SaaStr

DECEMBER 21, 2023

By comparison, the median growth rate for these businesses from 2015-2017 was 27%. Software is a riskier investment. You can invest in a security bearing 0% interest, but you won’t get a return, so folks generally don’t want to allocate capital to risk-free assets.

SaaS 257

SaaS Software Metrics Revenue 257

Scytale

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Her accomplishments include being recognized as one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Women in Cybersecurity” by SC Media UK in 2019 , as well as securing the coveted “Woman Information Security Professional” award at the (ISC)2 Information Security Leadership Awards.

Technical Advisors 52

Technical Advisors Cybersecurity CTO Scale 52

Chart Mogul

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

The public SaaS market more than doubled in five years, from 2015 to 2020. In many ways, 2022 (Q2-ish) marked the end of … The public SaaS market more than doubled in five years, from 2015 to 2020. From what we can see in the VC landscape it doesn’t seem like investment and funding are going up.

AI Search 52

AI Search Benchmarks Venture Capital AI 52

SaaStr

JULY 27, 2022

Founded in 2015, PayFit is a software company that empowers entrepreneurs and SMBs to digitize payroll and HR processes. Boterri’s company Accel invested in PayFit in 2017 and again in 2021. As of 2022, Payfit has reached unicorn status –– after raising $289 million in Series E, the company is now valued at $2.1 billion.

SMB 203

SMB Sales Hiring Scale B2C 203

OPEXEngine

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

Shopify, when we invested, the top end of our outcomes table was a $400 million IPO, because that used to be a success. They’re $200 billion or so now [as a public company since 2015]. These are crucial points for CFOs as they think through strategic plans with their leadership partners on a going-forward basis. “We

DevOps as a Service 52

DevOps as a Service SaaS Outsourced Development Subscription 52

User Pilot

DECEMBER 13, 2023

According to Jaime Levy, the author of the 2015 bestseller UX Strategy: How to Devise Innovative Digital Products That People Want , a robust UX strategy should be based on 4 main principles. The odds are that it’s not the UX designer or product manager who is responsible for company-level goals but senior leadership.

Strategy 104

Strategy Underperforming Technical Team User Experience SaaS 104

OpenView Labs

MARCH 17, 2021

We invested more capital than in any prior year in the firm’s history, and we returned more capital than we’ve raised across all OpenView funds combined. Tom focuses on infrastructure, security and application software and has been a part of our investments in Axonius , Buildkite , and Intezer.

Sales Recruiting 62

Sales Recruiting Venture Capital Construction Investment 62

ProfitWell

JANUARY 29, 2020

But, there are concrete numbers to prove its growth: From 2015-2017 the number of CSMs on LinkedIn grew by 8x. Human-first leadership: Customer success was once a very product and data-oriented job. With that, your company needs to invest more time, money, and resources in building the customer experience. Outside the U.S.,

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Retention Software Review Leadership 52

ChurnZero

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

This article is adapted from a session presented by Kristen Hayer , Founder and CEO of The Success League , at BIG RYG , ChurnZero’s annual Customer Success leadership summit. During that time, health score factors that are based on features, use cases, processes, leadership, and KPIs have likely changed which can affect associated metrics.

Customer Success 98

Customer Success Metrics Engagement Software Review 98

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 31, 2019

At a time when SaaS companies represent the vanguard of disruptive innovation, it’s not surprising that an armada of non-software companies are following suit by attempting to replicate the business model in a bid to attract investment. Apple finally relented and joined the streaming game in 2015.

Payment Solutions 259

Payment Solutions Payment Methods Software SaaS Payments 259

Sales Hacker

AUGUST 4, 2020

Outreach produces incredible industry leading events like their Unleash Conference and their city-by-city Unleashed Summit Series road shows which will resume once people are allowed to take road shows again, along with top notch, thought leadership content. It’s not 2015. Check them out at www.outreach.io. It’s not 2019.

Scale 105

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Outsourcing Services 105

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

The company was originally founded in South Korea and made the move to Silicon Valley in 2015 – it quickly became adopted as a place for employees from the likes of Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more to discuss the internal culture of their companies. Short on time? Kyum: Exactly.

Technical Review 210

Technical Review Company Culture Business Model Sales Hiring 210

ChurnZero

JANUARY 10, 2020

For Customer Success teams to continue to expand, it’s crucial they have dedicated leadership to rally internal support and fortify their position within the broader organization. . Investing in our customers’ success is one of ShootProof’s top priorities. I am excited to have Lisa as part of my senior leadership team.”

