Sales Hacker

JULY 24, 2018

Decreased revenue per rep, High turnover as you scale headcount. It’s just the price of hypergrowth,” we think. We made our machine more efficient even as we scaled, grew headcount, and skyrocketed our revenue. Let them invest in their own development by having them spend time each day “working on their game”.

Scale 55

Scale Headcount Sales Hiring Scaling 55

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 22, 2024

But this is changing - many categories are becoming commoditized leading to massive pricing pressure. Headcount planning, budgeting, fundraising, etc can often be largely based on a top line plan. This is for information purposes and should not be construed as an investment recommendation. Do you have ARR or ERR?

AI 183

AI Revenue Cloud Technical Advisors 183

SaaStr

JULY 24, 2023

And when you have partial utility-based pricing like MongoDB does, you see the impact fast. This chart shows the awesome power of high NRR and how you have to invest in customers that scale with you over time. #3 Upselling your existing base and raising prices to keep top-line growth growing isn’t adding real long-term value.

Revenue 185

Revenue Scale Sales Hiring Cloud 185

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Knowing where to you invest time and resources as everything seems to get more complicated creates complexity as well. Some of these motions are much larger investments, especially in sales-led — hiring people, commission planning, etc. You can also get a halo effect out of that investment in a market. Kady said no.

Scale 184

Scale Scaling Sales Hiring Marketing 184

SaaStr

MARCH 7, 2023

Pepper shares that ICONIQ, a venture capital firm with $10B under management, made fewer investments last year than ever before. Many of them said headcount management and spend were common levers they pulled, given the immediate and significant impact they have on spend. PST, to unveil the data behind effective scaling.

Outsourcing Services 159

Outsourcing Services Scaling Venture Capital Forecasting 159

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 30, 2022

This is especially important for small teams, where you need to operate at a scale far beyond your headcount (without burning out your team by working around the clock). And more importantly – which ones are really going to deliver a return on investment for your precious (and limited) budget? Does it have flexible pricing?

Scale 163

Scale Payment Services Startup AWS 163

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 31, 2023

The only way for software companies to avoid this gross margin compression when incorporating AI features is to raise prices. If we head to their pricing page we’ll see that the most popular plan is $8 / user / month. Double the price! Consumption Pricing. What do I mean by this?

Cloud 130

Cloud Sales Hiring AI Headcount 130

The Angel VC

MARCH 23, 2016

If you have a SaaS startup with a higher-touch sales model where revenue growth is largely driven by sales headcount, the plan needs to be modified accordingly. Revenues" tab The model assumes that you have three pricing tiers. If you have more or fewer pricing plans you can of course adjust the model accordingly (with some effort).

SaaS Payments 217

SaaS Payments Headcount SaaS Payment Methods 217

Kellblog

MAY 26, 2024

You’ll be accused of slashing prices to sell a deficient product, but you don’t care. At every QBR, put up charts that show relative ARR (triangulated in all likelihood), burn rate (ditto), and headcount so you can get a clear sense of who you’re gaining on and who is gaining on you. You must win. Market your leadership. 1 is safe. #1

Software Review 108

Software Review Systems Review Sales Hiring Headcount 108

OpenView Labs

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Usage-based pricing (UBP) , also known as consumption-based pricing, allows customers to pay for products according to how much they use. In 2021, we saw that fast growers were nearly 3x as likely to use a largely usage-based pricing model versus slow-growing peers.

Headcount 73

Headcount SaaS Compensation Acquisition 73

ChurnZero

JUNE 9, 2023

Good sales teams typically get the budget, headcount and tools they desire because the function is tied to revenue. As a result, CS teams often have to work harder to make the case for headcount, technology and even product requests on behalf of customers. Did pricing go up too far? How can CS leaders address this challenge?

Finance 98

Finance Metrics Customer Success Headcount 98

Intercom, Inc.

JUNE 3, 2021

Where should you invest your resources? If you’re short on time, here are a few quick takeaways: You can’t balance short-term and long-term investments without considering the existing product strategy. Choosing the right investment is a balancing act of art and science. And yet, now might be a good time to hit the accelerator.

Strategy 228

Strategy Software Review Development Team Review Sales Recruiting 228

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Often, founders are unsure about the headcount split between India and the US. b) Some folks like to invest in the company they advise. Pricing/Packaging (PP) is a key component of GTM. One can’t start investing in a brand early enough. Putting yourself out there, even a little bit, helps. Learnings on GTM.

