Tue.Feb 02, 2021

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Must-Have SaaS Tools for Your Business

Agile Payments

10 SaaS Tools Every Business Must Use.

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How to Be a Great COO: Lessons Learned Leading a Unicorn to Success

Tom Tunguz

On Wednesday, February 17th at 9:30 AM PT, Redpoint Office Hours will host Allison Pickens , the former COO of Gainsight and one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women. Throughout her time there, she scaled the SaaS company from $1M ARR to pre- IPO, along the way, creating the category of customer success software, and paving the way for Gainsight’s $1.1B sale.

Scale 293
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5 Things To Be Wary of In VC Financings

SaaStr

Even these days, in The Best of Times for SaaS, many founders are wary of Venture Capital. Aren’t they just trying to buy shares too cheaply? Well, yes, sometimes. But early-stage venture capital is so risky. And be honest. Is your startup really worth millions today? Right now? Probably not. Don’t they all just fire founders? Well, not really, not usually.

Finance 278
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Why SaaS Brand Advocacy is More Important than Ever in 2021

Neil Patel

It’s no secret that the field of marketing is constantly evolving, and SaaS brands are not immune from the challenges that arise due to the fast-paced nature of the field. One great way SaaS companies can keep up is through brand advocacy. 2021 SaaS Trends that Affect Brand Advocacy. For starters, consider the overwhelming push toward personalization.

Branding 143
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The Big Payoff of Application Analytics

Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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From Initial Traction to Initial Scale (~$10M in ARR): The Hardest Phase. But — The Cavalry is Coming.

SaaStr

The hardest phase of SaaS, at least for the founders, is the phase from Initial Traction ($1-$2m in ARR + 80%-100% YoY growth) to the next phase — Initial Scale. Inevitability in SaaS comes around $10m in ARR , plus or minus. Once you hit this point, you have a brand, you have a fully baked team, you have a robust product, and you have a self-generating stream of new leads and new business.

Scale 257

More Trending

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Zoom Got a Huge Covid Boost. But … WebEx and the Rest Didn’t.

SaaStr

The Covid boost we’ve seen has been huge in SaaS and Cloud, but it hasn’t always been even, especially for folks that aren’t #1 in their space. Actually some of the best data comes from Adobe and Adobe Sign here (surprising for a public company): Adobe Sign is the clear #2 in the e-signature market, but it’s not #1. Did all the benefits go to #1?

SMB 164
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A Seller’s Guide to Etsy

Neil Patel

When Etsy first launched, its primary focus was independent crafters. However, Etsy gradually changed its approach and allowed larger businesses to join. Now, you’ll find suppliers of packaging, materials, and other business essentials on there. If you’ve visited Etsy recently, you may also have noticed sellers specializing in antiques and collectibles.

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How Do I Convince a VC To Remove a Veto Right?

SaaStr

Q: How do you convince a VC to remove the veto rights on sale provision in a Series A? It’s hard to get a VC to remove any rights — before the next round. So the simplest way to get rid of problematic clauses is to get the next round VC to include removing them as part of their term sheet. Otherwise, there is little incentive to simply give up any rights.

Sales 118
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Ecommerce Fraud: A Comprehensive Guide

FastSpring

Ecommerce transactions are one of the fastest-growing revenues on the planet. As Coronavirus has swept the world, so has the demand for online sales. Since the beginning of the year, data clearly reflects the bursting demand for ecommerce. However, as online selling continues to set records, unfortunately, so does the probability of fraud. This isn’t anything new, of course.

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6 Reasons Why Your Integrated Payments Strategy Could Fail

If you're in the software industry grappling with integrating payments into your business model, understanding where others have stumbled can be a game-changer for your revenue goals. Discover 6 key reasons behind the struggles many face. The challenge goes beyond the technicalities of integrating a payment system; it delves into the strategic oversight of revenue shares, negotiations with payment providers, and the full exploitation of potential revenue streams.

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Beyond CSAT: How customer satisfaction metrics are changing

Intercom, Inc.

