The CRM space is the biggest, most profitable sector in SaaS. But, ask anyone about their CRM and you’re likely to get a "bah humbug!” Not to mention their pitiful NPS scores... The rise of productivity tools added to that pressure, drastically changing what we expect from our tools. This environment left little question that there was room for a CRM revolution.
In 2020, we started folk to challenge what we saw as the status quo: overly complex, clunky, and transactional CRMs. We had another vision: one where technology was used to bring the right people together and help them build real relationships. With strong backing from top investors like Accel and 100 angels, we raised $9M in 2021.
Now, we help over 3,000+ teams around that world manage their contacts and grow their service businesses.
We need help on this ambitious mission, which is why we’re thoughtfully building a team of exceptional individuals who share our vision: to shake up the CRM industry by putting people first.
Let's have a chat with folks founders Simo and Jean-Yves
What did life look like before folk?
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Simo: My early experiences were in consulting and strategy at McKinsey & Morgan Stanley. Around that time, I met Thibaud, who shared the ambitious vision to reinvent the CRM Space and challenge Salesforce. Taking on one of the biggest SaaS players out there requires a mix of boldness and craziness, and we had both. Looking back, it’s been quite a successful ride, so I guess that mindset paid off!
JY: I come from an engineering background. I’ve worked in various environments; everything from leading a 30-person team at a scale up to collaborating in a 120-person tech department at a big corporate. This variety gave me a clear sense of the challenges I wanted to tackle and how I wanted to approach them. I was particularly interested in building a PLG company; creating an impactful tool for organizations, developing a world-class product, and fostering an excellent team environment. folk happens to sit right at the intersection of all these goals.
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What was the "aha moment" that inspired the creation of this company?
JY: When we decided to enter the CRM space, everything clicked into place. It’s a massive market, and the current players are outdated — their products can be complex to set up and difficult to use. People have a lot (of negative stuff) to say about their CRMs. We were inspired by the simplicity and effectiveness of no-code productivity tools like Notion and Airtable, which have transformed the way people work.
Simo: Absolutely, and Salesforce, being the biggest SaaS player, has revenue that keeps climbing, but its user experience leaves much to be desired. I felt this firsthand when using CRM tools. Starting with Notion or a spreadsheet was frustrating because everything has to be built from scratch — there's a huge lack of integrations. I checked out HubSpot, and others, and they felt like stepping back in time. That’s why I signed up to lead folk — I saw firsthand the need for a more intuitive way to manage contacts and improve the experience.
What core values do you think are essential for our company culture?
Simo: We’re not the type of company that hangs posters in every meeting room. We believe that real culture is reflected in how we interact with each other, how we engage with our customers, and how we tackle user problems together. Culture lives in the day-to-day moments of a company.
Instead of a rigid list of shared values, we focus on a few shared principles that guide us:
- Focus: We prefer to tackle a few things at a time but do them exceptionally well. This approach forces us to make decisions based on strong convictions and prioritize effectively.
- Velocity: We know we’re going to make mistakes, so the key is to learn quickly and adapt. By feeding our learning machine with as much input as possible, as fast as possible, we can better predict the success of our features -.note that we do smaller high quality iterations rather than rush clunky ideas.
- Delight: While it’s crucial to identify and solve customer problems rationally, we also aim to add a little extra touch that makes people smile and feel truly understood. We believe that creating a delightful product starts with creating a delightful workplace for ourselves.
What emerging trends in technology excite you the most, and how do you see them impacting our company?
JY: AI is incredibly exciting. But at folk, we’re committed to providing a simple user experience, so it’s important to us to carefully design how our users interact with AI to ensure they get what they need without having to deal with complicated prompts. Our challenge will be to integrate AI in a way that maintains our user-friendly approach while leveraging its full potential.
What has been one of the proudest moments since starting this company?
Simo: Our first paying customers! Each milestone — whether it was the first thousand customers, then two thousand, or three thousand — has been incredibly special. Receiving feedback and love from people at each stage has been a huge part of our journey and a testament to what we’re working towards. We’ve made a habit of sharing it on Slack and celebrating customer feedback as a team — it’s a great motivator.
JY: There isn’t one specific moment that stands out as the proudest for me. Overall, folk has been an amazing journey with many successes. What really makes me proud is seeing the ongoing improvement in customer feedback. Watching the shift from “I like the idea” to “I love that feature” and eventually “I love this product” — it really reflects how well we’re doing as a team.
How do you like to celebrate milestones and achievements within the team?
JY: First and foremost, we make sure to celebrate openly! Being a remote team, it’s not always easy to gather everyone in person for every celebration, though we do make time for meetups. We take time during our weekly meeting to acknowledge our achievements, and of course, a big round of folk applause (a tiny clap with your tip index fingers) is a must!
What's one piece of advice you would give to new employees about working here?
Simo: Don’t expect us to lay out every step for you. While you’ll have clear guidelines, expectations, and a vision, it will be up to you to find the best path forward. You'll have the trust and autonomy you need to make a huge impact.
On a more personal note…
We get it – after the past few years, you're looking at that early-stage start-up opportunity with both excitement and some healthy skepticism. The idea of making a real impact within a small, dynamic team is thrilling, but you also want to make sure it’s a solid step for your future.
Good news – we’ve got the inside scoop on why we might be the right fit for you 😉
[Last updated on Sept, 27th 2023]
Top investors and advisors surround us. We were initially founded within eFounders (now Hexa) in 2020, and in September 2021 we secured a Seed funding round. Overall we raised about $9M with Accel and 100 angels.
Meet some of our investorsOur momentum is unstoppable, with over 5K sign-ups per month and more than thousands of clients (and counting!). And the cherry on top? Our users can't stop sharing their love for our clean, simple, and lightweight product. The heart and soul of our design ethos.
Love from our usersWe're not just building a team; we're curating a crew of exceptional individuals. Our growth is measured and methodical, ensuring that we assemble an incredible and complementary team.
Meet the team