Pendo founder and CEO Todd Olson moves fast.

In a decade since graduating from prestigious Carnegie Melon, he has helped launched three startups and has worked in various executive roles at three other ventures. But the third startup – Pendo – appears to be the startup that is going to make Olson a star as well as, perhaps, a great deal of money.

Pendo is hotter than the current heat wave sweeping the Triangle. A $25 million fundraising led by Silicon Valley investors gives Pendo $45 million in cash raised over the last six months.

Olson says Pendo plans to add 50 more jobs over the next six months as it opens new offices. Pendo has already added 30 new workers this year, giving it 106.

[Job seekers should check out https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/pendo/ ]

The Skinny talked with Olson about why he took on the new funding, why Pendo is having such success, and his plans for growth.

  • Congratulations on the new deal – why raise so much money now so soon after the previous raise?

We were presented with an opportunity to take on this additional capital.

We did it to allow us to be a bit more aggressive in how we grow the business, but this also frees us up to NOT worry about capital and focus on execution.

  • You obviously have the attention of Silicon Valley investors. How did you manage this achievement especially in such a short time?

We’ve managed the grab the attention because we’ve focused on creating a great company with great fundamentals.

No real magic here.

[Pendo’s software platform is designed to improve customer experiences. “Pendo helps us truly understand and improve the experience we deliver to each of the different roles in our product. It should be an essential part of every company’s technology infrastructure,” said one customer in the latest funding announcement.]

  • What are the secrets to your sauce that obviously are addressing customer needs and therefore generating investor interest?

No real secret.

We invest a lot in making sure we have a great product that solves a real pain.

We have a maniacal focus on customer success.

We generally care about ensuring our customers get real value and benefit from partnering with us.

  • How will you invest the additional funding? How many jobs might be added over what period of time and in what areas?

We’re adding over 50 employees in the next 6 months, so I’m not sure we are able to grow too much faster given our size. However, we’ll be able to be a bit more aggressive with the additional capital. In general, most of our open positions are in engineering, sales, and customer success.

(Check out the links with this post for WTW and ExitEvent coverage of Pendo’s rapid rise.)