Alex Farmer, VP of Customer Success at Cognite, brings his great sense of humor to share what he's learned throughout his career, and what he anticipates the future of customer success to look like. In fact, Alex is so passionate about the customer success industry that he created Customer Success Excellence, the world's first awards program dedicated to customer success, and a way to identify the next generation of deserving voices in the CS space. Alex recounts a few valuable insights he's learned during his career, and if you'd like read about them, visit this LinkedIn article he recently wrote, Eight Lessons From the First Decade of my Career.' Catch the full video of this Growth Stories episode on YouTube, or stream it wherever you get your podcasts.   Alex Farmer is the founder and CEO of Customer Success Excellence. Alex is currently VP of Customer Success at Cognite, an Oslo-based DataOps scale-up, and was also recently named a 2021 Top 25 Customer Success Influencer by SuccessCOACHING. Prior to this, Alex served as VP of European Sales and Customer Success at Incopro, a brand protection technology company, where he led the global customer success, partnerships, onboarding, training, and support functions and the EMEA sales team. Earlier in his career, Alex built the customer success function at HR tech scale-up Fairsail which became one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the UK and was acquired by Sage in March 2017 to form Sage People. He is originally from San Francisco but is located in London. ABOUT US:involve.ai is an early warning system to identify risk and expansion opportunities in your customer base. This results in complete visibility into your customers, identification of risk and upsell opportunities as well as an ability to scale account management. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Alex Farmer:https://uk.linkedin.com/in/alexanderfarmer Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:

Paul Arambul, Jr. first met with involve.ai's co-founders Gaurav and Saumya in a coffee shop in San Diego and is one of the involve.ai originals, helping close some of our biggest deals. He is the Sr. Director, Business Development, and today, Paul shares his insights on the Growth Stories podcast. Growing up in Wapato, Washington on the Yakama Indian Reservation in the Valley, Paul learned the value of a strong work ethic early on when he helped his Grandfather work the farm. Being the first in his family to go to college, Paul's ability to connect with and help others propelled him from living in his car to having property investments and building a vision to cement his legacy. Paul's advice is to "trust your instincts - don't be afraid to fail. You'll regret not taking the opportunities that may be out there." Watch this inspiring Growth Stories episode on Youtube, or stream on your favorite platform! Paul Arambul, Jr. is the Sr. Director of Business Development for involve.ai, where he gets to work with corporations to solve their customer churn and renewal challenges while making it cost-effective. Connect with Paul to learn how your company can start offering solutions to keep and build your revenue. ABOUT US:involve.ai is an early warning system to identify risk and expansion opportunities in your customer base. This results in complete visibility into your customers, identification of risk and upsell opportunities as well as an ability to scale account management. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Paul Arambul:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paularambuljr Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involveJoin our CI Community, CI.ty ► city.involve.ai

Demar Amacker, Sr. Director, Business Operations at Zift Solutions joins this episode of the Growth Stories podcast and discusses growing his background in sales and rev ops. With each sale, every renewal, or any uptick in customer satisfaction, Demar knows the impact that the holistic vision of sales empowering and enablement can have on his team!  Hear from Demar's journey starting out in professional sports marketing, and advancing into sales, CRM, and rev ops. Demar's learning mindset has always kept him focused on a constant growth mentality. Demar shares why revenue operations is a new function and why it plays a key role in so many organizations.  You can watch the complete episode on YouTube, or you can listen and subscribe through your favorite podcast platform! Demar Amacker is an active thought leader of RevOps in multiple revenue communities and as a champion and engaging member for a number of communities created for marginalized groups. He most recently received recognition for being one of the top 25 RevOps Leaders of 2022 by Revenue.io, has been featured in leadership articles sharing his road to RevOps story & is due to appear on several podcasts throughout 2022. ABOUT US:involve.ai is an early warning system, like a credit score for revenue retention, that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involveJoin our CI Community, CI.ty ► city.involve.ai

