SaaStr 331: The Right Way To Structure Enterprise Pipeline Reviews, How COVID Is Impacting New Enterprise Deals, How SaaS Companies Can Not Only Decrease Churn But Increase Upsell Today with Jessica Lin, Co-Founder @ Work-Bench

Jessica Lin is a Co-Founder and General Partner @ Work-Bench, one of New York’s leading early-stage enterprise funds with a portfolio including the likes of Cockroach Labs, X.ai, Dialpad, VTS and Catalyst to name a few. Prior to Work-Bench, Jessica was a Learning and Development Manager at Cisco Systems, where she worked with the Engineering organization on Agile transformation, innovation and culture. Jessica is actively involved with the education and workforce development community in New York City and as chair of the Industry Advisory Board at Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow.

 In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

• How Jessica made her way from learning Swahili into the world of enterprise and into the world of venture with the founding of Work-Bench?
• How should founders expect to see their new business pipe be impacted by COVID? What does Jessica believe is the right way to do proper pipe reviews? What specific elements does Jessica really double click on in reviews? Where does Jessica find managers and founders do pipe reviews wrong?
• What does Jessica believe is the right way for sales reps to engage with new customers during this time? What is the right tone to adopt that achieves both empathy and a business objective? How should sales teams and CS respond to requests for discounts? What should be the compromise with discounts? 
• What specific and deliberate things can startups do not just to prevent churn but also to increase usage and upsell? Does Jessica agree with the rule of thumb that in enterprise, on an annual basis, 95% of your customers should retain? What other strategies has Jessica seen work really well for retention?

Jessica’s 60 Second SaaStr:

1. What would Jessica most like to change about the world of SaaS?
2. What is the hardest element of Jessica’s role today with Work-Bench?
3. The NYC ecosystem, pros and cons?

Read the full transcript on our blog: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-work-bench-and-initialized-capital-may-8-2020/

If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:

Jason Lemkin

Harry Stebbings

SaaStr

Jessica Lin 

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