B2B Rocks

ESG regulations: a new growth engine for European scale-ups?

Caroline Tailleferd-Guibert, CMO at Deepki, highlights why Europe is leading the charge on ESG, and why this creates a massive opportunity for startups and scale-ups.

With strong regulations and a growing demand for sustainable solutions, European companies can both support existing players in their transition and build sustainability into their business models from day one. Compared to the U.S., Europe is ahead, but the window to lead won’t stay open forever.

Caroline explains:
👉 how European regulations open domestic market opportunities for startups ;
👉 why building “sustainable by design” companies is the future ;
👉 how Europe’s lead over the U.S. gives founders a unique but time-limited edge.

A powerful reminder that sustainability isn’t just an obligation, but a competitive advantage.

📌 Watch the full talk on YouTube, featuring also David Johnson (Maddyness), Guilhem Isaac Georges (Contentsquare), and Laetitia Carle (Greenly), for more insights on ESG and sustainable growth: https://youtu.be/9yNH5SeL-I0

💸 Can you build a €100M SaaS on virality alone? Only if you go global.

Leonard Eldić, Founder of SaaStanak, breaks down one of the core growth paths for SaaS businesses: especially those with low-ACV, B2C-style models like task or time-tracking tools.

🧠 In this clip, Leonard shares his view on what it takes to reach massive ARR when your pricing is low and your margins tight:
→ Virality is key: You need built-in loops — referrals, app stores, marketplaces.
→ Paid acquisition adds pressure: With high CAC and high drop-off, volume is non-negotiable.
→ One market won’t cut it: No single European country can sustain this model.
→ Global scale is the only way to hit $100M ARR — and fast.

🎥 Want to hear Leonard’s full breakdown of the 5 growth paths to $100M ARR? Watch the full talk on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1Rikwm-N8vY.

🧰 Tools don’t fix organizational dysfunction. They just hide it.

Giovanna Faso, VP Engineering at Dashlane, shares a hard truth most teams ignore:
too often, when collaboration gets messy or change feels uncomfortable, teams shift the conversation toward tooling.
6 months later? You’ve bought a new platform, sunk time into integration… and the real problem is still there.

🧠 In this clip, Giovanna lays it out clearly:
→ Tools are not the solution, they’re support systems for solutions.
→ If your teams don’t align, switching software won’t help.
→ Before buying anything, ask: what are we really trying to fix?

A new tool can accelerate progress, but only if you’ve already committed to solving the right problem.

Giovanna shares the stage with Enzo Avigo (June.so, now Amplitude), Thomas Weber (Notion), and Chantal Donaldson-Foyer (Decathlon Digital).

👉 Watch the full panel on YouTube to dive deeper: https://youtu.be/FqJNUd7amdc.

No ads. No cold calls. Just smart outreach and genuine connection.

Stefan Smulders, Founder & CSO of Expandi.io, shares how his early, scrappy approach to relationship-building on LinkedIn helped him grow a loyal network of high-value connections, without ever trying to sell.

Here’s how he did it:
👉 Found a LinkedIn “Rockstar” list created by influencer Brenda Miller
👉 Scraped the list, enriched the data, and uploaded it to Expandi
👉 Reached out not to pitch, but to start real conversations and build trust
👉 Focused on friendship before conversion — asking questions, finding mutual value
👉 Repeated the process with U.S. creators who promoted competitor tools — and turned many into allies

🎥 Want the full behind-the-scenes of how he did it? Watch the complete talk on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sqLUnCgzaAI.

🎯 Would you say no to 80% of your revenue to double growth?

In his talk, Ferdinand Goetzen, the Founding Partner at The Growth Syndicate, shares the story of a company that did exactly that and turned it into a massive success.

They were running out of cash. Their high-ACV clients weren’t the best fit. Instead, they discovered that customer success managers were their true Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): easier to close, more engaged, highly referential ; but initially a small slice of revenue.

Here’s what happened when they doubled down on that ICP :
👉 They said “no” to 80% of their ARR to focus on the right customers.
👉 In just 2 years, they scaled to $10M ARR.
👉 They achieved a $100M exit with a single funding round.
👉 They built their entire company around deep understanding of their ICP, from daily habits to professional challenges.

The lesson? Growth doesn’t come from chasing every opportunity. It comes from knowing your ICP inside out and having the courage to focus.

🎥 Want the full discussion? Watch the entire talk on YouTube : https://youtu.be/cKU9UDUFQg4

🛠️ Your product is only as good as your documentation.

Axel Aigret, CEO & Product Manager at StorytoDoc, challenges a common blind spot in SaaS teams:
You obsess over tech debt and UX debt, but what about documentation debt?

He shares two simple questions every product team should be asking:
💡 What % of your product is actually covered by documentation?
💡 Of all your help articles, how many are still up-to-date?

Documentation isn’t a support layer. It’s part of the product experience.
If it’s broken, so is your product.

🎥 Want to rethink how you handle knowledge at scale? Watch Axel’s full talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQI2LmiTu5Q.

