SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2021

SaaS spending dipped in the first half of 2020 at the start of the pandemic but has since reaccelerated. 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. “The The state of software buying has changed.

Software Review 225

Software Review SMB Enterprise Software 225

SaaStr

MAY 8, 2024

As a SaaS veteran who built and sold a software company for nine figures, invested in startups since 2013, 10x-ing his fund, and continues to build a powerhouse community of SaaStr fans, he offers some hot takes on the communities’ burning questions. The average public SaaS company is twice as efficient. Let’s start with the meta. “I

Metrics 196

Metrics Scale Sales Hiring SaaS 196

SaaStr

MARCH 6, 2024

So Okta is one of our favorite SaaS and Cloud leaders. But it’s also tied to B2B seat models and tech. So as tech companies tighter their belts, and decrease seats, the same headwinds that have impacted ZoomInfo, Zoom, and many B2B leaders from Outreach to Gong and more also impact Okta. The story is super inspiring.

Fractional VPE 202

Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE Scale SMB 202

SaaStr

JULY 28, 2020

No SaaS company is yet worth $1 trillion, through perhaps that is coming. What has happened though is the Top 30 SaaS companies together are now worth $1 Trillion. That’s $1 Trillion in market cap from the SaaS leaders. The Top 10 SaaS companies have 70% of the market cap and value. Zoom used to be a B2B app ??.

SaaS 320

SaaS SMB Cloud Enterprise 320

SaaStr

MAY 10, 2023

So we’ve covered HubSpot on our 5 Interesting Learning series more than any other SaaS leader, but it’s for a reason. They’re a barometer of sub-enterprise B2B SaaS in many ways. Like almost everyone in SaaS, HubSpot is getting more profitable and more efficient — quickly.

Scale 237

Scale SMB Headcount New CTO 237

SaaStr

MAY 3, 2023

So Freshworks in another in our line of “hero companies” in SaaS. While Freshworks is very much a global SaaS leader, its history as perhaps the first with deep roots in India to IPO in the U.S. NRR Still Impressive at 107% Given Many SMB Customers, Although Down Year-over-Year from 115%. 5 Interesting Learnings: #1.

SMB 277

SMB B2B SaaS Revenue 277

Sales Hacker

JANUARY 9, 2023

My first day in B2B sales, I onboarded with an account executive who was part of my new company’s enterprise sales team. He explained that enterprise companies are massive accounts that would need our product (SaaS for logistics) on a tremendous scale. Related: How to Transition from SMB to Enterprise: Tips from 3 Experts.

SMB 92

SMB Scale Enterprise Marketing 92

SaaStr

DECEMBER 31, 2022

The 4 V’s of Sales: Volume, Value, and Velocity: Waze Head of SMB Sales & Head of Sales Enablement. A good and different look at some good ideas for SMB sales. #6. 10. “SaaStr Annual 2022: 5 Critical and Company-Altering Learnings from B2B Startups | Y Combinator.”

Scale 190

Scale SMB Innovation B2B 190

SaaStr

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Founder and CEO of SaaStr Jason Lemkin deep dives into the current state of SaaS and the Cloud. Lemkin and David Sacks touched on whether SaaS is making a cautious recovery , and Lemkin shares a slightly different perspective here. Before March 2020, it was almost the only single-seat SaaS product with over 100% NRR.

Sales Hiring 222

Sales Hiring SaaS Headcount Compensation 222

SaaStr

JUNE 17, 2019

In 2019, the average enterprise buyers has deployed over 100+ SaaS apps, per Okta numbers. And the average SMB buyer has already purchased 50+ apps. The general pyschology thus is different than it used to be in SaaS. Instead, SaaS buyers are smart. The post What is the psychology behind the B2B enterprise sale?

Enterprise 163

Enterprise B2B Sales SMB 163

ChurnZero

JUNE 2, 2021

SaaS Capital joined us for a webinar to share the results from their 10th annual B2B SaaS benchmarking survey. This survey is the largest survey of private SaaS companies in the world with over 1,500 responses. An overview of the current B2B SaaS market and valuation drivers. Q&A Recap. Growth is king.

Benchmarks 98

Benchmarks B2B SMB SaaS 98

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

But is Duolingo SaaS? Well, it’s SaaS-ish. The core product is very B2C, but the upgrade to paid has very SMB B2B metrics, and 80% of the revenue is subscription based. A/B testing can be harder in lower volume B2B products, but it’s a reminder we all need to do more of it.

Scale 286

Scale B2C SMB B2B 286

SaaStr

OCTOBER 2, 2022

The Challenge with SMB SaaS: High Growth Can Only Mask High Churn For Just So Long (Updated). The Best in SaaS Are Just Growing Faster Than Ever. How Long It Roughly Takes to Close a Deal in SaaS. 5 Critical & Company-Altering Learnings from B2B Startups | Y Combinator MD Anu Hariharan.

