On May 27, Inno hosted a virtual fireside chat with Godard Abel, the CEO and co-founder of G2.
G2, founded in 2012, has grown from a Yelp-style review platform for business software to a marketplace where companies can browse and purchase software. In 2018, the tech company raised $55 million, bringing its total funding to more than $100 million to date.
Abel is one of Chicago's most notable serial entrepreneurs. Besides G2, Abel was the CEO of Quote-to-Cash app SteelBrick, which was acquired by Salesforce in 2015 for $360 million. Before that, he was also the founder of sales transaction software company BigMachines, which was acquired by Oracle in 2013 for more than $400 million.
During the fireside chat, Abel dove into serial entrepreneurship, how the coronavirus has impacted G2 and lessons learned in managing a large tech company during a crisis. Two big takeaways from the conversation were:Abel said the economic downturn due to the Covid-19 crisis is so far worse than what he experienced during the economic crash of 2008. Additionally, he said business travel will likely be impacted forever as even he has plans to minimize travel once the pandemic is over.
If you weren’t able to tune into the event, you can watch the full recording here.
Stay on the lookout for more upcoming virtual events!
