Dan Fougere, former CRO at Datadog, explains how Datadog kept acquisition costs low by using non-commissioned Customer Success reps for account expansion.
“And so the CAC was incredible because the growth was non-commissioned because CS did not have commission, right?”
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More from Dan Fougere
Insight
Fougere: Pipeline generation cannot be outsourced to SDRs
“Asking somebody else to do PG for you is like asking them to go to the gym for you. I think it creates, I don't think it creates the right culture to think that this is something that can be outsourced. And so the way I look at it is PG is everybody's job.”
Dan FougereNov 22, 2024▶ 16:04Dan Fougere, CRO @Datadog: Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading | E1229 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Fougere: One weekly pipeline opportunity and meeting guarantees reps hit quota
“Like at Datadog, when I left, it was one of each of those, a pipeline, a new pipeline opportunity that's got a specific definition and a new business meeting for enterprise and two for SMB. And if I had those, I could, I guarantee you, you're going to make you…”
Dan FougereNov 22, 2024▶ 19:29Dan Fougere, CRO @Datadog: Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading | E1229 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Fougere: Datadog gave reps four months post-landing before CS account handoff
“Gave them when they broke into a new account, whether it was inbound or outbound, doesn't matter. They had four months to sell more products, to take advantage of some of the growth that they might have because of a consumption model. And then after that point…”
Dan FougereNov 22, 2024▶ 30:25Dan Fougere, CRO @Datadog: Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading | E1229 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Fougere: Founders cannot scale sales playbooks to billions in revenue
“And that's a great way to get started, but you're not going to scale to billions of dollars of revenue, at least in my experience with that. Like you're going to need more of what I just described and every place I've ever been, that's been the sales leader do…”
Dan FougereNov 22, 2024▶ 37:16Dan Fougere, CRO @Datadog: Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading | E1229 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Fougere: Datadog struggled to recruit sales talent due to engineering bias
“When I went to Datadog, people didn't want to go there. Like recruiting was so hard. And part of it was a reputation that it was a, it was an engineering company. They didn't respect salespeople.”
Dan FougereNov 22, 2024▶ 48:55Dan Fougere, CRO @Datadog: Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading | E1229 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Fougere: Sales reps with discounting authority always offer the maximum discount
“Without the right leadership, and even sometimes with the right leadership, salespeople left to the left to their own devices will peg at maximum discount, 100% of the time.”
Dan FougereNov 22, 2024▶ 57:00Dan Fougere, CRO @Datadog: Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading | E1229 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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