Ross Biestman joined ServiceTitan in 2018 as employee #354 when the company was doing less than $30M ARR. As Head of Sales, he helped scale the vertical SaaS platform from Series B to IPO, growing revenue to over $860M ARR and achieving an $11B market cap. Before ServiceTitan, Ross spent nearly a decade in enterprise software sales, serving companies like Bloomberg, United Airlines, and Sprint. A Cal Bears rugby player turned sales leader, Ross has become one of the most respected voices in vertical SaaS go-to-market strategy.
Christina Shen is Managing Partner and Co-founder of Chemistry, a $350M early-stage fund investing in seed and Series A companies. Previously a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, Christina led ServiceTitan's Series A investment and has been tracking the company's remarkable journey for nearly a decade. She and Ross were undergraduate classmates at UC Berkeley - she in political science (destined for sales, as she jokes), he in business school (destined for venture capital).
This SaaStr Annual deep-dive represents a full-circle moment between two Cal Bears who took different paths but remained connected through one of the most successful vertical SaaS stories ever told.
Ross' Top 5 Learnings to Transform Your Go-to-Market Strategy
ICP Discipline Creates Exponential Returns: ServiceTitan's laser focus on ideal customer profile (ICP) drove their ability to scale from $30M to $770M ARR in 7 years. Ross's key insight: "Everything we do is intentional" - they put blinders on and refused to chase dollars outside their ICP, even when it meant turning down revenue.
Merit-Based Lead Distribution Beats Traditional Territory Models: ServiceTitan revolutionized sales by using AI to route leads to the AE with the highest propensity to close that specific deal type, not round-robin or named accounts. This merit-based system includes monthly scoring and relegation/promotion like English Premier League soccer.
Industry Immersion Unlocks Multi-Vertical Expansion: To expand beyond plumbing into all trades, ServiceTitan hired industry professionals directly into R&D, spent countless hours in the field with customers, and methodically tested new verticals with their top performers before opening floodgates.
Customer Site Visits Are Your Secret Weapon: In an age of Zoom and AI efficiency tools, Ross mandates that every new hire - from SDRs to C-suite - must learn the product, industry, and customer by spending time on-site. The founders still spend 95% of their time with customers.
Vertical SaaS Creates Unprecedented Value When Done Right: By serving an ignored $1T+ industry (trades) with true dedication, ServiceTitan achieved what seemed impossible - 11x revenue growth in 7 years and an $11B market cap, proving vertical software's massive potential.
The Making of a Vertical SaaS Giant: Inside ServiceTitan's Journey
When Ross Beastman joined ServiceTitan in 2018 as employee #354, venture capitalists were telling him he was "crazy" to sell software to plumbers. Today, that crazy decision has paid off to the tune of an $11 billion market cap and over $770 million in ARR. But this wasn't luck - it was the result of methodical execution, unwavering discipline, and a deep understanding of what makes vertical SaaS work.
The Unlikely Beginning: Why Plumbers?
Ross's initial reaction to ServiceTitan was skepticism. Coming from enterprise software, serving companies like Bloomberg and United Airlines, the idea of "software for plumbers" in Los Angeles seemed like a step backward. But the founders, Ara and Vahe Kuroghlian, had a different vision.
"Their parents worked really hard as trades people, plumbers and HVAC contractors in Southern California," Ross explains. "Instead of going into their parents' garage to create Apple, they went into their dad's plumbing shop in Los Angeles and said this is an industry that has been ignored and trapped in the past."
The breakthrough came during customer due diligence. Walking into HVAC shops in places like Fresno, California - where it's 110 degrees outside - Ross witnessed something remarkable: "Every single person in this business was deeply embedded and committed to using this technology as their operating system, whether the person answering calls at the front desk, the CFO, the owner, the person in the warehouse checking inventory, or the technician in the field."
When he sized the industry at over a trillion dollars in domestic gross transaction volume, the opportunity became clear. The phone call to his wife was simple: "I'm going to Los Angeles to sell software to plumbers."
The $30M to $860M Playbook: Execution Excellence
Year One Reality Check
ServiceTitan in 2018 was "organized chaos in the best possible way." As a Series B company doing less than $30M ARR, they were laser-focused on new logo acquisition with a single product serving just plumbing, heating, and electrical businesses. The challenge was clear: identify the path to $50M, then $100M, then $500M.
