The Problem With Junior Marketing Hires (And What a True VP Costs)
"Once you have any customers at all, hire a head of marketing. You really can't hire a VP of Marketing too early. If they just get you another 20%-50% leads, they'll more than pay for yourself. But that doesn't mean hire someone junior that can't...
I Hired My VP of Marketing at $20k MRR. It Wasn’t a Week Too Early.
"Once you have any customers at all, hire a head of marketing. You really can't hire a VP of Marketing too early. If they just get you another 20%-50% leads, they'll more than pay for yourself. But that doesn't mean hire someone junior that can't...
All Platforms Have Their Favorite Partners. Be One Of Them If You Can.
Recently I was catching up with an exec from a B2B company well in excess of $100m ARR. One of the key platforms their app integrates with has started to … slow down their access. Slow down access to new features, to semi-documented APIs. Slow down access to...
Focus Your Marketing Efforts on What Your CMO / VP Marketing is Good At
I’ve re-learned something about marketing every year working on the SaaStr AI Annual for 10+ years. And that thing I’ve learned is that you can take two brutally competitive products, that are very similar, give each a booth at SaaStr AI Annual, London or...
Why You Should Kill Your Competitor in B2B
"How do you kill your competition? You have to think about this if you really want to win. At Elevenlabs, we did a grants program, 10,000+. Then we upsold them — later. And it helped crush the competition." with @samdblond https://t.co/ktEXlxMQJV...
Dear SaaStr: Should You Ask a Prospect What Competitors They Are Looking At?
Dear SaaStr: Should You Ask a Prospect What Competitors They Are Looking At? Yes. And in 2026, more than ever. You’ll find 90% of the time you’ll want to not just tell a prospect who you are competing with, but do so aggressively. And box the competition...
Dear SaaStr: If I Whitelabel My B2B Product, Will it Hurt Me on Branding?
Dear SaaStr: If I White-label my B2B product, will it hurt me on branding my own company? Just do it. If it’s easy to do. Lots of folks agonize over white-labelling. The brand benefits will go to my partner, not me. I’ll be valued less. Etc. etc. But bear in mind a...
Dear SaaStr: Should I Do a Dinner or a Booth at a Big Industry Event? Or Just Buy Tickets?
Dear SaaStr: Should I Do a Dinner or a Booth at a Big Industry Event? Or Just Buy Tickets? So the next event cycle is coming up. Dreamforce. SaaStr will be there in force, both with a booth and a dinner. Inbound, AWS Reinvent, and more. You will hear a lot of advice...
Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Signs That Your B2B Marketing Programs Won’t Scale Well?
Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Signs That Your B2B Marketing Programs Won’t Scale Well? The #1 flag your marketing efforts aren’t working is that you are spending too much — but importantly, in the aggregate. Don’t overindex on any individual campaign...
Dear SaaStr: What Is A Good Demo Conversion Rate for a SaaS Startup?
Dear SaaStr: What Is A Good Demo Conversion Rate for a SaaS Startup? 10%-20%. If fewer than 8%-10% or so of your demos convert to paid customers, you’ll start to burn out your sales team. Because they generally need to close 10-15 deals a month to eat (more for SMB,...
Dear SaaStr: As a Startup, What Are Some Effective Ways For an Underdog to Take Down Their Competition?
Dear SaaStr: As a Startup, What Are Some Effective Ways For an Underdog to Take Down Their Competition? It depends on the gap. In B2B historically, I’d argue if your competitor is larger than you, at $8M-$10M+ in ARR and growing quickly, with even reasonably...
Dear SaaStr: A Big Tech Co Launched a Competitive Product. How Can I Tell How Serious They Are About It?
Dear SaaStr: A Big Tech Co Launched a Competitive Product. How Can I Tell How Serious They Are About It? In B2B at least, I’ll give you a few metrics that are fairly reliable. The classic one still works, but in 2026 you need to layer in some new signals too....
Dear SaaStr: How Do I Convince My CEO that Marketing is Important?
Dear SaaStr: How do I Convince My CEO that Marketing is Important? A lot of CEOs these days do seem to be late to truly invest in B2B marketing, and most especially, to hiring a true VP of Marketing. In the Age of AI, so many CEOs hack it to $5m, $8m, $20m+ in ARR...
Your Marketing Site Should Be Even Better Than Your Product
When a new head of marketing joins a start-up and the first thing they want to do is “refresh the marketing site”, I always quietly groan a bit. Look, a marketing site is important. But don’t leads matter more? Shouldn’t improving the funnel...
Founder SaaStr
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