Jason Wesbecher, Chief Revenue Officer at TrustArc, takes us back to his childhood and early career journey from the school halls of John Hughes films, to gambling in Atlantic City. This episode is packed with fascinating stories (like a clever way Jason landed a job), and advice and lessons learned throughout his career. Making a name for himself has been easy because Jason's expertise as a leader has mentored so many throughout his journey. Be sure to watch the entire episode on YouTube, or listen through your favorite podcast platform! Jason Wesbecher is a twenty three-year career as metrics-driven sales leader leveraging a disciplined playbook & culture for growth. Jason has expertise navigating the challenges of turnarounds, the complexity of M&A integration, and the uncertainty within global markets. Jason is a leader and mentor of sales & marketing professionals, motivating people to unlock their potential. ABOUT US:involve.ai is an early warning system, like a credit score for revenue retention, that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Jason Wesbecher:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonwesbecher Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involveJoin our CI Community, CI.ty ► city.involve.ai

Aditya Reddy, a growth investor at Sapphire Ventures, joins this episode of the Growth Stories podcast! Growing up a multi-sport athlete, Aditya tore his ACL, which caused him to take a step back from his identity as an athlete. This became a pivotal point in Adtiya's life and helped strengthened his grit, tenacity, and confidence towards his career journey and transitions.  In this episode, Aditya offers some of the best practices for post-sales customer success or account management, the future of PLG, and why Net Dollar Retention is so important when investors look at company valuations. Watch the video podcast on YouTube, or subscribe to Growth Stories on your favorite platform! Aditya Reddy joined Sapphire Ventures in 2021 as a member of the growth investment team. Prior to Sapphire, Aditya worked on the FP&A team at Sapphire’s portfolio company, Outreach, where he helped drive the consolidated top-line forecasting and reporting function for the business and supported the Marketing organization with ongoing business planning. Aditya began his career at J.P. Morgan in the Technology M&A group where he helped advise large technology clients on an array of strategic initiatives including M&A, divestitures and partnerships. Aditya graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Business Administration. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he enjoys playing basketball, traveling (adventure-style) and trying new foods. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Aditya Reddy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/reddyaditya/ Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involveJoin our CI Community, CI.ty ► city.involve.ai

Hold on to your hats, folks: Mary Poppen is on the Growth Stories podcast! Mary is a trailblazer in our industry and we couldn't be more thrilled to have her on our team as our Chief Strategy and Customer Officer. In this episode, Mary shares about her career journey, and overcoming imposter syndrome while being one of very few female executives working in tech startups.  Mary brings so much insight and clarity to our industry that she even recently published a book, Goodbye Churn, Hello, Growth! Harness the Power of Customer Intelligence: Your guide to creating a customer-centric company through data. Right now, we are offering a free copy of the book if you sign up for a demo to see involve.ai in action! Mary knew one day we'd be able to predict what the key drivers for upsell, churn, and expansion would be, and she was right! Now, she's telling other CCOs and CROs, "you've got an incredible opportunity to create contagious enthusiasm between both your customer and your employees because they're both seeing results, and they're both having an impact. Why wait?" Catch the full episode on your favorite platform, or watch the full video podcast on YouTube.  Before joining involve.ai, Mary Poppen was Glint's Chief Customer Officer at LinkedIn. Mary was responsible for driving and scaling the company's ability to delight customers. Prior to that, Mary was the Chief Customer Officer for SAP's Global Cloud business and Chief Customer Officer for SuccessFactors. With over two decades of experience in customer success, business consulting, and executive leadership, Mary frequently speaks at global events and has authored several publications in this space.   She's a proud wife and mother of two boys, holds a Master's Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, loves to travel and exercise, and she's passionate about Customer Intelligence and developing the next generation of CS/CX leaders! ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Mary Poppen

Throughout Peter Armaly’s career, Peter has found that being eager to learn while understanding the challenges that the world is facing will present opportunities for you. Peter’s ability to empathize with others and assist with their successes can be attributed to the impact of his father’s generosity and the impression that left on Peter growing up.  In this Growth Stories episode, Peter hypothesizes on the future of Customer Success, and what it could look like if it wasn’t a formal function but instead something that happened automatically. Don’t miss this episode and be sure to subscribe to the Growth Stories podcast on your favorite podcast platform! Peter Armaly is the Vice President of Customer Success at ESG and in that role is focused on evolving and expanding the business and on advising client leaders and teams on best practices for all aspects of Customer Success and customer engagement. Peter is a well-known industry researcher, writer, and speaker with deep and extensive experience in Customer Success organizational leadership, enablement and the design and delivery of Voice of the Customer programs over the last 15 years. In addition to his ESG leadership role, Peter is a Customer Success Advisor for Proof Analytics, a predictive marketing analytics software firm, serves on the Advisory Council for the Customer Experience Program at The George Washington University School of Business in Washington, D.C., has been a guest lecturer for the University of San Francisco Customer Success MBA program, and is a regular speaker on a monthly webinar series organized and facilitated by Practical CSM, a Customer Success education and training services provider. Finally, Peter has co-authored a report available on Amazon called Customer Success Attitudes to Training, Certification & CPD 2020/2021. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Peter Armaly:https://ca.linkedin.com/in/peterarmaly Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ►

