# Scaling Up -- Playing the Platform Power Game

By

Carl Tsukahara

February 26, 2025

In this session, Carl will spend 45 minutes deep-diving into the keys to a successful platform strategy, followed by a 15-minute Q+A/AMA. He will discuss why a platform approach maximizes the scale-up and valuation of B2B SaaS businesses, offering actionable insights and real-world examples.

A few discrete topics that Carl will cover include:

- Why platforms help sell and retain clients  
- How platforms create category power and sustainable leadership  
- The impact of platform evolution on product and GTM strategies  
- Fiscal impacts of moving to a platform model  
- Three keys to successfully migrating to or optimizing a platform strategy  
- Examples of “platform heroes” and their transformational successes

The goal will be to leave the session with practical takeaways for leveraging platform strategies to drive sustainable growth and scale.

## About Carl Tsukahara  
Carl is a seasoned B2B marketing and product executive with over 30 years of experience driving growth and creating $15B+ in enterprise value across private and publicly traded software companies. Most recently, he served as CMO at Optimizely, a leader in digital experience optimization solutions, acquired by Insight/Episerver in 2020 after raising $200M+ from investors like A16z, Index Ventures, and Goldman Sachs. Carl has held CMO and CPO roles at Birst, Evolv (acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand), Vitria (Nasdaq IPO), Monitise/Clairmail (LSE), and Dun & Bradstreet, as well as key marketing leadership positions at Oracle. Today, Carl advises nearly a dozen software scale-ups, including Opkey, Stylitics, Cognism, Vyond, Rallyware, and more.