The ICP Discipline That Changed Everything
Ross's biggest learning from enterprise software didn't translate - but his biggest insight did. "The focus on ideal customer profile pays real long-term dividends," he emphasizes. ServiceTitan's approach was ruthlessly disciplined:
Marketing dollars, R&D investments, and go-to-market efforts were laser-focused on their defined ICP
They refused to chase revenue outside their target, even when facing pressure to hit numbers
This prevented the "thrash" that comes from serving customers who aren't ideal fits
"I find companies at earlier stages trying to chase dollars - maybe because they want to hit a specific target to be deemed more valuable in the venture community, or literally because they need dollars to make payroll. That approach allows for too much thrash."
The result? Customers born outside the ICP often become "born red" with heightened churn propensity, destroying unit economics.
The AI-Powered Sales Revolution
ServiceTitan's approach to AI isn't just product-focused - it's revolutionizing how they run their internal operations. Their sales organization uses AI for lead distribution in a way that's completely upended traditional models:
Merit-Based Lead Routing Instead of round-robin or named accounts, incoming leads are distributed to the account executive with the highest propensity to close that specific type of business. This system includes:
Monthly scoring based on quota attainment
Efficiency metrics defined by close rates
Quality performance scoring through pitch and demo analysis
A relegation/promotion system like English Premier League soccer
"If they perform really well, they get the best type of pipeline in that next month. If they perform poorly, they get relegated. If you get good, you got to stay good to be good."
Customer-Facing AI Solutions For customers, ServiceTitan built AI into core workflows like automated dispatching - sending the right technician to the right job to minimize drive time while maximizing skill set match and close propensity. This allows customers to scale technicians without proportionally scaling dispatchers, improving both top-line and EBITDA.
Multi-Vertical Expansion: The Methodical Approach
ServiceTitan's expansion from plumbing to all trades wasn't accidental - it followed a precise three-step methodology:
1. Hire Industry Professionals Into R&D. They recruited former technicians, call center agents, CFOs, and business owners directly into their R&D organization. "We want you to come work for us, report into our R&D function, and teach us how to build product for verticals we're not in today."
2. Intensive Field Research. The team spent countless hours on ride-alongs with technicians, visiting commercial properties and residences, and studying office operations to identify every value point for a completely tailored solution.
3. Methodical Testing with Top Performers. Rather than opening floodgates, they pulled their best salespeople from established markets to test new verticals. "That was scary for me as the person responsible for the P&L - I don't want to take my 10 best salespeople helping us keep the lights on and have them focus on something that could be a failure. But it was that discipline around establishing success criteria that earned us the right to go into multiple trades."
The Power of Customer Immersion
In an era of Zoom meetings and AI efficiency tools, ServiceTitan maintains an "old school mentality" that Ross believes creates massive competitive advantage:
Mandatory Customer Immersion. Every new hire, from entry-level SDRs to C-suite executives, must spend time with customers in the field before they can be effective in their role. This isn't optional - it's core to the ServiceTitan way.
"Good things happen when you go on site and spend time with your customers. Whether you're in marketing, sales, R&D, or HR - you need to spend time with customers way more than you spend time in the boardroom."
The founders exemplify this approach, spending the majority of their time with customers either on calls or in the field, despite running an $11B company.
Surviving the Curveballs: Lessons in Resilience
ServiceTitan's journey hasn't been smooth. The pandemic, economic uncertainty, and a pulled IPO in 2022 tested the organization's resilience. Ross shares a powerful story about overcoming the psychological impact of the failed IPO attempt:
His rugby coach's story about Army Rangers training resonated deeply. In Ranger school, candidates face a grueling physical test at 3 AM with sirens, fireworks, and loud music. The twist? When they think they've reached the finish line, they discover it's actually several more miles. "People didn't fail physically, they failed psychologically. They couldn't bring themselves to accept that this wasn't the destination."
This experience taught Ross that "the IPO is truly just a milestone, not a destination" - a reframe that helped ServiceTitan focus on long-term business durability rather than short-term milestones.
The Customer-First Philosophy That Drives Everything
ServiceTitan operates on a fundamental principle that Ross calls "order of operations": Every decision, dollar raised, product built, and person hired focuses solely on creating better outcomes for contractors. Only after delivering that value do they expect business returns.
"It's almost thinking about this from the value we're bringing to the customer and their ability to drive successful outcomes as the prerequisite to anything we become the beneficiary of."
