SaaStr

JULY 23, 2023

I don’t care which accelerator you went through, where you worked, where you went to school, or who the co-investors or angel investors were. I am a high-conviction investor. I do need to be on the board if I am the largest investor, but I am not in the business of collecting board seats (or observer seats). Others will.

Investment 203

Investment Startup Pricing Branding 203

SaaStr

JANUARY 8, 2024

Second , your existing investors likely will still want to support you if you have Good But Not Great Growth. Except Maybe Your Existing Investors. But even there, VCs are still hunting for outliers. It’s just early. They’re in for a dollar. Ask them if they’d invest again. You have to ask.

Startup 311

Startup Investment Business 311

SaaStr

APRIL 6, 2023

Process it … Then: Address it Share it Talk about it Make a plan Act on it Your team and investors will rally — Jason Be Kind Lemkin  (@jasonlk) March 31, 2022 So I’ve written pieces of this post before, in how to best manage your investors, if for no other reason that to increase the odds they write another check.

Construction 215

Construction Investment Engagement Revenue 215

SaaStr

JUNE 18, 2022

And perhaps more important of all is keeping your existing investors’ confidence. Their investments may be underwater in some cases, and in other cases, their own investors, the “LPs” (Limited Partners) may be panicking a bit or struggling. And in tougher times in venture, you do want to keep your investors’ confidence.

Finance 252

Finance Startup Cloud Communication 252

Predictable Revenue

APRIL 26, 2022

The post Increase Revenue by Selling to Investors appeared first on Predictable Revenue. Pontus Noren joins the Predictable Revenue podcast to discuss how the outbound sales journey maps to raising investment for your company.

Revenue 264

Revenue Investment Sales Strategy 264

SaaStr

DECEMBER 8, 2020

In both my start-ups, I was constantly worried about losing all my investors’ money. My investors included my old bosses, and, as time went on, myself to a material extent. So that was good, in the end, that fear of losing your investors’ money. Now as an investor myself, I get it much better.

Sales Hiring 343

Sales Hiring Investment Finance SaaS 343

SaaStr

JANUARY 11, 2024

Dear SaaStr: Is it Normal for Series A, B and C Investors to Buy Up Previous Seed Investor’s Equity? Right now in fact, I have two portfolio companies doing Series B and C rounds where there is “secondary” for the earliest investors. It’s much more common today than in the past, if not quite as common as 2021

Pricing 210

Pricing Investment 210

SaaStr

MARCH 30, 2020

What are some signs that an “angel investor” is really a “devil investor”? Some top signs trouble may come later from an “angel” investor: The terms are way, way, way too complicated. But investors shouldn’t be worried about controlling board of directors, or rights to pick the CEO, etc.

Technical Review 251

Technical Review Investment Pricing 251

SaaStr

AUGUST 25, 2023

And the investors got spooked, and the company ran down to just a few months of cash. I was the first investor in that round, even just as a Late Seed investor. Huge risk image from here ) The post When an Investor Puts Their Career On The Line For You appeared first on SaaStr. Not a truly bad year, just tougher.

Investment 196

Investment 196

SaaStr

MAY 16, 2023

Founders embarking on seed or early-stage funding rounds in this competitive market must pay special attention to investor relations, the art and science of communicating with and managing your investors. 13% of startups have more than 26 investors. Founders feel that only 66% of investors understand the business.

Communication 198

Communication Startup Investment Strategy 198

SaaStr

JANUARY 14, 2022

Q: Dear SaaStr: When Can Angel Investors Sell Their Shares? There are 2 basic ways for angel investors to sell their shares before an IPO or a sales (a so-called liquidity event): When the startup is oversubscribed in a subsequent venture round. The post Dear SaaStr: When Can Angel Investors Sell Their Shares? Ask the founders.

Startup 261

Startup Investment Sales Marketing 261

SaaStr

JUNE 13, 2022

Invite more of your investors, not fewer, to your board meetings. At least, consider inviting all investors that own at least 5%, up to at least $20m-$25m ARR. In the crazy times of 2H’20-2H’21, founders treated investors more and more as fungible commodities. Or even longer. Even if you don’t have to.

Trends 230

Trends Communication Engagement Strategy 230

SaaStr

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Dear SaaStr: Which Way Should I Go, VC or Angel Investors or Customer Funding? The post Dear SaaStr: Which Way Should I Go, VC or Angel Investors or Customer Funding? The reality is, few folks have all 3 options available to them: Most startups cannot attract venture capital, at least not in the early days. So that’s the tough balance.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Startup Investment Pricing 225

SaaStr

JANUARY 1, 2021

Q: Are there different types of angel investors that should be sold differently when trying to raise money to start a business? A professional investor typically won’t put more than 2% of their total investable capital in any one investment, at least not at first in the first check. There are several key types. Listen and ask.

Pricing 284

Pricing Investment Business 284

SaaStr

JUNE 19, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What Was The Best Advice You Ever Got From an Angel Investor. The best advice I ever got from one of my angel investors: Stop feeling sorry for yourself. The post Dear SaaStr: What Was The Best Advice You Ever Got From an Angel Investor appeared first on SaaStr. My co-founder had walked out the door.

