Founding business success with a cloud-based software

In episode 7 of the Unleashed Academy podcast, Dylan talks about establishing a successful cloud software business with Greg Murphy, Founder and Partner Manager from Unleashed. Greg takes us through the journey of founding Unleashed software, building the team and culture and taking the business to its next evolution through the development of a partner network.

Greg founded Unleashed Software in 2009 and now manages the Sales and Partner Channel. Greg has built a global, committed network of over 500 partners. With the help of partners, Unleashed has been able to provide its SaaS solution to customers in over 80 countries.

2:45 Top Qualities of Entrepreneurs

There is a need for passion, stickability and grit to succeed as an entrepreneur. There is a need for confidence in order to be able to sell your vision of your idea.

6:50 Measuring Success

In start-up you are continually working towards milestones, it is important to clearly identify these and celebrate these along the way.

10:40 Benefits to building a Partner Network

Through a Partner network Unleashed has been able to extends its global reach without building the necessary staffing/office infrastructure. They are also able to offer local expertise and insights around tax policies and accounting requirements.

11:42 Educating Partners through Online Resources

Greg talks about the importance of teaching customers and partners how to use your product. The SaaS model has seen the evolution of self-service help, beyond traditional help files to more interactive training videos. Unleashed has seen the need for creating bite-sized pieces of content about not just how to use the product but why your business benefits from using it.

14:05 Reluctance to Migrate to the Cloud

Many businesses are reluctant to move to the cloud due to issues of trust around security and speed. As a business it is important to be able educate potential customers around their data and the fact that cloud options are often safer and more robust than onsite offerings.

20:10 The Importance of Team Culture in Building a Successful Business

Unleashed has worked hard to maintain its unique culture as it has scaled and Greg discusses the role individuals play in building this.