“CEO Confidential: Top three insights from SaaStr Europa 2018 that our CEO is bringing home

The SaaStr Europa, 2018, recently took place in La Ville-Lumière (aka Paris), putting together in one (beautiful) room some of the most brilliant minds in the SaaS industry.

Our CEO and Co-Founder, Hande Cilingir, was thrilled to attend a panel entitled “CEO Confidential”, moderated by Joanne Chen, Partner at Foundation Capital, where Jason Lemkin also participated as a panelist. The panel was a delight for CEOs from different backgrounds and countries with one world in common: the SaaStr universe.

We asked Hande to share with us her top three insights from such an incredible gathering and here’s what she told us.

“The first thing to strike me at the panel was the fact that, almost all of us there, shared very similar experiences and challenges, regardless of where we were coming from. For example, the investor/entrepreneur relationship can, sometimes, be quite distant, as it’s often hard for us, entrepreneurs, to explain our goals, strategies, and motivations for our investors. However, the VC pitching sessions at SaaStr provide us with a great opportunity to come closer to our investors, to strengthen that connection and give us a rare glimpse into their culture and their approach.

Second interesting feedback was the fact that CEOs can benefit so much from sharing their experiences with each other, and events like SAAStr Europa give us the perfect space to do it. CEOs cannot escape the spotlight, we’re somehow banners of our companies’ values, culture and business strategies, so being able to share the intricacies of such responsibilities with other CEOs was priceless. The event, as a whole, as a unique opportunity to see together, in one main gathering, the best minds of the B2B SAAS companies in Europe.

Finally, I cannot close this list of insights without mentioning Jason Lemkin. We had the chance to spend roughly two hours with him during the panel, and this, again, was priceless. Lemkin is such a beacon of inspiration to all of us in the industry, and during the panel, we were able to hear first-hand his captivating understanding of our entrepreneurship culture. We’ve been following him up close since 2014, engaging with his inspirational writing and quirky approach to our industry. Definitely one of the highlights of my experience and something I’m eager to share with all of you, at Insider”.

We’re excited to learn more about this incredible meeting, and we look forward to what’s next in the SaaStr universe.