These software solutions serve critical functions – ranging from regulatory compliance, portfolio management, investor communications and engagement, and trade execution. In this episode of Scaling with Sumeru, Jack McCabe, Principal, and Sumeru Growth Partner, Eric Brown, sit down with Darrell Heaps, the Founder and CEO of Q4 Inc. the newest investment to join the Sumeru portfolio.

Q4 Inc. is transforming how issuers, investors, and the sell-side community efficiently connect, communicate, and engage with one another. The Q4 platform facilitates interactions across the capital markets through IR websites, virtual events, engagement analytics, investor CRM, market analysis and ESG applications.

Join Jack, Eric and Darrell for this downloadable podcast episode as they discuss: • Evolution of Q4 • The Capital Markets Ecosystem and Digital Transformation of Investor Relations • Experience as a Public Company • Operational Excellence and Customer Focus • Partnership with Sumeru and Q4’s Growth Prospects

In today's episode, our host Sofija Ostojic, Vice President at Sumeru, sits down with Ryan Barry, President at Zappi, which is a leading software provider for agile consumer insights. Together, they navigate the domains of innovation, customer-centricity, and the rapidly evolving software landscape. Ryan imparts invaluable insights regarding the profound impact of dedicating meaningful time to customer engagement, the importance of adapting strategies to contextual nuances, and the transformative potential of shedding outdated behaviors to embrace new paradigms. They also explore the delicate balance between being customer-centric and driving disruptive change, as well as the significance of agile consumer research in making data-driven decisions. Ryan offers a wealth of knowledge on building strong relationships with employees and customers, finding the right balance between growth and scale, as well as the impact of data and artificial intelligence on innovation.

Join as we discuss:

• Strategies for customer-centricity
• Market research for pre-launch innovation
• Balancing growth and scale in a business
• Driving behavior change and navigating complex networks
• Unlearning, relearning, and the importance of staying agile for sustainable business growth
• Data, artificial intelligence, and innovation
• Zappi’s Scaling Partnership with Sumeru for business success

In this episode of Scaling with Sumeru, Mike McLaughlin, Growth Partner at Sumeru and Rex Galbraith, CRO at Consensus discuss Account Based Selling and how it can be a powerful technique to durably scale enterprise SaaS businesses.They emphasize the need to take a bottoms-up approach and consider the performance of the best team member as a benchmark for estimating the entire team's capabilities.

Together they explore the fascinating shifts in sales psychology, where the emphasis should be placed on prioritizing good revenue over simply meeting quotas. Rex shares some insightful coaching on leadership experience, with the intention of achieving a strategic and successful growth strategy.

Join us as we discuss:

• The importance of creating both ideal and non-ideal customer profiles
• Metaphorical comparison of forecasting with a microscope vs. a telescope
• Differences between account-based selling and traditional inbound marketing
• Friction between sales and marketing teams
• The shift in focus from SMB to enterprise pre-sales market

Join our host Pejman Pourmousa, Operating Partner at Sumeru Equity Partners, who sits down with our latest guest, Rob Baker, VP of Digital Services and Support at Firstup to discuss AI applications across businesses through the practical use case of AI in ticket deflection and several other modern strategies.

Join us as we discuss:

• Ticket deflection, why it’s important and how AI is streamlining processes
• Incorporating conversational AI ethically, with problem-solving intention
• The number one challenge in tech support (and how AI can solve it)

Jason Babcoke, Managing Director at Sumeru Equity Partners speaks with Garin Hess, Founder and CEO at Consensus about how entrepreneurs can navigate finding Product Market Fit, whether it requires adapting the product, strategies and approaches themselves, shifting markets entirely, or a little bit of both. Ultimately, the right fit is sustainable and scalable, providing mutual benefit.

Join us as we discuss:

• What Product Market Fit is and how to know when you’ve achieved it
• Sales Enablement vs. Buyer Enablement
• Accelerating the buyer experience for rapid growth

Mentors matter.

In this episode, guest Isabella Souza,; Former Sumeru Equity Partners Fellow, joins Sumeru team members Jialin Zhang and Douglas Hayes to share her experience with the Fellows Program and discuss how students like herself can unlock the power of mentorship by seeking out opportunities outside of your school.

Join us as we discuss:

• The origins of The Sumeru Fellows Program and how it works
• Why mentorship is so important
• How the program sets students up for success

Enter Customer Success (CS), the function within your business to help your customers — you guessed it — succeed with your product or service. And while it may seem daunting, with the right approach, your business can reap the rewards of a successful CS Team in no time.