Cloud 241

Cloud Scale SMB B2B 241

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

So we’re finally, almost back from the IPO Drout in SaaS. The last SaaS leader to IPO was HashiCorp back in Dec 2021. After that, the public markets began a precipitous decline — leading to an almost 2 year pause in SaaS IPO. But the metrics, especially for an SMB-focused SaaS business, are breathtaking.

Scale 210

Scale SMB Sales Hiring Interviewing 210

SaaStr

JUNE 29, 2022

It’s moved beyond its tiniest customers, of an ACV of < $1k, but other than that, it’s going upmarket without giving up its SMB roots. A shot across the bow of anyone saying SaaS is slowing. Even though Zendesk still has thousands and thousands of SMB customers. #2. At $1B in ARR, Zendesk was growing 24%.

SMB 251

SMB Scale B2B Metrics 251

SaaStr

OCTOBER 26, 2021

In a noisy world where there are no practical barriers to creating B2B content, you need a thoughtful approach to engage your Ideal Customer Profile audience. . These sessions from SaaStr Annual 2021 provide a window into what approaches best-in-class marketers in SaaS are taking today: .

Scale 335

Scale Marketing SMB Leadership 335

SaaStr

JULY 14, 2022

If a SaaS company can double or even triple at $1m ARR, it’s on to something good. Talkdesk, last valued at $10B, started off as an SMB Zendesk and Salesforce plug in at a $25m valuation when I first invested. That’s a big change from a grab-and-go SMB solution in the early days. (@jasonlk) July 10, 2022.

SMB 292

SMB Enterprise Government compliance 292

SaaStr

JANUARY 3, 2024

In the latest episode of our What’s New series, Founder and CEO at Secureframe, Shrav Mehta, sits down with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin to share what’s new at Secureframe, a rising SOC-2 and compliance software company breaking out in SaaS. There’s just going to be a continued increased scrutiny on security and privacy.”

AI 145

AI SMB Sales Hiring compliance 145

SaaStr

JUNE 3, 2023

And in SaaS, we found that t he average age at IPO is 43 : Yes, sometimes, in software, you can get those 5,6,7 years of experience starting at 13. So it’s really probably easier if you start in freemium, SMB, consumer, or developer tools. Dylan Field was already known as the top intern ever at Flipboard when he worked there.

Software Review 167

Software Review SMB Enterprise B2B 167

Aaron Beashel

MARCH 9, 2018

I’ve been fortunate to work in a number of SaaS businesses in my career. In the case of a B2B SaaS company, your Go To Market model outlines the way in which you acquire customers. How to select the right Go To Market model for your SaaS product. In others however, growth has seem like a slog. Factors to consider.

Scale 192

Scale SaaS Payments B2B Strategy 192

SaaStr

APRIL 10, 2023

B2B SaaS companies often aim to land large enterprise clients that can bring with them long relationships and large deals. Others may seek to corner the SMB market. Zendesk knew that they could risk selling to startups like any other SMB, so that was the problem they set out to solve.

Startup 192

Startup Scale SMB Venture Capital 192

SaaStr

MARCH 28, 2024

“Doubling Down” is a new series where we hear from top B2B SaaS investors on their most recent activities and takes on the current market. What’s the #1 bit of advice you’d give to SaaS founders today? We had a great one last time with Lucy Deland, Co-founder & General Partner at Inspired Capital.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Cybersecurity Scale Artificial Intelligence 240

SaaStr

JULY 27, 2019

This is simple to measure and the most traditional metric for marketing in SaaS. But this is way too complex and downstream a metric for SMB sales and higher volumes of qualified leads. The post In B2B marketing, how do I get sales and marketing to work together? The con here is potentially around lead quality.

B2B 161

B2B Marketing Sales Social Media 161

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Today we’re focusing on actionable insights you can use to drive down churn with customer success in today’s new era of SaaS efficiency. The Head of CS has become an amorphous reporting structure in SaaS at many scaleups and startups because no one wants to own customer success. But that’s not the way B2B businesses work.

Customer Success 217

Customer Success Sales Hiring Scale AI 217

The Angel VC

APRIL 6, 2019

The post wasn’t specifically about B2B SaaS companies, which is why two of the five ways dealt with customers with an ARPA of $10 and $100, respectively. I did include two larger animals in a followup post , but meanwhile, I think that the $1,000,000 ARPA whale deserves a place as one of the five prime SaaS animals.