Jeremy Uniacke, Vice President Information Technology at Thryv, joins the Growth Stories podcast today. Jeremy grew up in a small town in Michigan and talks about how many of the locals spent their time. While Jeremy enjoyed some of those activities, his love for computer science grew. After accepting a scholarship to the honors college at Michigan State University (Go Green! We have a few ties to MSU at involve.ai), Jeremy was able to design his own undergrad program, majoring in both Computer Science and Mathematics, and minoring in both Sociology and Philosophy. One thing Jeremy lives by is to never stop learning. Talk about a brilliant mind! When it comes to entering the system design or system architecture space, Jeremy's advice is to figure out how to simplify your explanations, find out who the decision makers are to support the change, and make sure your UI is right! This intriguing episode spans a variety of stories and topics - Gaurav and Jeremy even chat a bit about the work that Jeremy's daughter is doing in bioinformatics, a combination of computer science and biology! Don't miss out and watch the video podcast on YouTube, or stream on your favorite podcast platform. Jeremy Uniacke is the Vice President of IT responsible for the Back-end Application stack, HR, Finance, Infrastructure, Security and IT Audit functions at Thryv.  His career spans over 25 years, with a focus on application architecture and business integration, across the advertising and automotive industries.  He first got interested in computers and coding at 7, when his Dad said got him an Apple 2, no games, and a book on coding in BASIC.  Today, you can find Jeremy, his wife, and their two cats in the Detroit area enjoying 3 of the 4 seasons outdoors, while hibernating in the winter. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Jeremy Uniacke:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-uniacke-62a9a37 Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ►

We loved having Hardika Narula on the Growth Stories podcast this episode! Hardika is the Director of Product at involve.ai, one of the industry's best ai-powered customer success platforms, and one of the few who have been with us since the start! Being an avid learner, Haridka went back to school for her MBA, and took every class she could in order to find out exactly what she loved doing. Her desire to learn and her drive for growth is part of what makes her the epitome of involve.ai's company values. Not only does she care about learning, Hardika cares about finding deep product fit and is always putting herself in other's shoes to get there. "It's about understanding what's missing for them. So if they have that problem, you're just trying to solve that problem for them. Like a friend would solve the problem for you." Hardika also shares how she's applied what she learned through her MBA program to her experience working at a growth stage startup, and how it can also be very different. The advice Hardika gives is for everyone to get out of their comfort zones, always face your fears, and tell your story! This episode will inspire you to find something big that you can be a part of, and have the confidence to help change the world!  Hardika Narula is the Director of Product at involve.ai, and was recently voted as one of United States’ top 100 Directors in the Artificial Intelligence space. Prior to involve.ai, Hardika was a Technology Consultant with Accenture where she managed their largest telecommunication client. Hardika has done her MBA from the University of Illinois and graduated as a Dean’s fellow in 2017. She is a mentor to graduates entering the product space, an avid hiker, a mixologist, and hopes to someday have her very own winery in Napa valley. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Hardika Narula:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardikanarula Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ►

On this episode of Growth Stories, Gaurav hosts one of his mentors, Cliff Sirlin, Managing Director at LaunchCapital. Cliff talks about the strong entrepreneurial spirit he had growing up which led him to being a founder, operator, and now, venture capitalist. He jokes that everything he's learned refers back to his dry cleaning startup! Cliff shares that there's no such thing as a linear path up and to the right - you need to be a combination of patient and aggressive in problem solving, know that personal relationships are critically important, and a 'do or die' attitude will help you persevere through the challenges. Hear what Cliff says he looks for in a founding team or entrepreneur, and which mistakes should be avoided. This episode is full of great content, be subscribe to Growth Stories on your favorite platform so you don't miss a single episode! Mr. Sirlin is the Managing Director of LaunchCapital, an early-stage venture capital fund that is part of The Pritzker Vlock Family Office. LaunchCapital provides early-stage companies with their first institutional capital. Prior to his role at LaunchCapital, Mr. Sirlin was a career entrepreneur and early stage investor who has founded, invested in and operated a portfolio of high growth businesses. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Sirlin has focused on creating marketplaces and disrupting inefficient supply chains. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Cliff Sirlin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-sirlin-11051030 Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

