SaaStr

MAY 13, 2021

429: In this episode, ProfitWell Founder & CEO Patrick Campbell shares benchmarks from over 23,000 companies and offers a helpful framework to re-evaluate your retention strategy and increase your CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) between 10 and 60%. Patrick Campbell.

Retention 220

Retention Payment Features Subscription Customer Lifetime Value 220

SaaStr

MARCH 19, 2021

The Cloud is expanding and moving forward at a phenomenal rate, so we invited the team at Bessemer Venture Partners back to SaaStr to unveil their latest findings in the 2021 State of the Cloud. As of January 2021, there were over 527 private unicorns with a total cumulative value of over $1.9 Hello Unicorns .

Cloud 283

Cloud Scale Payment Methods Payment Solutions 283

SaaStr

APRIL 15, 2025

Current State of Early-Stage Venture Market The early-stage venture landscape has experienced significant shifts since the peaks of 2021. We’re seeing: Deal activity decline : From the highs of 2021 (around 3.5B raised in Q4 2021), we’re seeing a return to baseline levels but still below pre-zero interest rate era volumes.

Technical Review 163

Technical Review Venture Capital Outsourced Development AI 163

SaaStr

APRIL 20, 2022

Let’s look at some numbers: Number of job openings in December 2021: 12 million. Number of people who quit their jobs in December 2021: 4.3 Alice Katwan , SVP at Twilio , discusses how you can build a high-retention sales team while being remote. The ratio of engaged vs. disengaged employees: 2:1 .

Sales Hiring 278

Sales Hiring Scale Retention Sales 278

SaaStr

OCTOBER 23, 2024

At BILL, logo retention is 86% in the first 90 days. How to Make an Acquired Second Act Work In 2021, BILL completed its acquisition of Divvy , a Leader in Spend Management for SMBs. BILL is efficient, and LTV continues to grow, so some might say six quarters is too light because of all the value added.

SMB 313

SMB Payment Services Payments Payment Methods 313

SaaStr

JANUARY 9, 2021

With over 500,000+ people tuning into our live events in 2020, we’re getting going on the full calendar of 2021 SaaStr events. All-in, we have room for about 350+ speakers and 1,000 mentors spread across our 2021 events. The post Speaker Submissions for 2021 SaaStr Events are Now Open! Operational.

Sales Hiring 221

Sales Hiring Scale Outbound Sales Team Interviewing 221

SaaStr

MAY 21, 2025

Net Dollar Retention Hit 124% – Signs of Long Team Durable Growth Palantir’s net dollar retention rate of 124% in Q1 2025 indicates that existing customers are significantly expanding their usage year-over-year. This vertical focus aligns with broader trends in re-industrialization and supply chain resilience.

Artificial Intelligence 152

Artificial Intelligence Government AI Benchmarks 152

SaaStr

MARCH 31, 2021

— Jon Ma (@jonbma) March 27, 2021. UiPath grew from 6,009 customers last year to 7,968 at January 2021, or 33% growth. Gross revenue retention of 97%. ServiceNow has 99% retention, which is incredible, but it also only has huge customers. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) March 29, 2021. seed round.

Outsourcing Services 362

Outsourcing Services Outsourced Development Payment Features Cloud 362

SaaStr

APRIL 25, 2021

“Building Your Company’s Retention Strategy & Measurement with MongoDB” A session you have have missed with MongoDB’s director of retention marketing. #3. It’s great. Watch it. #2. “The 3 Secrets to Unlocking Revenue Through Customer Trust with GuideCX” #4.

Entertainment 300

Entertainment Cloud Acquisition Retention 300

SaaStr

JANUARY 13, 2022

Folks that are very SMB with mediocre retention often don’t disclose it. Only 33% of SaaS IPO’s in 2021 were HQ’d in the Bay Area. Average NRR at IPO is 119% — but this excludes a bunch of SMB folks who did not disclose their NRR. Squarespace’s NRR at IPO was only 85%. But still helpful to see.

SMB 360

SMB SaaS Retention Scale 360

SaaStr

OCTOBER 14, 2021

— GitLab (@gitlab) October 14, 2021. GRR (Gross Retention Rate) of 97%. GitLab China is a new independent company formed in 2021, both SaaS and self-managed, available only in China, Hong Kong and Macau. And 100 by 2020 and 200 by 2021. GTLB at @Nasdaq pic.twitter.com/Tix2iaEqAr. 5 Interesting Learnings: #1.

Outsourced Development 67

Outsourced Development Software Development Innovation Cloud 67

SaaStr

AUGUST 4, 2022

Not a crazy 2021 multiple. Datadog quarter: – $406M rev (+74% YoY) vs $378M consensus (7% beat) – $412M next Q guidance vs $409M consensus (1% raise) – >130% net retention – 9 months GM adj. I’m not saying things aren’t very, very different than 2021. And multiples have been cut in half.

