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Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Successful SaaS Leaders Without Sales Teams?

SaaStr

Many that are self-serve and SMB-focused can start off without a sales team … for a while. But almost none stay without a sales team … forever. Yes, Atlassian since well past its IPO had almost no direct sales team. And it staffed up a very big sales team.

Scale 274
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How Anthropic Rocketed to $4B ARR — And Why Your B2B Playbook May Already Be Obsolete

SaaStr

When Anthropic hit a reported $4 billion in annual revenue at the end of 1H’25, it marked more than just another AI milestone. API-First Revenue Model Unlike the subscription-heavy models of traditional SaaS, 70-75% of Anthropic’s revenue comes from API calls through pay-per-token pricing. Here’s how they did it: 1.

B2B 247
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Eventually. Everyone Has a Sales Team

SaaStr

But to Go Big, almost everyone in SaaS at least eventually adds a sales team. But to scale it quickly added a very effective sales team : Yes, Atlassian for a long time had almost no “directsales team, well after the IPO. You don’t need 100% sales-driven revenue to Go Big.

Scale 341
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Yes, You Do Have To Pay Sales Commissions When a Partner Mostly Closes The Deal

SaaStr

Later, you may develop a team that manages your channel. Once you do, if the revenue from a channel is large enough, you can often pay lower commissions that you do for your direct sales team. They want 25-50% of the first year’s revenue. Especially, if the customer stays for years and years.

Sales 262
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HubSpot’s ex-VP of Channel Sales: How to Build The World’s Best Channel Sales Program

SaaStr

Everything is harder with a channel sales program. Training a direct sales team on a new product launch is like teaching someone the macarena. In many cases, each partner is both new revenue when they purchase your product and potential new revenue when they sell your product. Straightforward. .

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Growing enterprise revenue boosts Zoom’s first-quarter growth

IT World

Despite falling revenue from online sign-ups, videoconferencing company Zoom remains positive about its future outlook, posting a 5% year-on-year increase in total revenue for the three months to April 30. The number of enterprise customers grew 9% year on year to approximately 215,900.

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Channel Sales for SaaS: What It Is, When it Works, and How to Build Your Own

OpenView Labs

For the uninitiated, channel sales refers to the process of partnering with third parties to get your product into the end user’s hands. Part of the appeal of this approach is that it’s a very effective way to scale revenue without having to go through the expense and effort of scaling your direct sales team.