SaaStr

OCTOBER 28, 2023

Dear SaaStr: My Startup Doesn’t Have a Free Trial or Freemium Option. If the answer is yes to these questions, definitely at least try a free trial. easy image from here ) The post My Startup Doesn’t Have a Free Trial or Freemium Option. We require payment right away. Should we change this? Should We Change This?

Startup 300

Startup Payment Solutions Business Model Enterprise 300

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Q: What makes a startup a huge success? My definition of “success” has changed over time. The post What makes a startup a huge success? Yours may well too: At first, just being part of something “successful” was enough. Just being part of a hot start-up working with great people. That was all I wanted at first. It was great.

Startup 268

Startup Enterprise SaaS Software 268

SaaStr

DECEMBER 23, 2024

Dont Be a VC Snob There are definitely risks raising capital from non-standard investors. Startups I invested in from cold email from founder: Salesloft (exited $2.4B) Talkdesk ($10B) Pipedrive (exited $1.5B) Logikcull (exited $270m) Owner Mangomint etc. Dont waste folks time before then. Not all of them, but many.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Investment AI Metrics 274

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What is the Process You Follow When Investing in an Up-and-Coming Startup? There are too many startups out there that want to meet, have coffee, do a Zoom, etc. The single most important thing you can do is protect your “slots” so that you meet with startups there is at least some chance you might invest in.

Investment 284

Investment Startup Metrics Software 284

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 12, 2021

If you’ve been paying attention to any loud marketing efforts over the last few years, you have definitely heard about multi-cloud. Even thinking about implementing a multi-cloud architecture is prematurely optimizing for practically all businesses – especially startups – and not a trap you want to fall into. Multi-cloud architectures.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Scale multi-cloud Kubernetes Scaling 269

Tom Tunguz

JULY 19, 2018

Differentiators are your startup’s competitive advantage. When a startup has established product market fit, the differentiator is clear. By definition, the unique selling proposition doesn’t exist elsewhere in the market. The startup must invest in that differentiation to sustain their market lead.

Investment 240

Investment Startup Churn Engineering 240

SaaStr

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What Happens if One Founder Wants to Quit When the Startup Has Just Raised VC Funding? At least, it’s your fault too by definition. see ya later image from here ) The post Dear SaaStr: What Happens if One Founder Wants to Quit When the Startup Has Just Raised VC Funding? Basically, you have 2.5

Startup 284

Startup Banking Leadership Engineering 284

SaaStr

DECEMBER 18, 2023

At SaaStr Annual , IBM’s VP of Software and Technology Raj Datta and Director of Startups Kylie Rutherford shared how AI is changing the game for companies of all sizes. AI is a very competitive landscape, so startups have to ask themselves how they’re going to gain a competitive advantage with it.

AI 299

AI Technology Scale Startup 299

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 18, 2022

This hypothetical startup amassed 2.3x For stage definitions, see [1]. If the sales cycle lasts 45 days, the startup has time to move Stage 2 opportunities to Stage 6 before quarter end. The startup starts the quarter with 70% of the target bookings in late-stage conversations. For stage definitions, see [2].

Scale 331

Scale Sales Forecasting Outsourced Development 331

SaaStr

OCTOBER 6, 2023

If you’re a seed-stage startup, Michael shares the best ways for you to present your company to startup investors. They could talk about how they were starving startup founders who couldn’t pay their rent. If this is week two of your startup, you probably don’t have any traction. I will definitely fund this company.”

Payment Methods 273

Payment Methods Startup Payment Solutions Sales Hiring 273

SaaStr

AUGUST 18, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Pros and Cons of a Double Trigger with a 6 year Vest for Founders of a Startup? That may or may not always be true, but Single Triggers definitely create some issues whenever they exist, and almost always create frictionful re-negotiations these days. I think there are no cons and this is a great idea.

Startup 245

Startup Acquisition Finance Scale 245

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 28, 2017

Normally, accounting changes are not that interesting, but ASC 606 will change several of the key attributes and benchmarks SaaS startups use. Starting in January, public software companies will report their financials using ASC 606. The two most important changes are changes to revenue and profitability.

