StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Nicolas Vandenberghe

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Chili Piper · 5 appearances on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutive@nicolasvdb ↗LinkedIn ↗chilipiper.com ↗

In 2016, Nicolas Vandenberghe co-founded Chili Piper alongside his wife Alina Vandenberghe, building the B2B demand conversion platform into a multimillion-dollar SaaS company. A Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus, he previously founded startups including Redact and ITerating and led enterprise sales in telecommunications.

71statements → 39claims → 3claims resolved → 0%fully supported → 4.06/5average certainty → 1.58/5average debate potential → ≈4.0/5argument clarity, estimated → 2said about them ↓

0 supported 2 partly supported 1 contradicted 36 not checkable as stated how the 39 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

3 predictions · 36 assertions · 4 opinions · 5 insights · 23 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 39 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 3 are resolved, and 36 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Nicolas argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Alina Vandenberghe developed the first iPad app demoed by Steve Jobs
“She did the first iPad app that Steve Jobs demoed when he launched the iPad.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe May 4, 2022 ▶ 6:27 $20m Payday and he still controls ChiliPiper with his Wife Alina

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
none yet certainty 3
25% certainty 4
50% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Nicolas Vandenberghe on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Nicolas Vandenberghe said on Top Founders that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion
Nicolas Vandenberghe: Nations should only exist for soccer tournaments and global taxes
“So my view is that at some stage we should have global taxes you know, we should have no, we should have nation for soccer tournament, that's cool, but not for anything else, not for fight and all that.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe May 4, 2022 ▶ 35:04 $20m Payday and he still controls ChiliPiper with his Wife Alina
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Vandenberg: Chili Piper Will Hit $1B Valuation at $20M ARR
“I would say that if we meet our plan by the end of the year, getting the twenty million, we'd be there.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Sep 14, 2021 ▶ 10:45 ChiliPiper Meeting Tool Hits $12m Run Rate, Approaching Unicorn Status
Opinion
Vandenberg: Drift Refuses Small Customers to Mask Churn Problems
“I see the drift is doing that because they've had the churn problem. So then they're trying to make their numbers look better. So they even refuse to take companies.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Sep 14, 2021 ▶ 12:54 ChiliPiper Meeting Tool Hits $12m Run Rate, Approaching Unicorn Status
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Vandenberg: Chili Piper Will Hit $100 Per Share, Making Employees Millionaires
“We have a 150 pipers. We promised them all that we're going to get our share price to a hundred dollars a piece so that they're all millionaires every single one of them.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Sep 14, 2021 ▶ 20:56 ChiliPiper Meeting Tool Hits $12m Run Rate, Approaching Unicorn Status
Opinion
HubSpot steals Salesforce market share by starting downmarket
“I'm observing our HubSpot is taking market share away from Salesforce, and they take them from the bottom, and then from Marketo and from the other, they take them from the bottom, because when you start with a product that can serve the bottom efficiently, an…”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jan 2, 2024 ▶ 13:44 How to Double Your Company From $16m to $30m Revenue Using Multiple Product Lines with Chilipiper CEO
Assertion Partly supported
Chili Piper cuts headcount by one-third, from 250 to 170
“So we cut a third of the company. So we went from two 50 to one 70”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 7:29 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chili Piper achieved cash flow positivity to avoid a down round
“We didn't want to go at a lower valuation, so we said we cut costs, we go cash positive. That's what we do. So that's what we've done.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 11:02 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Late-stage investors cannot block sales below Chili Piper's $625M valuation
“They don't have the rights. Those who came into the very high valuation do not have the rights to block.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 13:07 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Disclosure
Chili Piper raised $33M and sold $33M in secondary to Tiger Global
“We did a secondary with Tiger Global. We sold thirty-three million. So we raised thirty-three million, and we also sold thirty-three million.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe May 4, 2022 ▶ 1:48 $20m Payday and he still controls ChiliPiper with his Wife Alina
Disclosure
Chili Piper closed a $27M secondary share sale at a $625M valuation
“Yeah, so we did six 25, which was the highest of the market. We, that was in the end, well, at five hundred million with ten million worth of sale, at six 25 with twenty-seven million, so twenty-seven million secondary, and that's what happened.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe May 4, 2022 ▶ 30:24 $20m Payday and he still controls ChiliPiper with his Wife Alina
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tiger Global Offered Chili Piper a $33M Series B on First Call
“So unsolicited in March, we got an interest from Tiger Global. I got on a call with John Curtis and literally he made the offer on the fly. The later the evening with a term sheet two weeks later with the money for a thirty three million be around.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Sep 14, 2021 ▶ 2:58 ChiliPiper Meeting Tool Hits $12m Run Rate, Approaching Unicorn Status
Disclosure
Chili Piper's Tiger Round Split $33M Primary and $33M Secondary
“The thirty-three million went into the company. The same amount went into the secondary.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Sep 14, 2021 ▶ 9:49 ChiliPiper Meeting Tool Hits $12m Run Rate, Approaching Unicorn Status
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Vandenberg: Chili Piper sees CAC payback in about one month
“Yeah, that's right. We're getting paid back in about a month, yeah. About a month.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jun 16, 2019 ▶ 13:47 1422 How He Drove $300k Expansion on $1m ARR Cohort in 12 Months
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Vandenberg: Fast-growing SaaS companies raise at 20x run rate
“I see that fast growing SaaS companies Raise at 20 times the current run rate.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jun 16, 2019 ▶ 17:13 1422 How He Drove $300k Expansion on $1m ARR Cohort in 12 Months
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chili Piper cut headcount from 225 to 150 employees
“Two, we went from two 25 to one 50.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jan 2, 2024 ▶ 3:53 How to Double Your Company From $16m to $30m Revenue Using Multiple Product Lines with Chilipiper CEO
Disclosure
Chili Piper plans Q1 AI scheduler as 'ChatGPT for Calendly'
“We have something coming in the first quarter that we think is the chat GPT of Calendly, you know, but we'll see.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jan 2, 2024 ▶ 7:28 How to Double Your Company From $16m to $30m Revenue Using Multiple Product Lines with Chilipiper CEO
Disclosure
Chili Piper repriced employee stock options after new 409A valuation
“Yeah, so we repriced the options, so we I went to the board, I said, look I believe the whole idea of stock options is to be motivated which that, so we had another four, nine, eight, it's called to tell us the current correct price, and we repriced all our op…”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jan 2, 2024 ▶ 16:05 How to Double Your Company From $16m to $30m Revenue Using Multiple Product Lines with Chilipiper CEO
Insight
Vandenberghe: Chili Piper growth is driven by virality over SEO
“So it's more the viral aspect than the SEO that's working for us. SEO, to be a candidate, I think we can do better, and we get back to it next year.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Jan 2, 2024 ▶ 19:51 How to Double Your Company From $16m to $30m Revenue Using Multiple Product Lines with Chilipiper CEO
Disclosure
Chili Piper spent over $1M on a 250-person Morocco retreat
“More than a million.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 4:24 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Disclosure
Chili Piper ties account manager bonuses entirely to cross-selling over NDR
“So we switch our AM bonus entirely on cross-selling. They're no longer compensated on NDR. They're only compensated on cross-selling.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 6:19 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chili Piper burned $2M per month before enacting layoffs
“We were burning, it went to two million a month.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 8:36 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Vandenberghe says 42 VCs reached out to lead Chili Piper's Series C
“I had 42, that's the number, VCs who had reached out to me to say, we want to do your C-Round, we want to do your C-Round”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 8:57 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chili Piper faced revenue contraction and a 50% drop in new logos
“Instead of organic expansion, we had contraction. Instead of new logos, we had half of new logos.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 9:46 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chili Piper employee satisfaction dropped from 92% to 75% following layoffs
“We were at 92% before Morocco. We redid it in January, we were at 75%.”
Nicolas Vandenberghe Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 15:40 Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive

Show 24statements(47 left)

The other half of the tape: Nicolas Vandenberghe's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 1 time in 1 episode on Top Founders. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Sam Jacobs 1

Statements about Nicolas Vandenberghe, by other people (1)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chili Piper doubled ACV and halved CAC over the past year
“Chili Piper's doubled their ACV cut their customer acquisition costs in half, and also dramatically increased revenue per employee, up to 200,000 dollars per employee, all over the course of the last year.”
Sam Jacobs Dec 17, 2024 ▶ 8:21 Pavilion Breaks $10m Revenue using New Growth Playbook, CEO Sam Jacobs

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
0011112024episodesmentions
0112024episodes it came up in
000.50.5112024episodesmentions per episode
2024 1 mention in 1 episode

Appearances (5)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
How to Double Your Company From $16m to $30m Revenue Using Multiple Product Lines with Chi Jan 2, 2024 12m
Crazy years: from $60M in secondaries to layoffs & back to cash positive Oct 6, 2023 10m
$20m Payday and he still controls ChiliPiper with his Wife Alina May 4, 2022 25m
ChiliPiper Meeting Tool Hits $12m Run Rate, Approaching Unicorn Status Sep 14, 2021 15m
1422 How He Drove $300k Expansion on $1m ARR Cohort in 12 Months Jun 16, 2019 11m
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more