Chris Singh, Senior Vice President of Global Customer Success at Blackbaud, recognized the virtue of selflessness early on from his father who worked in the medical field serving impoverished villages. Immigrating to Canada, Chris discovered why you shouldn't judge others, and instead looks for the value that everyone has to offer. Never using others to get ahead, Chris' grit and doing the right thing has been the driver of his successful career progression.  This episode will inspire you to think about many things, and Chris' story about having to arm wrestle his way into a job will make you laugh! Catch the full episode to hear about Chris' journey working towards the greater good, and how you can leverage data to provide amazing benefits for both customers and employees. Chris Singh is the Senior Vice President of Global Customer Success at Blackbaud. Chris has held key leadership roles in Product and Software Development, Innovation, Services, Engineering and Customer Success. He is transforming the customer experience and driving value-based outcomes for our 30,000 + Customers. Chris is an avid cricketer and ice hockey player. He also enjoys creative writing and helping the world to be a better place. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Chris Singh:https://ca.linkedin.com/in/chris-singh-a72a325 Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

Vasili Triant, Chief Operating Officer of UJET, (and a close mentor of involve.ai's CEO and co-founder Gaurav Bhattacharya), joins our Growth Stories podcast this week to share about his journey in tech and Customer Success. At just eight years old, Vasili had the opportunity to attend Skip Ross' positive motivational camp for four years, where he learned about creating goals, accomplishments, and overcoming challenges. One of the lessons Vasili leaves with us is that success isn't always about money and a title.  Catch the entire episode for more of Vasili's inspirational learnings! You can also watch the full video interview over on our YouTube channel. As Chief Operating Officer of UJET, Vasili Triant oversees all Go-to-Market activities including Sales, Channel, Alliances and Customer Success. He is passionate about empowering customers by providing innovative tools and technology that deliver one-of-a-kind customer experiences. Prior to UJET, Vasili held key roles at Cisco, ShoreTel, LiveOps, and Serenova where he served as CEO leading the company through significant growth and recognition. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the No1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Vasili Triant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vasilitriant Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

The amazing Margo Martin, Group VP of Customer Success at Deltek, joins us during this episode of Growth Stories! Margo discusses how she took a career risk by leaving Law School to work in accounting, and how that evolved into leading a team of 400+ CS champs globally today.  Margo shares captivating advice on embracing Customer Success - having to look at more than just NRR, ARR, and all the metrics. The key is to make sure your customers are successful. The ubiquitous imposter syndrome hits everyone at some point, and Margo encourages us with advice on batting back, not saying no to opportunities, and how to be a risk taker. Be sure to catch the entire episode packed full of wisdom! Listen to this episode on your favorite platform, and catch the video version on YouTube!  As Deltek's Group Vice President of Customer Success, Margo Martin is responsible for all of Deltek's customer success, enablement and experience teams. Margo leads the company's global customer success strategy which includes driving product training and adoption while delivering a world-class experience for Deltek’s growing customer base. Margo is a graduate of San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. She is an active member in the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA), the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) and American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA). She also plays an active role in the Women@Deltek program, which fosters a network of colleagues and resources to promote the advancement of women throughout the organization.   ABOUT US:involve.ai is the #1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. MORE GROWTH STORIES PODCASTSGrowth Stories Podcasts CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Margo Martin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/margo-martin-/ Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