🗣️ Sales conversations shouldn’t be improvised, they should be structured!

Quentin Despas, Founder of Meet your Market, explains how salespeople can guide customer conversations with clarity by creating “pillars.”

The idea is simple. Instead of inventing discussion points on the spot, define in advance the 3–6 key benefits of your product. These become your pillars.

Here’s why this matters:
📌 Pillars give sales teams a clear framework for customer conversations.
📌 They ensure no critical topics are forgotten during the meeting.
📌 Each pillar drives the conversation naturally, moving from one key benefit to the next.
📌 For SaaS products, productivity often becomes a pillar, but the approach works for any benefit that matters most to your audience.

The result: stronger, more consistent sales conversations that connect customer needs with product value.

🎥 Explore the full talk on YouTube to see Quentin dive deeper into this method and how to apply it in practice : https://youtu.be/a2xYVXtbygc.

🔮 What if you could spot churn risks and upsell opportunities before they even happen?

Antoinet Van Dalen, then Senior CSM at Cegid, explained how AI is transforming predictive renewal and revenue forecasting.

In the past, customer success teams relied on static health scores. Helpful, yes… but limited. Now, AI takes things further by analyzing real-time interactions, customer sentiment, and behavioral patterns, giving SaaS leaders a much clearer picture of what’s coming next.

Here’s what this shift enables:
✅ More accurate predictions on renewals
✅ Earlier detection of upsell opportunities
✅ Recognition of patterns across industries, roles, and customer types
✅ Actionable recommendations to drive growth strategies

In short, from reactive account management to proactive customer success.

👉 Curious to dive deeper ? You can watch the full talk on YouTube : https://youtu.be/mG8l3KB6x7s

🤖 How does Mistral AI deliver value?

Gianna Maria Lengyel, Head of Business Development at Mistral AI, explains how the company goes beyond building cutting-edge language models, by helping partners and customers turn GenAI into real business impact.

Two main ways companies create value with Mistral’s models and platform:
🧠 Revenue generation: Startups and scale-ups integrate Mistral’s models into their own products, launching new features and monetizing GenAI capabilities.
🧠 Cost efficiency: Larger enterprises use GenAI internally to streamline processes, automate tasks, and reduce operational complexity.

Gianna shares the stage with Cornee Boorsma and Emmanuel Cassimatis (SAP). Catch the full talk on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2mztE5c2Znk.

Buying decisions keep changing. Are you up to date?

Ferdinand Goetzen, the Founding Partner at The Growth Syndicate, explains how the way people discover and choose products has completely shifted.

It used to be about recommendations from friends. Then it was about finding answers on Google. But today, people increasingly turn to creators and personal profiles whether that’s Jake Paul for consumers or trusted voices on LinkedIn for professionals.

This change is now transforming the B2B space. Buyers don’t just rely on search engines anymore; they look to communities, events, and thought leaders they trust.

Here are the key takeaways:
💡 Modern buyers trust creators and personal brands more than companies.
💡 In B2B, community and peer recommendations carry more weight than Google searches.
💡 To stand out, thought leadership is essential, because it’s about creating genuine value for your audience.

The lesson is clear: you can’t buy engagement, you have to earn it by creating real value.

🎥 Want the full discussion? Watch the entire talk on YouTube : https://youtu.be/cKU9UDUFQg4.

🤝 Founders, who should you really be talking to when preparing an exit?

Claire Hour and Alison Murdock are very clear: a common mistake they see among startup founders is focusing too narrowly on a single potential partner or buyer.

It’s natural to get excited about one big conversation, but putting all your hopes into one deal can leave you stuck when it falls through.

Here’s their advice to entrepreneurs:
💬 Talk to multiple players, don’t just pin your hopes on one company.

💬 Engage with your competitors, they might one day become partners or acquirers.

💬 Understand your VC's role, they’re advisors and supporters, but they also need returns.

💬 Keep doors open, if you’re hoping for HubSpot, make sure you’re also talking to Salesforce.

The reality is that startup founders who diversify conversations build stronger opportunities and reduce the risk of getting ghosted.

🎥 Want the full discussion? Watch the entire talk on YouTube, featuring Claire Houry alongside Andreas Creten (Co-Founder & CEO, madewithlove) and Alison Murdock (Founder, Trusted CMO + CEO, 1021 Creative): https://youtu.be/9s_FnvqZ5eY

How do you make data actually engaging?

Heather McDaniel, Founder of Bridge Marketing & Insights, answers the million-euro question every marketer and analyst faces:
By creating tension!

But how?

She shares the dramatic devices you can use to turn flat dashboards into compelling stories, the kind that spark curiosity and action.

Here’s what you’ll take away in under a minute:
👉 use compare & contrast to highlight unexpected shifts
👉 add annotations to draw attention to outliers and anomalies
👉 show trends over time and highlight sudden changes
👉 always ask: "what’s the question behind the chart?"

The secret isn’t in the data, but in the narrative you build around it.

🎥 Want more practical storytelling tips from Heather? Watch her full talk on YouTube: https://youtu.be/svRQU-qUtY4.