In this episode, host Pejman Pourmousa speaks with Alison Gill, Global Head of Customer Success at Beqom, to decode the secrets to CS and help you make it work in your business.

Join Pejman and Alice as they discuss:

• The 5 pillars of CS
• Communicating your CS strategy across the whole organization
• The 4 elements every company needs to be successful with CS

Ben Cox is focused on driving growth across Sumeru’s global portfolio of companies with particular emphasis on Product.

“Ben was instrumental in helping us advance our product roadmap, make pricing and packaging decisions, and refine our strategic direction. He is also a pleasure to work with, as he is unassuming and humble, not afraid to roll up his sleeves, and has a vast inventory of dad jokes to lighten the mood.”

• Josh Millet, CEO of Criteria Corp

Sanjeet Mitra is a Managing Director focused on the firm’s software, cloud and hardware company investments and sits on the investment committee. Prior to co-founding Sumeru Equity Partners he was a Principal at Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle market investment strategy of Silver Lake and predecessor fund to Sumeru Equity Partners. Sanjeet has more than ten years of investing and investment banking experience.

Prior to joining Silver Lake Sumeru, Sanjeet worked in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in San Francisco, where he worked with clients in the industrial, TMT, and healthcare sectors.

-- Our host Mark Healy is a writer, creator, and podcast producer. He is the VP of Content at Ceros, a software platform for interactive design, and one of Sumeru’s portfolio partners.

Jason is a Managing Director focused on the firm’s software investments and sits on the investment committee. Prior to co-founding Sumeru Equity Partners, he was a principal at Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle market investment strategy of Silver Lake and predecessor fund of Sumeru Equity Partners.

Jason has more than 15 years of technology investing and operating experience. As an operator, Jason was the Director of Engineering for Angstron Systems, a venture-backed startup he helped lead to a successful acquisition and he holds six issued patents. As an investor, Jason focuses on business-oriented software with investments including Talend (IPO – NASDAQ:TLND), Blackline (IPO – NASDAQ:BL), Buildium (Acquired), Snow Software, Criteria, Tasktop, and Loopio.

-- Our host Mark Healy is a writer, creator, and podcast producer. He is the VP of Content at Ceros, a software platform for interactive design, and one of Sumeru’s portfolio partners.

Jialin is a Vice President of Sumeru Equity Partners and joined the firm in 2019. Prior to joining Sumeru Equity Partners, Jialin worked in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Goldman Sachs in New York.

-- Our host Mark Healy is a writer, creator, and podcast producer. He is the VP of Content at Ceros, a software platform for interactive design, and one of Sumeru’s portfolio partners.

Kyle is the Managing Partner of Sumeru Equity Partners where he focuses on leading investments in software and hardware companies. He sits on the firm’s investment committee. Prior to co-founding Sumeru Equity Partners, Kyle co-founded and served as Managing Director of Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle market investment strategy of Silver Lake and predecessor fund to Sumeru Equity Partners. He has over two decades of experience with private equity investments, venture capital, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions in the technology sector.

Prior to co-founding Silver Lake Sumeru, Kyle was a Partner at Shah Capital Partners where he was responsible for mid-market technology private equity investments. Prior to joining Shah Capital Partners, Kyle was a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and the head of Global Technology Investment Banking, where he served as an advisor to a number of leading technology companies. Prior to Lehman Brothers, he was a technology investment banker at Robertson Stephens and also worked in the firm’s venture capital funds where he analyzed and executed venture capital investments.

-- Our host Mark Healy is a writer, creator, and podcast producer. He is the VP of Content at Ceros, a software platform for interactive design, and one of Sumeru’s portfolio companies.

John is a Managing Director focused on the firm’s software investments and sits on the investment committee. Prior to co-founding Sumeru Equity Partners he was a Managing Director at Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle market investment strategy of Silver Lake and predecessor fund of Sumeru Equity Partners. John has two decades of operating and investing experience in the technology sector.

Prior to joining Silver Lake Sumeru, John was at Adobe Systems where he most recently led the company’s Platform Software business unit. In addition, he directed the activities of Adobe’s Creative Professional business unit in an operating capacity in 2005. Prior to Adobe Systems, John was with Hewlett-Packard Company, Senior Vice President of SMB segment operations. John also spent 8 years working for Accenture Strategic Services where he was a Principal and Associate Partner of Electronics and High-Tech Practice.

-- Our host Mark Healy is a writer, creator, and podcast producer. He is the VP of Content at Ceros, a software platform for interactive design, and one of Sumeru’s portfolio partners.