From Inception to Acquisition: Natasha Ratanshi-Stein on scaling Surfboard, stage-fit hiring and the importance of founder-led sales

Natasha Ratanshi-Stein has seen startups from almost every angle, as a VC, Operator, and Founder. After scaling customer service operations at Bulb, she saw firsthand how broken legacy workforce management tooling really was. 

That pain became Surfboard, and in today’s Making The Grade episode, Natasha is refreshingly honest about what founders underestimate in the £1 to £10M ARR journey, and her own journey from inception to an acquisition by Dialpad, which was all sparked by an SDR’s mis-targeted outbound message.  

📚 Episode Chapters: 

02:00 - Building Surfboard from idea to acquisition
14:40 - Lessons from selling before a finished product 
30:15 - Transitioning out of being a Founder 
38:00 - Hiring the right Sales Leaders for growth   
44:15 - Navigating funding challenges 

🎧 Continue listening… 

Make sure you listen to Ego, Cash & GTM Discipline: Paul Fifield’s unfiltered lessons from building scalable businesses 

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