Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

In this episode of Follow the Gradient, Melanie sits down with Christian, one of Yokoy’s early employees and the architect behind its customer success organization. Together, they strip away the myths around customer success and uncover its real power - not as a support role, but as a strategic engine for growth. Christian shares how success starts long before onboarding and why early-stage founders should lead these conversations themselves.

🎧 Tune in now on Spotify, Apple, YouTube and share your thoughts! Who should be our next guest?

In the meantime: Follow the Gradient and stay tuned!

🫶🏼 Melanie & Christian

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How to build a Customer Success function

What you will get out of this episode

In our conversation, Christian shares:

• How to design a customer success function that delivers measurable value, not just activity

• Why early founders must stay close to clients to define scalable playbooks

• How to align sales, marketing, and product around the real customer journey

• How to use AI to enhance - not replace - the human side of customer success

• and much more!

Our main take away’s

1. Customer success is the engine of retention and growth: It’s not about support tickets or checklists - it’s about ensuring customers continually achieve value and tying that success directly to revenue outcomes.

2. Start with clarity, not tactics: Many startups rush into playbooks or referral loops without truly understanding the value they deliver. Define client objectives and success metrics first - everything else flows from there.

3. The first hires must be all-rounders: Early customer success managers should thrive in ambiguity, bridge product and sales, and own the full client journey from onboarding to advocacy.

4. Sales, marketing, and CS must operate as one system: The insights from post-sales fuel better discovery questions, sharper messaging, and more authentic success stories - creating a continuous loop of learning and growth.

5. AI will elevate, not eliminate, customer success: Automation will handle data aggregation and reporting, freeing CSMs to focus on human relationships and the real drivers of client value - trust, empathy, and strategic partnership.

6. Sustain sanity through structure: Reflective habits, time-boxing, and clear work boundaries are essential for thriving in hyper-growth. Staying sane is not optional - it’s a leadership skill.

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How to reach out to Christian

• LinkedIn