Episode 6: Jonas Ruyter and Vidya Peters, DataSnipper

Second Acts with Krish Subramanian

In this episode of Second Acts, Krish is joined by DataSnipper’s co-founder, Jonas Ruyter, and their CEO, Vidya Peters. They shed introspective light on how they thoughtfully underwent (what often is) among the most exactingly strained transitions for scaling SaaS businesses: hiring an external leader as the CEO.

Jonas: "Always, indeed, be laser focused on product and how you can add stuff to the product that your users want. But also look at your pricing, because most first-time founders price too low and you can tweak around with that. Not to say you have to be very expensive, but I do see, in the beginning you need to close your first deals and that's not always the actual value you deliver or far from it."

Vidya: "Growth papers over talent; it papers over strategy; it papers over processes. All of those can be broken and you wouldn’t know because growth just kind of papered over all of it exactly as you said. And it’s so easy to assume, ‘okay, don’t touch anything, you may mess with growth,’ but actually what you don’t realize is you could be driving into a wall unless you change something now."

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Chapters:

(02:36) An introduction to DataSnipper

(07:16) Deciding on hiring an external CEO

(10:42) How DataSnipper co-founders landed on their focus areas

(12:35) “It’s easier if someone has already seen the movie”

(14:53) How their search for a CEO led them to Vidya

(16:18) Why they didn’t hire a COO in their biggest market instead

(17:51) Managing the (often) tense founder-to-CEO transition

(22:23) Vidya’s 3-point rubric for assessing a leadership opportunity (and a business)

(24:54) What questions did Vidya ask even before speaking with DataSnipper co-founders

(26:39) Why Vidya feels 90-day plans take too damn long

(30:05) How growth papers over all sorts of cracks

(32:43) Expanding the core segment, finding new ones, and accelerating the product

(33:58) Why Jonas believes “charge more” is perennially relevant advice

(37:55) The 3 types of changes that scaling demands and how to approach them

(41:30) From Taleb to Aurelius — Jonas and Vidya recommend their favourite books

(44:57) How Jonas keeps the passion alive in his new role

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Mentioned/Resources:

#26 Hiring Company Leaders | Vidya Peters | Slush 2023

Leading a Company Through Self-Disruption

Zero to One

Skin in the Game

Trillion Dollar Coach

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

How to Win Friends and Influence People

The Daily Stoic

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Connect with Jonas:

LinkedIn

Connect with Vidya:

X

LinkedIn

Connect with Krish:

X

LinkedIn

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