Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 12, 2021

From premature optimization to over-engineering solutions for your product, it’s easy to get caught up in making technology decisions that slow you down instead of speeding you up. So when it comes to building your technical strategy, you need to assess each component in relation to what success will look like for your business.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Scale multi-cloud Kubernetes Scaling 269

SaaStr

JULY 18, 2024

How can you bridge the gap between sales and tech to drive customer success? Sarah Polan, EMEA Field CTO at HashiCorp, and Louise Fellows, VP NEMEA at HashiCorp, explore the relationship between Field CTO and sales to help you understand why it exists and how you can leverage this relationship when you have a highly technical product.

CTO Coach 303

CTO Coach CTO Technical Review Customer Success 303

SaaStr

MARCH 27, 2025

I caught up with a COO at a tech leader this week that’s already super lean. More on that here: The Average Tech Company Pays For 275 SaaS Apps, Flat From Last Year. This includes even the fastest growing start-ups I’ve invested in , not just ones that are trying to manage the burn or manage slower growth.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review SaaS AI B2B 275

Buffer Resources

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

The Buffer blog is one of our most valuable assets for our Marketing team, bringing in hundreds of thousands of pageviews each month. The original Buffer Marketing team started posting to the blog as far back as 2013, a very different time for content on the Internet. 

AI Search 105

AI Search Social Media Systems Review Technical Review 105

SaaStr

JULY 14, 2022

What started as a simple WordPress blog in 2012 has now become the world’s largest community of SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. SaaStr began in 2012 as a simple WordPress blog and a few answers on Quora sharing Jason Lemkin’s learnings of going from $0 to $100m ARR at EchoSign. SaaStr is turning 10! We went digital!

Scale 310

Scale Sales Recruiting CTO Hire New CTO 310

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 12, 2018

Known as the Martech 5000 — nicknamed after the 5,000 companies that were competing in the global marketing technology space in 2017, it’s said to be the most frequently shared slide of all time. Marketing technology is now the largest portion of total marketing budget (29% on average according to Gartner ).

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Technology Scale Marketing 223

SaaStr

APRIL 28, 2025

” and your AI will deliver a perfect technical answer instantly. QBRs and Check-ins Will Be AI-Driven AI will take over the quarterly business review and regular check-in calls. Meanwhile, mediocre reps who neither master the technology nor offer exceptional relationship skills will become obsolete.

AI 245

AI Underperforming Technical Team Sales Technical Review 245

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

As a founder, the biggest thing that always surprised me was the limits of due diligence. In my first start-up, we had a very exotic, complex technology. They did a great job on team diligence, prospect diligence, and customer diligence. Dear SaaStr: What Surprised The Most About First Getting VC Funding?

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Technology Marketing 275

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 22, 2021

After writing An Elegant Puzzle about the challenges of engineering management in high-growth organizations, his focus shifted to a career path that’s much less understood – the technical leadership track. Or does this whole tech career thing support the writing? Architect, Tech Lead, Solver, and Right Hand. I don’t know.

Technical Review 274

Technical Review Leadership VP of Engineering CTO Coach 274

SaaStr

JANUARY 3, 2025

We’ve covered this on SaaStr.com many times in the past but Brian reminds us all to look for candidates from companies slightly ahead of you on the growth curve instead of massive tech giants. With SMBs in particular, internal promotions can work better due to more “at-bats” and learning opportunities on the front lines.

Sales Hiring 287

Sales Hiring Scale Systems Review Interviewing 287

SaaStr

MAY 11, 2025

This program ensures that VCs review your startup profile before the event, increasing your chances of securing a meeting. Its designed to connect founders with VCs actively looking for investments. To participate, founders must submit their pitch decks, growth metrics, and funding details.

Venture Capital 177

Venture Capital Technical Review Innovation AI 177

SaaStr

DECEMBER 24, 2021

2021 was a huge year for us, a big rebound after SaaStr Annual 2020 was the first major tech event that Covid shut down in March ‘20. SaaStr Annual 2021 was the first and only major tech event to be back in-person IRL in the Bay Area , and we moved to an outdoor (and 100% vaccinated and tested) format for our 5,000 attendees.

