Crossing the Chasm: The Documentum Case Study on G2M and Leadership
In this session, Jeff will reflect on the journey at Documentum – from $500K in revenue to a $1.7B exit to EMC – which eventually became a Harvard Business School (HBS) case study. He’ll expand on the lessons and strategies that allowed Documentum to Cross the Chasm (a nod to Geoffrey Moore, a dear friend of Jeff!) with exceptional precision and efficiency across both go-to-market (“G2M”) and leadership.
A few discrete topics that Jeff will cover include:
- Defining and executing a successful G2M strategy
- Evaluating between horizontal vs. vertical market approaches and their evolution
- Best practices for market development
- Overcoming obstacles through focused communication, leadership, and strategic pivots
- Lessons from navigating market downturns and unforeseen challenges – how to be an effective “wartime” CEO
Jeff has one of THE most decorated backgrounds in the broader software sphere. He brings nearly 50 years of experience (not a typo!) as a high-powered advisor, board member, executive/operator, investor, etc., to some of the most iconic franchises across the technology ecosystem. He is the Lead Independent Director and has been a Board Member at ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW and $213B+ market cap) since 2011. Before that, Jeff was the Chairman and CEO of Documentum, a leading enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that enable organizations to unite teams, content, and associated business processes. Jeff transformed Documentum from a 15 FTE startup early in its PmF journey to the unequivocal leader in their category with 1,200+ employees and $200M+ of revenue, leading to a successful listing on the NASDAQ and sale to EMC for $1.7B.
Today, Jeff is the President & CEO of JAMM Ventures, a consultancy he founded that specializes in growth strategies, leadership development, and operational scaling for growth-stage enterprise and infrastructure software businesses. Jeff is also on the Board of Directors of several non-profits, including All Across Africa, The Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and Santa Clara University (his alma mater). He also works closely with the American Prairie Reserve and the Golden State Warriors Community Foundation. He was a former Member of the Board of Directors at several hyper-growth software scale-ups, including McAfee, Data Domain, Mark Logic, Lithium Technologies, and Datameer, to name a few.
Measuring Value and its Impact on Customer Engagement
Best Practices for Prospect Conversion & Engagement
