Scaling to $200M ARR with Todd Olson | CEO & Founder, Pendo

In this episode, Jay Nathan (COO, Churnkey) and Baird Hall (Co-Founder, Churnkey) have a candid conversation with Todd Olson, Founder & CEO of Pendo, a comprehensive product experience platform. 

Todd founded the company in 2013. The Raleigh, N.C.-based company has since raised $356 million in venture capital, landed more than 2500 customers, and now employs 750 people across eight offices globally. Pendo has appeared on the Forbes Cloud 100 and Inc. Best Workplaces lists for the last six years.

In this episode we explore the intricate dynamics of pricing strategies and the balance between product-led and sales-led growth. Todd shares insights on the significance of pricing elasticity, customer commitment, and aligning pricing with value perception. Additionally, the discussion delves into the evolution of Pendo's go-to-market strategy, the challenges of product installation, and the nuanced approach to balancing product-led expansion with sales-led acquisition.

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About Todd Olson:

Todd Olson is the CEO and co-founder of pendo.io, a widely recognized platform focused on improving digital product experiences. His expertise lies in product management and entrepreneurship, with a strong emphasis on user-centric design and product development methodologies. Through his leadership at Pendo, Todd has played a pivotal role in helping companies understand and enhance their digital product experiences.

Here is what we cover:

• Todd's experience with pricing strategies and the importance of understanding elasticity.
• Significance of increasing prices to filter out less committed customers.
• Importance of charging enough to ensure customer commitment and responsiveness.
• Considerations for pricing based on customer value perception rather than solely on costs.
• Todd's perspective on balancing product-led and sales-led growth strategies.
• Challenges of product installation in B2B markets and its impact on the product-led approach.
• Importance of aligning go-to-market strategies with customer needs and market dynamics.
• Exploration of product-led expansion as a complementary strategy to sales-led acquisition.
• Todd's role as a repository of historical context and its value in guiding product decisions.
• The evolution of Pendo's approach to pricing and growth strategies over time.

This episode is sponsored by Churnkey, the world's most powerful customer-centric retention platform.