Revenue 230

Revenue Benchmarks SaaS Finance 230

Stax

JUNE 3, 2025

This democratizes access to powerful tools, whether you’re a startup or an enterprise. SaaS operates on a subscription model, making it easier to manage cash flow and reduce upfront expenses. Seamless integrations The best SaaS platforms are built to play nicely with the rest of your tech stack.

Payment Services 88

Payment Services DevOps as a Service SaaS Payments Payments 88

SaaStr

AUGUST 12, 2020

So, the company starts getting divided up into functional areas, or silos, product management, sales, customers support, marketing and so on, and this siloing of the org chart I think means that not everyone knows what everyone else is doing, and there’s a general feeling of disorganization or chaos in most startups.

Startup 293

Startup Software Review Scale Systems Review 293

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

And, the high definition video doesn’t quite capture a feeling of community, even in 720p. There’s a wealth of research to better understand burnout, and given all the stressors employees face today, startups may be well served to explore ways of assessing burnout and mitigating it. What are the signs of burnout?

Healthcare 363

Healthcare Innovation Engagement Startup 363

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 9, 2020

Here are some ideas: There are definitional differences between Seeds, As between the data sets. There is latency in startups reporting closed rounds. Eg, startups that raise As are louder sooner. This latency skews more Seed than Series A. The data sets capture two different populations of investors whose behaviors differ.

Data 342

Data Marketing Startup Investment 342

SaaStr

APRIL 24, 2021

A lot of our SaaS older times don’t quite know what to make with a lot of B2B startups these days, let alone some public SaaS companies. So many startups these days are claiming they have “ARR” from revenue that … doesn’t recur. Doesn’t ARR stand for Annual Recurring Revenue? Well of course it does.

Merchant Services 360

Merchant Services SaaS Payments Payment Solutions Payment Services 360

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 20, 2024

Also, the definition of a Seed round has changed. AI startups, the darlings of the current era, are a notable exception. The orange crush of seed investment has outpaced the growth in Series A & Series B rounds. The Seeds of the 2010 era are the pre-Seeds of today, making the comparison impure.

AI 332

AI Investment Startup Software 332

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

In His 20+ Years Acquiring Startups, He’s Never Called Up a Founder to Acquire Them “Out of The Blue” Never. It definitely happens. So Steve went from acquirer. I’ve wondered, how often does a BigCo watch a start-up from afar, and call up to buy them without knowing the founders at all? I’ve seen it.

Technical Review 252

Technical Review CTO Pricing Mobile 252

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

There are too many startups out there that want to meet, have coffee, do a Zoom, etc. The single most important thing you can do is protect your “slots” so that you meet with startups there is at least some chance you might invest in. A strong warm referral (“this is the best startup I’ve met this year”) is a clear Must Meet.

Investment 301

Investment Startup Metrics Software 301

SaaStr

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Q: Dear SaaStr: How Do VCs Verify a Startup’s Revenue? There definitely is risk here, that what’s presented isn’t quite accurate. The post Dear SaaStr: How Do VCs Verify a Startup’s Revenue? At SaaStr Fund, we also generally do a bank account cash flow test. They also often recognize revenue too early.

Revenue 308

Revenue Banking Startup 308

SaaStr

APRIL 5, 2023

In this week’s CRO Confidential episode, Blond talks to one of the best revenue operations leaders on the planet, Cherishma Shah, where she shares insights into the Rev Ops role, why your startup might need one, and how to maximize impact with this powerhouse position. So for this team, clear objectives are essential.

Sales Hiring 245

Sales Hiring Education Scale Strategy 245

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2021

Battery Ventures’ data says while VC investment $$$ are on fire — they aren’t going into more startups. PE firms have enough capital to buy as many startups as all the public SaaS companies do. Instead, more dollars are going into the break-out leaders, not more deals. ” #2. We’ve seeing it live.

Investment 311

Investment SMB Acquisition Cloud 311

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

Many startups want a hybrid office, even if they don’t always agree on the definition. They’re going back to the office, even if startups aren’t all there quite yet. San Francisco is leasing up, but its density remains the lowest in any major U.S. Which you can certainly still see and feel.

Startup 293

Startup Software Strategy Data 293

Chart Mogul

JANUARY 9, 2025

Thats why its crucial to create a clear, consistent definition of what “qualified” means for your sales process. Its the classic question for growing startups: when is the right time to bring sales and revenue operations (RevOps) into your sales process and should you? Where do sales and revenue operations fit in all this?

