Ep. 111 - Boosting SaaS Collaboration & Retention in a Hybrid World - with Jonathan Fields, CEO & Co-founder of Assembly

SaaS Backwards - Reverse Engineering SaaS Success

Having moved from a miserable culture in investment banking to an incredibly positive one at tech startup ZipRecruiter, Jonathan Fields learned early in his career the profound impact culture has on an organization.
So inspired, in fact, that he and his co-founders worked nights and weekends to create a platform that could make those elements scalable and easy for companies to adopt.
The result is Assembly, a platform that focuses on creating opportunities for coworkers to connect beyond work-related tasks has enhanced the overall employee experience and fostered a sense of community within organizations.
Initially, when they surveyed people about what they want from work culture, there weren’t a lot of surprises: they want to feel recognized, appreciated, and acknowledged for their hard work. They also want mentorship and career development opportunities.
But as companies moved to more hybrid work during the pandemic (and remain so today), one new concept dwarfed the others in comparison: the “work best friend.”
So, to emulate those types of interactions in their platform (beyond Zoom happy hours), they created channels for culture ideas, such as pets, volunteering, and favorite company moments channels, to facilitate interactions between coworkers beyond work-related tasks.
Profitable since day one, Assembly has successfully positioned itself as a thought leader by focusing on content development early and today has attracted $14.5M in funding.
This episode is ideal for SaaS CEOs and CMOs looking to accelerate growth and enhance profitability through employee recognition, engagement, and rewards platforms.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• How investing in thought leadership and content creation early helped establish credibility and drove sales inbound.
• How to position your SaaS as a “must have” versus a “nice-to-have”
• The importance of researching the landscape, competitors, and buyers before diving into a venture.

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.
The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.
And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting.

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Thanks for listening to the SaaS Backwards Podcast, brought to you by Austin Lawrence Group. We help SaaS firms reduce churn, accelerate sales, and generate demand. Learn more at AustinLawrence.com.
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