SaaStr

AUGUST 8, 2023

The role of finance in SaaS is changing. No longer are finance teams the traditional “bean counters” of ages past. IVP Partner Michael Miao explains, “The role and the scope of the modern finance team has changed dramatically in the last decade. SaaStr Workshop Wednesdays are LIVE every Wednesday. Sign up for free.

Scale 239

Scale Finance Outsourcing Services Sales Recruiting 239

TechEmpower SaaS

MARCH 4, 2024

In the sphere of software engineering , AI is pivotal for corporate IT by automating coding, optimizing algorithms, and enhancing security to boost efficiency and minimize downtime. By automating routine and complex tasks alike, AI allows engineers to focus on innovation and strategic tasks.

Generative AI 443

Generative AI CTO Hire AI Sales Recruiting 443

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2025

FinTech products like credit card processing, ACH, and consumer financing not only drive revenue but also deepen customer reliance on the platform. This efficiency is driven by a high-velocity inbound engine, strong community evangelism, and strategic partnerships with private equity firms consolidating trades businesses.

Payments 147

Payments Payment Services SaaS Payments Payment Solutions 147

SaaStr

MAY 18, 2025

For example, if youre selling to healthcare, finance, or manufacturing, having AEs who deeply understand those industries will help them speak the customers language and close deals faster. This can work well if you have a strong marketing engine generating leads but still need to go after larger or more strategic accounts.

Scale 161

Scale Sales Healthcare SMB 161

Clouded Judgement

JULY 16, 2024

We can expect the company to start trading on the public markets next Wednesday Subscribe now OneStream Overview From the S1 - “OneStream delivers a unified, AI-enabled and extensible software platform—the Digital Finance Cloud—that modernizes and increases the strategic impact of the Office of the CFO.

Benchmarks 295

Benchmarks Data Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence 295

Tom Tunguz

JANUARY 17, 2021

The automation of QA is a secular trend that perhaps accelerated with more software engineers working from home. Rather, this category is buttressed by an ever increasing number of software engineers searching for the best way to accomplish a goal with a new tool, API, or service.

Startup 362

Startup Software Engineering Finance Engineering 362

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2025

Software engineering teams have been early adopters of AI coding assistants precisely because they provide an immediate, measurable lift. For founders, the key is balancing long-term vision with short-term proof points that can secure ongoing financing and market traction. This is exactly backward.

Technical Review 186

Technical Review Artificial Intelligence AI Marketplace as a Service 186

SaaStr

JULY 18, 2021

4 “Why Zoom’s Founder Went Solo & How Being an Engineer Helps You be a Better CEO” A short look back on why Eric went solo. #5 “From Developer to Founder to CEO: Engineering to Enterprise with Elastic” A great session the real story of how Elastic grew to be the search (and more) leader it is today. #9.

Scale 290

Scale Finance Market Segmentation Enterprise 290

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

With Databricks now one of the largest pre-IPO technology companies, with $10 billion of expected non-dilutive financing and a valuation of $62 billion, Ron’s insights are gold for any revenue leader looking to scale. For context,Ron has an MBA and a master’s in engineering from Stanford.

Scale 182

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Revenue 182

SaaStr

JANUARY 29, 2021

Because SaaS requires so many functions beyond engineering, especially if it’s sales-driven … outbound, SDRs, inbound, field sales, marketing, customer success, support, more complex product management, etc. >> OK we’re up to ~70 without a single engineer! Plus whomever you need in G&A, finance, etc.

Sales Hiring 350

Sales Hiring Headcount Scale Engineering 350

SaaStr

JANUARY 25, 2024

But as a rule: Top engineers will all be given retention packages, extra money / RSUs / options designed to keep them for 2-4 years. All engineers and product people will want to be kept. Then, either: They’ll want to keep everyone for a while; or They won’t see the value in keeping much of sales, marketing, finance, etc.

Startup 278

Startup Sales Hiring Finance Acquisition 278

SaaStr

MARCH 24, 2021

Even better if it helps you skip a round of financing. Engineering. A great VP of Engineering that can just ship the product from spec with no drama, etc. But it’s way, way, way too much for one person to do one day longer than necessary. That can be great in the very early days if it gets you to your first $1m in ARR.

