Executive Q+A with Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader

Mark Mader developed a passion for technology by observing how businesses make choices based on many variables. In nearly 11 years at Smartsheet, Mader has directed that passion toward making the ubiquitous spreadsheet less of a loathsome tool and more of a friendly facilitator via work collaboration software. The idea, Mader says, is to address hundreds of business-use cases across dozens of industries and functional areas. In the process, he has helped guide Smartsheet from being a startup with 10 employees to soaring as a multimillion-dollar company with nearly 400.

EARLY YEARS: I grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. My father worked for the European subsidiary of a U.S.-based printer manufacturer. In 1976, we moved to Seattle and Ive carried two passports ever since. Growing up abroad and returning many times has had a big influence on who I am and how I engage with others.

EDUCATION: I spent my college years at Dartmouth, majoring in geography. Through my exposure to GIS [geographic information systems] programs that layered data and helped identify patterns in human capital, natural resources, landscape, etc., I witnessed the impact technology has on decision making and how technology can drive better outcomes.

WINNING: I was a student athlete throughout high school [at Lakeside] and college. Those experiences stoked my competitive fire and taught me the importance of competing the right way and not necessarily at someone elses expense. That said, my wife can confirm that I dont embrace losing all that well.

SMARTSHEET: We saw an opportunity early on to disrupt business collaboration, as well as to change an ingrained and

underproductive mindset in which knowledge workers simply fired up a spreadsheet, tracked their work and then sent it to somebody. We were told many times in the early days that we would not succeed, that the problem was too challenging and would be solved by the companies who already provided the tools that everybody used. But we stuck to our beliefs, focused on that idea of doing something big and meaningful, and are well on our way to proving our doubters wrong.

MISSION: Smartsheet was founded on a belief that teams, individuals and millions of people worldwide deserve a better way to deliver their very best work. The companys vision is to enable people and organizations to manage their work, their processes and really automate the work that they do, day in and day out.

LESSONS LEARNED: The extensibility of Smartsheets platform wasnt always geared toward multiple actors. Our original vision was all about solving problems for the information worker. What weve learned is that you cant be successful by solving for one audience alone. An executive, for example, wants to see a summary single pane of glass to arrive at a decision, rather than the details of the work as its being done through to completion. That is a very different value proposition than the information worker whos working to deliver that output. Another lesson centers on automation. Were investing in solving complex and large-scale work automation challenges, in addition to enabling people to collaborate, share, track and update individual and team work. We want these solutions accessible to not just the top 1 percent of the web-savvy universe, but also the teams and organizations outside of the Bay Area who may not yet be fluent in SaaS but seek to improve on their ability to collaborate on and deliver great work.

EXECUTIVE Q+A RESPONSES HAVE BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED.

LOOKING AHEAD: Over the next several years, we plan to build substantive, industry-specific solutions that can deliver ROI rapidly. Its beyond users viewing Smartsheet as a team-based enablement tool and extends to evolving our product to solve high-value business problems without breaking the compelling, easy-to-use, self-directed attributes of the offering along the way. Were one of the few solutions that actually spans a wide spectrum of usage; our smallest customers pay us $120 per year and our largest pay us well over $1 million a year. There are not many software companies that play across those value categories, and we continue to really embrace that.

TECH LANDSCAPE: In an industry and category [SaaS] thats historically been based out of Silicon Valley, were excited to add to the technology beachhead here in the Pacific Northwest. We take a lot of pride being one of the larger privately held software companies based in Bellevue,

still growing at over 70 percent year over year, with a global reach of paying customers in more than 190 countries.

CHALLENGES: If you look at it from a macro perspective, as most companies grow, their growth rates slow. And if were looking at the next five to 10 years, were calling for an increased rate of growth in our business despite hitting higher revenue thresholds, which is highly atypical. Most companies dont do that. As I look ahead, thats our biggest challenge: bucking the inherent tendency to slow down as Smartsheet gets bigger, moves upward in revenue, grows in staff, etc. The great news is that were part of a multibillion-dollar market that continues to grow as the shift to the cloud hits its stride. Were deeply integrated with Microsoft Office 365 and Google for Work, have new partnerships on the horizon and are fueled by a user community in the millions. These conditions provide a great foundation for growth.

PARTNERSHIPS: Google and Microsoft are interested in figuring out how they can strengthen their ecosystems, and theyre teaming with solutions they believe will positively address that goal. Theyre hungry for innovative companies that are resonating at scale [and] that tell a good integrated story, while also competing on multiple dimensions within Google for Work and Microsoft Office 365, respectively. They see value in getting complementary solutions that make them stickier with their consumers, and were part of that journey.

COMPETITION: Im hesitant to name a direct competitor that Smartsheet wants to dominate and disrupt, since the total wallet size for cloud apps and computing is growing so massive, yet is so early in its maturity curve. There will be many multibillion-dollar winners. We are as fixated on winning as we are focused on beautifully integrating with other leading software providers. Its a matter of how well you play with them, in addition to how well you are able to distinguish what you do better than anybody else. Its not that you have to eliminate the other player. If you can compete and you both win, awesome!

Recent achievement: Reclaiming the title at last years family ping-pong tournament!

Favorite dining spot: Flo Japanese Restaurant, Bellevue. Its two blocks from my office, the service is consistently good and their sushi is always on the money.

Diversions: Theater and music are huge. I love spending time in the outdoors as well. Its a huge part of who I am, and I never take that for granted in the Northwest.

Dream vacation: A place I havent been before. It likely involves a long-haul flight and salt water.

Cross-lake commute: During the summer, I occasionally take the Sea-Doo to work. Its a heck of a way to avoid traffic on 520.