Dear SaaStr: What Sales Comp Plan Should I Use For Our Very First Sales Rep?
Dear SaaStr: What Sales Comp Plan Should I Use For Our Very First Sales Rep? At the end of the day you have to solve for two things: A plan that gives the reps a living, fair wage; and A plan that you know and feel is accretive to the company. Sales reps have to be...
Dear SaaStr: What Was Your Very First Sales Story? How Did It Go?
Dear SaaStr: What Was Your Very First Sales Story? How Did It Go? My very first sales deal was for $6,000,000. In my first start-up, I was mostly hunting whales — seven-figure and eight-figure deals. I had no experience doing any of this. For our First Big Customer,...
Dear SaaStr: Should We Over-Charge or Under-Charge our First Customers?
Dear SaaStr: Should We Over-Charge or Under-Charge our First Customers? My general rules: Overcharge if the customer is big, i.e., >$50k-$100k a year o nor so in ACV. Undercharge if the customer is smaller by revenue. There’s a method to the seeming madness...
In SaaS, The CEO Never Gets to Step Away From Sales
The biggest mistake you can make as a founder when you hire your first VP of Sales is stepping out of sales I see this again, and again It only works with the very best VPs of Sales Every other first VP of Sales needs you doing at least half of what you were doing...
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Most Important Thing To Look For In Your First Sales Rep?
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Most Important Thing To Look For In Your First Sales Rep? The #1 most important criterion for your first 2 reps is: would you buy from her? For real? Would you truly, 100%, buy your own product from them? 98% of the reps you interview …...
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Mistake New Sales Leaders Make?
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Mistake New Sales Leaders Make? Let me just summarize my #1 observation here: the top mistake first-time sales managers make is recruiting. In that — they can’t do it. They can’t recruit great reps. They can recruit some mediocre...
Dear SaaStr: Does a Big Exit Make You Happy?
Dear SaaStr: Does a Big Exit Make You Happy? Well here in the SF Bay Area … we live in a strange place. Folks I know with “infinite” money sort of fall into 3 buckets: Category 1: Still Building Stuff. For Whatever Reason. In their DNA. This is...
7 Of The Top Things Founders Get Wrong When They Start a B2B Company
Dear SaaStr: What do startup founders typically get wrong when starting a business? My list: Not committing to 24 months upfront to getting to Real Revenues and a Minimum Sellable Product. We’ve written about this before, but I see it again and again and again. It...
Dear SaaStr: What Should I Do if My Co-founder is a Complete Jerk?
Dear SaaStr: What Should I Do if My Co-founder is a Complete Jerk? It if’s that bad — it’s just not going to work. The issue isn’t so much that he’s a complete jerk. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, or most likely, it’s somewhere in the...
Dear SaaStr: How Do I Convince My CEO that Marketing is Important?
Dear SaaStr: How do I Convince My CEO that Marketing is Important? A lot of CEOs these days do seem to be late to truly invest in B2B marketing, and most especially, to hiring a true VP of Marketing. In the Age of AI, so many CEOs hack it to $5m, $8m, $20m+ in ARR...
Dear SaaStr: How Should I Present The Competition Slide of My Pitch Deck if I Have Too Many Competitors?
Dear SaaStr: How Should I Present The Competition Slide of My Pitch Deck if I Have Too Many Competitors? Simple Answer: Just pick the Top 5 competitors, that’s enough. Not just by revenue, but also, by significance. Longer Answer: The competitor slide is a chance to:...
Dear SaaStr: Should Your Ask a Prospect What Competitors They Are Looking At?
Dear SaaStr: Should Your Ask a Prospect What Competitors They Are Looking At? Yes. You’ll find 90% of the time you’ll want to not just tell a client who you are competing with — but do so aggressively. And box the competition out at the start. “Great to learn about...
Dear SaaStr: Is it Wisest to Approach One Investor at a Time?
Dear SaaStr: Is it Wisest to Approach One Investor at a Time? No. First, it takes too long. If a VC doesn’t know you, and you aren’t a “super hot” start-up, even if you do get a term sheet — it may take months. Yes, term sheets get done in one day. I haven’t done...
Dear SaaStr: My Investor Wants Weekly Meetings. Is This Too Much Time?
Dear SaaStr: I am a startup founder that writes extensive monthly report to investors. We are also doing weekly meetings, are they asking for too much of my time? Yes. Some rough rules: For every 1% of a company an investor owns, an investor should get one meeting a...
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