JP Werlin @Pipeline CRM. From 16 years of bootstrapping to a successful exit

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love brought to you by https://saas.group/.

I’m your host Anna Nadeina, Head of Growth for saas.group. In this episode #11, we are talking with JP Werlin the co-founder of Pipeline CRM (https://pipelinecrm.com/), the #.1 Sales CRM empowering sales teams to build game-changing relationships with customers. JP shares their story of adapting to the ever-changing tech industry, providing top-notch customer care, and bootstrapping the business for sustainable growth that aligns with the company culture.

(0:00:06) – From Service to Product 

JP Werlin, co-founder of Pipeline CRM, the number one sales CRM and a member of saas.group family joins saas.unbound podcast for an interview. We discuss his journey to becoming an entrepreneur, his experience building Pipeline CRM from the ground up, and the transition from a service business to a product business. He shares his insights on the evolution of technology, the importance of patience and luck in product development, and the challenges of competing in a market with few existing competitors. We also discuss the impact of the internet and Ruby on Rails on the user experience and the browser, and how these helped to shape the software industry.

(0:11:52) – Value-Based Business Building =

JP discusses his journey to becoming an entrepreneur and the importance of building value into a business rather than focusing solely on valuation. We explored the concept of value versus valuation, the ethos of entrepreneurs in the tech landscape, and how to build freedom for oneself as an entrepreneur. We also reflected on the binary mindset that can be detrimental to entrepreneurs and how investors can pray off of it.

(0:29:04) – Selling Pipeline

JP Werlin discusses how he and co-founder Nick Bertolino started Pipeline CRM and the importance of taking on extra projects to progress your career. We reflect on the early days of the business when there was only one paid developer and they both had to take on two jobs to make ends meet. JP describes the difficult process of finding talent at the time, as well as their first full-time hire, who was found on Google. I ask JP about the process of considering and ultimately accepting an offer from saas.group, and the shift from being an entrepreneur to an investor. Finally, we honor the international team of developers who helped Pipeline CRM grow into the business it is today.

(0:43:37) – Sales Pipeline Marathon

JP explores how selling Pipeline CRM was similar to running an ultra-marathon and the importance of breaking the process down into achievable goals. We discuss the challenge of selling Pipeline CRM during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and JP’s new venture, Pyrezo, which focuses on wildfire technology and helping homeowners protect their properties. We look into the trend of machine learning and AI, and how it is changing the sales game.

(0:51:50) – A Long-Term Partnership and Success

JP discusses his relationship with co-founder Nick Bertolino and how they were able to build Pipeline CRM together. We reflect on the unique story of their partnership and how it ended positively, with the two of them still talking and catching up regularly.