The Revenue Revolution + Rudy Lai
VCs, Early hires & Identifying your ICP
Description
Welcome to another edition of the Revenue Revolution podcast from Jointflows.
Jointflows is a revolutionary tool that streamlines the sales process and in particular the closing stages. Jointflows accelerates internal processes with a collaborative platform enabling clients to take control of the sale process and prevent loss of revenue.
Mick and Hitesh interviewed Rudy Lai, CEO and co-founder of Tactic. Rudy, originally from Hong Kong, has a background in computer science and investment banking in the algorithmic trading business.
He got moved to sales, and after five years decided to start freelancing and looking for the next opportunity.
Working on various projects led him to the idea of Tactic, which he started with his co-founder in late 2019. Tactic is an Index Ventures backed company that helps businesses surface relevant customer data and insights accurately.
In this episode we talk about taking chances and Rudy’s journey this far, takeaways from investment banking to entrepreneurship, good and bad surprises that come with growth, pros and cons of joining a start-up, and tools to help with onboarding.
We also talk about the responsibilities of founders, how to manage the first and the 700th employee that joins the company, and all things about VC backing.
Highlights
Highlight 1 (00:00:30) – Rudy’s journey to Tactic.
Highlight 2 (00:03:00) – From banking to tech.
Highlight 3 (00:04:50) – Takeaways from investment banking to entrepreneurship.
Highlight 4 (00:08:15) – Getting teams to work together.
Highlight 5 (00:11:17) – A good and a bad surprise about growth.
Highlight 6 (00:14:15) – “Ultimately, as founders, we’re responsible for our team’s careers and their ambitions and their successes”.
Highlight 7 (00:17:46) – Being responsible for the first vs 700th employees careers.
Highlight 8 (00:18:31) – “What you want to do is install this culture where every leader, every manager, every team member is helping each other in their own careers”.
Highlight 9 (00:19:00) – Pros and cons of joining a start-up.
Highlight 10 (00:22:00) – What it’s like pre and post VC backing.
Highlight 11 (00:25:48) – Milestones to achieve before taking VC backing.
Highlight 12 (00:31:31) – Best things from VC, finance, brand, and network.
Highlight 13 (00:36:13) – Biggest changes since becoming VC backed.
Highlight 14 (00:38:57) – Things Rudy would do differently if he were to launch his company today.
Highlight 15 (00:42:43) – Best career memory to date.
