Mark Roberge was the founding CRO of HubSpot and is a Managing Director at Stage 2 Capital. He reflects on HubSpot's early SMB customer churn rates during 2008.
“Eight was the highest a hit in February of 2008. Throughout 2008, it was mostly between three and four, which is terrible. I mean, even at three or four, that's 40 to 50% a year churn. It's really bad.”
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More from Mark Roberge
Insight
Roberge: Startups Seeking Product-Market Fit Should Avoid Commission Plans
“I don't like commission plan salespeople in the journey to product market fit. Like I just want pure equity people.”
Mark RobergeJul 12, 2024▶ 14:59Mark Roberge: The Framework for How Startups Should Scale into the Enterprise -Stage 2 Capital|E1176 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
HubSpot rejected a $3M Facebook deal at $3M ARR to maintain focus
“I mean, I think we're at two, three million in revenue at HubSpot and one rep brought Facebook to the table as a customer. It was like a three million dollar contract. It would have doubled our revenue. And he said, no, we were being pulled, said no.”
Mark RobergeJul 12, 2024▶ 36:08Mark Roberge: The Framework for How Startups Should Scale into the Enterprise -Stage 2 Capital|E1176 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
AssertionSupported
Roberge: Hiring sales reps based on domain experience correlates with failure
“10 years of experience selling a product like mine to a customer like mine. And there's tremendous research that shows that that mindset correlates with lack of success, like doesn't work out.”
Mark RobergeJul 12, 2024▶ 5:23Mark Roberge: The Framework for How Startups Should Scale into the Enterprise -Stage 2 Capital|E1176 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Roberge: Prioritize deal size experience over domain expertise when hiring sales reps
“I have strong conviction that deal size has a higher weight. In correlation to success. Let's just say we sell million dollar deals to banks. And I have two candidates. One candidate sells 10,000 dollar deals to banks. And one candidate sells million dollar de…”
Mark RobergeJul 12, 2024▶ 8:28Mark Roberge: The Framework for How Startups Should Scale into the Enterprise -Stage 2 Capital|E1176 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Roberge: Sales Commissions Should Be Split to Reward Customer Retention
“I'm gonna give you half of the commission when the customer pays, and half the commission when they hit their leading indicator of retention, which usually happens in the first 30 days.”
Mark RobergeJul 12, 2024▶ 16:53Mark Roberge: The Framework for How Startups Should Scale into the Enterprise -Stage 2 Capital|E1176 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Roberge: PLG sales reps should earn higher commissions on expansion revenue
“I would do something like this, Harry, you're a salesperson, your job is bringing customers. I'm going to pay you know, three percent. Rate on the first ACB from a customer and five percent on any expansion revenue. So now it's like, oh, sweet. Okay. I get it.…”
Mark RobergeJul 12, 2024▶ 19:18Mark Roberge: The Framework for How Startups Should Scale into the Enterprise -Stage 2 Capital|E1176 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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