SaaStr 2018: Smooth scaling: 3 female tech CEOs. Lessons on how to scale faster, better and farther

PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada: "This is the first time I've had a sitting room only audience." Greg Hoffman and I arrived 15 minutes early to the Fireside Stage for Smooth Scaling: 3 Female Tech CEOs. Lessons on How to Scale Faster, Better and Farther. The room was already at capacity. Still intent on having good seats, we walked up to the front and sat down on the carpet, 15 feet from the stage. By the time the session started, there were about 40 more people sitting on the carpet in a single isle. That's how in demand this session was.

The panel was made up of:

• Jennifer Tejada, CEO - PagerDuty
• Amy Chang, Founder - Accompany
• Michel Feaster, CEO - Usermind

Here are my takeaways from Smooth Scaling: 3 Female Tech CEOs. Lessons on How to Scale Faster, Better and Farther:

• Jennifer: It’s a different company every 6 months when you scale.
• Michel: Who has the most information to make the decision? It may no longer be the CEO as you scale.
• Jennifer: Culture cannot be delegated by the CEO.
• Jennifer: "Culture is defined by the lowest level of behavior you’re willing to accept."
• Jennifer on company culture: “Swear Like sailors, no problem.”
• Amy: Hiring and culture are interrelated. Be clear on what you will hire and fire for. Repel the wrong people, hire the right people.
• Amy's #1 criteria: No assholes.
• Amy: Every week you’ll have to learn something new when you're scaling. That’s exciting.
• Amy: Be specific and acknowledge praise often.
• Michel: The CEO can’t delegate fundraising.
• Michel: “I'm volatile AF.”
• Amy: Uses her board to see around corners. In return, she pledges no surprises to her board.
• Amy: Do pre-calls before a board meeting. Again, no surprises.
• Don’t delegate board relationships.
• Amy: An advisory board is also super helpful.
• Michel: Self-described Introvert CEO.
• Jennifer: Be constantly open to learning.
• On the topic of past mistakes, Jennifer described her now infamous swoop n poop incident at PagerDuty.
• Michel: Never scale anything until the first thing is working.

About SaaStr Annual

SaaStr Annual is the largest non-vendor confab in the world, uniting the global B2B SaaS community both online and off. SaaStr Annual aims to help everyone scale faster and with less stress. In 2018, over 10,000 Founders, Senior Executives, and VCs will come together over three action-packed days of high-quality networking, learning from those who’ve done it, and of course, great food, generously-poured drinks, and plenty of fun.

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