Scaling your business to €36M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) is no small feat. In a recent presentation, Tibor, co-CEO of the SaaS company Partoo, shared key insights from his decade-long journey building and scaling a business that specialises in presence management, reputation management, and messaging solutions for businesses. With 370 employees across multiple global offices and over 1,200 clients worldwide, the Partoo story offers invaluable lessons for founders, decision-makers, and senior operators in mid-level eCommerce businesses looking to accelerate growth efficiently.
This article distils the core strategies and frameworks shared in the presentation, covering sales excellence, operational focus, and navigating crises, all while maintaining profitability. These insights are practical and actionable, tailored to professionals scaling their eCommerce businesses.
The Foundation: Building Partoo’s Success from Scratch
Partoo, founded in 2014, started as a bootstrap company with an initial focus on updating and synchronising store information across platforms like Google Maps, Waze, and Instagram. By consistently listening to customer needs, Partoo expanded its offerings to include reputation management (e.g., managing online reviews and sentiment analysis) and messaging solutions (e.g., a unified platform for customer communications across WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.).
The key takeaway? Scaling is not about instant pivots but gradual evolution based on customer needs. By building on its original product, Partoo grew into a platform that now generates €36M ARR, with 40% year-on-year growth.
Achieving Sales Excellence: Lessons for Scaling Revenue
One of the cornerstones of Partoo’s success has been its commitment to sales-led growth. Tibor emphasised a structured, relentless approach to sales that any scaling eCommerce leader can learn from.
1. Sales Organisational Structure
Partoo’s revenue team is divided into focused sub-teams: sales, marketing, and pre-sales (solution consultants). This structure ensures clear accountability:
BDRs and SDRs handle prospect qualification.
Account Executives handle deal negotiations and closings.
Customer Success Managers (CSMs) drive upselling, cross-selling, and long-term client satisfaction.
A major lesson? Your sales and customer success teams must be deeply integrated. Partoo recently merged Account Executives and Key Account Managers, ensuring continuity from the initial sale through upselling opportunities.
2. Focus on Metrics and Coverage
To consistently achieve growth targets, Partoo tracks sales metrics rigorously. For instance:
Sales Coverage: Tibor stressed the importance of starting every quarter with 4x the pipeline coverage needed to hit sales targets.
Daily Prospecting: Partoo’s Account Executives still dedicate 1-2 hours daily to cold outreach, ensuring they’re always building their own pipeline.
3. Sales Motivation and Team Culture
Partoo fosters a sales-driven culture through:
Recognition: Every booked meeting (M1) is celebrated in a company-wide Slack channel, fostering collaboration and team spirit.
Challenges and Incentives: Regular, themed sales challenges drive short-term motivation. Rewards focus on tangible items or experiences, which are often more impactful than financial bonuses.
4. Discovery and Consultative Selling
The discovery phase is the backbone of successful sales at Partoo. Tibor emphasises the importance of consultative selling - treating salespeople as "doctors" diagnosing client needs before prescribing solutions. This approach shifts the focus from product features to solving client problems.
Focus: A Hard-Learned Lesson in Strategic Prioritisation
Tibor candidly admitted that one of Partoo’s biggest challenges was lack of focus early on. The company expanded into multiple markets and product lines too quickly, leading to inefficiencies and setbacks. Over time, the team embraced focus as a guiding principle.
1. International Expansion: Choosing Battles Wisely
Initially, Partoo tried to enter too many international markets at once. Eventually, they adopted a "risk strategy" inspired by the board game Risk:
Artillery vs Infantry: Instead of spreading resources thin ("infantry"), they concentrated efforts on key markets ("artillery").
Ruthless Evaluation: Partoo closed operations in India and Brazil, redistributing resources to stronger markets like Mexico and Europe.
Lesson: Focus on markets where you already have momentum or a clear path to leadership.
2. Product Focus: Saying No to Distractions
Partoo also learned to streamline its product roadmap:
They scrapped initiatives like loyalty programs and advertising products, which diluted efforts.
Today, Partoo prioritises consolidating its core offerings while supporting customer needs.
Navigating Growth Crises: Lessons from the Trenches
Scaling isn’t linear - it’s a journey marked by crises and tough decisions. Tibor outlined four key crises Partoo experienced and how they overcame them.
1. Tech Debt
As Partoo scaled its technology, early shortcuts in product development resulted in significant tech debt. Lesson: Invest in scalable infrastructure early, even if it slows initial progress.
2. Competition
Bootstrapped Partoo faced fierce competition from venture-backed rivals with significantly larger budgets. Their solution? Out-execute on sales intensity and customer satisfaction.
3. COVID-19
The pandemic challenged Partoo’s international growth ambitions. However, remote work innovations enabled them to successfully sell into markets like Mexico from Paris.
4. Financial Discipline
Relying on €15M in debt rather than VC funding, Partoo learned to operate efficiently. Tibor shared a critical lesson: Profitability doesn’t equal cash flow. Delayed payments from international clients created working capital challenges despite profitability.
Profitability Simplified: A Framework for Decision-Making
Understanding profitability is essential for scaling businesses. Tibor broke it down into four levels:
Revenue: Total sales.
Gross Margin: Revenue minus direct costs (e.g., server costs for SaaS or materials for products).
Contribution Margin (CM1): Gross margin minus acquisition costs (sales and marketing expenses).
CM2: CM1 minus customer success and operational costs.
Key insight: Focus not just on revenue growth, but on improving CM1 and CM2, which directly impact scalability and long-term profitability.
Key Takeaways
Sales-Led Growth: Build a sales culture based on rigorous metrics and continuous prospecting. Celebrate wins to motivate the team.
Customer Success as a Revenue Driver: Treat customer success as a growth engine, not just a cost centre.
The Power of Focus: Prioritise a few key markets and product lines where you can achieve leadership. Avoid spreading resources too thin.
Leverage Discovery Selling: Use consultative sales techniques to diagnose client needs and position your solution as essential.
Understand Profitability Metrics: Master gross margin, CM1, and CM2 to optimise growth while staying financially healthy.
Adapt to Crises: Whether it’s tech debt, competition, or macroeconomic challenges, agility and a willingness to make tough decisions are essential.
Cash Flow Awareness: Profitability doesn’t guarantee cash flow. Manage working capital closely, especially in international markets.
Conclusion
Scaling a business to €36M ARR requires a balance of ambition, focus, and adaptability. From building a world-class sales culture to navigating crises and achieving profitability, Partoo’s story offers a wealth of practical lessons for eCommerce businesses aiming to grow sustainably. Whether you’re bootstrapped or funded, the principles outlined here will help you scale with purpose and efficiency.
By focusing on customer needs, fostering an aligned team, and maintaining financial discipline, businesses can overcome challenges and thrive in competitive markets. Success, as Tibor demonstrated, is not just about growth - it’s about building a resilient, scalable organisation that can weather any storm.
Source: "How to Scale to €36M ARR - Even in a Crisis" - B2B Rocks, YouTube, Aug 6, 2025 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8sVF67OhA
Use: Embedded for reference. Brief quotes used for commentary/review.