VP of Engineering 52

VP of Engineering Customer Success Scale Cybersecurity 52

Intercom, Inc.

JULY 18, 2019

A developer program is a long-term investment that you’re betting your business on. To create a developer community around your platform, first invest in providing great tools and processes that enable developers to extend your platform. — Honest Status Page (@honest_update) October 7, 2015.

Outsourced Development 110

Outsourced Development Development Innovation DevOps as a Service 110

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 2, 2019

She worked at HubSpot from 2009 to 2015 and was part of the enterprise scale up from 2011 through the IPO in 2014. She’s also a frequent speaker and panelist for the Women in Sales Leadership and Women in Tech communities; and was recently voted one of the top 20 women to watch by SMLA. Mary, welcome to the show.

Scale 52

Scale Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Sales 52

Sales Hacker

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

According to Crunchbase data, 95,000+ companies have received funding (globally) from 2015-present, totaling $1.3+ Venture capitalists invest in startups because they believe in the founder(s) and their vision. That means a majority of their investments are write-offs. trillion worth of funding. Only about 1% reach that honor.

Outsourcing Services 78

Outsourcing Services Scale Startup Outsourced Development 78

SaaStr

JULY 8, 2020

What Nobody Tells You About Seed Investing with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Cowboy Ventures Founder and Partner Aileen Lee. I think it gives us a perspective that maybe we don’t get in some other places, in addition to many great investments over the years. We’ve been doing these SaaStr events since 2015, the SaaStr Annual.

Investment 159

Investment Technical Review Part-Time VPE Development Team Review 159

SaaStr

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Sam Taylor: On my first leadership role, I was the first enterprise sales rep, a manager of mid-market team. And so I was their first sales leadership hire. This was in early 2015. And I think that it takes a lot of leadership and intention at the top to make sure that that is a part of the ethos of your team.

Scale 173

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 173

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 16, 2020

Because I think everyone talks about platforms but to actually do it properly – and it sounds like you guys are really invested in it – it is a big investment. This was back in about 2015. So what was the spur for you to make that move? What really spurred you on to do it or how did you know the time was right?

Consulting 249

Consulting Marketplace as a Service Scale Development 249

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 28, 2019

I remember talking to Belgium investors at the time and everybody said, look, enterprise software is dead, there’s no opportunity through investment. Felix : It was a lot easier to invest to convince customers and investors and so we actually, I mean more of a European way of scaling a company. It made raising money a lot harder.

Sales Hiring 174

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Government 174

SaaStr

AUGUST 16, 2019

And I think that’s the opposite of what some people think of when they think of sales or sales leadership. What VC wants to truly invest in a founder who is quote unquote, hustling 24/7. They use it to maximize their own revenue and they’ve created this really incredible thought leadership community.

Scale 141

Scale Underperforming Technical Team Sales Hiring Interviewing 141

OpenView Labs

APRIL 23, 2019

But, QoQ and MoM, we look at reports and expect if we identify the root causes, invest more in sales/marketing/ product , and make action plans, that we’ll turn around that decline in a matter of months. In the case of running, I first wrote down in 2015 (post-Ironman Maryland) that I would run a 1:50 half marathon (that’s an 8:20 min/mile).

Travel 56

Travel Startup Strategy Communication 56

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Once you have product market fit in the first product and revenue is coming in, that’s when you’ll have time to invest in a second product. Understand The Power Of Inbound In 2015-16, Freshworks did PR, saying they had Cisco as their 30,000th customer. What you do in product today will help you in revenue 2-3 years down the line.

Sales Hiring 245

Sales Hiring Scale SMB AI 245

SaaStr

OCTOBER 21, 2022

From 2015 to 2017, Braze grew eightfold. Navigate market dynamics over time—from employee base to customer investment—instead of making hasty decisions. Growing sustainably over time requires a balance between how much you pay to grow today and where you invest for the future. Stick to your convictions. Impressive, right?

