Hunters and Unicorns
Hunters and Unicorns
huntersandunicorns
Scaled MongoDB From $35M to $2B — Why He HATES the Word Playbook
56 minutes Posted Jun 24, 2026 at 7:22 am.
— Trailer
— Introduction & Sponsor
— Welcome Dan Barrett
— Dan's Career & the Epiphany Moment
— Pressure Before the Epiphany
— QBRs With John McMahon
— Fighting for Space to Change
— From MongoDB to Figma
— Where PLG Goes Wrong
— Rethinking the Playbook
— Learning What Works at Figma
— Playbook vs Authenticity
— Moving Into Customer Success
— Knowing When to Leave MongoDB
— Sustaining Energy for Nearly a Decade
— Hunters & Unicorns Origin Story
— Will Salespeople Survive AI
— The Future of Figma
— Closing
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Show notes
What does it really take to scale a software company from $35M to $2B ARR? In this episode of Hunters & Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Dan Barrett, SVP International at Figma and former MongoDB leader, to unpack the lessons behind one of SaaS's most remarkable growth stories.
Dan shares why he hates the word "playbook," how MongoDB evolved through multiple sales transformations, and why the best leaders focus on developing people—not following a rigid process. The conversation explores authenticity in leadership, building high-performance teams, scaling PLG and enterprise sales motions, customer success, AI's impact on software sales, and the leadership lessons that helped Dan grow from a first-time manager into one of the industry's most respected sales leaders.
In this episode:
• Scaling MongoDB from $35M to $2B ARR
• Why Dan hates the term "playbook"
• The leadership epiphany that changed his career
• Building trust without fear or intimidation
• PLG vs enterprise sales models
• What great sales organizations do differently
• How to develop future sales leaders
• Why authenticity is a leadership superpower
• AI, SaaS, and the future of enterprise sales Subscribe for more conversations with the leaders building the next generation of SaaS companies.
#HuntersAndUnicorns #DanBarrett #Figma #MongoDB #SalesLeadership #SaaS #EnterpriseSales #PLG #CustomerSuccess #b2bsales
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