On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Henry Schuck, CEO & Founder at ZoomInfo.

Over the past five years, ZoomInfo has grown 10X to more than one billion in revenue with over 3,000 employees and 25,000 customers.

Today, Henry joins us to share lessons from starting and growing the company from his dorm room to global scale.

Specifically, Henry dives into:

2:32 - ZoomInfo's bootstrapped backstory

4:32 - Raising venture capital versus bootstrapping

7:26 - Finding your first customers

10:51 - Biggest challenges with sales in the beginning

14:40 - Milestones you should be setting in the early days

18:19 - Tactics to address customer retention

25:09 - When to onboard a CFO

28:39 - Key channels that were prioritized in ZoomInfo's go-to-market engine

36:50 - How raising funding changed the dynamic of the company

38:52 - How to maintain startup culture as you scale

44:17 - How to give feedback

49:16 - Key team members to hire from startup to scaleup

53:45 - The number one superpower a founder needs to develop

56:54 - Unconventional advice founders ignore, but shouldn't

Learn more at https://tractionconf.io

Connect with Henry Schuck: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hschuck

Learn more about ZoomInfo at https://www.zoominfo.com/

This episode is brought to you by:

Extend your company’s hiring budget with VanHack’s pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.

Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.

Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca

Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

How ZoomInfo Grew From Dorm Room to IPO and Over $1 Billion Revenue with Henry Schuck, ZoomInfo

Traction Podcast

How ZoomInfo Grew From Dorm Room to IPO and Over $1 Billion Revenue with Henry Schuck, ZoomInfo