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Oct 10, 2024 · 19m · top-founders

Hootsuite Approaching $400m in Revenue by Throwing out the SaaS Playbook with CEO Irina Novoselsky

Irina Novoselsky · 15m spoken Nathan Latka · 1m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this SaaS Open keynote, Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky explains how the rapid demographic ascent of Gen Z enterprise buyers is rendering traditional B2B sales playbooks obsolete. She presents actionable strategies for software leaders to modernize their funnels through self-guided product onboarding, unassisted discovery, and organic social selling.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 0.6 Guest teaching 5.0 Guest disagreement 2.8 Nathan pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:000:38–4:27 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Introducing Irina Novoselsky and Hootsuite's Evolution Nathan introduces Irina by detailing Hootsuite's history, including its agency origins and past failed exit attempt, before handing the stage to Irina for her keynote presentation.4:28–8:07 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 The Changing B2B Buying Behavior and Gen Z Contradictions In a solo keynote monologue, Irina educates the room with data on Gen Z buying habits, explaining that search has shifted heavily from Google to social and buyers consume multiple content pieces before engaging sales.8:08–12:32 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 The Social Self-Service Journey and Peer Influence Irina rejects the traditional outbound playbook of cold emailing and ad spending, directly mocking B2B CEOs who believe social media and consumer habits do not apply to business software buyers.12:32–15:26 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Rethinking the Customer Journey and the Death of the Demo Irina argues for the death of the sales demo, detailing how Hootsuite is overhauling its own demo funnel to match self-serve consumer expectations exemplified by Monday.com and Amazon.15:26–19:51 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 The Power of Social Selling and Executive Presence Irina concludes her talk by highlighting the necessity of executive presence on social media, presenting stats on CAC reduction and urging SaaS leaders to adapt or get ghosted.0:38–4:27 · Guest teaching 3/10 Introducing Irina Novoselsky and Hootsuite's Evolution Nathan introduces Irina by detailing Hootsuite's history, including its agency origins and past failed exit attempt, before handing the stage to Irina for her keynote presentation.4:28–8:07 · Guest teaching 6/10 The Changing B2B Buying Behavior and Gen Z Contradictions In a solo keynote monologue, Irina educates the room with data on Gen Z buying habits, explaining that search has shifted heavily from Google to social and buyers consume multiple content pieces before engaging sales.8:08–12:32 · Guest teaching 6/10 The Social Self-Service Journey and Peer Influence Irina rejects the traditional outbound playbook of cold emailing and ad spending, directly mocking B2B CEOs who believe social media and consumer habits do not apply to business software buyers.12:32–15:26 · Guest teaching 5/10 Rethinking the Customer Journey and the Death of the Demo Irina argues for the death of the sales demo, detailing how Hootsuite is overhauling its own demo funnel to match self-serve consumer expectations exemplified by Monday.com and Amazon.15:26–19:51 · Guest teaching 5/10 The Power of Social Selling and Executive Presence Irina concludes her talk by highlighting the necessity of executive presence on social media, presenting stats on CAC reduction and urging SaaS leaders to adapt or get ghosted.0:38–4:27 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Introducing Irina Novoselsky and Hootsuite's Evolution Nathan introduces Irina by detailing Hootsuite's history, including its agency origins and past failed exit attempt, before handing the stage to Irina for her keynote presentation.4:28–8:07 · Guest disagreement 3/10 The Changing B2B Buying Behavior and Gen Z Contradictions In a solo keynote monologue, Irina educates the room with data on Gen Z buying habits, explaining that search has shifted heavily from Google to social and buyers consume multiple content pieces before engaging sales.8:08–12:32 · Guest disagreement 4/10 The Social Self-Service Journey and Peer Influence Irina rejects the traditional outbound playbook of cold emailing and ad spending, directly mocking B2B CEOs who believe social media and consumer habits do not apply to business software buyers.12:32–15:26 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Rethinking the Customer Journey and the Death of the Demo Irina argues for the death of the sales demo, detailing how Hootsuite is overhauling its own demo funnel to match self-serve consumer expectations exemplified by Monday.com and Amazon.15:26–19:51 · Guest disagreement 2/10 The Power of Social Selling and Executive Presence Irina concludes her talk by highlighting the necessity of executive presence on social media, presenting stats on CAC reduction and urging SaaS leaders to adapt or get ghosted.0:38–4:27 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Introducing Irina Novoselsky and Hootsuite's Evolution Nathan introduces Irina by detailing Hootsuite's history, including its agency origins and past failed exit attempt, before handing the stage to Irina for her keynote presentation.4:28–8:07 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Changing B2B Buying Behavior and Gen Z Contradictions In a solo keynote monologue, Irina educates the room with data on Gen Z buying habits, explaining that search has shifted heavily from Google to social and buyers consume multiple content pieces before engaging sales.8:08–12:32 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Social Self-Service Journey and Peer Influence Irina rejects the traditional outbound playbook of cold emailing and ad spending, directly mocking B2B CEOs who believe social media and consumer habits do not apply to business software buyers.12:32–15:26 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Rethinking the Customer Journey and the Death of the Demo Irina argues for the death of the sales demo, detailing how Hootsuite is overhauling its own demo funnel to match self-serve consumer expectations exemplified by Monday.com and Amazon.15:26–19:51 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Power of Social Selling and Executive Presence Irina concludes her talk by highlighting the necessity of executive presence on social media, presenting stats on CAC reduction and urging SaaS leaders to adapt or get ghosted.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 54.4% · guest 45.6%0:00 · Nathan 54.4% · guest 45.6%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:45 Irina dismantles the 'I sell B2B, not to consumers' excuse

