SaaStr

APRIL 1, 2023

The same things happened in VC and investing. I did some of this myself, both on people and investments. Better to do with fewer people, fewer investments, fewer initiatives. The post Lowering the Hiring (And Investing) Bar Didn’t Work appeared first on SaaStr. And now we’re paying the price. We learned.

Sales Hiring 248

Sales Hiring Investment Leadership Startup 248

SaaStr

DECEMBER 25, 2023

G2 had us back for another great deep dive on just where SaaS investing is there days, and it was a great panel: Accel Partner Arun Mathew Inspired Capital Founder & Managing Partner Alexa von Tobel Salesforce Ventures Managing Partner Paul Drews and Jason Lemkin! Low investment multiples pose a key challenge.

B2B 208

B2B Investment Venture Capital SaaS 208

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Traditional VCs usually reserve another 1x-2x of their first check for later investments. If the synergies are real, they’ll happen irrespective of some token investment. An investment won’t create a partnership. An investment may anoint one vendor in the space as the preferred vendor over competitors. Be realistic.

Outsourcing Services 337

Outsourcing Services Investment Venture Capital Pricing 337

SaaStr

MARCH 14, 2023

Dear SaaStr: Will a VC Invest in a Venture That Is Or Can Be a Competitor To An Existing Investment? As a rough rule: the larger the check, the less likely a VC will invest in a direct competitor. You invest so early, sometimes it’s not totally even clear what the company will really do. They seemed so different.

Investment 191

Investment Marketing Business Leadership 191

Andreessen Horowitz

JUNE 20, 2023

[link] Listen to Bryan Kim read this blog post, with voice generated by ElevenLabs. s … The post Investing in ElevenLabs appeared first on Andreessen Horowitz. The human voice is one of our most primal, personal and expressive forms of communication. From a newborn’s first babbles to Martin Luther King Jr.’s

Investment 100

Investment Communication Generative AI AI 100

SaaStr

MAY 17, 2022

Q: What are the most common mistakes people do while investing? My top mistakes in venture investing at least: Investing when I didn’t 100% believe in the CEO. No matter how interesting the metrics, even the product is, don’t invest if you don’t 100% believe in the CEO. Investing when the CEO is a bit full of s**t.

Investment 288

Investment Software Metrics 288

SaaStr

AUGUST 27, 2023

Dear SaaStr: How are Funds Invested by Venture Capital Firms? It varies of course, but roughly for bigger funds: Funds tend to invest in 20–40 startups over 2–4 years. Another way to see the math is that most funds put 1%-2% of “the fund” into each investment — initially. Sometimes a bit more, but not too much more.

Venture Capital 179

Venture Capital Investment Startup 179

SaaStr

JANUARY 2, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Is The Worst Investment You Ever Made as a Venture Capitalist? For years, I hadn’t lost any money on VC investments. But lemons ripened after the Great Boom of 2021, and now I have 4 investments of > $1m where I’ve lost almost all the money. There may be a few others.

Investment 181

Investment 181

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

But with that out of the way, let’s talk just enough about financial accounting to explain why Big Tech Companies both acquire smaller ones — and do corporate VC investment. Because in the short-term, it often costs basically close to nothing to acquire a smaller startup with cash on hand, or do a corporate VC investment.

Acquisition 228

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 228

SaaStr

AUGUST 25, 2021

Invest More There. But they’ll likely grow 3x-10x in size. Almost like clockwork. No matter how big you get. You Aren’t Doing Enough Customer Marketing. The post High NRR Can Scale Infinitely. appeared first on SaaStr.

Scaling 332

Scaling Investment Cloud Customer Success 332

SaaStr

AUGUST 9, 2022

Investments I've made that didn't work out: – Momentum investment – CEO a bit of bulls**t artist – CEO good at sales but weak product team / CTO. Investments I've made that had so-so outcomes: – CEO not better than me – CEO couldn't control burn rate – Not really SaaS.

Investment 257

Investment Sales Recruiting CTO Startup 257

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

But with that out of the way, let’s talk just enough about financial accounting to explain why Big Tech Companies both acquire smaller ones — and do corporate VC investment. Because in the short-term, it often costs basically close to nothing to acquire a smaller startup with cash on hand, or do a corporate VC investment.

