Enterprise Direct Sales Playbook

ConverSocial is an enterprise SaaS platform that helps large consumer brands deliver customer service through social media and mobile messaging channels. Founded by Josh March (who previously sold i-Platform to a UK agency in 2012), the company has raised $20 million in capital and serves approximately 250 enterprise customers including Google, Sprint, Hertz, and Hyatt Hotels with ARR exceeding $10 million.

MobFox is a mobile in-app supply-side platform (SSP) acquired by Amadame Media Group for approximately $12 million in 2014. The platform connects app publishers with demand-side platforms and advertisers, helping developers monetize their apps while optimizing ad delivery through SDK-based solutions. In 2015, MobFox processed $18 million in gross ad spend (keeping 17-20% in revenue), and by 2016 more than doubled that to $36 million, working with 20-30,000 publishers and 180+ DSPs.

Blockchain Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2014 focused on investing in blockchain and cryptocurrency companies. The firm has raised four successive funds, with notable investments in companies like Coinbase, Civic, and Argo, and famously conducted the world's first venture fund ICO in April 2017 that sold out in 30 minutes.

Picatiki is an event ticketing SaaS founded in 2008 by Jayesh Parmar with a freemium model targeting nonprofits and community organizers with a free product, while monetizing through commission-based Pro and enterprise API offerings. The company raised $1.5M total and achieved $1.2M in revenue (4% of $30M gross ticket revenue) in 2016, with plans to break $60M in gross ticket revenue in 2017 through 100% YoY growth driven by newly hired VPs of Growth and Sales focusing on enterprise API customers.

Widespace is a mobile ad tech platform founded by Patrick Figerland in 2007 that evolved from selling media to building enterprise SaaS technology. The company processes approximately $36-40 million in annual ad spend through its system, serving ~1,000 advertisers (including 75% of top 50 global advertisers like Procter & Gamble) and 500+ publications, generating ~$17 million in gross profit in 2016 with 130 employees. After raising $30 million in VC funding, Widespace shifted to a high-margin technology model charging usage-based fees (typically 50% of spend for demand-side, with supply-side cuts as well) rather than media margins.

June Group is an ad tech platform founded by Mitchell Rich in 2005 that connects brands with consumers through non-interruptive video advertising in mobile apps. The company bootstrapped profitably for 10 years before raising $28 million in mezzanine debt and a private equity investment in 2015, growing to 75 employees with consistent 10-25% year-over-year growth while maintaining profitability.

Foursquare transformed from a hot consumer social network (valued at $650M in 2013) into an enterprise location intelligence powerhouse under CEO Jeff Glick's leadership starting in 2016. The company monetized its 70,000 free developer community through a tiered SaaS licensing model based on API calls, with over 90% of revenue now coming from B2B customers including Fortune 500 companies, tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and ride-sharing platforms like Uber. Their Pilgrim technology, built on nearly 12 billion cumulative check-ins (7 million per day), enables contextual mobile marketing and real-time foot traffic analysis that has made Foursquare an essential infrastructure layer in apps across the globe.

UAPI is a mobile app discovery platform that connects app advertisers (like King/Candy Crush, Uber, Lyft) with high-quality users through 4,500 publisher partners including Cheetah Mobile and Pandora. Founded in late 2011 by Moshe Vaknin, the company grew from $250K in revenue (first year) to $80M net revenue by 2016 by processing over $320M in total ad volume and taking a 30% commission while returning 70% to publishers. The company is profitable, has raised $20M in capital, employs 130 people across 10 global offices, and is positioned for potential IPO.

Miracle is a SaaS platform launched in 2012 that enables large retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Urban Outfitters to operate their own third-party vendor marketplaces on their websites. The company has raised $22M in equity funding and serves over 125 customers across 25 countries, using a percentage-based pricing model tied to incremental revenue generated through the marketplace. Adrian Nossenbaum bootstrapped the initial development with proceeds from his previous exit (Split Games to Fnac) and built a 160-person team focused on enterprise B2B sales with a sub-one-year payback period target.

Duetto Research, founded in 2012 by Patrick Bosworth and two co-founders (including Craig Weissman, former CTO of Salesforce), is a hotel pricing optimization SaaS platform serving over 3,000 hotel properties across 98 countries. The company has achieved remarkable unit economics with $17,000 annual ACV per property, ~$50M ARR run rate, 14-month payback periods on $20K CAC, zero customer churn in five years, and improved gross margins from 30% to 75% through operational efficiency.

