A Modern Day Wonder Woman - Therese Tucker, Founder, Executive Chairperson, and former CEO Blackline Inc [S4.E2]

Scaling up: Lessons from the world's best CEOs and Founders

Therese Tucker is the founder, former CEO and current Executive Chair of the NASDAQ Listed, $6b market cap business Blackline Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) Therese is a pioneer in every sense - an inspiring woman who has written her own script at every point in her career. As a 40 year old single mum of 2, she decided to bootstrap an enterprise software company - building Blackline over the next 20 years into what is is today – the market leader in automation solutions for finance and accounting teams that is trusted by 60% of the Fortune 50, and a third of the Fortune 500.

The complexity that these huge businesses face closing their books is mindboggling. By solving these needs, Blackline’s customer love has driven growth to nearly $400m in revenue, and it has its eyes firmly on the billion dollar mark. As one of the very few female founders to have ever rung the bell at the Nasdaq, Therese has a unique perspective on a range of scaling issues – from the deep pains of bootstrapping to preparing for an IPO, this conversation is wide ranging as it is important, also covering themes as building diversity in the workplace. From Illinois farm girl, to listed CEO, this is a story to be enjoyed by all.

You can follow TDM ( linktr.ee/tdmgrowth) and host Ed Cowan (linktr.ee/eddiecowan) across social channels.

Show notes:

Therese’s upbringing: (00:02:54)

Therese’s first experience with computers: (00:04:06)

How Blackline got started: (00:08:00)

Funding your own business: (00:11:08)

What Therese loves about SaaS: (00:14:41)

Blackline’s transition from on-premise to the cloud: (00:15:25)

The curveball of a a former employee becoming a competitor and pitching to their customers (00:17:50)

The importance of having more than one player to validate the market: (00:18:46)

Value of having enterprise sales lead to scale the business: (00:19:45)

The challenge and complexity of shifting from on-premise to the cloud: (00:21:11)

Blackline’s lead up to IPO: (00:23:35)

The importance of an experienced and strategic CFO: (00:30:20)

Blackline’s culture as it has evolved over time: (00:32:24)

Being based in LA: (00:34:53)

Creating a diverse workplace: (00:36:04)

The changing nature of the role of the CEO: (00:39:02)

How Therese let go of the CEO position: (00:40:59)

How Blackline reacted to COVID: (00:43:18)

Therese’s advice to her younger self: (00:46:31)

*Disclaimer: This podcast is created and published for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice. Transcripts may contain occasional errors in fact.