SaaS 277

SaaS Scale Business SMB 277

SaaStr

JULY 13, 2023

Being very careful here is especially critical with SMB SaaS, where the ACVs are lower. Even today, most SaaS VCs would have trouble believing a $2k ACV product like Monday could truly scale. NRR is the NorthStar metric in SaaS, but we all agreed it can be gamed, to some extent. A B2B version of MAU/WAU/DAU.

SMB 174

SMB Scaling Metrics B2B 174

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2021

We all have figured out now that top-tier NRR is the key to the winners in SaaS. Top-tier for B2B enterprise software. A solid yardstick for a product that is 50/50 enterprise and SMB, with a great Free edition. Smartsheet’s NRR is 123% from SMBs. Smartsheet’s NRR is 123% from SMBs.

SMB 237

SMB Benchmarks Enterprise B2B 237

SaaStr

OCTOBER 5, 2022

Especially if you are a B2B app not limited by regulations like a lot of fintech and others are. And a lot of thing they are really something more enterprise than SMB. I can’t quite get the math to tie in my head, but it’s a good reminder of the “golden ratio” here in SaaS. Some never really do.

Scale 263

Scale SMB Scaling B2B 263

SaaStr

DECEMBER 27, 2020

Those of us who’ve been around a while think of New Relic as a freemium and almost SMB tool, but today 77% of their revenue comes from accounts greater than $100k. Done right, this sort of anti-SaaS pricing model can lead to significantly more revenue. I’ve seen this across other B2B/API companies I’ve invested in.

Scale 285

Scale Outsourced Development SMB Cloud 285

SaaStr

AUGUST 12, 2022

I think it’s a challenge to folks that think we are in some sort of terrible downturn for SaaS and cloud. While Azure and Google Cloud grew at record rates, Shopify for example, its SaaS business only grew 10% last quarter. Colin here, CEO of a startup, B2B SaaS, and raising a seed round right now. Take the meeting.

Scale 183

Scale SaaS Payments Scaling SaaS 183

SaaStr

DECEMBER 3, 2021

. #11 SaaStr 309: David Skok on The 9 Stage Model To Get A B2B Company To Get Repeatable, Scalable & Profitable Growth. #10 10 SaaStr 211: The Ultimate Guide To SaaS Pricing From Investors @ Benchmark, Matrix, Upfront Ventures & Operators @ Figma, Snyk, and Kustomer. #9 1 SaaStr 221: HBS Sr. . #9 1 SaaStr 221: HBS Sr. . #5

Scale 189

Scale Sales Hiring SMB Benchmarks 189

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Q: What are the common mistakes in B2B sales in the early-ish days? Almost always, SMBs suffer. So at least send the SMB leads to a rep just working those ones. The post 10 Of The Most Common Mistakes in Early SaaS Sales appeared first on SaaStr. Wanted to buy a product last week. Forced to talk to an SDR first.

Scale 185

Scale Sales Hiring Sales SaaS 185

FastSpring

JANUARY 27, 2022

Small tweaks to your SaaS billing practices can make a huge impact on the customer experience. For example, Jon Torres — a digital marketing consultant specializing in SaaS commerce — noticed that, for some of his clients, refund requests spiked around renewal time. “It 7 growth hacks from the SaaS experts. Learn more here.

Merchant Services 132

Merchant Services Payment Services SaaS Payments Payment Solutions 132

SaaStr

MAY 18, 2022

But most B2B products aren’t that easy to use. Even SMB leaders like Monday waited to go Freemium. For sure this is part of most Freemium products we all use every day, from Canva to Zoom to Notion to Spotify. More on that here.

SMB 215

SMB Pricing B2B Engineering 215

SaaStr

OCTOBER 31, 2023

With nine figures in revenue, Ariel and SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin talk about all things Navan, rebranding when you have brand equity, building B2B software for people, pricing and business models, and much more. They learned from some of the biggest in SaaS — Aaron Levie and Jeff Lawson. Navan has donated $2.2M

Payment Solutions 204

Payment Solutions Payments Travel Scale 204

SaaStr

AUGUST 30, 2023

Keep reading to learn how this $1B+ valuation SaaS company stuck it out through a long, slow slog in the beginning and has become the largest software marketplace today. Now, there are at least 100k verified SaaS apps on G2, which is huge. How do I discover the SaaS products I need? How do I trust them? Zero cost of sale.

AI Search 186

AI Search AI ChatGPT Scale 186

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

We’ve had some legendary SaaS greats over the years. From the very first episode with Tiago Paiva, Founder, and CEO of now $10B Talkdesk to Mark Roberge, our most downloaded podcast episode of all time , our podcast has been host to the very best in SaaS since 2016. You never get to spend less time in sales as a SaaS CEO.

Scale 175

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scaling 175