🏄🏾♀️ Surfboard Puts Employee Well-being and Customer Satisfaction Front and Center in the Customer Support Industry
FemWealth Springboard
Meet Natasha Ratanshi-Stein, Founder and CEO of Surfboard
Born in Vancouver, Natasha Ratanshi-Stein moved to London in 2009 to study at the London School of Economics. She started her career at Goldman Sachs in their M&A team before moving to become a VC at Piton Capital and then Chief of Staff at Bulb.
It was at Bulb, as they scaled their customer experience team, that she encountered the challenge of scheduling for support teams and was inspired to start Surfboard.
”I’ve seen first-hand the demoralising effect that the existing set of workforce management platforms, including spreadsheets, has on support teams at a human level. For support teams to thrive, individual team members should be empowered to work collaboratively alongside management and their teammates. That’s our vision for Surfboard,” highlights Natasha Ratanshi-Stein, Founder and CEO of Surfboard
The UK-based company offers a simpler, smarter and fairer team planning tool for customer service teams at scale.
Surfboard has recently raised its seed round. Investors include Deepali Nangia, Partner at Speedinvest, Reshma Sohoni, Founding and Managing Partner of Seedcamp, and Gabriel Matuschka from Fly Ventures.
“Support is even more complex now with the shift towards remote and even more critical now given the emphasis on customer retention. We are excited to back a strong founder and team and are strong believers in Surfboard’s mission to ensure better collaboration and productivity across support teams,” says Deepali Nangia, Partner at Speedinvest,
“Their timely solution, relentless focus on their ‘surfers’ well-being and customer satisfaction, as well as their long-term vision, will supercharge customer support and success in a more collaborative and efficient way to the benefit of all parties involved,” adds Reshma Sohoni, Managing Partner of Seedcamp
Surfboard’s team is 50% female. Their board is 66% BAME female (Black, Asian and minority ethnic), an exceptional feat in the SaaS industry.
Learn more about what Surfboard is building in our deep dive Q&A:
Why did you start Surfboard? What is your personal edge?
Natasha: I was Chief of Staff at Bulb, a renewable energy company where high-quality customer support was a key differentiating factor in the utilities industry. I got helicoptered into helping the experience team set processes in motion to scale to >700 people and, within that, had to build capacity model spreadsheets and implement scheduling software. It was through this experience I learned how existing software isn’t fit for purpose and how quickly companies outgrow spreadsheets.
And then, the pandemic hit, and I saw firsthand how companies had to adjust to remote working. This resulted in more intrusive surveillance but without the benefits of added flexibility. That’s where I saw an opportunity to make scheduling work for everyone - customers through fast response times, managers through helping them navigate changing circumstances, and team members who benefit from more flexible working models and better tooling built for them as well, not just managers.
What problem are you solving?
Natasha: Support teams struggle to schedule because they need to have enough people available to meet service demands (phone wait times, email backlogs) whilst maintaining fairness and contract/labour law compliance for their team members. We think Surfboard can make things even better for everyone. Through forecasting and scheduling, managers can have confidence they have enough people available. Through collaborative scheduling, team members can have more input into when they work and what they work on.
What value do you bring to your customers?
Natasha: A simple user interface that uses automation and collaboration to make team planning fair for everyone.
Why is employee well-being a central piece of Springboard's platform?
Natasha: Scheduling is known to cause burnout and is the biggest complaint support team members have in their working environment. There is no reason this has to be the case, and flexible models are difficult to implement because software holds back teams.
Through collaboration, teams can work together to create outcomes that work for satisfying the end customer whilst maintaining fairness and flexibility.
As a solo founder, what is your approach to team building and leadership?
Natasha: I’ve managed to hire great people around me, some of them I have worked with before in the past. We have a solid leadership team who takes ownership over their functions but works together to build a cohesive culture. We set out our four values: own it, care deeply, make it sparkle, and zero faff. We all make sure to live by our values and instill these in the team to maximize output but have fun and be thoughtful in the journey.
How did you approach fundraising? And how did you choose your investors?
Natasha: I was fortunate enough to have been a VC before. It’s helpful to know how to navigate the waters, especially as things have become more turbulent. What this meant was that I could prioritize which conversations I thought were most relevant, ensuring both the funds and individual partners were aligned to our mission.
What advice do you have for women and diverse aspiring entrepreneurs thinking of starting a company?
Natasha: Starting a company is an exhilarating experience. There is no doubt it’s the most challenging thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding. Make sure to get the right team in place, work on something you are truly passionate about and seek advice from people around you. No one knows all the answers, and so the best thing you can do is surround yourself with people who can help you steer the ship in the right direction.
Read more here and here. Follow Natasha on Twitter and Linkedin.
Stay tuned for the next edition of FemWealth Springboard!
💌 If you’re a female or non-binary founder of a venture-backed, early-stage company and would like to be featured in a future edition, please email me at femwealth@substack.com.