A Different Perspective with Ian Schenkel - Cybersecurity & SaaS Leader

About this episode

Nick interviews Ian Schenkel about his unconventional journey in tech and cybersecurity, discussing his successes and lessons learned in the SaaS industry.

This week Nick talks Ian Schenkel Ian is an award-winning commercial leader with a proven record of delivering triple-digit global growth and successful turnarounds for SaaS businesses. Experienced in securing major contracts across government and multiple regulated sectors, and trusted as an advisor on business growth and international expansion. Nick and Ian talk through Ian’s unconventional path into tech and cyber security, starting with his early life on a farm in New Zealand and a series of sales jobs before moving to the UK and discovering software start-ups. Ian shares how he co-founded an early CRM business, made plenty of mistakes around B2C selling and pricing, and used those failures as learning experiences. From there, he built a career launching and scaling US tech companies across Europe, repeatedly growing small teams into multi-million-pound operations and navigating acquisitions. They explore the realities of start-up life — rapid pivots, hiring the right people, learning fast, and the difference between heavy corporate operators and “street-fighter” builders who can create traction from scratch. The conversation also covers Ian’s later successes, including a…

People in this episode

Host: Nick

Guest: Ian Schenkel

Topics covered

• cybersecurity
• SaaS
• business growth
• international expansion
• start-up life
• sales strategy
• go-to-market execution

Keywords

• cybersecurity
• SaaS
• business growth
• CRM
• start-ups
• sales strategy
• international expansion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apple

Books & works: Good to Great, Priceless

Places: New Zealand, EMEA, APAC

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