Pricing 310

Pricing Marketing 310

SaaStr

JANUARY 9, 2023

Dear SaaStr: From a startup’s point of view, is it better for the investors to approach founders or founders contacting the investors for initial investment? If the founder approaches the investor, does it make them look desperate? I’ve now been the lead investor in 5 unicorns that reached out to me. Just reach out.

Investment 209

Investment Data 209

SaaStr

AUGUST 15, 2022

Dear SaaStr: How Do I Deal With Investors That are Unhappy With The Company? First, investors get most upset when founders hide things. So … share more: Make sure you send a monthly investor update out ASAP after the month ends. So … share more: Make sure you send a monthly investor update out ASAP after the month ends.

Finance 248

Finance Data 248

SaaStr

AUGUST 7, 2021

Some investors bet on the best engineering teams. Others are thesis investors. I’m quirky here, but I want to know that you want me as an investor. If you don’t really think I might be able to be the most useful investor to you, at least a certain stage … then it’s probably not a good fit.

Sales Recruiting 336

Sales Recruiting Scale AWS Investment 336

SaaStr

APRIL 22, 2022

Seed funding seems to be all over the place, with many seed investors investing the same as before. So here’s my simple suggestion, in good times and bad: Once a quarter at least, at your board meetings, if nothing else, if you have them — ask each of your 4-5 largest investor s: Are we fundable today? Just Ask Your Existing Investors.

Venture Capital 260

Venture Capital Cloud Investment Startup 260

SaaStr

JUNE 25, 2022

Not just to investors, but to your employees, partners, and team. A few actionable thoughts here: Your investors can actually help here. And use them (and any investor pitches) to refine how you present the company. If you can inspire investors, you can probably inspire potential hires and your team as well.

Communication 243

Communication Investment 243

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Top 5-7 Questions to Ask a Potential Angel Investor? The key when you get to pick your investors, at different times and stages, is to pick who can help you the most at that stage. Can the investor help? Is the investor someone VCs like to follow? Is the investor someone VCs like to follow?

Scaling 227

Scaling Investment Leadership 227

SaaStr

JUNE 30, 2023

Dear SaaStr: How can startup founders identify bad investors before signing any term sheets with them? As both a founder and a VC investor, I’ve taken money and partnered with folks that didn’t pass the above test with flying colors. Other times, you have to be aware that investors are just … investors.

Investment 165

Investment Startup 165

SaaStr

JUNE 22, 2021

The subtle issue is this: A Weak Investor Syndicate. A Weak Investor or Syndicate, or group of investors: Is all tapped out and has little to no more money to invest in the company. This can happen even with great funds and investors. This can happen even if the current investors have fancy fund names.

Venture Capital 250

Venture Capital Investment Cloud Branding 250

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 4, 2023

I’ve talked with several founders that raised at high valuations recently who didn’t understand why their seed investors were stressed “Worse case, they just lose a few million. The post What’s Worse for a Seed Investor — Losing $1m or Losing $2m? The later guys invested so much more.” Well, above is the reason why.

Investment 213

Investment 213

SaaStr

AUGUST 10, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Ways to Keep Investors From Firing You? But most investors absolutely do not want to fire founders. Most investors don’t have a better replacement at hand. Send out monthly investor updates with full metrics. The post Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Ways to Keep Investors From Firing You?

Metrics 197

Metrics SaaS Business 197

SaaStr

JANUARY 27, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What is The Legal Responsibility To Be Transparent With Investors? There are very few legal responsibilities for disclosures to investors in U.S. I’m an investor in several startups where I’ve never gotten an update in years. And the largest investors may have Board seats. It’s a great question.

Startup 207

Startup Investment Management Leadership 207

SaaSOptics

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

We partnered with Fulcrum Equity Partners to get the inside scoop from investors on which customer success metrics they look for and why.

Customer Success 218

Customer Success Metrics 218

SaaStr

MARCH 26, 2020

Q: What Are Some Signs That an “Angel Investor” is Really a “Devil Investor”? But investors shouldn’t be worried about controlling a board of directors, or rights to pick the CEO, etc. If you are selling > 20% of your company, granting a board seat to the investors is fair. in an angel round.

Technical Review 180

Technical Review Investment Pricing 180

Andreessen Horowitz

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Former gymnast and current investor Aly Raisman joins general partner Julie Yoo and investment partner Daisy Wolf of a16z Bio + Health. In this episode, Aly chats about her background, how she thinks about health and fitness now that she’s no longer competing, and a few of her passion projects, including financial literacy.

Investment 97

Investment Healthcare 97

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 12, 2020

Q: What’s considered a large amount of money for an investor? 2% of their investable capital is a “lot of money” for most professional investors. The post What’s a Big Check for an Investor? A rough answer is more than 1.5%-2% And 5% starts to become a “this investment has to work” investment.

Investment 186

Investment 186

SaaStr

MAY 15, 2022

Dear SaaStr: How Much Money Do You Need to Be An Angel Investor? A related post here: The Many Types of Angel Investors. The post Dear SaaStr: How Much Money Do You Need to Be An Angel Investor? You can certainly start with a few small checks — to learn. But you probably need at least $2,500,000 liquid to do it right.

Investment 186

Investment 186