We are thrilled to host Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, on the Growth Stories podcast today! Nick's perspective is especially insightful, and he shares stories on Customer Success and how it's changing from just a function to an all-out company strategy.  Nick took up golfing during the pandemic, and relates playing golf to focusing on the things you are in control of, rather than spending your energy worrying about things you can’t control. Nick says the book The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz is one of the best books you can read as a leader.  This episode will have you hooked by Nick’s first story - stick around to learn more about becoming a better leader, handling difficult situations, and the future of Customer Success. We'll see you at Pulse 2022 in San Francisco! Nick Mehta is CEO of Gainsight, the Customer Success company that helps businesses improve customer retention, accelerate expansion and capitalize on customer advocacy. He works with a team of nearly 700 (affectionately nicknamed) “Gainsters.” Together, they've created the customer success category that's currently taking over the SaaS business model worldwide. Under Nick's leadership, Gainsight has built an award-winning company culture that is frequently recognized in numerous lists as a “Great Place to Work,” including Inc., Fortune, Glassdoor, Silicon Valley Business Journal, and more. ABOUT US:involve.ai is the #1 rated Customer Success Platform that gives teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience.CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Nick Mehta:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmehta Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

Jeff Yeger, VP of Customer Success at PeerSpot, joins us this episode of the Growth Stories Podcast. Jeff grew up in the tri-state NY/NJ area and at 18, he moved to Israel to learn about his roots and his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. Jeff has made Israel his home ever since! While at PeerSpot, Jeff's life has developed in every way, and he points out that leadership trusting each other to be creative and to do the right thing has made the culture so successful.  Jeff's advice to others in Customer Success, "If you understand the person behind the logo - what they're about and what their KPIs are, what worries them, what their manager thinks about - you're gonna be a much more effective CSM." Listen in to the entire episode so you don't miss a word from this compelling Growth Stories episode. Thank you, Jeff, for joining the Growth Stories Podcast! Jeff Yeger is the VP of Customer Success at PeerSpot, the leading Enterprise Tech reviews platform. He’s spent the last decade delighting customers with his human-first, high-touch approach to Customer Success. He’s all about meeting the person behind the logo, helping every individual with their needs and goals. In addition to Customer Success Jeff spent 3 years as a tank commander, is a dad of 3 and would love to discuss the proper use of a table saw.  ABOUT US:involve.ai is a Customer Intelligence Platform to give teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience.CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Jeff Yeger:https://il.linkedin.com/in/jeff-yeger-b13aa0147 Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

Our Growth Stories Podcast guest this week is none other than Christy Augustine, Chief Operating Officer of Bloomreach. Gaurav Bhattacharya, the host of Growth Stories and the co-founder and CEO of involve.ai, talks with Christy about career growth and scaling companies in our ever-changing world.  Christy's advice is, "If you're focused on expanding your career, surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, who will invest in you, and who will push you is really important." Christy's father was one of those people for her in her life. Be sure to catch the entire episode to hear amazing stories from Christy of how her father was someone that was such an encouragement to her, and her love for coding and computer science. Christy also talks about the critical need for companies to always be questioning the market and asking where are the customers at, what are their pain points, and what's going on in the market that we can solve? It can lead you to a number of failure points, but in the end, take the time to celebrate the failure as much as the success. Thank you, Christy, for joining the Growth Stories Podcast! Christy Augustine serves as Chief Operating Officer, leading Bloomreach’s efforts to arm customers with the tools and knowledge they need to successfully compete in demanding markets. She is a leading thinker in e-commerce, having been a manager at Bain & Co. focused on technology, retail, and strategy prior to joining Bloomreach in 2011. Christina is an experienced computer programmer who has concentrated on site search, merchandising, and payments. She helped found e-commerce teams at both Hewlett Packard and Walmart. Christina holds a BA in mathematics from Saint Mary’s College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. ABOUT US:involve.ai is a Customer Intelligence Platform to give teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience.CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Christy Augustine:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaaugustineConnect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ►

We invited the founder and CEO of Surefire Local, Chris Marentis, to the Growth Stories podcast to discuss customer centricity at its core! Chris looks at how he can provide the best value to his customers, pulling from his experience growing up as the son of an HVAC contractor. Chris and Gaurav also talked about Seth Godin's book, The Dip, and how so many entrepreneurs give up in the dip right before things take off!As always, be sure to watch the entire episode to hear from these leader's insights! Thank you, Chris, for joining the involve.ai Growth Stories Podcast.Chris Marentis is a technology entrepreneur and business leader on a mission to help small businesses leverage the power of digital transformation. As the founder and CEO of Surefire Local, he has focused the company’s efforts to build powerful marketing solutions that give small businesses cost-effective, easy-to-use tools only available to the big guys. The motivation for Surefire Local was born out of Chris’s background in a multigenerational small business home. Prior to founding Surefire Local, Chris was the CEO of Add This and held leadership positions at AOL.ABOUT US:involve.ai is a Customer Intelligence Platform to give teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience.CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demoConnect with Chris Marentis:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismarentisConnect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

