MembersFirst is a leading B2B vertical SaaS platform provider of CRM and digital marketing services to member-based organizations in the leisure, lifestyle and hospitality industries.
MembersFirst was a promising angel-backed, early-stage venture launched by a successful technology entrepreneur following two prior exits and an early retirement. It was a passion-driven endeavor that achieved market validation despite being built on the back of a single developer/CTO and an aging tech stack with features informed by individual clients, deal requirements and gut-level hunches.
The product was a late entry into a nascent market and largely viewed as a challenger brand to more established, better funded competitors. From a growth lens, the product lacked the stability, extensibility and differentiated value necessary to achieve scale. From an operations and organizational perspective, the company was undercapitalized and lacked the strategic alignment necessary to achieve cultural cohesion.
Despite being saddled by boot-strapped funding, technical debt, and the absence of any operating protocols, the market and business opportunity being pursued held great promise.
President & CEO
I was recruited by the founder and CEO as part of a growth and succession plan two years into the venture’s development. Initially, I served as SVP of Business Development, followed by Chief Operating Officer, and ultimately ascended to President and CEO where I developed, led, and executed the vision and strategy to drive growth, profitability and new enterprise value creation in preparation for an eventual liquidity event.
Implemented a deep-dive market analysis, strategic review and SWOT assessment to establish a current-state baseline, and identified and prioritized new monetization pathways to grow the business.
Product
Market
Sales
MembersFirst emerged from its early stage as an unprofitable, single-product challenger brand with undifferentiated value and evolved into a highly profitable, multimillion-dollar category leader with a portfolio of nearly half a dozen products and services competing in four markets.
En route, it achieved first-time profitability within three years of its launch, became a perennial industry award-winner for innovation and service excellence, acquired more than 1,000 customers, experienced 400+ percent organic revenue growth, maintained a 90 percent customer retention/renewal rate for five consecutive years, and eventually was acquired by holding company as a central piece of its vertical market portfolio strategy.
