How do you create a product category out of a wide open white space? Place Technology did just that when they launched the only strategic finance product on the Salesforce AppExchange. Learn how they did it, the challenges they encountered along the way, and how their recent focus on customizing their value prop and messaging for the Salesforce audience has increased inbound leads by 500%. This is the second installment of our Journey Through the AppExchange series, where CodeScience Chief Revenue Officer, Sean Hogan, speaks with ISV leaders like Brandon Metcalf, CEO & Founder of Place Technology, about their path through the Salesforce AppExchange from idea to launch and beyond. In this webinar, you’ll learn: - How viewing the Salesforce platform as an operating system rather than a CRM can open up opportunities for new product categories - Why it’s critical to hone in on your product positioning and messaging early on, and the risks you take if you don’t - How crafting a demo that resonates specifically with Salesforce customers -- and Salesforce AEs -- can give a huge boost to your pipeline and conversion rates

2. Today’s Speakers:
Sean Hogan
CRO
CodeScience
Brandon Metcalf
CEO & Co-Founder
Place Technology

3. ● About CodeScience
● Journey through the AppExchange series overview
● Lessons learned from Place and their AppExchange Journey
■ Entering into a new Category within Salesforce ecosystem
■ Expanding the Team & Timing
■ Finding market fit to a hostile buyer
■ Key lessons learned
● Takeaways and Action steps for all ISVs
● Open Q&A (submit questions via Q&A button)
Agenda

4. About CodeScience

5. Client success: 10% of the AppExchange

6. Journey Through the
AppExchange

7. Revenue Stage - Team Design Changes

8. Salesforce ISV Lifecycle:

9. ISVs want to build a Thriving Business:

10. Vertafore acquired by Roper Technologies
in 2020 for $5.4B
Salesforce-based Exits
$1B+ Acquisitions of AppExchange
companies
(non-Salesforce):
Saba Software acquired by Cornerstone
OnDemand in 2020 for $1.4B
Gainsight acquired by Vista Equity Partners
in 2020 for $1.1B
SDL acquired by RWS Group in 2020
for £809M
Vlocity acquired by Salesforce in 2020
for $1.3B
Slack acquired by Salesforce in 2020
for $27.7B
Tableau acquired by Salesforce in 2019
for $15.7B
$1B+ AppExchange companies
acquired by Salesforce:
nCino NASDAQ in 2020 at $3.8B
valuation now $5.8B
Zoominfo listed on NASDAQ
in 2020 at $8.3B
AppExchange
IPOs
Vertex listed on NASDAQ
in 2020 at $2.7B
Veeva listed on NYSE in 2013 at
$2.4B now $50B

11. ISV Functions through the AppExchange:
Strategy
Product
Management
Product
Marketing
Marketing
Ops
Sales Ops
Seller’s
Journey
Buyer’s
Journey
Sales
Sales
Engineers
SFDC
Alliances
Marketing Deploy
Support

13. Welcome Brandon!
Brandon Metcalf
CEO & Co-Founder
Place Technology

14. Could we do for finance
what we did for staffing & recruiting?
Acquired
by Bullhorn
March 2018
Founded in
2011
Raised ~$28M
from 15 angel investors
2017 Inc 500: 9th
-Fastest Growing
Software Company in America with
2800% Revenue Growth
8
Global Offices
Customers in
40+ countries

15. Brandon Metcalf
CEO
Kabe Vanderbaan
CTO
We had the PLACE problem at Talent Rover
Talent Rover was a global software company for the
staffing and recruiting industry and was built on the
Salesforce Platform.
Customers ranged from small 5 to 10 employee firms, to
multi-billion behemoths such as Adecco Group, True
Blue, and Page Group
When we were a 50-person tech company, asking
questions much bigger than a 50-person company “Should
I build operations in Hong Kong”
100s of hours spent every month on forecasting and
planning what would happen
We used the same models throughout the exit process,
because we knew the value based on a variety of scenarios

16. Place’s Journey

17. An agile finance
platform for the entire
company.

18. Multibillion-Dollar
Platform
Enormous
Existing Scale
Growing
Wonderfully
We love
$25.7B
Revenue
150,000+
Customers
We’re not the only ones who have exited on the back of “The Salesforce Growth Play”:
21%
Revenue Growth
in 2021
Great Reach Into Our
Target Segments
Great
Partnership
$4B Existing
TAM Today
Referring
Business to Place

19. AND WE’RE THE
ONLY ONE
DOING IT!
We’re the only strategic
finance product built on the
Salesforce Platform.

20. In 2018 …….Place is @ revenue $0

21. They found their hostile Buyer

22. Company Timeline

23. New categories require hyper focus on:
Strategy
Product
Management
Product
Marketing
Marketing
Ops
Sales Ops
Seller’s
Journey
Buyer’s
Journey
Sales
Sales
Engineers
SFDC
Alliances
Marketing Deploy
Support

24. Companies need trusted real-time financial alignment
Financial &
Business Alignment
Sales
Accounting
(Historic)
Operations
Finance
(Future)

25. For SAAS & PS companies it’s hard to get the data in one place
Financial &
Business Alignment
Operations
Finance
(Future)
Accounting
(Historic)
Sales
● Integrated Billing
● Commissions
● Cash & Financial Forecasts
● Variance Analysis
● Scenario Models
● Custom Reporting
● Pricing
● Pipeline
● Quota
● Revenue Recognition
● Subscriptions
● Financial Statements
● Period End Reporting
● Consolidations
● Spend Management
● Workforce Management
● Vendor Subscriptions
● Credit Requests
● Approval Processes

26. Automating financial and business processes
with live, connected data

27. Place Results

28. Go-to-Market Timeline
Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021 Q3 2021
Execute & Adjust
● Avg. Revenue to Plan: 103%
● Avg. Net Dollar Retention: 108%
● License revenue increased 602%
H1’21 over H1’20
Launch Reposition
● Sales Pipeline: +200%
● Inbound Pipeline: +653%
● Deal Value: +74%

29. Key Takeaways

30. Key Takeaways
● Hire an expert CMO who’s been in the
Salesforce ecosystem - even if interim
● Name competitors you want to be compared
to and focus on a category
● Clearly define ICP, TAM and SAM
● Clear define primary and beneficiary buyers
(individuals)
● Obsess over messaging and positioning
● Leverage personal brand to drive company
brand awareness
● Meaningful content is king
● Don’t be afraid to name your top competitors
● Don’t go all-in on advertising until you’ve
validated messaging and positioning
● Don’t be all things to all companies and
people - early days the more specific the
better
● Don’t try to figure everything out yourself
● Don’t rush to make changes, but don’t wait
too long
● Don’t expect too much attention from the
Salesforce field in the beginning
DO’S DON’TS

31. Action for all ISVs
Action Resources Completed
Place Listing Review: https://sforce.co/3BfQDSH Look for Buyer’s Messaging
CodeScience Demo Challenge: 10 ISV Cohort
Demo Optimization Challenge
Personas & User Switcher https://sforce.co/3CFIokI

32. Please Submit Your Questions Below
Open Q&A

33. Contact Us:
Sean Hogan
Continue the Conversation
sean@codescience.com
Brandon Metcalf
brandon@placetechnology.com