This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.

Great Builders & Success First with Intercom’s Eoghan McCabe | E1962

E1962 • Jun 8, 2024 • 88 mins

Intercom’s Eoghan McCabe joins Jason to discuss: the state of the business at Intercom and his return as CEO (8:33), the future of customer service with AI (24:28), what makes a great manager (59:36), and more!

Key Points

Great founders need to balance visionary tech strategies with practical business positioning to avoid becoming overly complex and unfocused.
The future of customer service will increasingly rely on AI, with tools like Intercom's Finn showing significant success in automating responses and resolving tickets, ultimately aiming for a near-total replacement of human agents.
Creating a high-performance company culture requires clear, strong values and a willingness to make tough decisions, including being transparent about the company's mission and the level of commitment expected from employees.

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Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Speakers

Eoghan McCabe

Guest • 45%

Jason Calacanis

Host • 53%

Partners

Chapters

0:00	Intercom’s Eoghan McCabe joins Jason.
1:50	Family history of the two McCabe’s: Jason and Eoghan.
5:49	The kindness and dedication of Intercom’s co-founder Des Traynor.
8:33	What Intercom is, the state of the business and Eoghan’s return as CEO.
10:41	LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups
12:37	Looking at overlap and adjacencies when you are building SaaS products.
16:36	The brilliance of the pre-seed pricing model, and is it broken?
19:47	.Tech Domains - Apply for the “Jam with JCal” contest today at https://www.jamwithjcal.tech
22:16	What is next for companies with. SaaS-based pricing.
24:28	The future of customer service and AI.
30:30	Northwest Registered Agent - For just $39 plus state fees, Northwest will handle your complete business identity. Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today.
36:09	Expectations from AI one year from now.
45:23	Breaking down the negative press and social reaction to the Humane Pin.
52:34	What the world will look like as conversational AI develops.
59:36	What makes a great manager and the “return of the king” at Intercom.

Transcript

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