Nonprofits often struggle with technology because companies aren’t building technologies with nonprofits in mind. For example, while a for-profit organization may have five board members and hundreds of employees, nonprofits often have five employees but 25 board members.
In this episode of SaaS Open Mic, I speak with Jeb Banner is the CEO of Boardable. Boardable is a board management and meeting software for mission-driven organizations. We talk about how to turn a service business into a SaaS business. We also touch on dedicating yourself to solving the right problem, raising money, and how to balance confidence and vulnerability as a member of the executive team.
Before starting Boardable, Jeb used to run a service business, so early on he needed to shift his thinking towards SaaS.
You’re building a snowball with SaaS. It’s just all about growing that recurring revenue versus constantly having to go out there and resell the same customers over and over. That’s a big mindset shift.
While running a SaaS business, mistakes are inevitable: you’re going to spend money on marketing campaigns that won’t work, hire the wrong people that you’ll eventually need to let go, and much more. No leader is able to prevent it all. Jeb seeks to be vulnerable about the things he doesn’t know.
The CEO should have the answer. That’s the archetype. (…) We’re confident but we’re also vulnerable about the things that we’re not confident about. That’s a tricky balance. (…) I firmly believe that the growth and potential of your company are closely tied to how much you can change and mature as a leader.
Our interview covers the following topics:
- The shift from a service business to SaaS
- Focusing on the problem and nothing else
- Raising money
- The balance between confidence and vulnerability in the leadership team
- Employee experience
