Daniel Hellerman, co-founder and CPO of Saleo, shares his journey from developing iPhone apps to building a platform for personalized demos. He discusses the importance of user experience and hyper-personalization in B2B software. Saleo offers a unique choice in the demo software market by providing truly live demos that replicate the needs of prospects. The company has experienced rapid growth, particularly in the enterprise market. Hellerman also explores the future of AI and machine learning in transforming enterprise software and predicts a shift towards performance-based pricing. The conversation explores the topics of pricing, packaging, and monetization in B2B SaaS companies. Dan shares his insights and experiences from his time at Terminus and his current role at Saleo. He discusses the importance of aligning pricing with customer value and retention, as well as the need for personalized pricing packages. He also talks about the role of entitlements in monetization and the challenges of managing them. Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of getting new features in the hands of customers and avoiding the mistake of gating them or charging for them, before they have proven to drive adoption.

Takeaways

• User experience and hyper-personalization are crucial in B2B software.

• Saleo offers truly live demos that replicate the needs of prospects.

• The company has experienced rapid growth in the enterprise market.

• AI and machine learning will transform enterprise software and may lead to performance-based pricing.

• Align pricing with customer value and retention to increase contract size and net revenue retention.

• Personalize pricing packages based on customer needs and roles.

• Manage entitlements effectively to ensure customers have access to the right features.

• Get new features in the hands of customers to create value and drive adoption.

• Avoid the mistake of not creating value for customers with new features.

Sound Bites

"I love when people say this is really cool."

"The market was the inverse of what I expected."

"If you don't have personalized packages, you sort of failed at your own mantra from day one."

"What are people going to pay more for, substantially more, to increase their size of their contract each year?"

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Going Offline

06:03 The Thread of User Experience and Hyper-Personalization

09:25 Salio's Unique Offering in the Demo Software Market

11:40 Focus on Scaling and Implementation

13:24 Surprises and Lessons Learned

16:23 The Reverse Order of Enterprise Market Success

19:25 Inflections and Curiosity for the Next 10 Years

22:22 AI and Machine Learning in Enterprise Software

25:35 Pricing and Packaging Challenges

29:09 Personalized Pricing Packages for Customer Needs

32:35 Creating Value with New Features

34:48 Avoiding the Mistake of Not Creating Value

Keywords

product development, personalized demos, B2B software, live demos, enterprise market, AI, machine learning, performance-based pricing, pricing, packaging, monetization, B2B SaaS, customer value, retention, personalized pricing, entitlements, features, value creation