In this episode of Customer Growth Sessions, Pat Ahern sits down with Brian Schmidt, co-founder of Hoop and former product leader at Trello and Atlassian. Brian shares his fascinating journey from working as a big law corporate litigator in New York City during the Madoff and housing crises to completely transitioning into the world of software development.
The core of the discussion centers on navigating startup pivots, understanding unit economics, and managing subscription-based customer retention. Brian breaks down the strategic indicators that signal when a business model must change, how to communicate those high-stakes shifts transparently to happy customers, and how Hoop ultimately evolved into an AI-driven agent designed to help e-commerce brands execute customer saving playbooks right inside their existing help desks.
Links & Resources Mentioned
- Our Guest's Company: Visit the official Hoop website to see how their AI agents optimize customer retention.
- Pivoting Framework Article: Read the deep dive on How to Know It's Time to Pivot Your Startup, written by Brian’s co-founder at Hoop, Stella Garber.
- Brian's Book Recommendation: Learn more about the strategic frameworks discussed by reading Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke.
- Previous Episode Mentioned: Watch the recording of our 100th episode milestone on YouTube featuring Steffi Schmidt, founder of Fig for Kids, as she discusses thinking like a lawyer as an early-stage founder.
- Connect with Brian Schmidt: Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
- Connect with Hoop: Follow the company's updates on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
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Interested in seeing how Intergrowth could help you grow your business? Head over to https://intergrowth.com/cgs to book a complimentary strategy session with our team.
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