Join Gaurav on this episode of Growth Stories as he chats with Mike Sasaki and Rachel Jugai of Miktek Systems about building effective Customer Success teams. You'll hear about Mike's hiring philosophy as VP and global head of Customer Success, and what kind of talent he looks for in candidates. Rachel, Head of North America Customer Success at Mitek, tells us how she's navigated through difficult customers or situations.   Be sure to catch this entire episode to learn from these two impactful leaders of Customer Succes! Thank you Mike and Rachel joining the involve.ai Growth Stories Podcast.   Mike Sasaki is Vice President, Global Head of Customer Success & Support at Mitek - partnering with customers and partners to achieve their business objectives through optimal use of Mitek products. Mitek's Global Customer Success and Support drives long-lasting relationships, and evangelizes the customer and partner perspective within Mitek. With over 15+ years of experience in SaaS/Customer Success (CallidusCloud and Oracle), Mike has worked with some of the largest brands around the globe.   Rachel Jugai, head of North

Thank you, Jen, for joining the involve.ai Growth Stories Podcast. In this episode of Growth Stories, Jen Richard, Principal at Bonfire Ventures, joins us! Jen grew up in Los Angeles and attended college in Atlanta, where she studied English. Jen taught English in France before moving back to LA and working for several startups to get experience in the tech industry. In Business School, Jen earned an internship at a VC and that's when everything clicked and galvanized her career path!  Be sure to watch the entire episode to learn about Jen's battle overcoming imposter syndrome. "It's up to me to do the work, and to accept the external validation." This is an episode you won't want to miss! Jennifer Richard is a Principal at Bonfire Ventures. Prior to Bonfire, Jen sourced and executed seed stage investments at Vitalize VC and Cross Culture Ventures. Before beginning her career in venture, Jen was a founding member of three venture-backed startups and saw two of them through successful acquisitions. She has been responsible for building e-commerce platforms from the ground up and has scaled online commerce to reach over 30 countries worldwide. Her expertise revolves around technical product management, global supply chain, and (most importantly) a deep understanding of customers across a variety of verticals and geographies. She has a BA from Emory University and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She is based out of her hometown of Los Angeles. ABOUT US:involve.ai is a Customer Intelligence Platform to give teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Jennifer Richard:https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardjennifer Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/ FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve

Thank you, Karla, for joining the involve.ai Growth Stories Podcast. In this episode of Growth Stories, Karla Valdespino, born in Ecuador and raised in New York, offers supreme advice: "You only fail if you don't try again and don't learn a lesson from it. Keep learning, the more you know or are prepared, the more confidence you'll feel from within. Cultivating that from within is something no one can take away from you." Be sure to watch the entire episode to learn about Karla's phenomenal story and how her entrepreneurial spirit and strategic leadership has led her to success. Karla Valdespino is a Sales, Growth, and Customer Engagement Manager who has supported sales and customer success teams in transforming the way they work – from engaging in manual, repetitive tasks to strategically engaging with customers by leveraging the power of AI. Her natural leadership skills, business instinct, and ambition have allowed her to grow quickly as a young professional and thus gain unique cross-functional experiences in sales, adult learning, legal, analytics, and marketing from state-wide to global operations. As a certified AI Leader through MIT, she compassionately leads change and growth initiatives by keeping her pulse on global and internal climates, while optimizing unified revenue goals using negotiation, data, process, automation, project management, and AI to architect scalable solutions. ABOUT US:involve.ai is a Customer Intelligence Platform to give teams complete visibility into all their customers, allowing them to drive more revenue through smarter renewals and upsells. With the most up-to-date data, recommendations for action & collaboration across the customer journey, teams can proactively deliver an amazing customer experience. CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE MOVEMENTinvolve.ai website ► https://www.involve.aiSchedule a demo Connect with Karla Valdespino:https://www.linkedin.com/in/karla-valdespinoConnect with Gaurav Bhattacharya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhattacharyagaurav/ FOLLOW US ON:LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/involveaiInstagram ► https://www.instagram.com/involve.ai/Twitter ► https://twitter.com/ai_involve