In this episode, James is joined by Chris Federspiel, CEO and Founder of Blackthorn.io. Chris shares his journey in the Salesforce ecosystem and the challenges he faced as a bootstrapped startup. He discusses the focus on events and payments, the process of killing unsuccessful products, and the importance of finding product-market fit. Chris also talks about creating accountability without a board, effective marketing strategies, and the role of system integrators in their business. He shares insights on release management, customer support, and the future of the Salesforce AppExchange. His advice for startup founders is to persevere through the challenges and stay focused on their goals.
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Origin Story
01:19
Focus on Events and Payments
04:22
Challenges of Bootstrapping
06:22
Creating Accountability without a Board
09:41
Marketing Strategies and Targeting SIs
11:27
Finding Product-Market Fit
14:16
Training and Enablement for SIs
16:07
Unexpected Hurdles and Lessons Learned
23:14
The Future of the Salesforce AppExchange
27:26
Advice for Startup Founders
If you are a Salesforce ISV founder with an interesting story to tell, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email to podcast@unaric.com and we'll be in touch.
In this episode, James is joined by Chris Federspiel, CEO and Founder of Blackthorn.io. Chris shares his journey in the Salesforce ecosystem and the challenges he faced as a bootstrapped startup. He discusses the focus on events and payments, the process of killing unsuccessful products, and the importance of finding product-market fit. Chris also talks about creating accountability without a board, effective marketing strategies, and the role of system integrators in their business. He shares insights on release management, customer support, and the future of the Salesforce AppExchange. His advice for startup founders is to persevere through the challenges and stay focused on their goals.
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Origin Story
01:19
Focus on Events and Payments
04:22
Challenges of Bootstrapping
06:22
Creating Accountability without a Board
09:41
Marketing Strategies and Targeting SIs
11:27
Finding Product-Market Fit
14:16
Training and Enablement for SIs
16:07
Unexpected Hurdles and Lessons Learned
23:14
The Future of the Salesforce AppExchange
27:26
Advice for Startup Founders
If you are a Salesforce ISV founder with an interesting story to tell, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email to podcast@unaric.com and we'll be in touch.