SaaStr Podcast #082: David Rodnitzky, Founder and CEO @ 3Q Digital Discusses Factors Startups Must Consider Before Spending on Marketing
Welcome to Episode 82! David Rodnitzky is founder and CEO of 3Q Digital, a leading digital agency that was acquired by Harte Hanks in 2015. Prior to 3Q Digital, he held senior marketing roles at several Internet companies, including Rentals.com (2000-2001),...
What’s a reasonable cap for a pre-seed round?
First, bear in mind it’s incredibly situationally dependent: A founder that sold her last company for $400m or IPO’d might be able to raise a pre-seed round at $40m pre (not uncommon). A founder with little proof points might be lucky to raise anything at all, and $2m...
Charley Moore (Rocket Lawyer): Learnings Getting to 100,000 Paid Subscribers (Video + Transcript)
Legal services are undeniably expensive. “People don’t have access to justice,” says Charley Moore, CEO of Rocket Lawyer, whose aim is to make legal services simpler and more affordable. Matt Holleran, General Partner at Cloud Apps Capital Partners, moderates this...
Bridget Gleason (Sumo Logic), Don Ovtos (Datahug), Aaron Ross (Predictable Revenue): How to Specialize Your Sales Team So You Can Actually Scale (Video + Transcript)
When your sales team is small, everyone has to wear multiple hats. The challenge is recognizing when it’s the right time to specialize while balancing a rapidly growing team. In this panel, Aaron Ross, author of Predictable Revenue and Impossible to Inevitable,...
What is an entrepreneur’s morning routine?
Most founders I know use their early-most morning hours to focus. No meetings, no distractions. Sometimes, it’s focused email. Sometimes, it’s deal review. Sometimes, it’s mapping out a roadmap or a strategy. As CEO, your day is full of distractions, both scheduled...
If companies raised venture capital do they have to go public or sell?
Yes, generally. But don’t worry about it. Venture funds have 10 year lifetimes, and generally get up to 3 year extensions, sometimes even longer. That means usually, the “pressure” to exit isn’t really all that much pressure at all. Plenty of “Vintage 2000” funds have...
A Discussion with Christoph Janz of Point Nine and Mathilde Collin CEO of FrontApp: "The Magic in Fundraising"
I’m extremely grateful Christoph Janz of Point Nine Capital and Mathilde Collin, CEO of FrontApp, dropped by to kick off our first official Speaker Series at the new SaaStr CoSelling Space. We had over 200 founders, VCs, and more attend the craft cocktails...
What are the elements of a successful venture capital firm?
Just one thing. Returns. At least two 4x+ funds = true success. It does not matter if founders like you. It does not matter if you have a brand. It does not matter if you have a blog. It does not matter if you add value. It does not matter if you never helped at all....
SaaStr Named by LinkedIn as "Top 10 Must-Know Writer of Year / VC-Startups"
Earlier this year, we started to step up our game on LinkedIn. I’d worked on some content on LinkedIn as it began to scale up its focus on publishing, but at first, it didn’t really work. The views were tiny and the audience seemed to mostly be my...
SaaStr Podcast #081: Steve Garrity, Co-Founder @ Hearsay Discusses Why It Is Wrong To Have A Sales Led Culture
Welcome to Episode 81! Steve Garrity is COO and founder of Hearsay Systems, the leading advisor-client engagement solution for the financial services industry. Hearsay have backing from the likes of Sequoia, NEA, Kleiner Perkins, Michael Abbott and Path Founder, and...
How does investing in a venture fund work?
Don’t do it. Almost always — do not, as an individual, invest in venture funds. They are not designed for you. A “Very Good” (not great, but very good) Venture Fund will: double your money (i.e., do 2x) over 10 years (it takes a long time) with zero...
How should a SaaS company compensate sales people when selling credit card processing enrollment?
As a rough rule, most companies pay their reps as some % of the first year total deal value. For annual deals, this is quite easy to calculate. For monthly deals that are non-variable, most folks just assume an annualized value, and either do a claw-back if the...
My company is about to be acquired, should I leave to join a big adtech company right before?
I’d move on. If the start-up has a term sheet, a real offer from an acquirer — that’s one thing. I’d wait a week and listen and hear what it is. Sometimes (though not usually), the retention packages for non-founders and non-VPs can be attractive....
What type of thing should I "worry" about in a Seed or A round due diligence?
Having been dishonest. Or at least, having pushed “the truth” one or three steps too aggressively. Due diligence for early-stage software companies is mostly confirmatory: Do the beta customers really use the product, like you said? Is the rest of the team...
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