Irina forcefully counters a common executive defense by pointing out that all software is ultimately sold to humans who spend hours daily on social media.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 0:50 Nathan recaps Hootsuite's failed Goldman Sachs exit

Nathan openly brings up Hootsuite's past struggles and unfulfilled $700 million acquisition rumors during his stage introduction.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:00 Irina reveals that 65% of B2B search originates on social

Irina provides concrete demographic research proving that Google search is declining and Gen Z buyers complete 60% of their evaluation before contacting sales.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 0:45 Nathan lays out Hootsuite's business trajectory and history

Nathan demonstrates domain knowledge by detailing Hootsuite's roots as an agency, past M&A attempts, and recent revenue scale.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Irina Novoselsky and Hootsuite's Evolution 3320 Nathan introduces Irina by detailing Hootsuite's history, including its agency origins and past failed exit attempt, before handing the stage to Irina for her keynote presentation.
The Changing B2B Buying Behavior and Gen Z Contradictions 0630 In a solo keynote monologue, Irina educates the room with data on Gen Z buying habits, explaining that search has shifted heavily from Google to social and buyers consume multiple content pieces before engaging sales.
The Social Self-Service Journey and Peer Influence 0640 Irina rejects the traditional outbound playbook of cold emailing and ad spending, directly mocking B2B CEOs who believe social media and consumer habits do not apply to business software buyers.
Rethinking the Customer Journey and the Death of the Demo 0530 Irina argues for the death of the sales demo, detailing how Hootsuite is overhauling its own demo funnel to match self-serve consumer expectations exemplified by Monday.com and Amazon.
The Power of Social Selling and Executive Presence 0520 Irina concludes her talk by highlighting the necessity of executive presence on social media, presenting stats on CAC reduction and urging SaaS leaders to adapt or get ghosted.

Statements from this episode (18)

Assertion Partly supported
Latka: Hootsuite hired Goldman for a $700M exit attempt
“Hootsuite was in the news, like crazy, and then there were rumors about a, you know, could they IPO, and then they hired Goldman to try and get a seven hundred million dollar exit done.”
Nathan Latka Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 0:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Novoselsky: Hootsuite accelerated enterprise core growth from 8% to 22%
“In less than 12 months, we took our enterprise core from eight percent growth to 22% growth.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 2:11
Assertion Partly supported
Novoselsky: 75% of buyers will be Millennials or Gen Z by 2025
“By next year, literally in three months, 75% of all buyers will be either Millennials or Gen Z.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 3:55
Opinion
Novoselsky: The Traditional SaaS Playbook Is Dead
“And one of the things that TLDR on all of my research, basically the SAS playbook as we know it is dead”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 5:15
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Novoselsky: 62% of Gen Z Employees Are Involved in Buying Decisions
“62% of Gen Z employees are involved in buying decisions today.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 6:59
Assertion Contradicted
Novoselsky: 65% of B2B Searches Start on Social, Not Google
“Here's the stat that's really alarming, is 65% of the B to B search starts on social, not on Google.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 7:30
Assertion Partly supported
Novoselsky: Google Search Usage Declined Nearly 30% Among Gen Z
“Over the last few generations, Google search has declined almost 30% from Gen Z, from Gen X to Gen Z.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 7:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Novoselsky: 60% of B2B SaaS Buying Is Done Before Sales Contact
“60% of the process for buying B to B SaaS is done before a Gen Z person gets on the phone or talks to a sales rep.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 8:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Novoselsky: Half of Gen Z Buyers Consume 13+ Pieces of Content Pre-Sales
“On average, 50% of them are consuming at least 13 pieces of content before they get on a phone with a sales rep.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 8:38
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Novoselsky: Gen Z Is 50% Less Likely to Answer Cold Outreach
“They're a generation that is 50% less likely to answer any kind of cold emails and cold outreach.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 10:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Novoselsky: Two-thirds of Gen Z buyers want digital purchases up to $50K
“Two out of three of these buyers want a fully digital experience to do their whole purchase, and that goes for 20 K ACV deals all the way up to 50.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 10:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Novoselsky: Nearly 50% of Gen Z Use Ad Blockers and Distrust Ads
“They don't believe in traditional search. They also, almost 50% of them, have ad blockers. They view ads as the least authentic thing you can do.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 11:02
Disclosure
Novoselsky: Hootsuite makes nearly $400M revenue with 95% inbound business
“Fun fact, 95% of our business comes to us. I don't have an outbound sales force, and we're almost four hundred million.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 13:20
Opinion
Novoselsky: Monday.com has the best unassisted demo process in SaaS
“The company that has done it the best is Monday.com. Has anyone been through their demo process? If you haven't, do it. Yes, of course you have. Go through their demo process. It is made for somebody that does not want to talk to a person. You can do the whole…”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 13:59
Disclosure
Novoselsky: Hootsuite is overhauling its model for self-guided demos
“And we are in the process of massively changing our entire business model in order to do this.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 14:19
Assertion Supported
Novoselsky: 78% of salespeople using social selling outsell their peers
“78% of salespeople that leverage social outsell their peers.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 16:12
Assertion Supported
Novoselsky: 77% of buyers favor vendors with executive social presence
“77% of buyers are more likely to purchase if they just see executive presence on social, let alone even what you're posting.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 16:19
Assertion Supported
Novoselsky: Social selling decreases customer acquisition cost by almost 20%
“And the fun fact, when you're on it and you're using it decreases your CAC by almost 20%.”
Irina Novoselsky Oct 10, 2024 ▶ 17:10
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