Dear SaaStr: What Are The Characteristics of a Good SaaS Product?
Dear SaaStr: What Are The Characteristics of a Good SaaS Product? A good SaaS product is one that after 18–24 months at least, propagates enough of its own leads to create a self-sustaining business. The customers are happy enough, the problem solved is important...
Dear SaaStr: What Were The Top Pieces of Advice You’re Glad You Ignored?
Dear SaaStr: What Were The Top Pieces of Advice You’re Glad You Ignored? #1: “Don’t do any VC investments your first year. Take your time” Sound advice. But would have missed 4 unicorns if I had. I would have missed leading seed investments...
Dear SaaStr: How Do I Leave a Startup When I’m an Integral Co-founder?
Dear SaaStr: How Do I Leave a Startup When I’m an Integral Co-founder? Either find a smaller role in the company, and still be supportive. Do that if you can. If you can’t, if you really don’t want to stay. Then rip the band-aid off. And just leave. It’s OK....
Dear SaaStr: None of The 3 SaaS Products I Developed Have Any Sales. What Am I Doing Wrong?
Dear SaaStr: None of The 3 SaaS Products I Developed Have Any Sales. What Am I Doing Wrong? You may not have product-market fit. You may not have built a product people will actually pay for. But assuming you have … well — are you doing any marketing? There...
Dear SaaStr: Does Having a Board of Advisors Increase Your Chances of Getting Funding?
Dear SaaStr: Does Having a Board of Advisors Increase Your Chances of Getting Funding? No. Or maybe — only barely, a tiny bit. It does show you are hustling, if the advisors are truly great. If you get Eric Yuan or Marc Benioff to be an active advisor — well, then,...
Dear SaaStr: We sold 30% of our Company Pre-Money During our Friends and Family Round. Will VCs Care?
Dear SaaStr: We sold 30% of our Company Pre-Money During our Friends and Family Round. Will VCs Care? No. In the old days, 30% in your friends-and-family round was pretty common. It may become common again, as times are tougher for many these days in venture. What...
Dear SaaStr: How does a SaaS Startup Find Its Initial Price Point?
Dear SaaStr: How does a SaaS company find its initial price point? It’s pretty simple. First, you anchor around a “comp”, another product that either does something somewhat similar, or that provides somewhat similar value in the market. The comp could be a direct...
What is Jason M. Lemkin Like As An Investor?
Others can answer as well, but will share some Pros and Cons: Pros / Neutral: Require zero social proof. In fact, I sort of prefer there isn’t much. I don’t care which accelerator you went through, where you worked, where you went to school, or who the co-investors or...
Dear SaaStr: What’s a Fair Amount of Founder Secondary in a Series B VC funding round?
Dear SaaStr: What is considered a fair or happy medium secondary amount for the founders to take off the table at a Series B VC funding round? Secondary sales done right truly align founders and the company and incent them to go long. See Brian Halligan’s (co-founder...
Dear SaaStr: Do Late Stage Startups Prefer to Get Acquired or Go Public?
Dear SaaStr: Do Late Stage Startups Prefer to Get Acquired or Go Public? It really varies. Especially these days, when the IPO markets are closed. When it was literally an IPO a Day in 2021, it seemed almost easy. And today — it seems so far from easy. It Was...
Dear SaaStr: Who Should Approve Startup CEO Expenses?
Dear SaaStr: 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. And in fact, once you have VC investors, this is often required in your Investor Rights...
Dear SaaStr: What’s Your Recommendation for Vacations for a Founder CEO of a Tech Startup?
Dear SaaStr: What’s Your Recommendation for Vacations for a Founder CEO of a Tech Startup? Always take them. When I look back at the many mistakes I made as a 2x founder, both times with some degree of success in the end … and there were so many … one thing I am...
Dear SaaStr: Should I Exercise My Stock Options if They are $7 Underwater?
Dear SaaStr: Should I exercise my stock company stock options if they are $7 underwater? Stock options can be really unfair to employees by their nature. Almost no one has the facts to actually know what to do what them. And fewer still even have the financial...
Dear SaaStr: When Bootstrapping a SaaS Product, What Should You Be Aware Of?
Dear SaaStr: When Bootstrapping a SaaS Product, What Should You Be Aware Of? Just a few observations from bootstrapped SaaS companies I’ve had some involvement with: It probably will take 3–4 years longer to get to $10m ARR or so. I don’t fully have the data to...
CEO & Founder
Related Posts
Industry News
- Expensify Sponsors SaaStr Annual 2023
- Snyk losses surged to $267 million in 2022 despite 157% increase in revenue | CTech
- Microsoft CEO testifies that Google will expand search dominance with AI
- The inside story of Dave Clark's tumultuous last days at Flexport: Standoffs, politics, and spin
- Global economy is taking a turn for the worse says Zoho's CEO Sridhar Vembu
- Back to the future: Jack Dorsey secures the reins of Square once again - Tearsheet
- Nasdaq Lures Record Number of Japanese Startup IPOs
- Network security company IronNet ceases operations two years after going public - SiliconANGLE
- ‘Talk to everyone you can’: Plaid’s Zach Perret on navigating a failed sale and Covid upheaval
- Leak: Shopify clarifies its stance on employee side hustles in new internal guidance one day after CEO memo said Shopify requires 'unshared attention'