Acquisition 195

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 195

Neil Patel

JUNE 7, 2021

These numbers are possible, and plenty of websites achieve it (I’ve grown my site to x visitors per day using these techniques), but if you’re going to reach these numbers, then you’re going to have to rank your blog in Google’s top 10 search results. Tips on How to Get Your Blog to Rank in Google’s Top 10.

Banking 145

Banking Social Media User Experience Entertainment 145

SaaStr

OCTOBER 31, 2023

— Jenny Fielding (@jefielding) October 17, 2023 So one of the parts I like least about investing is the follow-up. A few times a year, I’ll meet founders and a company I believe in so muc h, I’ll clearly offer to invest at the first meeting. Specifically, the follow-up when I’m not sure. That Almost No One Asks.

Investment 212

Investment Metrics Sales 212

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What Percentage of Total Incoming Deals Do VCs Invest In? A seed stage fund meeting a Series B investment opportunity is a waste of time. Of the ones that really meet all my criteria, and that I really want to do … maybe a third have gone to term sheet / investment. Right here, right now?

Investment 215

Investment Venture Capital Leadership 215

SaaStr

AUGUST 17, 2023

We came right back on 20VC to do a deep dive on where seed investing is right now with Frank Rotman, one of the most successful fintech investors, Sam Lessin on Slow Ventures, with an incredible portfolio, and Jason Lemkin: It’s a good listen. Per Harry: “WTF is really happening at seed right now?

Investment 200

Investment Pricing 200

SaaStr

OCTOBER 12, 2023

Harry Stebbings of 20VC was kind enough to have us back on the latest VC Roundtable with 2 of the very, very best in growth / late-stage investing — the leaders of Insight Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. They’ve led later stage investments in the best in SaaS and Cloud. And Where is Growth Investing?

Investment 221

Investment AI Cloud Scale 221

SaaStr

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Despite what we’ve seen post-2020/2021, there has been a surge in AI investments, with AI companies at the infrastructure layer hitting a hundred times valuations at early funding stages. The post A Deep Dive with Jason and Pavilion on Today’s Valuations, Investing and Market Dynamics appeared first on SaaStr.

Investment 148

Investment Scale Sales Hiring Marketing 148

SaaStr

JANUARY 6, 2021

Q: I run a bootstrapped software company and our biggest customer (60% of our revenue) has offered on several occasions to invest in the company. Taking an investment from your largest customer certainly will complicate things. Rarely keep investing after the initial investment. But a VC investment is.

Investment 278

Investment Software Review Acquisition Pricing 278

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Dear SaaStr: How Do You Respond to a VC Who Says They Don’t Invest in Your Space? They almost certainly don’t invest in your space, at least not as your stage, with your risk profile, etc. -> At a higher level, you basically can’t convince a VC to invest in a space, an idea, a startup they genuinely aren’t interested in.

Investment 171

Investment Startup 171

SaaStr

MARCH 31, 2020

With venture capital investments that fail, is the problem most often with the entrepreneur or was it a bad investment by the VC? The earlier stage you invest, the more often some of them just … don’t work out. Especially when you invest early. The post When a VC Investment Fails, Does That Mean It Was a Bad Investment?

Investment 199

Investment Venture Capital Benchmarks Startup 199

SaaStr

JULY 19, 2021

Q: How do VCs and investors find companies to invest in? They track who else invest. Referrals from other folks invest at the same time, or in the pre-seed or prior round. The post Dear SaaStr: How Do VCs Find Companies To Invest In? Anything more looks like spam. — David Sacks (@DavidSacks) October 23, 2020.

Investment 217

Investment Startup Data Revenue 217

SaaStr

AUGUST 12, 2022

Dear SaaStr: How Much Money Does a VC Make If Their Investment Sells for One Billion? Let’s say: The fund owns 10% at exit, with a blended entry price of ~$100m (fund invested early, but also did some pro-ratas) and thus a total blended investment across rounds of ~$10m. Often not as much as you’d think.

Investment 227

Investment Pricing Startup Sales 227

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Traditional VCs usually reserve another 1x-2x of their first check for later investments. If the synergies are real, they’ll happen irrespective of some token investment. An investment won’t create a partnership. An investment may anoint one vendor in the space as the preferred vendor over competitors. Be realistic.

Outsourcing Services 175

Outsourcing Services Investment Venture Capital Pricing 175

SaaStr

AUGUST 5, 2022

Dear SaaStr: Should I Tell VCs How Much I Want Them to Invest? Don’t ask an investor for more money than they will invest, if you’d take less. The post Dear SaaStr: Should I Tell VCs How Much I Want Them to Invest? At least, 98% of the time. It helps a VC quickly get context, and figure out if the deal fits — or not.

