Don Mal, co-founder and former CEO of Vena, discusses the challenges and capital spent attempting to expand Vena from the mid-market to enterprise customers.
Insight
Lead generation is the absolute number one first hire for a startup
“Not only did we hire, you know, our first person to generate leads, but I've done that in my last two startups since as well. So it is the number one hire in my opinion. If you don't have leads, you don't have sales. If you don't have sales, you don't have a c…”
Assertion Supported
Don Mal: Vena differentiated by embracing Excel rather than replacing it
“All of the vendors were replacing Microsoft Excel as the tool that most companies use for budgeting and planning. We actually embraced Microsoft Excel as the grid technology in our software, so we kept people in a very familiar environment, and you know, we us…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mal: Planning software vendors replacing Excel succeed mainly in enterprise
“The vendors that have done well, you know, extremely well in the market where they replace Excel have gone more to the enterprise segment of the market, larger companies.”
Insight
Founders should launch products in domains they already know how to sell
“I always tell young entrepreneurs, Hey, look, stick close to your nettings, you know, come to market with something you already know how to sell.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Six new FP&A vendors have entered the market since Vena and succeeded
“Since Vena, there have been another, let's call it half dozen vendors that have entered the space that are all doing well.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Vena landed Wells Fargo early, charging banks $500,000 for mission-critical reporting
“One of our first 20 customers was Wells Fargo, as an example, and we sold to all, you know, a lot of the big banks in the U.S. After that, but we were getting half a million dollars a year from the banks to use Venna for mission critical regulatory processes.”