Blog Posts, Early, Hiring, Q&A, Sales
In the “old” days, there was a rough rule that as soon as you are bringing on more than 1–2 reps a quarter, you needed to hire a director of…
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Career Growth & Advice, Growth, Hiring, Leadership, Q&A
Q: As an entrepreneur, what are some tips and strategies to avoid burning out? It’s a huge risk. A lot of “pretty successful” startups all sell at about the same…
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Blog Posts, Early, Q&A, Sales, Sales
Dear SaaStr: How Can I Get Better at Closing Deals? If it’s very early, hire 1 or ideally 2 sales reps who you’d personally buy from. You’ll all learn from…
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Blog Posts, Early, Fundraising, Leadership
Q: What actually happens in a VC pitch meeting to all the partners? Let me add one key insight to “Full Partnership” / Monday style pitches. The ones where everyone…
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Blog Posts, Customer Success, Early, Hiring, Q&A
Q: Who Should Our First Head of Customer Success Report To? Ah, who should Customer Success report to. It’s not super simple. There are generally 3 options in the early…
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Fundraising, Leadership, Q&A
Q: How Do VCs Mitigate Investment Risks? There are a number of slightly subtle things the best VCs do, and the rest really don’t: Getting other investors to carry their…
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Blog Posts, Fundraising, Leadership, Q&A
Q: How Common Is It For Founders To Get Some Liquidity in A Venture Round? These days, if you raise money at a >=$80m-100m valuation, and are oversubscribed, most bigger…
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Blog Posts, Early, Marketing, Marketing, Q&A, Sales
Q: Dear SaaStr: Should We Over-Charge or Under-Charge our First Customers? Overcharge if the customer is big, i.e., >$50k-$100k a year or so in ACV. Undercharge if the customer is…
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Blog Posts, Customer Success, Marketing, Marketing, Q&A
Q: Dear SaaStr: My Customer Missed the Deadline for AutoRenewal. How Do I Handle This Situation? Let it go and Move On. At a practical level, it is incredibly difficult…
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Blog Posts, Career Growth & Advice, Growth, Hiring, Product, Q&A
Q: Dear SaaStr: How Long Should a CEO Continue Being the Head of Product? Roughly, for me, for as long as it’s about a 10-hour a week job. Or often,…
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Blog Posts, Growth, Marketing, Marketing, Metrics, Q&A
Q: I have a SaaS startup. I feel my marketing team does not make enough efforts. Should I fire the team? No … take that concern and energy and instead…
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Blog Posts, Early, Leadership, Q&A, Sales
Q: Dear SaaStr: Should a Startup Founder Handle Sales Themself When First Getting Started? The answer is yes – 95% of the time. The “best” sequence for building a repeatable…
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Blog Posts, Growth, Hiring, Q&A, Sales
You can back into it. First, figure out how much revenue you need to close in the next twelve months. Because that’s more than now. Second, calculate a reasonable attainable…
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Blog Posts, Customer Success, Growth, Marketing, Q&A
Q: Dear SaaStr: What Percent of My Revenue Should Come from Referrals and Word of Mouth? Ultimately, almost all top software companies end up getting 20-50% or so of their…
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Blog Posts, Q&A
Q: I’m starting a job at a SaaS company after years in consumer apps. What should I know that might not be obvious to a newcomer? You have to love…
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