Scale 201

Scale Sales Hiring Cybersecurity Underperforming Technical Team 201

SaaStr

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Measuring Usage Since Day One Since the beginning, monday.com built and has used a BI tool called Big Brain — a major investment for that size of company. This is how they optimized the product and pricing. Part of monday’s macro experience was pricing based on seats. But they refused to fly blind. They tracked every penny.

Scale 159

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Banking 159

Kellblog

JANUARY 2, 2024

The bloom comes off the consumption pricing rose. I’ve always felt the famous Warren Buffet quote applies to consumption-based pricing: “when the tide goes out you can see who’s swimming naked.” Per LinkedIn , headcount is up 240% over the past two years. OpenView surprised the industry with an abrupt shutdown in new investing.

AI Search 108

AI Search Technical Review Technical Advisors ChatGPT 108

OPEXEngine

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Companies with an equivalent commercial operation- sales headcount, marketing spend, and customer acquisition cost (CAC). For SaaSco, this may mean comparing their sales headcount to other enterprises IT vendors selling a similar average contract value. Companies at a similar stage of growth and maturity.

Benchmarks 52

Benchmarks Scale Headcount Software Review 52

SaaStr

JUNE 7, 2021

If you don’t have tickets, lock in Early Bird pricing today and bring your team! I will really understand, “What is the price I want for my product?” I get to set the price of the apples, because they’re my apples. Get tickets here. TRANSCRIPT . Super cool. Jason : Peter, thanks for coming.

Sales Hiring 328

Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team SaaS Headcount 328

SaaStr

OCTOBER 6, 2019

Specialization works — but it’s an up-front investment. But specializing across the sales process will take more headcount. You start to become a break-out leader, and there’s a target on your back: Competition leads to price cutting. You’ll need more consistent collateral for the sales team.

Sales Hiring 223

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Venture Capital 223

OpenView Labs

MAY 24, 2021

Hint: You have to look beyond the website or pricing page. For private SaaS companies that do not publish their financials, you can alternatively compare R&D headcount with Sales and Marketing headcount using LinkedIn data as an approximation. Disclaimer: I do not provide personal investment advice.

Scale 98

Scale Headcount Sales Hiring Benchmarks 98

CustomerSuccessBox

DECEMBER 3, 2021

New areas of investment have been identified and you are ready to speak with the CEO/CFO about additional budget requirements. You may find yourself protecting your headcount, rooting for investments you want in tech, and giving suggestions for new product features. Areas for Customer Success investment. Revenue growth.

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Data Technical Review Headcount 52

Andreessen Horowitz

MARCH 21, 2024

We believe that AI startups who 1) build for enterprises’ AI-centric strategic initiatives while anticipating their pain points, and 2) move from a services-heavy approach to building scalable products will capture this new wave of investment and carve out significant market share.

Generative AI 145

Generative AI AI Enterprise Artificial Intelligence 145

Chart Mogul

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Peter shares his experience with managing headcount. We got a reduced ROI on initial investment on headcount. Before founding Dealroom, Yoram was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, Nomura Securities and NOAH Advisors in New York and London. We built out the CS function but I’d say we kind of overshot a little.

Scale 52

Scale Scaling Headcount SaaS 52

Intercom, Inc.

JUNE 4, 2018

While it’s true you may need to incrementally add capacity for this new channel, the impact we’ve seen on our conversion rates has more than paid for the additional headcount. Invest in sales conversations, not touches. You can opt to have your sales team only talk to visitors who are checking out your pricing page or a product page.

Sales Funnel 220

Sales Funnel Sales Headcount B2B 220

Payrix

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Any conversation with an end user, i.e., a business or a merchant, is going to involve pricing. If you’ve never had those conversations around merchant-level payment pricing, the interchange dues, and assessments, you’re to going to run into roadblocks on day one.” And what are they tripping up on? And I mean that, day one.

Payments 100

Payments Merchant Services Embedded Payments Payment Services 100

Kellblog

AUGUST 20, 2023

So, when the schmumbleator TOTALs an additive measure, the value for the year will be the sum of the four quarters, whereas when it TOTALs a semi-additive measure, like headcount, the value will not be the sum of the four quarters, but instead the period value for the fourth quarter. It’s not about features XYZ.

