More often than we want to admit, we’re all to blame. I can’t tell you how many interviews I’ve done in the past months where I was told how their last company was “toxic”. Twice this week, at least. It’s the new hot term to describe situations that are...
“My App Stack” is a new series where we dig in with top CMOs, CROs, CTOs and CEOs on just what apps they’re really using to run their business. I always learn a lot from these — they are in essence a best practices list from each leader. Last time we had a great one...
So the other day a CEO reached out to me about advice on an acquisition. They wanted to do three things: Enter a space they had no product or customers in today; and Add on at least $10m of extra revenue for the year; and Not add too much to their burn rate. So this...
Dear SaaStr: When Do You Know It’s Time to Pivot? I think in SaaS, it’s when you have a handful of customers, and they are happy, and it’s been 9+ months … and you are growing, but slowly. If you have no customers, it’s not really a pivot or tilt, it’s a...
I know it may not be what you want to hear But the answer to how to get through tougher times is generally to work even harder At least for a while — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 🇮🇱 (@jasonlk) February 11, 2023 So as we’ve talked about many times on SaaStr,...
“Doubling Down” is a new series where we hear from top B2B SaaS investors on their most recent activities and takes on the current market. We had a great one last time with Lucy Deland, Co-founder & General Partner at Inspired Capital. Check that out...
So we’ve probably covered HubSpot more than any other SaaS and Cloud leader on this 5 Interesting Learnings series, but there’s a good reason for it: First, HubSpot is a lot like most of us. It sells sales, marketing, support and more tools. And second,...
So when I started writing venture checks in 2013, I didn’t know what I was doing, but I had a strong start: First was Pipedrive co-leading seed, then acquired for $1.5B cash Second was Algolia leading U.S. seed, now at $200m+ ARR and an IPO candidate Third was...
Dear SaaStr: What Was it Like Acquiring Your First Customer? I had very different experiences in each of my startups. In my first start-up, we were whale hunting — big, large, Fortune 500 customers. So Customer #1 showed us the path to our future. My first customer...
One of our top vendors just got a new CRO He got on the phone with us and said he was doubling pricing because "their costs are up". No heads up, just to make his plan. Now, we are looking at their competitor. Before … we weren't. Worth it for...
For the 8th year in a row, we’re expanding our Equality, Inclusion and Balance program. We are proud that the 2023 SaaStr Annual featured a combined 60% women and multicultural speakers and have had over 60% women and multicultural speakers at each SaaStr Annual...
Are we through the endless price increases we saw in 2023? Apparently not. A stunning 73% of you are raising prices in 2024. That’s up from 54% in 2023. Personally, I’m a fan of only raising prices if you’ve earned it, and focusing on raising prices...
Dear SaaStr: Why Do Most Entrepreneurs Under Price Their Offerings Initially? Yes, most of us at first under-price and then slowly raise prices as we gain confidence. It’s because (1) we aren’t trained sales leaders, and (2) we worry most about not losing the...
So Redpoint Ventures published some of the slides they recently presented to their Limited Partners (their own investors) here. There’s a ton of good data there, but this one slide stood out to me, because it was put together in a really clear fashion, better...
Dear SaaStr: Should you offer to give the money back to your VCs if your startup just isn’t going to make it? It’s an interesting question. Many of us have been there — or at least close. I’ve been there. When in the earlier days at Adobe Sign / EchoSign, my...