010: Scot Chisholm (Co-Founder & CEO, Classy) | From Pub Crawls to 9 Figure SaaS Company

About Scot Chisholm:

Scot is the CEO & Co-Founder of Classy, a social enterprise that creates world-class online fundraising software for nonprofits, modernizing the giving experience to accelerate global social impact. Since 2011, thousands of nonprofits have collectively raised nearly two billion dollars on the Classy platform, tackling social and environmental issues of every kind. 

Scot co-founded Classy when one of the largest cancer organizations in the country refused to accept the money he raised during a fundraising pub crawl held to honor his mom, a two-time breast cancer survivor. Scot was inspired to start Classy to make it easier for anyone to support a cause that’s meaningful to them, while at the same time making it easier for organizations to make lasting connections with the next generation of supporters. Based in San Diego, CA, Classy has over 200 employees and has raised $40 million to-date in growth capital from prominent technology investors, including Mithril Capital Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Hinge Capital and Bullpen Capital. Classy is well known for its company culture and social enterprise business model that includes the Classy Awards, now the largest social impact award show in the country, its early support of the Pledge 1% movement, and its employee giving program called #ClassyGives. Most recently, Classy was recognized as a Glassdoor Best Place to Work, San Diego Union-Tribune Top Workplace and Entrepreneur Best Company Cultures.

Scot’s recent recognitions include Glassdoor as a “Top CEO in the United States”, San Diego Business Journal as one of the “40 Next Top Business Leaders Under 40” and the “500 Most Influential Business Leaders in San Diego”, and Businessweek as one of the “Top 5 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.” Scot currently serves on the Leadership Council for the California Nature Conservancy, on the Board of Directors at Street Soccer USA and ASC San Diego and on the Advisory Board at Team Rubicon, having previously served a four-year term on the founding Board of Directors. Scot is also an active investor, investing out of a fund called Tall Timbers that includes public and private investments with a focus on SaaS and socially responsible businesses.

Scot is a frequent speaker on social entrepreneurship, trends in giving, and the journey of scaling a startup-for-good. Past speaking appearances include Amazon’s Imagine A Better World Conference; TEDx; Dreamforce; SaaStr; Collision; SOCAP; AFP; Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC); and Inbound.

Prior to Classy, Scot worked at Booz Allen Hamilton and helped create and lead their Lean Six Sigma practice on the west coast. Scot received a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

On This Episode:

• Learn how Classy went from a passion project to full-fledged business.
• Hear how to create and market your product offering.
• Discover the way to create a culture that scales.
• Find out what early-stage entrepreneurs MUST get right from the beginning.