Episode 7: Bob Moore, Crossbeam

In this episode of Second Acts, Krish is joined by Crossbeam’s co-founder and CEO, Bob Moore. Bob traces a captivating line of inflection points across the three different SaaS startups (RJMetrics; acquired by Magento, Stitch; acquired by Talend, and Crossbeam; they recently acquired their biggest, most kindred-spirited competitor, marking a major second act) he has co-founded. In doing so, he also expounds — with lively analogies — on the line that ties product-market fit and breakthrough scale. Bob: “I will say, shamelessly, that being a repeat founder is an extreme cheat code to having a short-cut to product-market fit. Because not only do you have a lot of very real, tactile experiences inside of an operating company to pull from that give you a lot of conviction around your idea, not just in academic theory, which is what we came to the table with at RJ[Metrics]. But, actually, in practice, based on real-world interactions with real companies. You get that head start. But then, you also have relationships.”—Chapters:(03:20) Falling out of PMF (despite a glorious head start) with RJ Metrics (15:12) “2 ways to make money in business: One is to bundle; the other is unbundle.”(18:56) Why Bob thinks being a repeat founder is an extreme cheat code for PMF(25:34) How Stitch and Crossbeam came about in quick, high-energy succession (30:32) How ecosystem signals can unlock the stacking of next S-curves (35:22) Why taking ecosystem-led growth beyond the partnerships team is a force multiplier (42:42) Bob’s earnest reflection on raising “pandemic-fuelled” mega rounds of capital (47:12) How the Crossbeam-Reveal merger is shaping their future second acts (55:45) The fantastically similar paths that brought Bob and Simon (Reveal’s co-founder) together (58:05) “Suffer pain early” — Why Bob feels M&As are set up to fail and how he has approached them (01:04:44) How poker and improv have deeply informed Bob’s sense of the core binaries of starting up — Mentioned/Resources:I’m Bob Moore. I’m the CEO and Co-founder at Crossbeam, and a serial SaaS founder, AMA!My $2.6 Billion Ecosystem FailHow to Succeed in Business by Bundling – and UnbundlingBreaking: Stitch acquired by California-based Talend in $60M dealWhoa: RJMetrics just got acquiredIt’s Happening! Crossbeam and Reveal are Joining Forces to Disrupt Go-To-Market Strategy As We Know It This Founder Built Startups in 2008, 2016 and 2018. Here’s What He’s Learned About Resiliency— Connect with Bob:LinkedInTwitterConnect with Krish:LinkedInTwitter—Chargebee is a revenue growth management platform that helps thousands of subscription businesses unlock second acts of scale with transformative billing, monetization, and retention infra. Learn more.