During the Pulse 2022 opening keynote, Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, reflected “In 2013, there were 300 people in this room, and there were like 500 people in customer success, literally.” Oh, how far we’ve come—as a company, an industry, and an unstoppable community that we’ve forged around our annual Pulse Conference.
Today, customer success is one of the fastest-growing disciplines in SaaS, with CEOs and Investors doubling down on Net Revenue Retention (NRR) to grow efficient, durable businesses. According to our recent SaaS Market Report, 85% of SaaS leaders are maintaining or increasing CS budget as a result of the downturn.
We’re ecstatic to come together on May 17–18 to discover what’s next for our industry. To get pumped up, we thought we’d share our top 10 moments from the last 10 years of defining the customer success industry at Pulse.
But wait! Before we take a walk down memory lane, don’t forget to secure your spot at Pulse 2023 today to help us chart a durable future for CS, SaaS, and beyond.
1. Showstopping Speakers
From Geoffrey Moore, Author of Crossing the Chasm, to Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, we’ve been inspired by some of the greatest minds in business. In fact, Moore and Levie were with us at the first Pulse all the way back in 2013.
Some other incredible speakers we’ve hosted at Pulse over the past decade include:
- Yamini Rangan, CEO, Hubspot
- Nir Eyal, Speaker, Investor, Author of How to Build Habit-Forming Products
- Sal Khan, CEO of Khan Academy
2. Expanding Our Community Through inSided
In early 2022, Gainsight acquired inSided, a leading customer success community platform based in Amsterdam that’s uniquely designed to leverage the power of communities to drive product engagement and adoption, increase retention, and build lasting customer relationships.
One of our all-time favorite Pulse moments was at Pulse 2022, when we gave the gift of inSided-branded, Amsterdam-inspired clogs.
The addition of inSided to Gainsight’s existing portfolio of products created a market-leading Digital Customer Success solution.
Don’t miss this year’s Pulse track, Community Building Tactics That Drive Advocacy and Save Customers.
3. Leveling Up CS Through PX
Product professionals have become an integral part of the Pulse community, and a critical partner to Customer Success teams. This year, we’ll come together at Pulse to define the future of PX and Digital Customer Success (DCS), hearing from speakers including:
- Emily McGrath, Director, Customer Experience, Drift
- Kevin Meeks, SVP, Customer Success, VMware
- Deepina Kapila, Head of Scaled Customer Experience, Miro
- Melissa Allen, Senior Manager, Customer Success Operations, Okta
- Ashvin Vaidyanathan, Vice President, Customer Success & Insights, LinkedIn
- Susan Parker, Product Manager, Trimble
Don’t miss this year’s track, Digital Strategies to Help You Achieve More With Less.
4. Learning With Our PALs
Pulse Academy Live (PAL) cemented the legacy of learning at Pulse with educational programming that kicks off the event a day ahead of the main conference.
PAL offers highly interactive, practical courses to help professionals in the CS, PX, and Community fields sharpen their skills.
Check out this year’s PAL Agenda to see how you can turbocharge your career.
5. Pulse Crossing the Pond to Europe
We also have fond memories of Pulse 2015, the first year Pulse took over the world. Well, London, anyway.
Over the years, Pulse Europe has become more than EMEA’s premier conference for the CS community. With events across the globe connecting CS, Product, and Community professionals from all walks of life, Pulse Europe has become a home for innovation, education, and Human-First connections.
After six years of hosting the customer success community in London, Pulse Europe 2023 is coming to the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, November 15–16.
6. Puppies, Parties, and Pure Joy
Pulse is a place where there’s magic in the air.
From our party on the U.S.S. Hornet …
To that time we transformed this warehouse …
…into a baseball-themed celebration of all things Customer Success.
And remember that Ferris Wheel in San Mateo, for Pulsechella in 2018?
If it’s not fun, it’s not on our agenda.
This year will feature an opening and closing reception at Moscone Center, to keep the party going into year 10.
7. Pulse Fashion
If you know Gainsight, you know we like to show up in style.
From the shoes …
… and more shoes …
To the parody costumes …
To celebrating everything that makes you, you.
We’re here to prove you can win in business while being yourself, having fun, and making Human-First connections.
8. Taylor Swift and Vanilla Ice
At Pulse 2015, Taylor Swift stole the show! Well, sorta. We hired a Taylor Swift impersonator, who was so good she convinced many attendees that she was the real thing.
But then for Pulse 2017, we got Vanilla Ice … FOR REAL!
It just goes to show that the Pulse community includes some pretty cool people.
9. Building the First Stepping Stones to Digital Customer Success
Karl Rumelhart, President, Products, Technology, and Global Operations at Gainsight, reflects on his first Pulse and how far we’ve come:
“For me, the most memorable thing was the opportunity to introduce the world to the first step in the journey of Digital Customer Success.
When I first joined the company I spent a lot of time talking to CS leaders and came to understand a huge gap—they had no way to reach their customers at scale. We built the world’s first automated engagement tool for Customer Success. We called it Gainsight CoPilot and we unveiled it at Pulse 2015.
We have come a long way with Digital Customer Success overall and with CoPilot—which evolved into Journey Orchestrator—in particular. But it all started at Pulse!”
10. All of You
Together, we’ve forged the future of the CS industry over the last decade, and together, we’ll lead the SaaS industry into a new frontier: Digital Customer Success.
But we couldn’t have done without you. Your industry-leading thought leadership. And the spirit of collaboration, innovation, and endless opportunity that you filled the room with, for 10 years in a row.
Are you ready to define the next 10 years of CS, SaaS, and beyond? Get your tickets today to Pulse 2023.
