Mark Ghermezian, Co-Founder @ Braze, Founder and General Partner @ m]x[v capital

1. How to Reinvent a Category that’s already
been Won with Braze’s Co-Founder
Mark Ghermezian
Co-Founder
Braze
@Markgher
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2. The Building Blocks to Reinventing a Category
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Listen to Your Customer
Gratitude & Humility
Innovate or Die
Success Squad - customer success team, actively
figuring out what our customers need
AppBoy Academy - knowledgebase to help
customers use Braze and marketing best practices
Culture of Gratitude - build a team of humble
learners that are looking to continuously learn
Know the Industry - practice humility, stay on top of
industry trends, and encourage friendly competition
Keep Moving - stay on top of changes happening in
the market, evolve, reiterate, always keep moving

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It Started with Steve.

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5. MOBILE DEVELOPER
COMMUNITY SITE
A website where people could
share app ideas, create profiles,
showcase apps they’ve created
and connect with their app users.
Realizing Opportunity & Making Changes
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iOS APP CHECK-IN SDK
An iOS app where users could
check-in to apps (i.e. Foursquare)
and have check-ins pushed to
Facebook and Twitter. Allowed
developers reward high-
frequency users.
FEB 2011
PLATFORM
Unintentionally pioneered a
Mobile CRM and Marketing
Automation platform that had the
ability to collect user data,
message users, and build
customer relationships.
FEB 2012
2009

6. Serendipitous Moments
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iOS APP CHECK-IN SDK
MOBILE DEVELOPER COMMUNITY SITE
Appboy Created
- Website
- Basic SDK
- Man with idea
SXSW
- $1M in seed
- Alex Lloyd, mentor
- 3 major investors
JULY ‘11
‘09 - JULY ‘11
Co-Founders
- 2 Co-Founders
- Bill & Jon
- Thanks Bipul!
NOV ‘11
NOV ‘11
Building the Team
- Hired 4 team members
FEB ‘12
Listening to the Customer
- Realized users didn’t care
about AppBoy’s
gamification mechanics….
But cared about data &
CRM side

7. The AHA Moment - Unintentionally Reinventing a
Category
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Mobile CRM
&
Marketing
Automation
Platform
Pre-AHA Post-AHA
SDK Platform
Long-Tail Enterprise
Centralized app
community
User Data Aggregator
User Gamification
Relationship building
with customers
App Check-In Direct message users

8. The State of the Market
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User Analytics
Desktop Laptop Apple’s New Suite
Pre 2007 2007 & Beyond
Turning all device
user analytics and
allowing companies
to action against
insights
Built for desktop/laptop
ecosystem and
attempted to integrate
mobile
KEY ENTRY POINTS
●Foundation not built -
competitors hadn’t built from
the bottom up to support the
mobile ecosystem
●Several device analytics into
one platform - competitors
hadn’t built for this
●Only analytics - there was not
a platform that extended from
analytics to action

9. Proving the Doubters Wrong - The Underdog Mentality
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Defining Yourself in
a New Market
Differentiating from
Indirect Competitors
“You’re not a CRM
- Salesforce and
Marketo are.”
MixPanel provided
analytics for tracking
user behavior for
web/mobile apps.
Localytics did user
attribution & analytics
to boost engagement.
Urban Airship provided
push notifications for
marketing.
The Market Wasn’t
Ready
(shifting mindset from
acquisition-> retention)
Raised $1.55M bridge to buy time
No one understood
the market
opportunity
“There are already
companies doing
what you’re doing.”
“You’re not the
typical startup CEO.
Where is your
Harvard degree?”
How big is the market even? Is there
enough TAM for your company to make
significant impact?

10. LIVING ON A PRAYER
The Power of Perseverance
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11. Perseverance Through Hard Times
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There are so many times that I could’ve given up. The only reason Braze exists today is
due to perseverance and pushing through adversity.
2011
Spent a whole weekend
looking for investors - found 1
2011
My co-founders just won the TC
Hackathon - it was an intensive
courting process
2013
1st Customer - constant outreach on
why they needed us, flew to LA -
locked in $8k/month contract
2014
Ran out of money, self-funded
payroll for a few months before
getting $5.1M from Tom
Peterson (Bullpen Capital)
2013
Fired first VP of Sales after 2
months on the job. The board
was NOT happy.
2015
Fought to have Myles Kleeger as
CRO - including showing up at his
front door

12. Appboy->Braze: Building an $8B Company
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Means to an End
Building a Platform NOT a
Feature
Make it Sticky
Is it in the Budget?
Helping businesses track, engage,
and action upon user analytics
across various platforms
Built a platform that marketing
teams live on. Building a command
center to manage key marketing
actions
Integrate into the key marketing
tech stack
Yes
KEY FUNDAMENTALS TRANSLATED TO BRAZE

13. Appboy->Braze: Building an $8B Company
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Bigger
Market
Opp
Budgets
to Buy
Software
Knew
What a
CRM Was
A defining moment for Braze’s success was moving from long-tail to enterprise.
Enterprise
Investing
in
Marketing
WHAT WE REALIZED WHAT WE DID
Held to
Our
Margins
Built a
Quality
Enterprise
Sales
Team
Built an
Enterprise
CS Team
Built
Content
Strategy
Around
Enterprise

14. Key Principles for Success
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1
2
3
Listen to Your Customer
Gratitude & Humility
Innovate or Die
Success Squad - customer success team, actively
figuring out what our customers need
AppBoy Academy - knowledgebase to help
customers use Braze and marketing best practices
Culture of Gratitude - build a team of humble
learners that are looking to continuously learn
Know the Industry - practice humility, stay on top of
industry trends, and encourage friendly competition
Keep Moving - stay on top of changes happening in
the market, evolve, reiterate, always keep moving

15. What Going On Now?
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Investing in:
●Underdogs
●Next thought leaders
●“Picks and shovels” of industries
●Creation of new spaces/industries
Having been a founder/operator, I understand the pains of building and operating a
business. I want to be able to extend that knowledge to up-and-coming founders.
Fund Focus:
●Pre-seed, seed, Series A
investing
●B2B SaaS companies

16. THANK YOU
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