rob discusses what he calls 'market engagement rate' (07:37)
- What has Rob learned about being a multi-product company after Salsify's recent acquisitions? (09:29)
- My thoughts on running a multi-product company with a quote from Okta's Chief Product Officer Diya Jolly (11:55)
- What practical advice does Rob have for founders trying to create a positive work culture? (14:01)
- I talk about surveying your employees with a quote from employee management expert Don Phin (16:48)
- How do you reinforce a positive culture consistently? (18:24)
- I discuss the benefits of increasing employee autonomy (24:13)
- Rob reflects on Salsify's pricing strategy with a quote from the Tim Ferriss Show, featuring Andreessen Horowitz's Marc Andreessen (25:13)
- Why does Rob believe the next ten years of marketing will be defined by community and not content? (30:14)
- Wrap-up (32:04)
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