This week on Inside Intercom, we’re focusing on customer satisfaction: how it’s evolving, why that matters, and what you need to do about it. If you’re in the business of supporting customers, one measurement probably looms large over everything else: the customer satisfaction, or CSAT, score. . CSAT has been the primary metric for gauging customer happiness for some time now, and is often used as the one all-encompassing number that translates whether your support team is performing or not into

Metrics 99
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Sales Cycle Management: Definition, Stages, and Strategies to Shorten Your Sales Cycles

Sales Hacker

Before we dive into sales cycle management, let’s first focus on what a sales cycle is and the sales cycle steps. What Is a Sales Cycle? A sales cycle is a term used to describe the sales process steps, beginning when a sales rep identifies a potential customer to follow up after closing the sale. To put it simply, a sales cycle is the journey a potential client embarks on that begins when they develop an interest in a product to when they make a purchase.

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Need Leads ASAP? Quora Marketing is the Best Lead Gen Hack

Neil Patel

Businesses live and die based on leads. Without leads, no one converts. Without conversions , no one pays. Without payments, your business dies. But generating leads is easier said than done. After all, it takes a long time for SEO to impact your business. PPC sports varied results. Social media requires a lot of attention, and banner ads don’t really work very well these days.

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Enterprise Sales Process: Closing Deals In Niche Markets

Sales Hacker

Closing an enterprise sale in a niche market follows the same sales funnel as any other deal, but a bit more fine tuned. It represents the culmination of ‘art’ and process, where the enterprise sales process is modified to better reflect the client’s unique and specific needs. Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of it all, let’s first get into the definition of enterprise sales.

Scale 97
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Monetizing Analytics Features

Think your customers will pay more for data visualizations in your application? Five years ago, they may have. But today, dashboards and visualizations have become table stakes. Turning analytics into a source of revenue means integrating advanced features in unique, hard-to-steal ways. Download this white paper to discover which features will differentiate your application and maximize the ROI of your analytics.

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Investing in Valon: Mortgage servicing that actually offers good service

Andreessen Horowitz

Owning a home has long been the American dream: nearly two-thirds of Americans have purchased a home, most often with the help of a mortgage, yielding nearly $10 trillion (and growing) in residential mortgage debt. Most homeowners spend hours shopping … The post Investing in Valon: Mortgage servicing that actually offers good service appeared first on Andreessen Horowitz.

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How to Get an SSL Certificate

Neil Patel

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission. Your websites must look legitimate and trustworthy. Especially if you want to boost sales, revenue, and customer loyalty or even rank higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs). And the best way to do it? Getting an SSL certificate.

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Stripe vs. Zuora: Features, Pricing, Reviews, and More

Baremetrics

If you’re looking the best online payment processor, you've likely come across options including Stripe and Zuora. Both power a wide range of companies, but which is the best for your business? This article will walk you through a full Stripe vs. Zuora comparison including features, pricing, user reviews, and more. Table of Contents. Stripe vs. Zuora: Features Stripe vs.

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How to Motivate Your Team in the Challenging World of Virtual Sales

Sales Hacker

When your whole team goes remote, figuring out how to keep the competitive fire alive can be a challenge. You’re stuck asking yourself how many more call blitzes you can run and what will keep top-performing reps on your team. The post How to Motivate Your Team in the Challenging World of Virtual Sales appeared first on Sales Hacker.

Sales 68
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10 Red Flags in Integrated Payment Partnerships: Moving Towards a Mutual Benefit

Navigate the complex world of integrated payment partnerships with this essential guide, a treasure trove of insights for software companies. It unveils ten critical red flags to watch out for, from the dangers of hidden fees to the constraints of restrictive contracts. This guide is crucial for identifying potential pitfalls and aligning with the right partners.

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How SaaS Concepts Have Changed the Video Games Industry

SaaS Metrics

Like software, video games used to almost always be monetised using the traditional sales model where customers paid upfront and received a cassette, cartridge, or disc to take home. It worked for several decades, with publishers distributing each new release via brick and mortar retailers or mail-order catalogues. Things changed a little with the advent of the internet though, with some computer users beginning to share games with their friends online.

SaaS 59
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5 Major Product Marketing Trends to Watch In 2021

OpenView Labs

When COVID-19 hit the U.S. almost exactly a year ago, nobody knew how exactly it’d affect the software industry. Though a few companies like Zoom experienced tremendous growth, most did all they could to prepare for the worst. With last year in the rearview mirror, we can look at OpenView’s 2020 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks Report to tell us how exactly COVID-19 impacted SaaS companies.