Venture Capital 329

Venture Capital AWS Cloud Scale 329

SaaStr

JANUARY 12, 2024

We still want to drive retention and growth and make money. No one would disagree that retention and expansion are important. Prediction #1: GRR and NRR Make a Mild Comeback GRR (Gross Revenue Retention) and NRR (Net Revenue Retention) have been hard for many companies over the last year or so. The world has changed.

Sales Hiring 323

Sales Hiring Customer Success Scale AI 323

Tom Tunguz

JULY 18, 2022

In 2021, PE buyouts constituted more than 20% of venture-backed M&A by dollars, doubling in the past decade. Gross & net dollar retention marks must impress, and net income should hover close to profitability. PE funds target businesses whose bottom lines would benefit from improved internal operations.

Startup 356

Startup Retention Pricing Software 356

SaaStr

JANUARY 31, 2021

“What it takes to raise capital in 2021 with Christoph Janz of Point 9 Capital” The fresh 2021 update of the classic SaaStr Funding Napkin. #2. “The Current State of SaaS Companies, Subscriptions and Retention with ProfitWell” A great update from a version of this data just after Covid hit. #3.

Scale 265

Scale Technical Review AI Sales Enablement 265

SaaStr

JUNE 7, 2021

— Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) June 7, 2021. Set clear KPIs on NRR and retention. Set a retention goal for your SMB customer success manager(s) and let them figure it out. They’ll adjust their time and strategy to drive churn down and retention up. Find a way to fund both, even with SMBs.

Customer Success 353

Customer Success Scale SMB Sales 353

SaaStr

JANUARY 19, 2021

We’re kicking off the 2021 SaaStr events schedule very soon with SaaStr University: Spring Semester on Wednesday, January 27th. . How To Raise Your Next Round: What Does it Take to Really Raise Capital in 2021 with Point Nine Capital Co-Founder and Partner, Christoph Janz.

VP of Engineering 265

VP of Engineering Scale Engineering Retention 265

SaaStr

AUGUST 5, 2021

. – $234M rev (+67% YoY) vs $212M consensus (10% beat) – $247M next Q guidance vs $225M consensus (10% raise) – Last Q YoY growth was 51% – >130% net retention – 7 months GM adj. — Jamin Ball (@jaminball) August 5, 2021. CAC payback – 76% GM – 18% FCF Margin $DDOG.

SaaS 340

SaaS AWS Cloud Scaling 340

SaaStr

DECEMBER 21, 2022

— Jason Be Kind Lemkin  (@jasonlk) April 20, 2021. We segmented customer retention by Small, Medium and Large accounts after about 24 months and saw a pattern that we now know is very common: ~85% revenue retention from our Very Small Businesses about 105% from Mid-Market; and about 120% from Larger Customers.

Startup 291

Startup Retention Customer Success Revenue 291

SaaStr

JUNE 3, 2022

HubSpot is now on its way to $2B in ARR, but Dharmesh looks back on how they went from startup to scale-up: 2018: Dharmesh came back for the 5th Annual with Chief People office Katie to do a deep dive on how to drive up employee retention, and create values that endure. These types of sessions are often superficial, but this one wasn’t.

CTO 317

CTO Retention Startup Scaling 317

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Net Dollar Retention. Assuming current trends hold, sales efficiency in 2021 should nudge up to about 0.57. Comparing the first half of 2021 to the first half of 2020, the company grew 57%, eight percentage points higher than the annual figures. Revenue Growth. -. Gross Margin. Sales Efficiency. -. Net Income Margin.

Metrics 294

Metrics Benchmarks PayPal Enterprise 294

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

Net Dollar Retention. More compelling than simply the growth in count is the disparity in Net Dollar Retention of these large customers. Assuming the company grows at similar levels to the first half of 2021, the model suggests the company should expect a market cap in the $15-17B range. Revenue Growth. -. Gross Margin.

Metrics 315

Metrics Outsourced Development Scale Cloud 315

SaaStr

AUGUST 7, 2024

1m+ Customers Growing the Fastest (48%), With 98% Logo Retention This isn’t unique to Atlassian, but a reminder of how much the biggest customers are the fuel for growth for many SaaS and Cloud leaders today. Logo retention is 98%+. #2. But they are also seeing some continued macro impacts at the same time. Billion in ARR.

Cloud 305

Cloud Software Review Scaling Retention 305

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

So things got a bit broken with SaaS sales exec comp in the run-up up until 2020 … and then it got really broken in the crazy times of late 2020 and 2021. If you sell to SMBs and have 70% revenue retention over the year, you just can’t pay the same as enterprise reps that close 140% NRR deals. This makes no sense.