Marketing 85

Marketing VP of Engineering Headcount Government 85

Sales Enablement, SaaS and Growth

JULY 24, 2018

Well, sometimes investing heavily in the pursuit of growth is the right move for a company, especially in a winner-takes-all market, but at other times, particularly in more mature markets, monetization and profit will likely be the right call. You can clearly see what the return will be from every dollar, euro or pound invested.

SaaS Payments 131

SaaS Payments Sales Hiring Payment Services Business 131

OpenView Labs

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The software company’s stated strategy was to offer great products paired with low pricing and self-service purchasing, a Product Led Growth (PLG) recipe that fueled the company’s sustained profitable growth. Sales now accounts for about 7% of the company’s headcount–a similar share of their workforce as marketing or product management.

Sales Hiring 57

Sales Hiring Scale Headcount Sales 57

InsightSquared

MAY 7, 2019

When scaling the business, sales typically averages roughly 30% of revenue, so therefore sales spend is one of the biggest investments a company can make. At the highest level, SaaS companies look at sales expense, headcount, sales productivity and SaaS metrics like: The cost of new customer acquisition (CAC).

Scale 102

Scale Sales Hiring Metrics Sales 102

SaaStr

APRIL 20, 2022

Some like Qualtrics price services to still make money. They are running a -5% to 0% gross margins the past few years, i.e., pricing their services to just about break even. #4. Invest here if that’s you. #7. But they need the headcount to grow this quickly. #8. RPO up 91% year-over-year. Not free-cash positive yet.

Scale 47

Scale Cloud Headcount Scaling 47

The Angel VC

MARCH 22, 2012

If you have a SaaS startup with a higher-touch sales model where revenue growth is largely driven by sales headcount, the plan needs to be modified accordingly. If you have a tiered pricing model or a per-seat pricing, consider modeling that. Moving down to the costs side – this should all be self-explanatory.

Startup 189

Startup SaaS Payments Payment Methods Payment Solutions 189

Intercom, Inc.

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

Average revenue per account (also referred to as Average Transaction Size (ATS) or Average Sales Price (ASP)). This KPI is also called Average Sales Price (ASP) or Average Transaction Size (ATS). It helps you understand how efficient you are at allocating headcount and how effective your reps are at hitting quota. Churn dollars.

Sales Hiring 188

Sales Hiring Metrics Revenue Sales 188

Kellblog

JUNE 17, 2023

This is a cool idea, but it’s misleading because those descriptive names are simply a proxy for deal size (aka ASP = average selling price). Sales headcount as % of total headcount. They’re also cutting the data by go-to-market (GTM) motion: transactional, solution, or consultative. See my post.

Scale 102

Scale Sales Benchmarks Metrics 102

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 2, 2020

Any new sales tool requires an investment — both time and resources. Some key insights: According to Venture Scanner, in the past 16 months, Sales Engagement vendors have raised more than $250 million in venture investment, with $62 million of that in 2020 alone. Is Sales Engagement Always the Right Fit? Manny Medina, CEO of Outreach.

Scale 132

Scale Engagement Sales Sales Enablement 132

ChurnZero

JUNE 26, 2020

This will help rank your priorities from a price perspective. Price – What’s our budget? With different pricing models and tiers, it’s not always easy to do a straightforward, side-by-side cost comparison of Customer Success software. If a feature were an additional expense, would we be willing to pay for it?

Customer Success 98

Customer Success Software Review Software Scale 98

ChurnZero

JANUARY 4, 2024

On the other hand, economic headwinds continue to constrain CS budgets and headcounts. Every investment dollar is harder to obtain, and CS leaders and their teams face more pressure than ever to deliver results. Their ownership of NRR will earn investment internally, and the expectations on them to deliver will go sky-high.”

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Trends Sales Hiring Artificial Intelligence 52

Sales Hacker

JUNE 16, 2022

For example, your best, most active customers may pull back on expansion talks or inquire about term or price adjustments. Even if you don’t control the headcount and even if layoffs come later, help them find a new role. Show them you care about them and will invest in them. Invest in training. Make them feel safe.

Scale 91

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Headcount 91

Outseta

JANUARY 20, 2020

The Silicon Valley approach of issuing stock options to employees that have a strike price and a 4-year vesting period with a one-year cliff is certainly most familiar to potential investors, but it’s far from your only option. At this point Buildium raised $2M from K1 Capital , investing the money primarily in marketing and hiring.

SaaS Payments 145

SaaS Payments Sales Hiring Payment Methods Payment Services 145