Technical Review 287

Technical Review Scale Sales Hiring Cloud 287

SaaStr

MAY 23, 2024

Coming from a more technical background, I do like technology driven service businesses and technical infrastructure, and have a keen eye on fintech/crypto, as well as AI driven SaaS platforms and productivity tools.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Management Investment AI 296

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 28, 2024

Due diligence is crucial: for a VP Candidate and the CEO making the hire Before joining a new company as a CRO or VP of Sales, thoroughly evaluate both the company and team. Keep good people in your corner Jason delivers a hard truth about the tech world: “Most people don’t care.”

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Revenue 301

SaaStr

MARCH 12, 2025

The marketing session is often “career-ending” for CMOs – The quarterly marketing review tends to run overtime, spark intense debates, and is the most dreaded session for many CEOs who aren’t marketing natives. You assembled a talented team, built an amazing product, and established a growing SaaS business.

Sales Hiring 205

Sales Hiring Marketing Technical Review Underperforming Technical Team 205

Buffer Resources

JULY 18, 2024

  Ahrefs Webmaster Tools Run a technical audit of your site Limitations:  10,000 crawl credits per project per month Sign up for Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, verify your website, and you can audit your website for over 100+ technical SEO issues. Alternatives:  Pingdom ,  WebPageTest , and  GTMetrix 2. 

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Software Review Mobile Engineering 120

SaaStr

JANUARY 24, 2022

During your first or next round of financing, or during any type of financial decision involving a third party, some type of due diligence will be performed by accountants that will define revenue per Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP). If they get too technical, ask them to explain it again in non-accountant speak.

Finance 333

Finance Outsourcing Services Systems Review Technical Review 333

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2025

” This wasn’t just for major deals or quarterly business reviews – it was a fundamental operating principle that persisted “from day one to day one thousand.” ” This adaptive planning model proved essential in their hypergrowth environment, where annual plans would have quickly become obsolete.

Scale 188

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Headcount 188

SaaStr

MARCH 28, 2025

If you do lose a few key customers due to AI-related churn, Be Kind. AI is driving buyers to look at their vendors and tech stack anew. You have to be ahead of this: You have to make sure you have at least some sort of AI Parity with the next generation , if your arent the next generation. Move faster on the product development side.

Churn 197

Churn AI Technical Review Innovation 197

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

The Speakers: Mayada Gonimah (Founder, Thread AI) Maya is the co-founder of Thread AI, which helps large enterprises embed AI into their existing workflows and applications without disrupting their tech stack.

AI 191

AI Cloud Enterprise Technical Review 191

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2025

Technical customers report that tasks that previously took weeks are now completed in hours. Beyond their code assistant, they’ve developed Windsurf AI, an agentic IDE allowing non-technical users to build applications – accelerating productivity even further. We should have doubled down on this approach from day one.”

Sales Recruiting 245

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale AI 245

TechEmpower SaaS

JULY 31, 2023

Proving your Business Model Works - Build, Define, and Review But how do you prove your numbers? Finally, review the numbers with your partners. Then use what you’ve learned in this blog post to decide if the numbers validate your business model, or if you need to rethink your approach. Please write us at blog@techempower.com !

Metrics 390

Metrics Startup Scale New CTO 390

SaaStr

MARCH 14, 2022

Really do extra due diligence on anyone with a perfect resume at too many hot startups that didn’t stay that long, or were only there in the “lucky” years. Persona #3: The VP That Only Worked in a Small Division of a Big Tech Company. Generally, VCs that don’t know sales (or marketing) love them.

Sales Recruiting 303

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Technical Review Scale 303

SaaStr

JANUARY 11, 2024

Between the initial COVID economic shutdown to the tech V-shape recovery to the rise and fall of the public and private valuation landscape with inflation and interest rates to now the advent of a massive technology breakthrough with AI, these are crazy, fast-moving, and exciting times. what would you do with a clean start?

Technical Review 304

Technical Review Scale Management Sales Hiring 304

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 11, 2020

Intercom has responded by hiring a diversity and inclusion consultant, updating our recruitment strategy and hiring practices to reduce bias, scheduling allyship training for all employees, and amplifying Black voices in our podcast and blog. Think about the impact that racism has already had in tech. Know the scope of the issue.

