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...
Dear SaaStr: Why Are So Many VCs Grouchy These Days? I think because it’s so damn hard to truly make money as a VC. So, so much harder than it felt in late 2020 and 2021: If you aren’t in the top quartile of venture fund performance at least, maybe...
So of the beloved leaders in Cloud and SaaS, few have been hit harder than Hashicorp by the “downturn”. At $400m ARR, they were growing 50%. Now at $600m, ARR, growth has radically slowed to 17%. Some of it may well be some of the challenges in...
Dear SaaStr: What Happens to the Management Team When a New CEO is Hired? You never know exactly what will happen. However, at a practical level, I think you should plan on maybe 50% of the management team turning over if your company brings in a new CEO. Maybe more....
So Carta put out some recent data I found very useful on how many startups raise another round, and how many sort of quietly wind down, in the first 5 years or so after being founded (from 2018 to early 2024): Almost none IPO’d in the first 5 years, but that...
I respond to a lot of outbound emails with questions: "OK, but how can your app really solve my problem?""OK, but what does it truly do better, for my use case?""OK, but …" 98% of time, the AE or SDR can't give me a decent...
So Jamin Ball of Altimeter had a great summary of public company NRR here: The median net retention for the software universe has been steadily declining the last few quarters. More pressure on churn (as companies look to reduce point solutions in favor of platforms)...
Dear SaaStr: I Have Some Shares in a Successful Start-Up I Worked At, But the Company Won’t Let Me Sell Them. Why Not?? It’s a real issue that isn’t discussed enough. And while it mainly impacts ex-employees, it also impacts angel and seed investors who are...