Mobile 213

Mobile Technology Investment Innovation 213

SmartKarrot

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Over 80% of business leaders agree that CX offers a competitive edge — this remains unchanged across 2015 to 2020. A customer might continue to use a product out of sheer need or habit but won’t want to invest any further if service, support, and the purchase journey aren’t seamless. Pay attention to the CX engines. Yet, only 26.2%

Technical Review 11

Technical Review Technology Cost optimization & reporting Customer Lifetime Value 11

SaaStr

AUGUST 8, 2023

As a result of these initiatives, Dropbox saw a 25% reduction in total storage intake by the end of 2015, which meant that the company saved tens of millions of dollars per year. Hire a Junior Team You can recruit your junior team from investment banking or other Strategic Finance teams. Invest in next-gen finance tooling.

Scale 184

Scale Finance Outsourcing Services Sales Recruiting 184

ChurnZero

JUNE 22, 2021

Their mission is to improve lives through learning and it’s the largest online destination that help students and businesses gain skills from expert instructors teaching over 155,00 online courses on topics from programming to leadership to Customer Success. After a year of being VP of Customer Success, I worked myself out of the job.

Customer Success 92

Customer Success Churn Consulting Marketplace as a Service 92

SaaStr

MAY 29, 2021

However, I think our philosophy is to find the investor who will like to invest in me, not just in our business. If that happens and if your investors, they invest not in you, in your business, guess what? However, to find an investor who are going to invest in you, not in your business, is very tricky. ” Eric : Yeah.

VP of Engineering 310

VP of Engineering Sales Hiring Banking Engineering 310

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 14, 2017

Over time, the business may osmose a sluggish culture from its leadership. The other bit of decision-making wisdom I’ve collected is from Bezos’ 2015 annual letter to Amazon shareholders. Improving our decision-making process is probably the single highest leverage investment we can make. The converse is also true.

Consulting 206

Consulting Leadership Startup Investment 206

Sales Hacker

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

But I guess I just didn’t have full confidence in the leadership team, and I thought there was something that was a better fit for me out there, that was more in line with what I was expecting. I think in 6 River’s case, especially at that time, the company was founded in 2015 and I joined in 2018. Sam Jacobs : Fair enough.

Underperforming Technical Team 69

Underperforming Technical Team Scale Sales Hiring Systems Review 69

SaaStr

JANUARY 10, 2020

Podium, an interaction management platform for local businesses, was founded in Utah and grew from five employees in 2015 to more than 300 in 2019 to become one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in the United States. I never regretted raising more money or investing more money in having the best possible things sooner.

Sales Hiring 133

Sales Hiring Scale Outsourcing Services CTO Hire 133

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

She “stumbled” into it, as she told us, first as one of the earliest sales hires of Eventbrite, where she stayed for four years, and then into Slack in early 2015 as the first sales rep in the Bay Area. Invest in the proper tech stack. Back in 2015 or 2016, we learned at Slack that we were going to be hiring a VP of Sales.

Scale 118

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 118

User Pilot

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Lowering the acquisition costs means you can reduce the prices to make your product more competitive and invest in its development to deliver a better product experience. In fact, many would want to avoid it because switching to a competing product requires considerable time and money investments.

Scale 98

Scale Customer Lifetime Value SaaS Acquisition 98

SaaStr

MARCH 17, 2020

Today at Talkdesk, we had a lot of our kind of big momentum starting in 2014-2015. We started investing a tremendous amount on the enterprise side. Talkdesk has invested a lot in the last year in local event attendance for both customers and prospects. We invested a lot in a local event marketing team. deal size growth.

Scale 143

Scale Payment Services Sales Hiring Payment Methods 143

Intercom, Inc.

JULY 21, 2022

Adam Risman , a former host of the podcast, asked Rachel what made that point when Rachel joined Slack in 2016 the right time to invest in growth marketing? Rachel Hepworth: In 2014 and 2015, Slack had this incredible growth, but it was growth off a small base, based on very early adopters. Here’s Rachel.

Outsourcing Services 215

Outsourcing Services Sales Hiring CTO Hire Acquisition 215

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2020

In January of 2015 I was hired by PatientPop as the VP of sales. The context that we’re going to put around it today and the way that we create culture, which is you create culture by investing in your sales team with targeted specific plans to improve both their lives and their careers. Quarterly ENPS service. Yeah, sure thing.

Sales Recruiting 265

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 265

SaaStr

MAY 14, 2023

At the very first SaaStr Annual in 2015 , we picked 3 break-out leaders at $5m-$10m, and added Nick Mehta from Gainsight. Great, let’s talk about 2015 plan. We got together and we decided that what revenue do we want to be at the end of 2015, and then we have the three plans. We got investment from 500 Startups.

Sales Hiring 245

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Payment Methods 245