Dear SaaStr: When My Startup Raises $10m, Would It Be Appropriate to Take a $170k Salary (no co founders)?
Dear SaaStr: When My Startup Raises $10m, Would It Be Appropriate to Take a $170k Salary (no co founders)? Yes, not a problem. You should take a “market correct” salary as soon as it’s economically immaterial to the company. I don’t write $10m...
The #1 Clear Sign a VP Will Fail. Be Honest With Yourself When You See It
I’ve seen it again and again across 30+ investments, 10+ unicorns, and hundreds of portfolio company board meetings. There’s one pattern that predicts VP failure better than anything else I’ve seen. Not their resume. Not their pedigree. Not even...
The New Career Path: Joining a 0% Grower. Maybe For Many, It’s Better.
So there’s a new option for seasoned B2B execs now: join something growing … 0%. Ok maybe 0%-10%, let’s call it. This sounds a little wacky described as a career choice. But it’s something some execs have always quietly done, and there are more and...
The #1 Hack To Making Sure a VP of Sales or Top AE Will Work Out
We’ve talked a ton on SaaStr over the years on how to make sure your CRO / VP of Sales and top hires really work out. That they are the right ones. We can pretty much summarize a lot of it into the following: Your VP of Sales should have lots of experience...
10 Things That Would Have Helped Me Go From $1m to $10m Faster with Less Stress
Recently I put together a quick list on Twitter of the Top 10 things that with hindsight, I could and should have done to get from $1m to $10m ARR faster — and with less stress. I thought it would be worth drilling down deeper into each of them and sharing the...
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...
5 Non-Obvious Things To Know About VCs
I was catching up with a VC friend the other day and asked him about a company I’d referred to him. They’d passed on the investment (which is of course fine), despite the company meeting basically every investment criteria I knew about the firm. I asked...
Is the Era of the Sales-Guy CEO … Over in B2B?
Frank Slootman is the only CEO in history to take three enterprise software companies public. Data Domain, then ServiceNow, then Snowflake. At their peaks those three were worth more than $200 billion combined. He took ServiceNow from roughly $100M in revenue through...
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...
Founders Are Coming Back to Run Their Pre-AI B2B Companies. Because It’s The Last Stand.
I’m seeing more and more founders come back to run their pre-AI B2B companies. Not because the board panicked over a bad quarter. Because it’s The Last Stand. The pattern shows up at companies big enough to have a base that sustains them and not agentic...
After $2m in ARR — Start Specializing Your Sales Team
There’s a set of questions I get asked all the time: Should you pay sales reps on renewals? Should you pay sales reps on upsells a long time down the road? Should you pay sales reps on … ? I am a huge proponent of paying sales professionals well. But for...
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...
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: Why Do Many Startup CEOs Quit After Their Companies Are Acquired?
Dear SaaStr: Why Do Many Startup CEOs Quit After Their Companies Are Acquired? Five reasons: First, it’s very difficult for most founder-CEOs to work for someone else. They generally don’t mind working with others. They don’t even need to be “the boss”. But being told...
CEO & Founder
Related Posts
