GTM 109: Behind the Scenes on Building Braze and Incubating 2 Companies with Mark Ghermezian

Mark Ghermezian is a co-founder at Braze, a customer engagement platform that went public in November 2021. He is also the founder and GP at MXV Capital, and co-founder and CEO at Ginger and Tilde, two companies that he incubated. With extensive experience as both an operator and investor, Mark shares valuable insights on scaling startups, building effective teams, and crafting go-to-market strategies.

Discussed in this Episode:
– The importance of patience and persistence in building a successful company
– How to identify and hire problem solvers who can execute independently
– The value of delegating effectively to scale and empower your team
– Navigating the challenges of raising funding and finding product-market fit
– Building a strong internal BDR team versus outsourcing sales efforts
– Lessons learned from scaling Braze to a successful IPO
– The role of conviction and intuition in entrepreneurship and investing

Highlights:
0:00 – Introduction
7:10 – The domino effect of luck, timing, and key decisions in Braze’s success
17:06 – The importance of choosing investors you genuinely connect with for the long-term journey
21:55 – Mark reflects on the humbling experience of taking Braze public and the role of his team
28:30 – Advice for founders on structuring their cap table and choosing the right investors
36:41 – The challenges of raising Ginger’s Series A and how it differed from Braze’s early fundraising
41:33 – Balancing patience and impatience as an entrepreneur to drive results
45:09 – A pivotal moment in Mark’s leadership journey and learning to delegate effectively
49:04 – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mark thinks is bull$***
51:44 – One thing that is working for Mark in go-to-market right now

Guest Speaker Links (Mark Ghermezian):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markgher/
m]x[v Capital: www.mxv.vc/
Gynger: www.gynger.io/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

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The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders – the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories – revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

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