Being an Ally who brings purpose, happiness and productivity to work via OKRs

Vetri Vellore is a seasoned entrepreneur. After his 14 years
career with Microsoft, Vetri Vellore started Chronus, an
enterprise mentoring platform which got acquired by a PE firm. He
later started Ally, an OKR software provider, which he scaled
from a team of 15 to 250+ in 2 years, helping 1000s of customers
in bringing purpose, focus and happiness to work and unleash
productivity gains of 2x to 4x. Ally had raised series C funding
and and was on the path to scale up when Microsoft approached
them, resulting in an acquisition that yielded great results for
team members and investors. 


Tune in to this episode to learn more on 


9:23 Advice for hardcore engineering background on how to
become great at business

16:16 Why he decided to build an OKR software?

17:39 How Ally helps companies unleash productivity gains of
2x to 4x?

19:24 What is a modern operating system for running a
company?

20:33 How they framed ICP and how did it change over time?

24:50 How customers and investors think of product category?

28:26 Leveraging customer interviews to sharpen Demand
Generation

32:39 How to optimize for CAC in SEM

34:43 Sales team size and structure

39:46 Managing churn as OKR software requires new habits and
culture change

48:04 How to hire super human senior talent in customer
success?

50:17 How to set a change management practice to success?

53:51 Role of Chief of Staff

56:55 What's a 'Modern work experience'?

57:52 Insights on acquisition by Microsoft

1:00:34 M&A Integration risks & cultural fit

1:01:41 M&A Negotiation tips

1:02:06 Choice between Independence v/s Impact as an
entrepreneur

1:12:14 Tips on scaling team from 15 to 250+ in 2 years



Tune in for more insights, happy listening!