These 4 Founders Hit All the Right Notes at The TDX Pitch-Off

Last week, during TrailblazerDX ’22—the premier Salesforce Developer conference bringing together developers, admins, architects, partners, entrepreneurs, and students—thousands gathered in-person in San Francisco and online via Salesforce+ to connect with our vibrant community and learn about Salesforce’s latest tech innovations.

Amidst the impressive product demos, Appy’s Brainstorm Board in the AppExchange Landing, and inspiring keynotes, AppExchange also hosted its first-ever all-women ISV Pitch-Off,” with four of our incredible ISV partners. You might be wondering why we only highlighted women founders in this pitch-off competition. Women in technology have made huge strides over the last decade, and we are seeing more and more women take the stage who lead incredible companies—many of them featured on the AppExchange.

But if you look at the data, despite representing half of the US workforce, women still hold less than a third of the leadership positions in tech today. On top of that, women founders only secured 2% of venture capital in the US last year. And yet, according to the Boston Consulting Group, companies with women in positions of leadership typically see a 15% increase in profitability than those with no women leaders. So there is clearly a huge opportunity for women entrepreneurs to not only create amazing companies but also thrive—especially when they build those companies on the Salesforce Platform.

Putting Their Best Pitch Forward

Melanie Fellay - CEO and Co-Founder of Spekit

Kicking off the pitch-off strong, Melanie Fellay pitched her company Spekit, a dynamic digital adoption, and enablement platform that helps employers train and onboard their teams in Salesforce with real-time contextual knowledge. Melanie is no stranger to the Salesforce ecosystem and remarked, “We launched our platform, Spekit, at Dreamforce in 2018 and Salesforce has played such an integral role in our growth and success ever since. Despite being such a massive organization, the team over at Salesforce makes us feel seen, heard, and connected within the Ohana community. I'm really grateful for the opportunities they've given us over the years to share both our company growth and my individual growth as a leader." As a previous Salesforce admin with no intentions of becoming an entrepreneur, Melanie proves that great ideas can come from anywhere. And when those great ideas are supported by a powerful engine, like the Salesforce Platform, and a community the size of the Salesforce ecosystem, anything is possible.

MH Lines - CEO and Founder of Stack Moxie

Next up, M.H. Lines pitched her company Stack Moxie, an automated monitoring tool for Salesforce integrations and configurations. Stack Moxie ensures that everything in your Salesforce tech stack is running smoothly and efficiently, or you’ll get notified ASAP. M.H. was first introduced to the Salesforce ecosystem through the Accelerate program, which she says was “amazing at helping us navigate what was important. But it also was clear that Salesforce is focused on setting the example for how a company lifts up and supports diverse founders in their ecosystem.”

Stephanie Bixler - CEO and Founder of Synapsum

After a gripping pitch from M.H., Stephanie Bixler took the stage to pitch her company Synapsum, a supply chain tool that helps increase margins through logistics cost reduction and cost recovery across the business. Stephanie was also first introduced to the Salesforce ecosystem through the Accelerate program. She said, “Participating in Salesforce Accelerate and later presenting at Salesforce TDX were game-changing experiences for our company. Salesforce not only gave us the channel and technology to extend the business but also supported us through the process from idea to launch. It was a thrill and honor to present at the Perfect Pitch... event at TDX. Connecting in person with great minds at TDX was invaluable.”

Sumathi Pundit - CEO and Co-founder of Kaitongo

Rounding us out, Sumathi Pundit pitched her company Kaitongo, an AI-based sales engagement platform that provides professionals with up-to-date industry insights to help them sell more strategically and build stronger client relationships. Sumathi said that the, "pitch-off was an amazing D&I initiative by Salesforce to go beyond words and do something real. Being a [woman] founder is very challenging, so it’s really encouraging when an organization like Salesforce puts words into action and creates meaningful opportunities like this.”

Though Melanie Fellay from Spekit ultimately took home the trophy, all four founders put their best pitch forward at the TDX event. They each embodied the spirit of true entrepreneurship and served as prime examples that anyone can build a successful business on Salesforce when they’re equipped with the right resources.

If you have a brilliant idea for a company built on Salesforce and are interested in becoming a Salesforce ISV partner, learn more at salesforcebusinessbuilders.com