12 Things You’ll Look Back On in SaaS … And Regret (Updated)
A little while back on LinkedIn and Twitter we put together a list of things that later, once you are successful, even very successful, you’ll regret. It got a lot of engagement from the SaaS veterans out there, so I thought it would be worth digging in more on...How to Gracefully Ask a VC To Leave Your Board
So a little ways back a bit of a Board of Directors soap opera broke out. The Information broke the story, with Sequoua asking its ex-active partner and leader Mike Moritz to step off the board of key portfolio company Klarna in favor of an active partner, Matthew...Don’t Overdiscount When Things Get Harder. It Only Makes Things Worse.
So when things get tougher, and deals get harder, it’s natural to reach for almost anything to close deals. There are only so many levers sales can pull. And discounting is one. And while Atlassian and a few ones hold the line on never discounting at least...Dear SaaStr: When Should I Hire a CFO?
Dear SaaStr: When Should I Hire a CFO? I think at a minimum you should have a real experienced finance lead at $2m ARR, a real VP Finance once you raise $20m, and a CFO once you are at $20m+ ARR — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 🇮🇱 (@jasonlk) April 12, 2022 Most...The 21 Top Excuses for Not Closing A Deal (Updated)
Things mediocre sales reps say: 🤷"So it turns out they don't have budget after all" ❓"I had a great call with a customer! Not sure about next steps, though." 💸"Can I discount even more?" 🤣 "Where do I find the collateral...The Most Important SaaS Metric of All: Net New Customer Growth
HubSpot is at $2.3 Billion in ARR (!) There's a lot to be impressed with, but #1 is that it is >still< growing its new customer count 23% a year Even at 200,000+ customers Even at $2,300,000,000 in ARR This is the #1 KPI for me in SaaS. Net new customer...Dear SaaStr: Funding Aside, What Are The Top 3 Things That Stop SaaS Companies From Growing From ~$25k MRR to ~$250k MRR?
Dear SaaStr: Funding Aside, What Are The Top 3 Things That Stop SaaS Companies From Growing From ~$25k MRR to ~$250k MRR? Let’s step back. If you have gotten to $25k in MRR ($300k in ARR) … you have something. Real. It’s not big enough yet. But it’s real. So … You...Champion Change: You Gotta Jump On It
You think your Big Co Customers are old & established,And you are new & tiny Yes it's true But as the years go by, you'll still be thereAnd your champions at the BigCos will move on You have to re-sell Big Customers every 2 years or so — Jason...How to Build Happier Employees – Lessons From HubSpot’s CTO Dharmesh Shah and Chief People Officer Katie Burke
At SaaStr Annual we had a great session with HubSpot Founder & CTO, Dharmesh Shah, and their Chief People Officer, Katie Burke, on building happier employees. We’ve had a ton of great HubSpot content over the years but you may have missed this one, and it...My App Stack: Rik Haandrikman, VP of Marketing at RevenueCat
“My App Stack” is a new series where we dig in with top CMOs, CROs, CTOs and CEOs on just what apps they’re really using to run their business. I always learn a lot from these — they are in essence a best practices list from each leader. Last time we had a great one...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...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...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.