David Berman

by | Aug 11, 2020

David Berman

Operating Partner

David was most recently President of Zoom Video Communications, the leader in modern enterprise video communications, where he spearheaded the Company’s growth from $20M to over $400M in ARR.  With more than 20 years of operating experience in the software as a service (SaaS) industry, David is known for his innovative, highly successful sales and go-to-market strategies, and for his expertise in leading high-performing organizations.

Prior to Zoom, David was President of RingCentral, and was a key contributor to their highly successful IPO, helping drive the company to industry-leading growth rates.  Previously, David was President of Worldwide Sales and Services at WebEx Communications, where he developed the revolutionary web-touch sales and service model, helping the Company attain its IPO and 100X revenue growth.

David received his BBA, Business Administration from The University of San Diego.

 

What role are you most proud of in your career and why?
I had the opportunity to join Zoom Video as President in the early hyper-growth years.  We grew the Company from $20M in ARR to over $400M in three years.  The growth was amazing but even more important was our commitment to delivering happiness to our customers and employees.  Our Net-Promoter Score was in the 70’s and employee turnover was less than 10%.  That is pretty rare at a fast-growing startup where the wheels are often falling off.  Zoom does it right, with an understanding and appreciation that if you take great care of your customers and employees, they will take care of growth.

What advice would give to founders that are starting out?
Be extremely hands-on with early customers and partners.  These lighthouse customer accounts will help you fine-tune your product-market fit and are the glide path to scale.  Conversely, if a customer leaves, it’s incredibly important that you understand the root cause around their churn.  What else could you have done to keep them as a happy, engaged, and paying customer?  Churn is the silent killer in a recurring revenue business and customer success is everything.

Why did you become a Venture Capitalist after 20+ years as an Operator?
I love working with intelligent and passionate founders that are solving difficult problems.  My expertise is in Go-To-Market and I made a lot of mistakes over the years.  It fires me up to have passionate conversations with entrepreneurs about the different ways to scale their marketing, sales, and customer success organizations.  I have been in SaaS since the very early days and have seen it evolve and the dynamic, early-stage startup remains the most fun for me.

What was your first job in technology?
My first job in technology was selling payroll and tax filing systems at Automatic Data Processing (ADP) in 1993.  Our sales demo consisted of an MS-DOS based payroll application on a 15 pound Hitachi personal computer.  The sales training was terrific but carrying the computer around in a full suit on hot summer days is something I don’t miss.