Welcome to episode 35 of the HockeyStick podcast. I'm Miko Pawlikowski, and today we have the pleasure of speaking with JJ Tang, the co-founder of Rootly. This episode jumps into JJ's personal journey, from his humble beginnings in Mongolia to the helm of a thriving B2B SaaS company, offering insights and reflections along the way.
A Remarkable Upbringing
JJ’s story began far away from the tech industry, in the villages of Inner Mongolia. Raised by his grandparents while his parents pursued their PhDs in Canada, JJ’s early years were marked by a life without modern conveniences like electricity and plumbing. JJ shared colorful tales of resilient childhood experiences, such as keeping warm on mud beds by carving tunnels to channel furnace heat. This upbringing instilled a certain steeliness and gratitude in JJ—qualities that he attributes to his success today.
Building Rootly
As a founder, JJ embodies the essence of perseverance and laser-focused vision. His journey from Canada to Y Combinator (YC) during the COVID-19 pandemic was driven by the unique opportunity to solve a problem not addressed effectively by the market. Rootly, an on-call and incident management platform, emerged from a clear need identified from JJ’s work experience at Instacart and his relentless pursuit of customer understanding.
JJ’s approach included endless days of cold calling and personalized customer interactions, efforts that laid down the foundation for Rootly’s growth. His commitment to understanding customer needs firsthand has been a key driver for product refinement and market success.
Strategic Growth and Customer Trust
One of the core strategies that set Rootly apart was its dedication to customer empathy and support. JJ adopted unorthodox methods to ensure worldwide support, answering customer inquiries around the clock. This hard-earned trust and credibility with early adopters propelled Rootly to become a leader in its field, providing essential services to large organizations like NVIDIA, LinkedIn, and even national emergency call centers.
Lessons Learned
Throughout our conversation, JJ shared several lessons that resonate deeply with entrepreneurs:
Empathy Drives Innovation: By being in the trenches with customers, JJ fosters a culture of empathy, allowing his team to respond accurately to client needs and enhancing the product in meaningful ways.
Stay Focused: JJ's focus on Rootly’s core competency—incident management—has been instrumental in navigating tough economic seasons and staying ahead of competitors.
Support as a Superpower: For startups, offering epic support can be a differentiator. Rootly leveraged its size to offer personalized, impactful customer service, often outperforming larger competitors.
Adapting Messaging: By adjusting how they communicated Rootly’s value proposition to align with customer understanding, JJ increased engagement and trial initiation dramatically.
Enduring the Struggle: Success stories often feature long, tireless stretches of hard work. JJ’s narrative includes 400 consecutive days of support and outreach, showcasing the grit required to thrive as a new entrant in the market.
Looking Ahead
Rootly’s future is as promising as its origin story is inspiring. JJ and his team remain resolutely focused on expanding their capabilities to enhance both reactive and proactive reliability solutions. Their unwavering dedication to their core mission, despite the allure of new trends and technologies, exemplifies leadership with purpose.
As we wrapped up this episode of HockeyStick, I reflected on the unique and authentic tale JJ Tang shared—a story underscored by hard work, resilience, and gratitude. Rootly’s ongoing journey illustrates the power of an emotionally invested founder determined to create something remarkable from modest beginnings to commanding market position.
00:00 Intro
03:17 Growing Up in Mongolia
08:12 Journey to Y Combinator
11:22 Scaling Rootly with Focus and Empathy
20:31 Challenges and Strategies in Early-Stage Sales
22:07 The Importance of Customer Support
31:52 Reflecting on Rootly's Success and Future
37:25 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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