Mark Ghermezian co-founded Braze (BRZE) and led the company as it’s founding CEO, pioneering a new category from ideation to IPO. He is also the Founder and General Partner at m]x[v Capital, and Co-Founder and CEO of Gynger and Tildei, two companies that he incubated through the venture firm. He is a serial entrepreneur and successful investor with 20+ years of experience in founding, building, and investing in early-stage SaaS startups.

Discussed in this Episode:

Learnings from growing Braze from 0 to IPO.
The behind the scenes on incubating two companies.
How to identify and hire problem solvers who can execute independently.
The value of delegating effectively to scale and empower your team.
Navigating the challenges of raising funding and finding product-market fit.
Building a strong internal BDR team versus outsourcing sales efforts.
The role of conviction and intuition in entrepreneurship and investing.

Highlights:
(7:10) The domino effect of luck, timing, and key decisions in Braze's success.
(21:55) Mark reflects on the humbling experience of taking Braze public and the role of his team.
(28:30) Advice for founders on structuring their cap table and choosing the right investors.
(36:41) Raising Gynger's Series A and how it differed from Braze's early fundraising.
(45:09) A pivotal moment in Mark's leadership journey and learning to delegate effectively.
(49:04) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mark thinks is bull$***.
(51:44) One thing that is working for Mark in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Mark Ghermezian):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markgher/
m]x[v Capital: www.mxv.vc/
Gynger: www.gynger.io/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

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The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders - the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories - revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of VC firm GTMfund.
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GTM 109: Behind the Scenes on Building B...