Concept Drop is a marketplace that connects businesses with vetted designers to create marketing materials (presentations, one-pagers) on-demand. Founded by Phil Alexander in 2012 as a side project, the company grew from a couple thousand dollars in first-year revenue to over $300k in 2015 and closed a $1.1M Series A in mid-2016, bringing total funding to $1.35M. The platform serves over 300 leading brands with a network of less than 100 vetted freelancers, targeting director-level and higher marketing teams at mid-market and enterprise companies.

James Turner is a conversion rate optimization consultant and copywriter who started Turner Creative in 2014 after his instructional design job relocated. By June 2016, he was running a solo consultancy generating around $45,000 annually, working with 2-3 clients on $10,000 three-month retainers. He was simultaneously launching Snap Copy, a conversion-focused copywriting agency with partner Leanna Patch.

Fileboard is a SaaS sales tool founded by serial entrepreneur Karam Hussein that helps sales teams, particularly those with junior salespeople, ramp up productivity through process automation and task prioritization. As of May 2016, the company had over 800 customers paying $20-30k annual contracts, with a ~2% monthly churn and MRR above $1.3 million, backed by $700k in angel funding including from 500 Startups and notable investors like Andy McLoughlin.

Netline is the largest B2B content syndication and lead generation platform, operating a network of over 15,000 publishers to match enterprise technology companies' thought leadership content with targeted audience segments. Founded after David Fortuno pitched himself to the company at age 26, the platform has processed over 30 million leads and currently generates $20 million in annual run rate revenue with 300-400 active client campaigns at any given time.

Predictable Profits is a business coaching and marketing company founded by Charles Gaudet that helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Operating on a pay-for-performance model initially, Gaudet pivoted to focus on private clients as his primary revenue driver. The company leveraged a published book (The Predictable Profits Playbook, launched April 2014 with 1,500+ copies sold) as a positioning and prospecting tool to secure high-value enterprise clients.

Blipper is a mobile visual browser powered by computer vision and image recognition that enables brands and advertisers to create interactive augmented reality experiences with physical products. Founded in 2011 by Jess Butcher, the company has raised over $100 million in funding, grown to 300+ employees across 14 offices globally, and achieved 60 million app downloads by working directly with Fortune 500 brands like Pepsi, Coke, and Nestlé on campaigns with average deal sizes in the six figures. The company is transitioning from brand-specific interactive campaigns to a broader visual search platform that recognizes and provides information about any object in the real world.

Ad Quadrant is a performance marketing agency founded by serial entrepreneur Warren Jolly in April 2014. The company specializes in managing social advertising campaigns for brands, taking a percentage of ad spend (typically 20%) or fixed payout per action. In its first year (2014), Ad Quadrant generated $4 million in revenue through careful pre-planning and leveraging Warren's existing network, growing to $15 million in 2015 with 35+ customers and 33 employees.

John Ruland is the #1 distributor among 1.5 million for Cutco Cutlery. Starting as a 20-year-old intern, he built a corporate gifting and consulting business around 'radical generosity'—helping executives strengthen relationships through high-end gifts. His company works with Fortune 500 brands and pro sports teams (25+ clients), creating custom gifts like Bluetooth speakers from Wrigley Field's historic wood, generating hundreds of dollars per gift in revenue.

Web Four is a creative and digital marketing agency founded in 2009 by Kevin Getch that went from $30,000 in first-year revenue to $1.3 million in 2015 with consistent 30-50% year-over-year growth. The agency serves 50-70 customers with a mix of project-based web design ($10,000 average) and recurring retainer marketing services ($2,000-$5,000 monthly), operating with a team of 14 full-time employees based in Vancouver, Washington.

Brian Baderra founded Amplify Relations (originally Grassroots 2.0) in 2009 at age 19 after being laid off from a political ad agency, bootstrapping the startup on student loans with his first client being a former employer client offering a few hundred dollars monthly. The company grew to 13 full-time employees and nearly $2 million in revenue by 2015, specializing in high-margin political campaigns, robocalls, and mass-market advertising for political entities, corporations, and startups. Their differentiation came from licensing a robocall system from Canada that yielded 90% margins on certain projects, while positioning themselves as a full-service agency of record.