Investment 208

Investment Scale Scaling Sales 208

SaaStr

APRIL 19, 2020

Q: What are the Pros and Cons of Seed Investing? Seed investing is a bit of a sucker bet. At least on a relative basis to other types of venture investing. Well, the “good news” for seed investing is you should have a much lower entry price than a Series A-B-C investor. I.e., the earlier you invest, the lower the price.

Investment 264

Investment Benchmarks Pricing 264

SaaStr

JUNE 29, 2021

Protocol and Pitchbook partnered to do a comparison to see what’s happening in Private Equity and enterprise deals so far in 2021, and the data is a bit jaw-dropping: Just in 1H’21, PE invested $20.4B The post Protocal: Private Equity Investments in SaaS Are Up 142% From Last Year appeared first on SaaStr.

Investment 248

Investment SaaS Acquisition Enterprise 248

Predictable Revenue

JUNE 30, 2020

The post How To Upscale Your Home Business With Little Investment appeared first on Predictable Revenue. It’s important to use this time wisely, spend some time adjusting and finessing your business so you can hit the ground running when they do.

Investment 264

Investment Business Revenue 264

SaaStr

MAY 1, 2023

Dear SaaStr: Is It Acceptable for VCs to “Ghost” Founders who have invested so much time and effort with them? They meet 1000 startups a year, but they are lucky to meet 10 a year that they really want to invest in that also meets their investment criteria. How should founders respond to this? You’ll know.

Investment 212

Investment Venture Capital Startup Engagement 212

SaaStr

JUNE 2, 2020

Do startup investors care about how employees are treated where they invest? Last week, I literally was on a back-door reference call for a $250m+ valuation investment (not a company where I am an investor) where a late-stage VC did not invest just for this reason. Later stage investing becomes more purely transactional).

Investment 201

Investment B2B Startup Metrics 201

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2021

Battery Ventures’ data says while VC investment $$$ are on fire — they aren’t going into more startups. The post Battery Ventures: VC Investments Are Way Up. Battery Ventures recently put out its Software 2021 report with a ton of interesting learnings across the leaders in SaaS and Cloud. A few top takeaways: #1.

Investment 231

Investment SMB Acquisition Cloud 231

SaaStr

JUNE 10, 2021

On other hand, too much time investing is a signal to others that the highest ROI of your time isn’t as a founder. That you might make more money, for less stress, investing in someone else’s company — than your own. Many founders want to turn around and invest some of those proceeds into other startups. It’s distracting.

Investment 168

Investment Startup Cloud Management 168

IT World

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

Microsoft is all set to more than triple the prices of its Bing Search APIs across all markets in what can be seen as an effort to recoup its investments into the search engine.

Pricing 96

Pricing Investment Engineering Technology 96

Neil Patel

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Have you ever wondered how to make money blogging about the things you love? What if I told you it’s possible to write about your passions and make money with a blog? Let’s talk about how you can make money blogging. Blogging is not dead , and it’s not too late for you to start one. Why Do Some Blogs Fail to Make Money?

Branding 80

Branding Education Revenue Engineering 80

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

Dear SaaStr: How Soon Do Startups Get Notified by VCs About Their Decision to Invest? Once a VC really wants to invest … you’ll know. Assume a VC doesn’t want to invest if you don’t hear back. More here : The post Dear SaaStr: How Soon Do Startups Get Notified by VCs About Their Decision to Invest? Pretty quickly.

Investment 182

Investment Startup Data Business 182

SaaStr

JANUARY 7, 2022

So net net: Global VC investment doubled in 2021 from 2020, from $335B to $643B; and. But all that money, that 100% growth in investment — only went to about 25% more startups. The post Crunchbase: Early Stage Investment Doubled in 2021. Overall Series A and earlier-stage deals doubled to $200B from $101B; but.

Investment 240

Investment Startup Revenue SaaS 240

SaaStr

JANUARY 20, 2021

Q: What are the top portfolio company metrics that VCs track post-investment? The post What Top Metrics do VC Funds Track After They Invest? In practice, there are just a few: ARR. Where is the company in terms of revenue. Growth Rate. How fast is it growing. Burn Rate & “Zero Cash Date”. 5 Things No One Tells You About VC Firms.

Metrics 204

Metrics Investment Revenue SaaS 204