Part-Time VPE 321

Part-Time VPE Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Finance 321

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Engines like YC and EF and others have automated the creation of a “high quality” pre-seed startup. Debt and revenue-based financing is already almost automated — and that change happened fast. Funding “engines” / machines at Tiger, Insight, etc. For the privileged, at least.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Banking Cloud Startup 337

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Sales acceleration, marketing, finance tools all built on Salesforce data with Slack delivering the user interface. Engineers need databases and execution environments for this code. The Slack ecosystem has blossomed with some startups leveraging the platform’s distribution. That’s justification for an upgrade.

SaaS 279

SaaS Finance Cloud Engineering 279

SaaStr

JULY 9, 2022

The role of a VP is to own everything required to hit the goals for a functional area – Sales, Marketing, Product, Engineering, Finance, or Customer Success. While the answer may sound obvious, I’m not sure it always is in early-ish stage start-ups. This includes: Recruiting the team. This can be hard. Hitting the number.

Sales Recruiting 299

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Finance Engineering 299

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 28, 2022

Can you imagine a site reliability engineer managing 15 to 20 tokens, coordinating with finance teams to ensure proper treasury management, while ensuring high uptime? Third, software engineers decentralize only a subset of the app. It’s too much complexity for a simple static blog.

Payment Solutions 268

Payment Solutions GCP(Google Cloud Platform) Startup Payment Features 268

SaaStr

AUGUST 12, 2020

Rather than the CEO running around telling the engineers exactly what to build, you now have product managers. The first system is what I call the sales finance system. So, the first system is a sales finance system, so let’s start with sales. The sales calendar is part of one system with the finance calendar.

Startup 299

Startup Software Review Scale Systems Review 299

SaaStr

AUGUST 26, 2024

They’ll explore strategies for using customer success not just as a support function but as a powerful engine for revenue growth. The CFO Summit at SaaStr Annual Join us for the official Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Summit at SaaStr Annual. AMA for All Things CS : Get Your Burning Questions Answered from Top CS Leaders!

Benchmarks 299

Benchmarks Finance Business Model Forecasting 299

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

Positions Needed: Enterprise AEs, Mid-Market & SMB AEs, SDRs, Sales Ops, Sales Engineer. Positions Needed: Enterprise CSM, Mid-Market & SMB CSM, Customer Support Reps, Implementation/Solutions Engineer. Director of Finance. VP Finance (13 Employees). Head of Marketing. Team Size: 5 – 6. Director of CSM.

CTO Hire 290

CTO Hire Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting CTO 290

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

Today, Cledara brings visibility and control to all your software subscriptions, helping you reduce software costs by 30% and save +20h a month on finance admin. Unlock real-time financial insights and a full-service finance team with Zeni ‘s intelligent bookkeeping, accounting, and CFO services. Cledara is the result of that.

Merchant Services 261

Merchant Services Cybersecurity compliance Finance 261

Payrix

JANUARY 28, 2025

With decades of experience in payments, Matt provided invaluable insights on emerging trends, regulatory changes, and the future of Embedded Finance. Technological evolution : The foundations laid in recent years are expected to yield transformative advancements in Embedded Finance and platform regulation. Matt Downs Yeah.

Payments 130

Payments Payment Solutions Merchant Services Payment Methods 130

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

You need to know how to interact and collaborate with engineers and product managers. Sales is important but the engineers are just as important. Engineering and product is your partner. Generally, if the financing to ARR is 1 to 1, you are golden. This isn’t Oracle or Salesforce. Maybe more so in some cases.

Sales Hiring 306

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Startup Sales 306

SaaStr

MARCH 19, 2021

Although we had always built with the intention to scale, we wanted our product and engineering teams to be confident as we took on larger customers. Since TaxJar focuses on sales tax compliance for e-commerce, we needed to know how sales, finance and technology came together for these companies. What were their challenges?

Scale 290

Scale Business Finance compliance 290

Buffer Resources

JUNE 15, 2023

It was an awesome bonding experience and a great way to bring everyone across the company–from the People Team, to Engineers, Designers, and Finance–closer to customers. Iteration #3: Pairing Engineers with our customers In 2022, we introduced Customer Engineering Days.

Engineering 108

Engineering Customer Support Finance User Experience 108

SaaStr

JULY 3, 2020

The first system is what I call the sales finance system. So, the first system is a sales finance system, so let’s start with sales. So, the first part of the sales finance system is to recognize that sales must be on a quarterly plan, and then that allows you to create a series of milestones within each quarter.

