So what’s the real bar to raising a Seed, Series A or Series B round today?
Christoph Janz of Point9 Capital came to SaaStr Annual to do a deep dive.
Who is Christoph Janz?
Christoph Janz isn’t just another VC – he’s been spotting and backing SaaS winners for over a decade as Managing Partner at Point Nine Capital. If you’ve used Zendesk, Algolia, Contentful, or Loom, you’ve experienced the impact of his investment thesis firsthand. Some fun facts:
- 10+ years of SaaStr conference attendance
- Partner at Point Nine Capital, a leading early-stage VC firm
- Geographic reach: Actively investing across Europe, US, and Australia
- Notable portfolio: Zendesk, Algolia, Contentful, Loom (and many more)
- Known for his “five ways to build a $100M business” framework
The 5 Key Things You Need to Know First:
- Clean, high-quality data is your secret weapon in 2024’s tougher fundraising environment
- You need different metrics for different stages (Seed vs Series A vs Series B)
- Growth remains the #1 factor, but efficiency metrics matter more than ever
- Cohort analysis must be segment-specific – averages across different customer types don’t cut it
- Having one scalable, efficient customer acquisition channel is better than many mediocre ones
Your Essential KPI Sheet: What Top VCs Actually Want to See
The Foundation: Monthly Tracking
- Month-over-month for early-stage/PLG companies
- Quarter-over-quarter for enterprise/later-stage
- 2 years of projections (minimum)
The Must-Have Metrics:
- Top of Funnel: visitors → sign-ups → trials → paid
- Financial Core: MRR/ARR, revenue
- Unit Economics: CAC, R&D, S&M, G&A
- Customer Health: logo churn, revenue churn
- Cash Metrics: burn rate, runway
The Growth Numbers That Actually Get You Funded in 2024
At $1-2M ARR:
- Need: 2-3x growth to get serious investor attention
- Focus: Proof of repeatable acquisition
At $5-10M ARR:
- Need: 2x year-over-year growth
- Focus: Proof of scalable operations
🔥 The New Rules of Cohort Analysis
Do’s:
- Separate monthly vs annual plans
- Analyze by customer segment
- Focus on your best-performing segments (but be transparent about it)
- Track both revenue and usage cohorts
Don’ts:
- Mix different customer types
- Present averages across segments
- Cherry-pick data without context
- Ignore usage metrics (especially for AI companies)
The CAC Deep-Dive Investors Actually Care About
- Channel-specific acquisition costs
- Clear methodology explanation
- Source-by-source conversion rates
- Scalability evidence
- Excluded costs explanation (if applicable)
Special Section: AI Company Metrics in 2024
The New Must-Tracks:
- Usage retention (separate from revenue retention)
- Model performance improvements over time
- Cost of goods sold (especially with humans in loop)
- Real feature adoption metrics
- Proprietary data advantage metrics
Pipeline Management: The Numbers That Actually Matter
- Monthly/quarterly pipeline evolution
- New pipeline records (should increase consistently)
- Conversion rate stability
- Sales team performance metrics
- Ramp time to quota
The 5 Key Investor Red Flags to Avoid:
- Misaligned financing needs with raise amount
- Unrealistic valuation expectations (especially Series B)
- Cherry-picked data without context
- Unclear cohort analysis methodology
- No clear path to NDR improvement
🎯 The Bottom Line:
In 2025’s fundraising environment, having clean, well-organized data isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential for running an efficient process. Focus on showing clear evidence of growth + efficiency, segment-specific excellence, and one truly scalable acquisition channel. Most importantly, make sure your historic trajectory supports your future projections.
