Yesterday, 12,500 SaaS executives, founders, and VCs gathered together for SaaStr Annual 2019, the world’s largest non-vendor SaaS conference. Among the 300 speakers chosen to present to the SaaS community were our very own Jason Boehmig, CEO, and Jess Lee, Board member and Sequoia partner, whom we recently announced led our Series B.
In Jess’s blog announcing Sequoia’s decision to invest in Ironclad, she writes that one of the key reasons she invested in Ironclad was our dedication to our community:
Enduring consumer companies take pride in delighting their customers, and are fanatical about converting users to brand advocates. And with the “consumerization of enterprise,” we see enterprise companies doing this too. This is where Ironclad shines. They host community events like Rooftop Law School that gather people who love to discuss the law. They have a tight feedback loop with customers, working side-by-side to understand pain points and develop new features. The ranks of Ironclad are filled with people offering unique insight into the legal community—like former GCs (VP Sales Damon Mino) and even a few former customers who were so thrilled with the product that they joined the team (GC Chris Young). The signs of a delighted and dedicated community are all there, a fact that particularly excites me given my passion for community-building.
We’ve been a community-based company since our founding, and we’re proud to partner with folks like Jess who recognize that. At yesterday’s SaaStr presentation, Jason and Jess dove deep into the topic of community, sharing before a sold-out audience why our community matters to us and how we show them we care. Some key takeaways were:
- We host three types of events for our community–Rooftop Laws, Community Dinners, and User Events–and we never sell at our events. Our events are safe spaces for legal professionals to have a memorable time, meet new friends, and find mentors, employees, and even their next jobs. To give you an example, our most recent community event was a recruiting happy hour where we connected hiring managers and recruits. And next month, we’re doing a Leadership Roundtable for GCs to share and discuss budget benchmarks.
- We’ve involved our community in our product design since day 1, and it’s one of the ways that we’ve been able to achieve the tight product-market fit that’s evaded other players in our space. User feedback informs every product decision we make, and also motivates us constantly to be more than just functional, but rather “delightful,” as Jess would say.
- Community is so important to us that our CEO considers himself our “Chief Community Officer.” It’s a personal goal of Jason’s for every event feels like it has a heart and soul–and perhaps for this reason, we’ve learned that some of the world’s best community builders tend to be wedding planners! (At least, ours is, and if you haven’t been to one of her events, you’re missing out. 🙂 Sign up to join our community here to be invited to future events!)
Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney. Use of and access to any of the resources contained within Ironclad’s site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and Ironclad.