Scale 345

Scale Venture Capital Sales Hiring Sales 345

SaaStr

JULY 17, 2024

It’s always been hard to raise venture capital, but if you’re in the group of folks VCs do want to fund, it’s like 2021 in some ways. These unicorns are often different from the 2021 unicorns. From 2018 to the end of 2021, a weird thing happened. Then, the end of 2021 hit, and it started to normalize. The top U.S.

Venture Capital 310

Venture Capital AI Cloud Scale 310

SaaStr

MAY 8, 2021

— Nick Mehta (@nrmehta) April 21, 2021. Especially bigger deals just close faster, easier, and with more retention when you meet face-to-face. An open question for a while during the Covid Era was would we really ever get back to in-person sales meetings ? Wasn’t closing deals over Zoom 10x more efficient?

Retention 291

Retention Sales 291

SaaStr

JULY 7, 2021

The original 2012 post, with 2021 updates in “Where It Went”: “Every non-public SaaS company lies about their ARR. Where it Went: $233m+ in growth financing (at implicit valuation of $1B+) in 2021. #78 Top-tier revenue retention for SMBs and relatively high pricing for SMBs scales nicely. 72 Rocketlawyer.

SaaS 291

SaaS Technical Review Software Review Scaling 291

SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2021

During SaaStr Annual 2021, Amanda Malko, CMO at G2, shared a fascinating look at the data that reveals shifting patterns in the way consumers purchase software. . As companies accelerate their digital transformations, the SaaS spend has exploded: In Q2 of 2021, G2 recorded the highest software spend per employee to date.

Software Review 291

Software Review SMB Enterprise Software 291

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2025

They use AI for price discoverability and optimization, with a setup that drives annual retention. The bar has risen significantly from the “growth at all costs” mindset of 2021-2022. Final Thoughts The AI space is well-funded but still maturing.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Artificial Intelligence AI Marketplace as a Service 185

SaaStr

APRIL 11, 2021

”The Playbook to Boosting Net Retention (Quickly) with Terminus’s CEO” SaaS veteran Tim Kopp takes us through a deep dive on driving up NRR. #2 “The 5 Metrics You Should Track to Maximize Your Company’s Valuation with Tomasz Tunguz” Tomasz’s latest from SaaStr Build 2021. #10

Scale 280

Scale SMB Scaling Retention 280

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

3. “The Playbook to Boosting Net Retention (Quickly) with Terminus’s CEO” Fresh off their $90m Series C, SaaS veteran Tim Koop shares their secrets to happier customers. #4. . “Brian Halligan, CEO and Co-Founder at HubSpot: The Secrets to $1B ARR … And Beyond!”

Acquisition 246

Acquisition Retention Subscription Payment Features 246

SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2024

The Numbers That Matter: $10B+ Market Cap 180,000+ Customers 152% Net Dollar Retention (2023) 7x Growth in First 24 Months After IPO 1,000+ Employees Across 8 Global Offices What Did Zinman Do Differently? But Zinman saw something different – a chance to make work management visual, intuitive, and actually enjoyable to use.

Scale 255

Scale SaaS Company Culture Leadership 255

SaaStr

OCTOBER 28, 2022

In 2021, there was much less focus on efficiency and more on revenue metrics like ARR. In 2021 there was a lot of emphasis on top-line revenue growth, what percentage year-over-year was the business growing, and less emphasis on things like gross margins and quality of revenue.”. A New SaaS Playbook.

Sales Recruiting 264

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Leadership Interviewing 264

SaaStr

MAY 10, 2024

Deals pushing into next quarter Deal close and upgrade rates under pressure Larger deals are taking longer They aren’t planning on it getting any easier through the end of the year But GRR and retention is consistent, even if NRR at 102% is down from the 110% peak a few years ago. I.e., folks aren’t churning or leaving.

B2C 289

B2C Mobile B2B Subscription 289

SaaStr

JANUARY 30, 2024

It’s a SaaS startup that basically fell out of product-market fit after the 2021 boom … but has enough revenue and high enough NRR to keep going. They’re at $2m-$20m ARR or so, sometimes more, aren’t losing money, and have 90%-100%+ NRR and relatively stable GRR and logo retention. It’s the “NRR Zombie”. What’s that?

Headcount 302

Headcount Finance Startup Trends 302

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

While we’re still a ways from the high valuations of 2021, we are seeing valuation multiples normalize closer to the range of what we saw for long-term pre-pandemic averages. That’s definitely a departure from the heights of 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the average multiple was 34x, decreasing to 30x in 2022, and 26x in 2023.

Cloud 312

Cloud Payments Software Review Payment Solutions 312

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

. “How To Raise Your Next Round- What Does it Take to Really Raise Capital with Point Nine Capital” Christoph Janz updates his annual “funding napkin” on how VC looks in SaaS in 2021. A great real-time take from one of the top SaaS seed investors. #4.

Acquisition 241

Acquisition Subscription Payment Features Trends 241