Scale 52

Scale Sales Hiring Startup Sales Recruiting 52

Tom Tunguz

MAY 23, 2021

While not as hyperbolic an inflation rate as copper or lumber, the price trajectory of early stage cloud startups does result from a similar supply demand/imbalance. Or there’s always the definitional argument to be made: the Jacobs ladder in which Series A is the new Series B and seed is the new Series A. 2012: Facebook.

Software Review 364

Software Review Venture Capital Cloud Pricing 364

SaaStr

MAY 23, 2023

So leading growth stage VC Iconiq has published its latest and very detailed Definitive Guide to Sales Compensation here. I didn’t so much learn from it as confirm — confirm things I’ve seen, known, and put into practice, and seen it confirmed across many SaaS startups. Everyone should have a read. SDRs $85k-$95k.

Compensation 301

Compensation Scale Sales SMB 301

SaaStr

APRIL 21, 2022

I almost always see the top performing IC sales execs at a startup preferring a “nice” VP of Sales that often doesn’t know the product, pace or industry — but will support them and leave them be. If the candidate everyone loves also has no startup experience at your scale — be extra wary. Which is good. You’re not ready for that.

Sales Hiring 350

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Interviewing 350

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Over the last few years, I’ve been lucky to work with founders and management teams to sell about $5b of startups. Startups are sold to individuals, not to companies. The champion - often a product leader, the CEO, or a general manager - risks their career by buying a startup.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Construction Compensation Acquisition 279

SaaStr

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Everyone today wants to start a SaaS startup. Definitely can help. You can do a single co-founder startup. But more broadly, Successful Startups can be built a lot of ways. They have an idea they are passionate about. And maybe they are. What does it take? Nice, but Not Required. I’m not / wasn’t. Amazing Technology?

Outsourcing Services 313

Outsourcing Services Outsourced Development Startup Product Marketing 313

SaaStr

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Especially in Bay Area-centric startups. Definitely give these folks a shot. It’s what drives us in part to be great founders and startup executives. As you scale up in SaaS, one thing I can almost guarantee is that you are going to hire some VPs who were either fired or quit their last role. Not always.

Sales Hiring 362

Sales Hiring Scale Interviewing Startup 362

OpenView Labs

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

Startups spend years (and thousands of dollars) trying to figure out the right model for viral growth – and many never do. Overview At June we’ve been lucky enough to see a bunch of amazing PLG startups scale and grow their product usage too. Growth in active users is often key to a startup’s success. Let’s dig in.

Scale 52

Scale Benchmarks Sales Hiring Retention 52

The Angel VC

JULY 5, 2017

In this part I’d like to talk a bit about my view on PMF and how we try to detect it when we look at SaaS startups at Point Nine. Note that this definition intentionally doesn’t say anything about market size.

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital Product Marketing Startup SaaS 252

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 11, 2020

A recruiter in the audience submitted a question often discussed in startup boardrooms. I think there’s definitely a relationship between product market fit and inbound. I suppose there’s definitely a relationship. Here are some of the highlights from the session. The full transcript is here. Thank you, Hollie!

Sales Hiring 263

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Product Marketing Startup 263

Tom Tunguz

MAY 30, 2019

Imagine a hypothetical startup with 10 account executives that is growing quickly. This startup has two AEs that outperform meaningfully, six that are at typical quota attainment, and two that are underperforming. Second, as the company scales, the middle quartiles by definition will be twice as large as the top quartile.

Scale 253

Scale Scaling Sales Sales Enablement 253

SaaStr

JUNE 27, 2020

. #5: “The Things Nobody Tells You About An $8B Acquisition with Ryan Smith from Qualtrics” Definitely a fun one. #6: 7: “Busting the Myths About Startup Success with Blackline” An inspirational session that should be required watching. #8:

Scale 293

Scale Acquisition Cloud Scaling 293

Intercom, Inc.

MAY 25, 2018

When I speak to startups, I am often asked, “What is the one thing?” So one way I think about the advice I give is, “What would I definitely bring to the next startup? So one way I think about the advice I give is, “What would I definitely bring to the next startup?”

Startup 219

Startup Strategy Scaling 219