So we’ve been doing these SaaStr New Year’s Resolutions for years now, and every year, the game changes just enough to matter. 2022 was the crash. 2023 was survival mode. 2024 was AI hype. And 2025? That was the year AI went from “cool feature” to “existential requirement.”
Now we’re heading into 2026, and here’s what’s crystal clear: the companies winning right now aren’t just adding AI features. They’re fundamentally rethinking their budget models, their TAM expansion strategies, and their entire go-to-market motion around AI capabilities.
The unicorns are back. M&A is starting to thaw. But the dividing line between companies that thrive and companies that get left behind is getting sharper. And that line? It’s increasingly drawn by who’s figured out how to actually monetize AI and who’s still just making their products “a little bit better.”
So with that, here are Your Top 11 New Year’s SaaS Resolutions for 2026:
#1. Get Real AI Budget. Now.
This is THE new resolution for 2026, and it’s not about adding a chatbot.
Here’s what I’m seeing: companies like Gamma are charging $100/seat versus Google Slides at free. Cursor is getting $400-$5,000/seat versus Jira at $5. AI SDRs are commanding $50k-$100k/year versus a single CRM seat at $1,200.
That’s not incremental pricing. That’s 10x-100x expansion in TAM.
But here’s the thing most classic SaaS leaders are missing: you’re not competing for your traditional software budget anymore. You’re competing for AI budget. And AI budget is different. It’s new money. It’s experimental money. It’s “let’s try to replace humans or dramatically augment them” money.
If you’re just making your product better with AI? Great. But that’s table stakes. And it’s hard to monetize meaningfully. You might get customers to pay a bit more. Maybe.
But if you can tap into AI budget – either by replacing humans outright (AI contact centers, AI SDRs) or by dramatically augmenting them (Cursor, Harvey, Claude for coding), or by enabling what was genuinely impossible before (Replit, Gamma, video generation tools) – then you’re playing a completely different game.
The question you need to ask yourself in January: Is your AI offering just an incremental feature? Or does it access AI budget?
If it’s just a feature, you’re missing the biggest opportunity of the decade.
And here’s the HyperGrowth insight that matters: everyone in every function needs AI now. Not wants. Needs. “I need an AI GTM tool.” “I need AI support.” “I need AI legal review.” “I need AI coding.” “I need AI security.”
They’re not kicking tires anymore. They need it now. Either because of genuine necessity, or to bring AI innovation to their enterprise, or both.
That’s the window. That’s 2026.
#2. Go Hire That Missing VP!
Yes, this is still on the list. Because it’s still your #1 lever.
The best way to get out of a hole is to hire a great VP. A great VP of Sales. Of Marketing. Of Product. Of Engineering. What’s your #1 VP gap?
Stop saying you can’t find anyone. Stop doing it all yourself. And just go finally hire them.
The talent market has loosened up. The great VPs who were sitting tight in 2023-2024? They’re starting to move again. This is your window.
#3. Make Absolutely Sure Your Burn Rate is Under Control.
Venture capital is back for the hottest AI companies – true unicorn-scale opportunities with clear paths to $100M+ ARR. But for everyone else, VCs are being much more selective. And they’re tapped out on bridge rounds.
You have to not only make the capital last, but make sure it lasts as long as you planned. And the #1 issue I still see is founders almost getting burn rate under control. Almost hitting the burn rate plan.
That won’t work. Even a burn rate a smidge higher than plan compounds to a burn rate that is out of control.
Get this right in January. Model it monthly. Hit the plan.
#4. Find a Segment of Your Customer Base That Is Still Doing Really, Really Well. And Sell Hard There.
If things are tougher for you, they can’t be tougher everywhere.
Some industries are on fire right now. Healthcare continues to grow. Financial services are spending again. E-commerce keeps expanding.
And here’s the AI twist: companies adopting AI aggressively are often growing faster than their peers. They have budget. They’re hiring. They’re buying.
Go find where your customers are thriving, and double down there.
#5. Launch Your First AI Agent That Actually Works. And That You Can Really Sell.
Not an AI feature. Not a chatbot. A real AI agent that handles actual workflows end-to-end.
I’ve deployed 20+ AI agents across SaaStr’s operations. Support agents. Content agents. Sales qualification agents. Together they’ve generated over $1M in revenue while reducing our headcount needs.
Most founders are still debating whether to add AI to their product. That’s table stakes now. The real question is: are you using AI agents to fundamentally transform your own operations?
Because here’s what I’m seeing: companies deploying working AI agents are operating with 30-50% fewer humans in key functions. Customer support. Sales development. Content creation. Implementation. Legal review.
