Meet The Team #6: João Sousa (from surfing to riding the B2B SaaS wave 🏄♂️)
In this edition of Meet the Team, we chat with João Sousa, who leads Marketing and Demand at Clarisights. From growing up by the Portuguese sea to building go-to-market strategies across Europe, João shares his journey from aspiring footballer to growth leader, and why European B2B SaaS needs to rethink its approach to growth.
You grew up in Porto. Take us back to young João. What were your dreams back then?
Like 90% of Portuguese kids, I wanted to be a footballer! I've always been passionate about sports, especially football, and surfing too since I lived close to the sea. But you know how it goes - when you turn 11, football gets really competitive. At the clubs, they'd have 20 teams and sort you based on skill. That's when I realized I probably wasn't going to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo. I thought maybe I could be a football coach or something sports-related. Then as I hit my mid-teens, I started exploring different paths. I found myself caught between engineering and economics.
Do you still follow football?
Definitely. FC Porto will always be my hometown team, so they're number one. But I also have a soft spot for Real Madrid. And in the Premier League, I've been a Liverpool fan for quite some time. Those are my teams.
So how did you end up choosing engineering?
I went for Industrial Engineering and Management, which was perfect because it combined engineering foundations with business administration. I always liked math and engineering, but my passion wasn't in doing purely technical work. I wanted to focus more on the business side of things. During my master's, I specialized in business analytics, which bridged the gap between technical topics like data engineering with business applications.
What brought you into consulting initially?
Honestly? Complete uncertainty about what I wanted to do! I think consulting is a great path when you're not really sure about your direction. It helps you figure things out. Everyone told me it was about solving complex problems, which I liked, so I thought, "Okay, let's try this out." I realised I didn't want the constant stress of banking and insurance projects - I wanted to work on something more exciting!
We noticed you spent some time building a startup before joining Clarisights. Tell us about that experience.
Yes! I started a company with a friend of mine from Porto who also lives in Berlin. He'd been in cybersecurity sales for about 10 years. We noticed a trend where people increasingly don't want to talk to salespeople; they prefer to do their own research through blogs, content, Reddit, whatever. This was especially true for technical audiences, but we were seeing it across all industries.
We thought, "Okay, the buyer journey is changing. How can we help software vendors meet buyers where they are instead of forcing them to talk to a salesperson?" After exploring ideas and interviewing marketing leaders, we landed on this question: since the website is the main source of truth for vendor information, how could we turn it into a personalized experience? Think about it - when you talk to sales, it's a one-on-one conversation. But most websites are generic, showing the same thing to everyone.
We built an MVP - a personalized chatbot that would use website visitor data to start personalized conversations, learning from sales calls and website content. We even got it live with 12 companies, charging $250 per month each! But then we hit a wall - we couldn't find the right technical co-founder, and without that, we were stuck. It was humbling, but I learned so much about product-market fit and the importance of having the right team in place.
Tell us about your role at Clarisights. What does your day typically look like?
I lead marketing and demand, which means working with the team to generate pipeline by finding people who can benefit from better analytics and faster insights. My day usually involves working on our marketing fundamentals - website positioning, messaging, campaign tactics - and strategic outbound efforts. We're always looking for triggers or specific information that suggests a company has challenges we can help with. It's like being a detective sometimes!
We're challenging companies to reconsider something fundamental.
What are some of the unique challenges you're tackling at Clarisights?
One of our biggest challenges is building trust and social proof, especially with large enterprises. Think about it - when you're approaching large companies, they often think they have access to the best tools and have large marketing analytics teams. They need to have heard of you before they'll consider you. And no one starts the year saying "let's improve our reporting" - it's not typically an OKR or a goal. We're challenging companies to reconsider something fundamental.
You're building a go-to-market team in Berlin. What do you look for in team members?
Three things are absolutely critical. First is customer obsession - we really need to understand deeply the people we're working with and marketing to. It's not just about knowing their job title; it's about understanding their challenges, fears, and what makes them tick. Second is curiosity. Third is a sense of urgency combined with an experimentation mindset. We're at this exciting stage where we're scaling from 1 to 10. We've acquired some large customers, but we need to figure out how to make this repeatable and scalable. That requires people who can build hypotheses, test them quickly, and aren't afraid to fail and learn.
Having worked across Europe, what makes the European B2B SaaS market unique?
This is something I discuss a lot with folks here. Europe is very far behind the US on go-to-market topics, and it's fascinating why. We build great products in Europe, but go-to-market is where most companies get held back.
First, it's a fragmentation issue. In the US, you can build a huge company just serving the US market. But in Europe, if you start in the UK or Germany, you can't build a huge business just serving that single market. You need to deal with different cultures, languages, and markets as you expand.
But there's also an interesting cultural aspect. In Europe, there's often a negative connotation around sales and marketing. People appreciate engineers a lot - as they should! - but there's almost a stigma around marketing and sales roles. The best people don't always want to go into these fields. In the US, it's the opposite.
When you're not building go-to-market strategies, what do you do for fun?
I'm still very much into sports. I go to the gym and play football at least once a week. Even though Berlin's weather isn't exactly like Porto's, I try to stay active. I spend time with my girlfriend, go to cinema, music bars, going out generally. I'm not much for sitting at home watching a series. I prefer being out and about, meeting people, exploring the city.
Speaking of Porto, if someone's visiting for the first time, what are your top recommendations?
You absolutely have to hit the beach and try surfing! The Atlantic Ocean waves are perfect for it - big enough to be exciting but not overwhelming. Then, take time to stroll around the city centre. It's from the 12th century. There's so much history to explore. Fun fact: Portugal is technically the oldest country in the world with the same territory since the 1300s! And you cannot leave without trying the local seafood. The sardines are incredible! If seafood's not your thing, we have amazing local snacks too. Porto's food scene is seriously underrated.
What advice would you give to startups beginning their go-to-market journey?
The most important thing - and I can't stress this enough - is to validate if you have product-market-messaging fit. Can you articulate in simple terms: "This is the problem we solve, this is how much it costs you by not solving it, this is how we solve it"? Does this message actually resonate with people? Everyone says outbound doesn't work, but often it's just that your messaging is off.
Finally, what's it been like working in a company that bridges Indian and European cultures?
It's been interesting and eye-opening. You definitely notice different approaches to things like communication styles and decision-making. It's my first time working with an Indian company, so I'm learning a lot. One thing I really appreciate is how it pushes you to be more mindful in your communications. You learn to consider different perspectives and cultural contexts.
It's led to some funny moments. For instance, I haven't had much Indian food yet because my Indian colleagues in Berlin complain about all the local Indian restaurants - so we never go to them!
Anyway, whether you're in Bangalore or Berlin, what drives us is the same: making marketing analytics a better experience for the customer!
Are you passionate about building and scaling go-to-market strategies in the European B2B SaaS space? We're growing our Berlin team! Check out our open positions at careers.clarisights.com