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The #1 Thing To Do When Times Are Harder
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, tougher times are…
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Doubling Down: Luci Fonseca, Partner at Base10 Partners
“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 here. This week we’re focusing on Luci Fonseca, Partner at…
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Dear SaaStr: How Do I Best Prevent Churn?
Dear SaaStr: How Do I Best Prevent Churn? You don’t. Instead, you drive it down. Each quarter. You can’t eliminate churn. It’s a fact of business life in selling a product with recurring revenue and thus recurring sales. You can hide churn (e.g., by signing multiyear contracts). And you can drive it down. But you…
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5 Interesting Learnings from HubSpot at $2.4 Billion in ARR
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 many of us use HubSpot. The majority of the…
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AI Day is Streaming Live TODAY – Here’s how to tune in
Building off the popularity of our AI Day at last September’s SaaStr Annual, we’re bringing it back online this March on Wednesday, March 27th for a completely live, digital event that will bring the global SaaStr community together with the brightest innovators in Artificial Intelligence for a day of digital content. (And don’t worry we’ll be bringing it back to the Annual this September too.)
Dear SaaStr: How Can an Early Stage SaaS Startup Get its First 1-3 Pilot Fortune 500 Paying Customers?
Dear SaaStr: How Can an Early Stage SaaS Startup Get its First 1-3 Pilot Fortune 500 Paying Customers? It’s not magic. And it’s not a mystery. Even though it can seem like it, until you’ve done it yourself. There are basically two paths, and one predicate step The predicate step is your product has to…
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The Investments Where I’m Going to Lose All My Money
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 Greenouse/Parklet, acquired for $800m and now at…
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Everything Founders Should Know About AI, Pricing, and Funding with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin
SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin covers the SaaS community’s most pressing questions about Artificial Intelligence, pricing, efficiency, and funding in SaaS.
Dear SaaStr: What Was it Like Acquiring Your First Customer?
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 signed a $10k contract (a small pilot) but…
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The New CRO’s First Job Now is To Aggressively Raise Prices. Be Wary.
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 them? TBD — Jason ✨Be…
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Dear SaaStr: How Would You Invest a 5 Million Dollar Payout From an Acquisition?
Dear SaaStr: How Would You Invest a 5 Million Dollar Payout From an Acquisition? Bear in mind I’m not a CFA, CPA, or professional financial advisor. But I have been through it. And so I know this is a more difficult question to answer than you might think. The other day at our most recent…
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SaaStr Has 1,500+ No-Cost VIP Equality, Inclusion and Balance Passes for 2024. Apply Now!!
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 since 2018, and we hope to do even better in 2024!…
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Dear SaaStr: How Do You Deal With an Unreliable Co-Founder?
Dear SaaStr: How Do You Deal With an Unreliable Co-Founder? You first try to move them into an individual contributor role. If that doesn’t work, then move them out. This is one of the most frustrating outcomes, when a very talented co-founder becomes “unrealiable”. You should try to keep them, if you can, and they…
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ICYMI: Why The First Rule You Know About Building Software is Wrong: Rippling CEO Parker Conrad’s Theory of the Compound Startup (Pod 670 + Video)
The First Rule You Know About Building Software is Wrong. Discover why with Rippling CEO and Co-Founder, Parker Conrad, and Sam Blond, Partner at Founders Fund. In this session, Parker will explain step-by-step his theory of the compound startup and how it can help you scale your SaaS company.
Top SaaStr Content for the Week: SaaStr Miami Sessions You Might Have Missed, New Workshop Wednesday and lots more!
The top SaaStr content you might have missed for the week of March 24th, 2023.
Popular Q&A
Dear SaaStr: What Was the Toughest Rejection You Ever Had in Sales?
Dear SaaStr: What Was the Toughest Rejection You Ever Had in Sales? The hardest rejection I’ve had in sales was around renewals. Especially ones I thought we really had earned. But still lost. In particular, in the early days of EchoSign / Adobe Sign, we had a...
Why the Future of Customer Success, Sales and Marketing Has Changed For Good: Ask-Me-Anything Part 2 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin
In part one of this week’s Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) with SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin, he answered the community’s questions about whether all anyone cares about is AI anymore, investor appetites going into 2024, vertical SaaS, and thriving as a solo founder....
Is AI the Only Thing in SaaS that Anyone Cares About Anymore? Ask-Me-Anything Part 1 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin
In the first part of this open Ask-Me-Anything (AMA), Jason shares his thoughts on the current state of sales and marketing, if anyone really cares about anything other than AI anymore, how to hire great partners, and breaking out of a crowded ecosystem.
Doubling Down: Jay Levy Managing Partner at Zelkova Ventures
"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. Kicking us off is Jay Levy, Managing Partner at Zelkova Ventures. #1. What’s your most recent disclosed investment? Why did you...
Dear SaaStr: Can an Entrepreneur Back Out of a Signed Term Sheet Without Damaging Their Reputation?
Dear SaaStr: Can an entrepreneur back out of a signed term sheet without damaging their reputation? In my experience — Yes, probably. As a founder, you can back out of a term sheet if something is off, or even if you just get another offer you prefer. There is a lot...
Why You’re Unfundable in 2023: The Cold, Hard Truths About SaaS AMA Part 2 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin
Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder of SaaStr, recently answered our audience’s most pressing questions about the present and future of startups. Here is part 2 of the cold truth about SaaS in 2023.