Raaz Herzberg is the chief marketing officer and VP of product strategy at Wiz. Wiz hit $100 million ARR within 18 months (the fastest growth in startup history) and, five years in, is generating over $500 million ARR. It also serves over 45% of the Fortune 100. Raaz was one of the first five employees at Wiz, joining as the first product manager, and helped the team pivot to what may be the most intense PMF in history. Before Wiz, Raaz led security products at Microsoft, including Azure Sentinel. In our conversation, we discuss:
• How Wiz pivoted from their initial idea and found deep product-market fit
• What Raaz learned about listening to customers
• Why she moved from product to marketing, despite no prior experience
• How she thinks differently as a marketer with a product background
• Lessons learned from scaling a hypergrowth startup like Wiz
• Much more
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Find the transcript at: [ Ссылка ]
Where to find Raaz Herzberg:
• X: [ Ссылка ]
• LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: [ Ссылка ]
• X: [ Ссылка ]
• LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Raaz’s background
(02:54) Early challenges and Wiz’s essential pivot
(06:41) Finding product-market fit
(11:31) Lessons from early customer interactions
(14:54) The power in speaking up when you don’t understand something
(17:46) How Wiz pivoted from their initial idea
(23:52) Marketing and leadership insights
(28:05) Following the “heat” in your organization
(30:22) How Raaz found success as CMO
(34:01) Common CMO mistakes
(36:23) Creating noise and standing out
(40:28) Embracing failure and taking risks
(44:53) The importance of clear communication
(48:32) The “dummy” explanation
(51:00) Building trust and company culture
(53:45) Contrarian corner
(56:34) Lightning round
Referenced:
• Wiz: [ Ссылка ]
• An inside look at Deel’s unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of Growth): [ Ссылка ]
• Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product): [ Ссылка ]
• Assaf Rappaport on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• How LinkedIn became interesting: The inside story | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn): [ Ссылка ]
• Shardul Shah on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• Doug Leone on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• Jeff Horing on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• RSA Conference: [ Ссылка ]
• Microsoft acquires Adallom to advance identity and security in the cloud: [ Ссылка ]
• Imposter syndrome: [ Ссылка ]
• Careers at Wiz: [ Ссылка ]
• Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business: [ Ссылка ]
• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention: [ Ссылка ]
• Gong: [ Ссылка ]
• The Wire on HBO: [ Ссылка ]
• Raaz’s pen holder recommendation: [ Ссылка ]
Production and marketing by [ Ссылка ]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
