Building Customer Value Management with Steven Lewandowski
In this episode of Built in EMEA, host Pavel Novak speaks with Steven Lewandowski, co-founder of Addressable Value and former Chief Customer Officer at SalesManago. Steven shares his unconventional path to tech leadership, reflecting on how his formative years as a sergeant in the German military shaped his human-centered management philosophy. He breaks down the key principles that drive his approach as a leader, including an emphasis on unearned trust, strict punctuality, and the influential business literature—such as Customer-Led Growth and Good to Great—that guided his transition into executive SaaS roles.

The conversation explores the origin story of Addressable Value and Steven's transition from freelance advisory work to building a dedicated software platform. Steven explains how working with high-growth SaaS companies revealed a major "blank spot" across modern tech stacks: while traditional CRMs handle lead generation and deal closing, they fail to measure or prove actual customer value realization after the sale. He candidly details the process of identifying this market gap, navigating the difficulty of pitching co-innovation pilot programs to early prospects, and the pivotal late-night Miro board session that convinced his co-founder, Stefan, to leave a 16-year career at SAP to build the company together.

Finally, Steven offers actionable advice on the operational realities of early-stage founder life. He highlights the necessity of ruthless prioritization, structured monthly OKR reviews, and driving pipeline through consistent community building rather than purely transactional outreach. Addressing the current industry shift toward automation, Steven makes a strong case for why B2B sales and Customer Success will always remain a "people business," arguing that even in an era of agentic AI, authentic human relationships and personal trust are irreplaceable.

Key Highlights:

• The Post-Sale Value Realization Gap: How Addressable Value sits on top of standard CRMs to bridge the gap between initial deal close, customer onboarding, and measurable ROI.
• The Founder Transition & Co-Innovation: Strategies for convincing busy revenue leaders to join early-stage pilot programs and co-design product solutions.
• The Human Element in the AI Era: Why personal presence, community evangelism, and genuine trust outshine pure automation in modern go-to-market strategies.