How many founders regret raising from VCs?
You shouldn’t regret raising from VCs. After all, no one forces you to raise venture capital. In most scenarios. Perha...
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What’s the best (geographically speaking) sales organization for enterprise SaaS in the US at $1M ARR/$30k average deal size? Do we have to/should we meet to close?
I think at $30k ACV, you’re in the range where being in Silicon Valley is worth the huge expense. Silicon Valley / SF ... -
Can You Scale Sales in the Bay Area? $30k ACV is Probably The Cut-Off
Silicon Valley / SF has gotten incredibly expensive. Rents, salaries, and perhaps most importantly, turnover. I’ve inv... -
What does a US based B2B SaaS company need to know before expanding into Europe?
Let me simplify it all to 4 simple pieces of advice: For most U.S. companies: Start marketing, supporting and talking to... -
Can a CEO be late to their office almost every day?
As CEO, I was basically never late. This year, for the SaaStrAnnual.com, we had perhaps ~150 CEOs speak. Some of the ver... -
SaaStr Podcast Now on Spotify! Catch Up on 166+ Episodes!
I am extremely happy to announce the SaaStr podcast with Harry Stebbings has come to Spotify! I know many of you love to... -
Why are index ventures not listed as a shareholder on Dropbox’s S-1, even though they lead their series B and advertise themselves as Dropbox investors on their website?
Because only investors that own > 5% are required to be listed per SEC regulations. It looks like they own just a bit... -
Is Elon Musk bad at public speaking? How so?
As a founder-CEO … I think he’s amazing. As a polished, rent-a-CEO, 4th or 40th CEO of F500 company type … he’s ... -
SaaStr Podcast #163: Wade Foster, Founder & CEO @ Zapier Discusses Scaling Zapier to $35m in ARR with Just $1.3m in Funding
Welcome to Episode 163! Wade Foster is the Founder & CEO @ Zapier, the startup that moves information between your w... -
Is $50 million enough money to start a VC firm and become a billionaire?
No … unless you are a total, once-or-twice-in-a-venture-generation outlier. A “good” venture fund will return 2x-3... -
Speaking Submissions for SaaStr Europa are open!
Ooh là là! Nous allons à Paris! – We are hosting our first-ever SaaStr Europa this coming June in Paris, France... -
15+ of The Top Sales & Marketing Mistakes SaaS Startups Make
Recently I assembled my “Top 15” list of Sales & Marketing mistakes SaaS startups make as things start t... -
Coming Very Soon: The New 2.0 SaaStr CoSelling Space in SOMA: Bigger, Better, More-er
We’re moving! We are taking the learnings from the past 15 months in the first SaaStr CoSelling Space in Potrero H... -
SaaStr Podcast #162: Olof Mathé, Founder & CEO @ Mixmax Shares How To Achieve True Virality in SaaS with $0 CAC
Welcome to Episode 162! Olof Mathé is the Founder & CEO @ Mixmax, the startup that allows you to be a sales pro, p... -
What are some of the “ultimate sins” when it comes to marketing and/or sales in early stage companies?
My list of some bad ones: Sales: Hiring any reps you wouldn’t buy from. This never works out in the early days. Later,... -
What should be the priorities of SaaS founders during the early stages?
Some ideas: Find a truly great co-founder. Slow down. There is too much to do in SaaS — sales, customer success, p... -
How does Jason M. Lemkin balance empathically helping SaaS founders/the larger SaaS community while also protecting his limited time?
It’s really tough now. The biggest challenge has been the overall growth of SaaStr “Inc” (media-events-etc) from $... -
If you were to start a SaaS company right now, would you focus on an niched product with quick adoption, or a complex product with fewer, larger customers?
Do what you know how to do. Perhaps the #1 mistake I see in seasoned executives in SaaS that start companies is Grass is... -
As an investor, how do you feel about startups that aren’t necessarily aiming to become 1B+, but have incredible traction and trajectory?