This philosophy shows up in practical ways:
Turning down revenue that doesn't serve the ICP
Investing R&D dollars in customer-requested features vs. market expansion
Hiring industry professionals who understand customer pain points
Mandating field time for all employees
The $70,000 Credit Card Moment
Ross's most memorable customer win illustrates the power of providing disproportionate value. His first sales call required a cross-country journey to Rogers, Arkansas, including a missed flight, a middle-of-the-night drive through country roads, and a 7 AM arrival at a Hampton Inn.
The customer - a business owner in a small brick house with a tin roof - possessed incredible business acumen despite appearances. Forty minutes into the presentation, he stopped the demo, slid his American Express across the table, and said: "Stop talking. I know if you guys do anymore, the product's just going to get more expensive. Here's $70,000."
The full-circle moment came six years later when that same customer became a key reference for ServiceTitan's largest deal ever - proving that every customer interaction matters and you never know which will become most valuable.
The Vertical SaaS Opportunity
When Ross joined ServiceTitan in 2018, vertical software wasn't even a recognized category. Today, it's one of the hottest investment areas, but Ross's experience offers crucial insights for success:
Market Size Validation. The trades industry does over $1 trillion domestically in gross transaction volume, making it larger than many horizontal markets. But size alone isn't enough - the industry had to be underserved and ready for disruption.
Mission-Driven Approach. The best vertical SaaS companies don't just serve a market - they're passionate about transforming it. ServiceTitan's founders weren't just building software; they were honoring their parents' legacy and improving lives of hardworking people.
Customer as Secret Weapon. Every ServiceTitan customer call ended with the same request: "Don't tell my competition - this is my secret weapon." That level of customer advocacy is the gold standard for vertical SaaS product-market fit.
Building a Learning Organization
ServiceTitan's scale required constant learning and adaptation. Ross emphasizes challenging conventional wisdom: "Those preconceived notions and industry best practices aren't perfect translations. Those things need to be challenged every single day."
Key principles include:
Testing everything rather than assuming best practices apply
Building capacity models specific to your market and sales motion
Iterating based on customer feedback rather than competitor benchmarks
Maintaining beginner's mind even at scale
The Future of AI in Vertical SaaS
Ross predicts AI will become table stakes, just like mobile and cloud: "No one calls a company a mobile company anymore. Everyone will have to have an AI offering. In the end, we're just going to be talking about companies."
For ServiceTitan's customers, AI adoption has accelerated as private equity consolidation creates pressure for operational leverage. Business owners are "looking for opportunities to drive incremental leverage that is not dependent on human-based labor" across the entire customer funnel.
The key is focusing AI on real customer problems rather than technology for technology's sake - true to ServiceTitan's customer-first philosophy.
Ross's Top 4 Mistakes: Hard-Won Lessons from the Journey
Based on Ross's candid sharing throughout the interview, here are the critical mistakes he learned from building ServiceTitan:
1. Applying Enterprise Best Practices Without Question
"Those preconceived notions and industry best practices aren't perfect translations"
Ross initially tried to apply traditional enterprise software playbooks to vertical SaaS, including standard capacity models and go-to-market approaches. The mistake was assuming what worked at Bloomberg or United Airlines would work for plumbers in Fresno. The lesson: Challenge every assumption and build practices specific to your market.
2. Prioritizing Growth Over Profitability Too Long
"We were focused on hyper-growth... the idea of having to be profitable was something we can worry about later"
Like many B2B companies in 2021-2022, ServiceTitan optimized for growth over unit economics, which made the market correction and pulled IPO more painful. Ross learned that sustainable businesses need profitability discipline from earlier stages, not just growth-at-all-costs mentality.
3. Treating the IPO as a Destination Instead of a Milestone
"The IPO is truly just a milestone, not a destination"
The psychological impact of the pulled IPO in 2022 was devastating because the entire organization had oriented around it as the ultimate goal. Ross learned that focusing on long-term business durability and customer outcomes should always trump short-term milestones, even major ones like public offerings.
4. Not Investing Enough in Customer Immersion Early
"Good things happen when you go on site and spend time with your customers"
While ServiceTitan eventually built a culture of mandatory customer field time, Ross wishes he had institutionalized this practice even earlier. The biggest breakthroughs - from product insights to sales wins - came from face-to-face customer interactions, not boardroom strategy sessions. The lesson: make customer immersion non-negotiable from day one, for every role.
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