


Every Marketing Initiative, Every Channel … Plateaus. Plan for It. (Updated)
Once you hit Initial Traction in SaaS, say that first $1m-$1.5m in ARR, you’ll finally find something that works. One channel, often. E.g., partnerships. Or Facebook ads. Or an app store. Or a specific outbound strategy. Or blogging, or podcasting, or...
Annual or Monthly Payments for SMBs? Data from Zoom, Freshworks, Expensify, Squarespace, and More
Dear SaaStr: What is the average percentage of annual vs. monthly plan sold for a BtoB SaaS startup targeting the SMB market? Here are some rough-and-tough numbers: If the customers are so small they are basically paying out of their own pockets … then 80%+-...
Are You Getting More Competitive, Or Less Competitive? Hitting the Plan Might Not Be Enough
If you are blaming "the markets" or "macro" or "the downturn" for slow growth … You sure better at least be growing as fast as the competition Otherwise, it's you, not the markets — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) June...
Dear SaaStr: At What Stage Should the Founders Stop Being Individual Contributors?
Dear SaaStr: At what stage should SaaS founders fully stop being individual contributors? I’ve come up with 2 rough rules here to avoid stalling out: Try to have a complete 1.0 management team by $4m ARR at least. Earlier is better, of course. And try to hire at...
The Most Important SaaS Metrics In 2023 with monday.com CEOs and Co-Founders Eran Zinman and Roy Mann, and SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin
Learn about the most important SaaS metrics for founders in 2023 with the CEOs of the most metric-oriented company, monday.com and the founder of SaaStr.

MongoDB at $1.5B in Revenue — An Epic Growth Story (Video + Pod)
Nine learnings from MongoDB’s impressive growth — a stunning $1.5B in ARR, 29% overall growth, and is worth $29B. That’s about as good as it gets!

Scaling Past $10M ARR: Listening to the Market and Defying Tradition with WorkRamp CEO Ted Blosser (Video)
Scaling a tech startup doesn’t come easy, and when you’ve tried all the conventional SaaS advice, it might be tempting to give up. But sometimes, the road less traveled is the path to success. In an eye-opening workshop, WorkRamp CEO Ted Blosser shares how to...
What’s the “Right” CAC These Days? The One You Can Afford
There are two great SaaS companies I’m working with right now. Both have a sales-driven process, selling to SMBs. Both have a CAC payback that is very short — around 90 days. Both have roughly the same number of employees (roughly 50). One is cash-flow...
8 Things You Think As A First-Time Founder That Just Ain’t So With Lattice CEO Jack Altman (Pod 662 + Video)
At nine figures in revenue and 550 people, the CEO of Lattice, Jack Altman, has seen every stage of building a startup. In this week’s Workshop Wednesday — held every Wednesday at 10 a.m. PST — Altman talks more in-depth about his viral tweet storm, sharing the eight...
10 Tips to Make Your VCs Calmer, Happier — And On Your Side
It’s really hard to ask much of an investor if you don’t give them regular, detailed updates This is why these updates are even more important in tougher times — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) April 14, 2023 Your VCs aren’t the boss. They should work...
Dear SaaStr: What SaaS Metric is Most Important of All?
Dear SaaStr: What SaaS Metric is Most Important of All? Beyond MRR growth + managing the burn rate — which ultimately are really are all that matters … you should obsess over improving every key metric and KPI. You can’t change everything...
How to Gracefully Miss a Quarter. And Take The Right Actions Afterward.
#1 most important thing after a rough quarter, or even a rough year … Is that everyone knows >how< we are going to do better. The Plan. It’s OK if it’s not going to happen overnight. Everyone will get that. It’s OK if it will involve change. Everyone will get...
A Basic Guide to Building Trust With Your Investors
Run toward bad news Sometimes you need a moment. That's OK. But after that, hiding makes it worse. Process it … Then: Address itShare itTalk about itMake a planAct on it Your team and investors will rally — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) March 31,...