Those aren’t future capabilities. They’re working today. At scale. And if you’re not deploying them, your competitors are.
Launch one high value agent in Q1. Get it working. Learn. Then launch two more by end of year.
The companies that figure out AI agents first will have massive cost advantages and speed advantages over everyone else. Don’t wait.
#6. Launch a Truly Great Second Product.
Multi-product is the strategy of the decade. Atlassian. HubSpot. Datadog. Monday. Notion. The list goes on.
Best case, your happy customers buy more from you and your ACVs expand dramatically. Worst case, they still use it, are happier, and churn less.
Most of us regret not having gone multi-product earlier. 2026 is the year to fix that.
And here’s the AI angle: your second product could be an AI-native capability that opens up entirely new use cases and budget pools. Think about it.
#7. Launch a Truly More Valuable, Higher-End Edition.
Raising prices across the board may or may not work. But launching a new, more powerful, more enterprise-grade edition? That’s always a value-add when done right.
Your existing customers stay on what they have. Your enterprise prospects get the capabilities they actually need. And your ACVs start climbing.
This isn’t about squeezing customers. It’s about building what the top 20% of your market actually wants to buy.
#8. Just Move On From Any Underperformers.
Everyone lowered the hiring bar during the boom years. And it’s harder than ever to assess talent in remote and hybrid environments before you hire.
If you’re carrying underperformers, move on from them humanely in January. There’s no room to carry them anymore.
Move on from reps who don’t really close. Move on from mediocre customer success folks. You need a sharp team to retain and expand your customers in 2026. Not people phoning it in.
This is hard. But it’s necessary.
#9. Promote Your Best, and Give Extra Grants to Your Top Performers.
Promote your top individual contributors. If you can, promote a Director to VP. And whether you promote them or not, give extra stock grants to your Top 10%.
Those are your keepers. We all tend to take our top performers for granted. Here’s your chance to fix that.
In a world where the best talent has more options than ever – including going to hot AI startups – you need to keep your A-players engaged and rewarded.
#10. Do a Better Job Communicating With Your Investors.
Almost everyone got slack here during the boom. If you want help from your VCs and other investors going forward, you have to communicate.
Send monthly updates. Hold real board meetings every 8-10 weeks. Create a real budget and get it approved.
Your investors can’t help you if they don’t know what’s happening. And in 2026, you might need that help more than you think.
#11. At Least Grow Faster Than the Competition.
If times are challenging in your category, at least make sure you’re winning on a relative basis.
Really understand how your Top 2-3 competitors are doing. Track their headcount on LinkedIn. Watch their job postings. Talk to customers who’ve evaluated them.
And then grow faster. Take market share. That’s a win right there.
In tough markets, the winners don’t just survive – they consolidate share while others struggle.
Bonus Resolution: Stop Hiding Behind “We’re Profitable” If You’re Not Growing.
I’m going to call this one out directly because I’ve heard it too many times in the past two years.
“We’re profitable now.” Great. But are you growing?
2023 and 2024 were the years many cut to profitability. Smart move for survival. But 2026 is different. AI budgets are flowing. The market is moving again. Unicorns are back. M&A is starting to thaw.
And if you’re “profitable but flat” – or worse, profitable but shrinking – you’re actually in a losing position now.
Here’s why: your competitors who stayed aggressive, who kept investing in growth even while managing burn carefully, are now positioned to accelerate hard. They have the muscle memory. They have the growth motion. They have the momentum.
You? You taught your team how to cut costs and preserve margins. That’s a valuable skill. But it’s not the skill that builds $100M+ ARR companies.
Profitability without growth is fine if you’re running a lifestyle business or setting up for a quick exit. But if you’re trying to build something meaningful, if you took VC money, if you want to create real enterprise value… you need both.
Be profitable. But grow. Even if it’s 20-30% instead of 100%. Growth + profitability is the new winning formula for 2026.
Don’t hide behind the “we’re profitable” badge if you’ve forgotten how to grow.
The Bottom Line
2026 is going to separate the AI winners from the AI pretenders.
The companies that figure out how to tap into real AI budget – not just improve their products a bit, but genuinely access the new pools of money enterprises are allocating for AI transformation – those are the ones that will look back at 2026 as an inflection point.
The companies that just add some AI features and hope for the best? They’ll wonder why their competitors are suddenly growing 3x faster.
Which one will you be?
It’s time to decide.
The market is moving. The budgets are there. The need is urgent and real across every function.
But you have to build something that accesses that AI budget. Not just something that’s “better.”
Go make 2026 count.