Software Review 269

Software Review Scale Systems Review Startup 269

SaaStr

JULY 6, 2022

Workday has become a cash engine at scale, as all top SaaS companies should. Perhaps not a surprise given how country-specific HR and especially finance platforms are. But in any event, it shows you should aim for 95%+ GRR in your enterprise accounts as well. #3. Of course, a $6B run-rate is pretty mature. 75% of revenue in the U.S.

B2C 311

B2C Scaling Finance Enterprise 311

SaaStock

MARCH 8, 2019

After 11 years in finances, in 2016 she became the CFO of Brinc.io, boldly entering into the tech world. Jessie provides invaluable know-how to portfolio companies on cash flow, fundraising, and financing strategies. She is also an active tech investor in Asia, complementing the financing with business development insights.

VP of Engineering 264

VP of Engineering CTO Coach Venture Capital SaaS 264

SaaStr

OCTOBER 27, 2022

all engineers). Often, G&A (finance, legal, etc.) But the changes, if any, are not likely to be epic. Need to keep as a group. Beyond the key employees, the acquirer may require 80-90% of a group to agree to new offer letters (e.g., You can say No. That may give you some leverage. This varies by acquirer and type of deal.

Startup 305

Startup Sales Hiring Compensation Finance 305

Payrix

DECEMBER 18, 2024

Leverage AI and Embedded Finance: With advancements in AI and Embedded Finance , staying focused on impactful innovations while avoiding distractions from shiny, less-relevant trends will be crucial. The episode concluded with a call to action for software platforms to engage openly with their payment providers.

Payments 130

Payments Embedded Payments Merchant Services Payment Services 130

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 4, 2022

One of the joys of an engineering career is how varied it can be – the size, industry and above all culture of any company entirely determines what an engineering job actually looks like on a day to day basis. I’ve been a Product Engineer at Intercom for just over two years. Joining Intercom. Keep it simple.

Engineering 118

Engineering Scale Sales Hiring Company Culture 118

SaaStr

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Keep that engine running at its maximum efficiency, especially now. This is the minimum bar for venture financing. But it’s worth it to make the hires you need for next year now. Think of 100% growth / 120% MRR / at $10m ARR as the minimum bar to raise VC. This probably has been true for a while, but especially today.

SaaS 352

SaaS Acquisition Cloud Finance 352

SaaStr

JULY 6, 2020

But I should have taken a pause and just found our true VP of Engineering. This isn’t bridge financing. Focus as CEO on what will move the needle. Go find the VP you really need. I got the VPs of Sales, Product and Marketing I needed. Truly beloved products win. Invest more there. Double down there. No need to wait.

Part-Time VPE 329

Part-Time VPE Scale Market Segmentation Finance 329

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

Five engineers can write something for a million people to use. Companies are waiting too long to hire a CFO or VP of Finance. Companies Are Waiting Too Long To Hire A CFO or VP of Finance A lot of founders hire a VP of Ops instead. On the one hand, startups are much worse at finance and controls. High gross margins.

Sales Hiring 278

Sales Hiring Headcount Finance Technical Review 278

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 29, 2021

Engines that Move Markets. Reminiscent of Carlota Perez’s Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital , Engines that Moves Markets traces the boom and bust cycles of key industries like telephony, trains, and energy on the United States and its financial markets. Reads like a spy-thriller.

Government 276

Government Finance Engineering Innovation 276

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Brex is all-in-one finance for growing businesses. Sisu is a Decision Intelligence Engine where everyone can quickly and comprehensively leverage their cloud data to understand what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how to take action. Join these incredible companies to experience all the value of SaaStr!

Technology 254

Technology Data Banking Finance 254

SaaStr

JUNE 17, 2022

You’ll need some capital to get either off the ground, or to get the engine really humming, or both. Whatever it is, that extra bit is the cheapest financing of your business you’ll ever get. The reality is though, in SaaS, especially if you are primarily sales-driven, that’s often gonna be tough. We aimed for 120%.

SaaS Payments 312

SaaS Payments Sales Hiring SaaS Payment Services 312

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 20, 2024

General & administrative should see productivity gains across legal & finance. Sales & marketing will initially see a boost from AI as the early adopters reduce cost-of-customer acquisition through novel techniques. But over time, everyone will use AI & the efficiencies will be competed away.

AI Search 231

AI Search AI Scale SaaS 231