The other day we put together a list of the most popular posts, videos and tweets of 2019 here.
Our Quora answers are equally as popular though and a different type of content.
Here were the 20 top Answers of 2019:
1. How Do VCs Value Startups? VCs are looking for outliers. More on what that means in this Answer.
2. Which Startup Did You Leave Too Early? If I’ve learned one thing in SaaS the last decade, it’s that if you have something good at $10m ARR, go long. Go very long. More on why in this Answer.
3. I’m Tired of Running My Very Successful Startup. What Should I Do? A classic answer updated. TLDR: bring in some help, and rest. Don’t quit.
4. What Were the Signs You Missed When You Lost a Major Customer? Read this so you don’t lose seemingly happy customers yourself.
5. What Makes A Bad CTO? Finding a technical co-founder can be tough. Here’s a quick guide to what makes a good one.
6. Why Do Tech Companies Pay Their Employees So Much? The answer historically has been leverage. That, and competition.
7. How Much Does a VC Partner Earn? More than you, most likely. But not if you do really well. And maybe not as much as you think.
8. What Are Some Things First-Time Founders Do Not Realize? A fun list of things most of us misunderstand the first time. Or even the second.
9. As the CEO, What Should I Tell My Employees Who Keep Asking for Raises After Our Venture Round? It’s a fair ask, especially if they are under market.
10. What Tells a VC You Are an Amateur? A classic, updated.
11. Do CEOs Have Personal Assistants? I think you should. Or at least, you need leverage, once you can afford it.
12. What Are The Best-Kept Secrets About Venture Capital? Another classic, updated, with over 2,100 upvotes.
13. What Unicorns Have Been Bootstrapped? We also turned this into a longer SaaStr.com piece.
14. As a VC, Will You Show a Recent Example of a Cold Email Pitch You Responded To? I share 2 examples, including the emails. These two are now worth billions collectively.
15. Is Y Combinator Asking for Too Much Equity? My answer is No. Why? It’s accretive.
16. How Much Equity Do You Give to Early Employees? This can be surprisingly complicated. We dig into some simple ways to at least try to arrive at a fair answer.
17. Why Do CEOs Deserve Higher Pay? It can seem unfair. But someone has to be responsible for everything.
18. Is SaaS Sales Really That Lucrative? Yes. If you are great at it.
19. Have You Ever Cold Emailed The CEO of a Big Company? Another classic, updated. Yes, email works — if you do it right. 6,900+ upvotes on this one.
20. CEOs Are Not Always Normal People. What Are Their Extreme Habits? Yes, being a founder changes you. Not immediately. But definitely over time.