How WorkBoard Raised $75 Million in Funding

Want to learn how to raise $75 million in a series D fundraising round? Want to learn more about OKR platforms? Check out this video to learn all about it.

Welcome back to Bold TV with Philip Michael. Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to Bold TV for other finance news, and all things Bold.

Joining Philip Michael today is the Co-Founder and CEO of OKR platform WorkBoard, Deidre Paknad. We talk all about OKR platforms and WorkBoard.

OKR stands for objectives and key results. Can you explain what that is?

The objective is our intentions and what we are trying to accomplish. The key results are the measures of if we are being successful. So objective is our mission and key results are our measures of success.

What kind of businesses use WorkBoard?

Microsoft uses it at a very large scale. So does Cisco, VMware, Workday, and Juniper. Healthcare companies like Humana, Anthem, McKesson and AstraZeneca also use them. However, large companies aren’t the only ones using OKR platforms like WorkBoard. Startups like Avalara and Malwarebytes also use it. Organizations that have strategic priorities, urgency to achieve and you want everyone to be mobilized around your companies’ mission.

What kind of business model do you employ? Subscription-based, fee-based, or what other business model?

WorkBoard is nearing a million users. Everybody in the enterprise needs to know what the strategic priorities are and what goals does the enterprise have? WorkBoard is sold based on the number of people using the system and they sell that as an annual subscription to the enterprise or a leader of that business.

What is the major pain point that you wanted to solve, which made you go out and create this?

An OKR platform replaces the old-school five-year and one-year plans. With an OKR, you are iterating every quarter what the companies’ strategic priorities are. And when you iterate on the plan faster, you need a more efficient way of doing this, while still maintaining reliability and scalability. Paknad says that last year we all learned that life is short so with the help of OKR platforms, it is more important than ever to learn ‘why’ we are doing the work we are doing. Now we value more than ever doing work that matters and companies acknowledge that change. So companies are really interested in being able to attach what an employee is doing and how that contributes to their company’s mission.

How did you raise $75 million?

First, you raise a lot smaller money. At the beginning of WorkBoard, they were able to raise about $3 million in seed funding. Paknad was able to raise this money and the $75 million the same way. She developed and fostered relationships with investors.

Paknad’s advice for people looking for early investors is to find people who invest in companies of your size and scale. There are many VCS but they don't all fund companies in your segment. Next, build relationships with these people before you are raising money. When you're raising money with an investor, you are starting a relationship with them and you need to know them well before you do so.

Do you want to use an OKR platform? Let us know in the comments below!

Find WorkBoard here

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