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Customer Support for SaaS: How To Do It Right

Baremetrics

Many SaaS businesses concentrate on offering an amazing product and then neglect customer support. They assume that when you have a great product, customers will always come back. This isn't always true. In this guide, you will learn why SaaS customer support is so important, how to get started, and what metrics to use to track success. Table of Contents.

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Transitioning to SaaS, Best Practices and Lessons Learned

OPEXEngine

Last week, FLG Partners , a group of experienced CFOs in the Bay Area, put on a webinar called “Pivoting to SaaS: Best Practices, Lessons Learned, and Case Examples” for traditional software and hardware companies. I participated, along with a terrific panel moderated by CFO Eric Mersch, to talk about the lessons learned over the past decade of companies transitioning to SaaS.

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How To Package & Price Embedded Analytics

Just by embedding analytics, app owners can charge 24% more for their product. How much value could you add? This framework from Software Pricing Partners explains how application enhancements can extend your product offerings. You’ll learn: How to take a disciplined approach to pricing The three elements of the Packaging Decision Framework Ways to structure your new embedded analytics offering Download the White Paper to learn about How To Package & Price Embedded Analytics.

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Appearance on the Sage SaaS Success Series: Best Practices in Forecasting for Fundraising

Kellblog

Just a quick post to highlight that I’ll be speaking in a panel discussion with Mihir Jobalia , managing director of technology investment banking at KPMG, and Dan Fletcher , vice president and member of the value creation team at Vector Capital on 2/23/21 at 11AM pacific time. It’s part of a four-part SaaS Success Series , hosted by SageIntacct, with episodes including: The 100-Day Ramp Plan for New Finance Hires.

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The Importance of Financial Forecasting in Times of Uncertainty

OPEXEngine

Many founders and CEOs have seen their business plans upended by COVID-19. That’s because very few contingency plans accounted for the scale and nature of the disruption we’re all experiencing. In fact, even many of the largest and best managed public companies withdrew their guidance as the full impact of the pandemic became clear. The question is if they can’t foresee how their companies will perform in the short term, then how can investors be expected to gauge the value of those businesses?

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4 Ways to Break Your Meeting Monotony

ChurnZero

“What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing that you did mattered?” I bet none of us thought we’d be living out this existential hypothetical posed by sardonic weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) in the 1993 blockbuster classic “Groundhog Day” – but here we are. Phil delivers this line while at a bar sharing a beer with Ralph, a local from Punxsutawney, PA where Phil has been sent to cover a small-town news story about

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Helping the Enterprise build reliable data products

Point Nine Land

Our investment in Soda Today, our portfolio company Soda announced an 11.5M€ Series A led by our friends at Singular. We’re also disclosing that we led Soda’s seed round 9 months ago alongside Hummingbird and the Data Community Fund (see PR here ). A good occasion to speak about monitoring software, show a few screenshots of the Soda product and explain why we backed the company.

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Driving Growth, Customer Satisfaction, and Retention through Usage-Based Pricing

As companies strive to boost revenue, deliver customer value, and stay competitive, they are increasingly embracing the potential of usage-based pricing.

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Smartsheet Review

The Daily Egg

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-style project management solution for businesses. It helps organizations of all shapes and sizes manage workflows and improve collaboration efforts from a single platform. More than 75% of the Fortune 500 and 90% of the Fortune 100 use Smartsheet. Users in 190 different countries trust Smartsheet. Smartsheet makes it easy for teams […].

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A Guide to Customer Success Career Paths

SmartKarrot

When it comes to customer success career paths, customer success manager stands doubtlessly on the top. Recent past years have seen a sharp surge in this role making it one of the most sought-after positions in software industry. LinkedIn has reported it as the sixth fastest growing role with a year-on-year growth rate of 80%. With the rise of SaaS industry and most companies shifting their business model to subscription-based, the rise in customer success jobs is understandable.

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Stripe vs. Chargify: Features, Pricing, Reviews, and More

Baremetrics

Deciding between Stripe vs. Chargify for your online payment processor? In this article, we’ll give you a full Stripe vs. Chargify comparison, including features, pricing, reviews, and more, so you can make the choice that’s right for your business. Table of Contents. Stripe vs. Chargify: Features Stripe vs. Chargify: Pricing Stripe vs. Chargify: Reviews Stripe vs.