"Everyday is closing day": Gero Decker on Signavio's Path to 50 Million ARR

About this episode

Gero Decker, founder of Signavio (now SAP Signavio), has taken his company on an impressive journey: in 2021, Signavio was sold to SAP for around one billion euros. As Co-CEO, he was instrumental in building the sales organization to several hundred employees and over 50 million euros in ARR.

In this special Sales Bakery episode, Syntinels founder Florian Dostert takes over as moderator, bringing concrete questions from his own day-to-day experience as a SaaS founder – he's currently on his way to his first million ARR.

Finding the Right Balance for First Sales Hires

One of the central questions for every SaaS founder: How senior should your first sales employees be? Decker shares his experiences on when it makes sense to focus on junior profiles and what advantages this can have. Particularly in the early phase, capital efficiency can be a decisive factor – an area where Signavio was especially strong.

From Sellers to Sales Leaders

Not every successful salesperson automatically becomes a good leader. Decker explains which sellers have the potential to become sales leaders and how to systematically foster this development. An important building block here is also having the right sales compensation plans that both motivate and reinforce desired behaviors.

"Everyday is closing day" – The Signavio Sales Culture

The episode title is also the program: "Everyday is closing day" was a central motto at Signavio. This mentality shaped not only the sales organization but the entire company culture. Decker explains how a sales organization operates according to this principle and what impact this has on daily work.

Customer Success as a Success Factor in Enterprise Sales

In B2B SaaS, Customer Success plays a crucial role – especially in enterprise sales. Finding the right balance between sales and customer success and integrating the interplay of both functions into the company culture is one of the biggest challenges when scaling.

Learnings from US Expansion

Not everything went smoothly from the start: Signavio needed a second attempt at US expansion. This experience offers valuable insights into what to consider during international expansion and how to learn from mistakes.

The Founder's Role in the Sales Process

How does the founder's role in sales change across different growth phases? When is it time to hire senior sales leaders, and when should the founder remain actively involved in the sales process? Decker shares his experiences on these critical transition phases.

Opportunity Qualification as a Core Discipline

One of the most important skills in B2B sales is proper opportunity qualification. Decker explains why this is a core discipline and how to systematically embed it within the organization.

From Zero to 50 Million ARR

The episode provides deep insights into building an effective go-to-market strategy – from the first euro to over 50 million euros in ARR. For SaaS founders facing similar challenges, Decker's experiences are particularly valuable.

The combination of Decker's expertise and Dostert's current challenges makes this episode a practical resource for anyone looking to build or scale their sales organization.