I think it’s OK — in the early-ish days. If you have incredible traction and trajectory, say growing > 15% Mo... -
Bring the SaaStr Annual Learnings Back to Your Company — With SaaStr Pro!
Wondering how to bring SaaStr learnings into your company? We’ve got the answer! We’ve curated 100+ of the t... -
What is uncalled capital?
This is worth understanding as a founder. In any venture fund of a material size (even $50m+), the vast majority of the ... -
How do you price a SaaS product in a new B2B market?
I’ve lived it. The simplest answer is usually to copy the pricing from the closest public company you can find that is... -
Who should approve startup CEO expenses?
I would have the board approve CEO salary, all material expenses (>$5k-$10k), and an overall CEO expense policy. In a... -
Great Event Next Tuesday at CSS: “Rethinking the Engineering Career Path” with Stripe, Checkr, Netflix, More
The team at PlatoHQ is putting on a great event at the SaaStr CoSelling space next week around engineering growth and ca... -
How would you deal with an unreliable co-founder?
You move her/him into an individual contributor role. Or just move her/him out. This is one of the most frustrating outc... -
Can a company buy back an investor note if the investor wants out of the investment?
It’s getting more and more common these days and it’s not that complicated. The real question is where do you get th... -
SaaStr Annual 2018: Live Blog, Wrap Up!
Post written by guest blogger Alli McKee. This year’s SaaStr made it clear: there is more growth – and competi... -
When will VCs start to evaluate people on internals rather than on pitches?
Let me make a suggestion: Get great at an email elevator pitch. Many biases and prejudices seep into in-person VC pitche... -
SaaStr Podcast #161: Brad Feld, GP @ Foundry Group on Structuring Your SaaS Startup For Scalability
Welcome to Episode 161! Brad Feld is one of the world’s leading VCs and Co-Founder of Foundry Group. Brad has made inv... -
SaaStr Annual 2018: Live Blog, Day 3 —The Importance of Product, Culture and Diversity
Post written by guest blogger Drew Beechler. 2018 marks my third SaaStr Annual conference, and the content and confere... -
SaaStr Annual 2018: Live Blog, Day 2 — 48 hours of Coffee and Handshakes!
Post written by guest blogger Meena Sandhu. Why are you at SaaStr? Why am I at SaaStr? Why does this community congrega... -
SaaStr Annual 2018: Live Blog, 3 Takeaways From Day One
Post written by guest blogger Chris Cooper. As with any conference the size of SaaStr, you must make some important choi... -
SaaStr Annual: Live Blog, Day One Kickoff!
Post written by guest blogger, Jen Igartua. A commitment to diversity, kickass content and… dogs. Last year, I att... -
Come Early Today (Monday) to SaaStr Annual at 11:30am for an Open AMA/Meet-Up with Jason Lemkin + Christoph Janz / Point 9
Already in town for the Annual? We’re adding a last minute extra, informal meet-up with two of your favorites in t... -
What advice would you give to a starting entrepreneur if you could use just one sentence?
Budget — somehow, some way — 24 months just to get to initial traction. 6 months is not enough. You can’t ... -
What is a reasonable discount for upfront yearly payments for Enterprise SaaS? What about for signing a 3-year contract?
First — you don’t want a true net discount at all. What I mean what you want is a pricing structure that anticip... -
When, if ever, does it make sense for a company to have co-CEOs?
It makes sense when it’s true. Otherwise, it’s a terrible idea. Co-CEOs are very confusing: Investors and media will... -
5 Ways to Create More Meaningful Connections at SaaStr Annual 2018
Post written by Plato HQ. The excitement is palpable—in just a few short days, thousands of founders, executives, an... -
How much should an entrepreneur worry about competition in an early-stage startup?
You are going to obsess about competition. You won’t be able to help it. And mostly it’s healthy. But one thing we... -
What is the impact of the trend of moving toward higher rounds of funding at the series A level?
The main impact is it is harder to be a “tweener”. Rounds are bigger, but with bigger checks also come bigger expect...