Technical Review 289

Technical Review Software Review Systems Review CTO Hire 289

USIO

MAY 9, 2025

This blog post is your jargon-free guide to all the advanced embedded finance terminology you’ll encounterfrom OAuth to multi-rail payment strategies. Embedded Fintech Stack Translation: The full sandwich of financial tech. White-Label Solution Translation: Their tech, your brand. The customer never knows the difference.

Payments 130

Payments Merchant Services Payment Services Finance 130

SaaStr

MARCH 17, 2021

Due to that convenience, departments and teams tend to seek out best-of-breed cloud applications, streamlining foundational and specialized functions through automation. However, trouble arises when your company ends up with a SaaS sprawl – the overall amount of adopted applications overwhelms your tech stack.

Sales Hiring 324

Sales Hiring Scale Technical Review Marketplace as a Service 324

SaaStr

APRIL 3, 2024

The three co-founders were gathering data in hot storage to respond more effectively to instances with the benefit of historical and technical context. That’s where true automation will be, in the disruptive work that people are freed up and enabled to do and do more effectively and quickly due to having the assistance and rich context.

Generative AI 302

Generative AI AI Technical Review Software Review 302

TechEmpower SaaS

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Are specific technologies or platforms involved in your project? Do they have experience with the technologies involved in your project? Our blog post 53 Questions Developers Should Ask Innovators has a list of questions any good development team would ask. What are the review periods and your responsibility in the process?

Software Development 443

Software Development Development Software Review Software 443

SaaStr

JUNE 14, 2023

In this blog post, we will delve into the fascinating journey of UiPath, a pioneer in robotic process automation (RPA) software that has revolutionized how enterprises automate repetitive tasks. UiPath was founded back in 2005, and its origin story is similar to many technical engineers-turned-founders.

Scale 246

Scale Artificial Intelligence Technical Review Software Review 246

SaaStr

APRIL 15, 2025

” Explain the “why now” moment : Connect your funding timing to market dynamics, technological shifts, or other factors creating urgency. Craft a compelling narrative : Structure your story with a clear arc from founding to current traction to future vision.

Technical Review 159

Technical Review Venture Capital Outsourced Development ChatGPT 159

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2021

What types of due diligence are undertaken by VCs before investing in a company? As a CTO in a startup, what should I do when the CEO wants to interfere with making technical decisions? Who will acquire Zoom: Amazon, Oracle, Adobe, or IBM? How much does a VC make? What is the best advice that entrepreneurs never hear?

Software Review 296

Software Review CTO Coach Technical Review Sales Recruiting 296

SaaStr

MAY 24, 2024

Lemkin emphasizes the need to hire “Pirates and Romantics,” passionate and quirky individuals who are dedicated to the company’s mission, in contrast to the majority of job workers in the tech industry. In the early days of SaaS , blogging was a popular form of content creation.

Sales Hiring 296

Sales Hiring Outsourcing Services Technical Review Scale 296

SaaStr

APRIL 23, 2024

The founders were very hands-on with R&D and other aspects of the organization, such as detailed technical reviews. There was a sense of co-ownership between the engineering team and tech leaders diving deep on these tech reviews. They miss what customers want. Find “Navy Seal” Product Managers.

Technical Review 295

Technical Review Government Innovation Engineering 295

Payrix

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

This blog post is your ultimate guide to understanding the most used payments terms today. Point-to-point encryption (P2PE) Technology standard created to secure electronic financial transactions. Youve come to the right place. E2EE is a generic term to describe solutions that encrypt data from one endpoint to another endpoint.

Payment Services 147

Payment Services Merchant Services Payment Solutions Payment Methods 147

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 24, 2020

I’m struggling to find the link now, but if I do, I will update this blog post with it. Certainly, some of this spike is due to transient conditions. I’m sure there are many impacts outside the world of technology on medicine, drug discovery, energy production, and many other facets of how we work and live.

Software Review 361

Software Review Technical Review Entertainment Outsourced Development 361

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

Skill sets required are shifting as the world becomes more automated and reliant on technology. It once would take a specialist who knew the vast details of technology, now you just need to know the platform and how to manipulate data to reach your goals. 3 Successful technology companies are developer and practitioner centric.

Technical Review 319

Technical Review Data Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence 319