Dear SaaStr: Should I Publish My Pricing?
Dear SaaStr: Should I Publish My Pricing? If you aren’t sure — then yes. Transparent pricing has many advantages: It makes the sales process simpler. It allows prospects and leads to do more discovery work on their own. And it places your app in pricing context with...
Dear SaaStr: How do VCs Really Feel About Founder Salaries? I Was Told That a General Rule of Thumb is 75% of Market
Dear SaaStr: How do VCs Really Feel About Founder Salaries? I Was Told That a General Rule of Thumb is 75% of Market The 75% Rule once you are VC Funded for more than a few million dollars is a good one. But if you raise less than that — 75% may well be too...
Dear SaaStr: When Should a Startup Hire its First Sales Person, and What Should Their Profile Look Like?
Dear SaaStr: When Should a Startup Hire its First Sales Person, and What Should Their Profile Look Like? We’ve talked a lot about this on SaaStr, let me summarize my top learnings from 15+ years Try to close at least 10–20 customers yourself first, before you hire a...
Dear SaaStr: What’s a Good Benchmark for B2B Sales Cycles?
Dear SaaStr: What’s a Good Benchmark for B2B Sales Cycles? To overgeneralize, but to give you a pretty rough sense: Sales cycles are very much impacted by the intent of the prospect. Intent varies from High Probability / Intent Opportunities (“I Need to...
Before You Start as a VP — Please, Please, Please. Do a 60-Day Plan. And Make Sure the CEO Agrees With It.
I’ve now worked with or invested in ~30 successful start-ups beyond my own companies and I’ve watched a lot of VP / CXO-level hire train wrecks. Probably the most common is “the wrong VP of Sales / CRO”. We’ve talked about that for 6+...
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: How Long Should You Give a New Sales Rep?
Dear SaaStr: How Long Should You Give a New Sales Rep? The tough truth is from 1.0–1.5 sales cycles. And you’ll often, though not always, know sooner. Sales is tough. It’s a lot of Nos to get to a Yes. And while sales is pretty similar in SaaS at a given price...
Dear SaaStr: As a Founder, What Will I Learn Getting More Involved in Sales?
Dear SaaStr: I’m Pretty Hands Off on the Sales Team. What Will I Learn Getting More Involved in Sales? The most important thing that you will learn is how businesses truly scale on the revenue side. You may think you know this intuitively, but you don’t:...
No, Free Pilots and Free Trials Aren’t Revenue. Keep it Simple — And Real.
Dear SaaStr: Can free pilots and trials periods count towards gross revenue then deducted as a marketing expense? No. First, if you really want to do this — i.e., net a pilot against marketing expense — then you do have to still charge for it. Even if you provide the...
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Have to Get Right in a Start-Up?
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Have to Get Right in a Start-Up? So many folks I meet want to start a start-up. They have an idea they are passionate about. They’ve worked under a great CEO, and they’re ready — they think — to do it on their own...
In The Early Days, You Won’t Have Enough Customers. But Your Mini-Brand Will Come to Your Rescue.
"You think brand doesn't matter in the early days. But it turns out, you'll have a 'mini-brand' far earlier than you might think. Often by just $2-$3m ARR. Customers in your niche, in the part of the market where you do win, will start to hear...
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Way I Can Accelerate My Career Growth?
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Way I Can Accelerate My Career Growth? My uber-learnings: Find the best boss you can; and Take on every initiative, project, task, and endeavor you possibly can from her. And work for them for a while. Long enough to get promoted once,...
Dear SaaStr: Should I Send My Pitch Deck to Any VC Who Asks for One?
Dear SaaStr: Should I Send My Pitch Deck to Any VC Who Asks for One? Look every investor is different But for me at least, Send The Deck Don't fight it. Don't ask for 20 minutes first. Don't say it's better with a live demo first. Decks may seem...
Dear SaaStr: How Long is a Venture Round Supposed to Last?
Dear SaaStr: How Long is a Venture Round Supposed to Last? I think like many venture axioms, founders get often get bad advice here out of good solid rules. The classic rule was “18-24 months”. In boom times, it’s still true … it’s just...
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