SaaStr

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

And some do very in-depth ones with lots of “off sheet” references (i.e., Many do few references checks beyond the CEO, but not all. Finding material issues late in the potential investment process is a big flag. 1 rough reference isn’t going to stop a deal. ones not provided by the CEO).

Investment 201

Investment Leadership 201

SaaStr

DECEMBER 8, 2019

Q: Why would an investor invest in a pre-revenue company? And de-risk the investment. If someone else is going to do the deal, you may need to invest now. You are worried you can’t get enough ownership unless you invest now. The earlier you invest, the easier it is to get your target ownership. It really can.

Investment 149

Investment Revenue Venture Capital Pricing 149

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 3, 2013

Reference checks are part and parcel of the VC diligence process and most hiring processes. Types of References. I find it’s valuable to speak to references who have worked with the candidate in different roles. I find it’s valuable to speak to references who have worked with the candidate in different roles.

Sales Hiring 100

Sales Hiring Technical Review Interviewing Engineering 100

SaaS Metrics

JUNE 17, 2023

SaaS, or Software as a Service, is the term that refers to apps or other services that users can connect to and utilize over the internet. Read more The post The Role of SaaS in Real Estate Investment: Benefits and Challenges first appeared on SaaS Metrics.

Investment 52

Investment SaaS Software Metrics 52

ChurnZero

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Customer Advocacy: How to Get Your Customers and Customer Success Team Invested. Today’s companies need to have exceptional reviews, references, and referrals if they want to compete and grow. You may be able to snag a few reviews here and sign up a few references there without much of a dedicated effort.

Customer Success 96

Customer Success Investment Systems Review Technical Review 96

SaaStr

APRIL 25, 2024

If you have options, if more than one VC wants to invest in you — do reference checks. Pick VCs on your board, especially early-stage VCs, that you trust. This is different than “nice” This will go a long way. On the individual partner, not just the firm. Look at the track record of the Series A-B-C VCs you bring in.

Finance 229

Finance Investment SaaS Marketing 229

TechEmpower SaaS

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Structured Data refers to information organized in a defined manner, making it easier to search and analyze. Here's a suggested approach: Ground Truth Creation: Design a test dataset with established answers or recognized documents to serve as a reference point. A PoC is a pragmatic step to evaluate the feasibility and results.

AI Search 519

AI Search Artificial Intelligence Generative AI AI 519

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 20, 2021

As a result, much of the evaluation, investment, and rollout of virtual training technology in 2020 was rushed, limited in scope, and poorly planned. Businesses must take a step back, evaluate their software investments, and rework their implementations. How to maximize customer training investment. Today, not much has changed.

Investment 94

Investment Technical Review Underperforming Technical Team Scale 94

Sixteen Ventures

AUGUST 14, 2022

NRR is often referred to as the “North Star” metric for SaaS and Subscription companies as, simply put, higher NRR = higher company valuation. Why they’re investing in you. The post The Real Reason Your Company Invests in Customer Success appeared first on Customer-centric Growth by Lincoln Murphy. Four Ways to Improve NRR.

Customer Success 97

Customer Success Investment Sales Hiring Retention 97

SaaStr

OCTOBER 12, 2022

Don’t do any VC investments your first year. He has one terrible reference. Yes, but what about the other 3 great references? Don’t do that investment, the CEO is hard to work with. Dear SaaStr: What Were The Top Pieces of Advice You’re Glad You Ignored? Take your time. Sound advice. It’s Hopeless.

Investment 249

Investment Startup Technology 249

SaaStr

JULY 8, 2020

What Nobody Tells You About Seed Investing with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Cowboy Ventures Founder and Partner Aileen Lee. I think it gives us a perspective that maybe we don’t get in some other places, in addition to many great investments over the years. You have two partners and one or two other investing?

Investment 160

Investment Technical Review Part-Time VPE Development Team Review 160

SaaSOptics

JUNE 9, 2022

By investing in you and your venture, they’ve put their money on the line, and they want to see a return. In this case, investors would be investing in your idea rather than an MVP. Finally, companies that need an investment round to help them keep pace with their goals for growth also benefit from funding.

Investment 82

Investment Scale Venture Capital SaaS 82

Buffer Resources

APRIL 19, 2023

Plus, with the money I’ve saved from not paying for advertising or marketing initiatives, I’ve been able to make other investments to help my business grow sustainably. Here are some of those investments, and why they’ve been instrumental to my success. There have also been some monetary investments.

Outsourcing Services 95

Outsourcing Services Investment Social Media Revenue 95

SaaStr

JANUARY 2, 2024

Today, 15% of active partners have referred 10+ startups to Zendesk. While ecosystem partners tend to refer a lot of startups, the majority of ARR for Zendesk’s partner program often comes from VCs. Find companies with those attributes and use them to see which VC firms invest there, and follow those firms for your partnerships.

Startup 187

Startup Scale Underperforming Technical Team AWS 187

SaaSHolic

MAY 13, 2022

We believe there is nothing more frustrating for entrepreneurs than investing time and energy to craft a compelling pitch deck, reach out to VCs in a personalized way, and, in the end receive a standardized email in return or even no answer at all. O post Why do we provide specific feedback to all investment applications?

Investment 52

Investment Marketing SaaS 52

SaaStr

JUNE 30, 2023

A few thoughts: Talk to as many founders they’ve invested in as you can. Do reference checks. Ask how many investments they write second and third checks into. Ask what their worst investment was, and why. Ask what CEO they’ve invested in that they respect the most. But talk to as many as you can, at least a few.

Investment 175

Investment Startup 175

SaaStr

JUNE 4, 2023

A few tells: No CEO-level reference. I see very mediocre executives that came into startups I’ve invested in and really get nothing accomplished in 6-9 months or more … then trade that experience for another VP role. Reference checks are not a waste of time. But they actually aren’t that good. Again and again.

Sales Hiring 235

Sales Hiring SaaS Interviewing Startup 235

SaaStr

MARCH 2, 2023

At this point, customers start referring other customers to you. If your product costs $2,000 a year, that might be around 1,000 customers. If your product costs $20,000 a year, your mini-brand might kick in around 100 customers. Folks talk about you in the industry. The higher your brand equity, the more deals you win.

Branding 236

Branding Development SaaS Investment 236

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2021

Finally, some founders after deciding who can help the most, and how important and big a brand they can get, move on to reference checks. But mostly, reference checks sort of tease at personality fit, which is important. Most will be hoping for a 10x return on their investment. And these are important.

Venture Capital 338

Venture Capital Branding Pricing Investment 338

SaaStr

OCTOBER 7, 2022

The number of global venture capital (VC) investments dipped in 2022, thanks to ongoing geopolitical tensions, turbulence in global capital markets, supply chain issues, and increasing interest rates. The rise and fall of these investments have resulted in negativity in the global VC space in 2022. The recent downward movement.

Venture Capital 212

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Construction 212

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

While it’s not the focus of this article, it’s a frame of reference for performance across the different stages. Companies are moving up-market, investing more in marketing, and orienting all processes around efficiency. The key is to start to build a GTM strategy that allows you to attack a larger market.

Scale 237

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Outsourced Development 237

SaaStr

MAY 6, 2021

Just note, you’ll need a strong balance sheet and stable investments — it takes money to make money. Market: products that aligned with her experience but that she was emotionally invested in and excited about. People’s past accomplishments and references tell you more than their interview. What are the tricky things?

Sales Hiring 241

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 241

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

Think about it — who else is so invested in your long-term success? If they’ve bought 7%, 10%, 20% of your company (with no exit on the horizon) … they’re pretty invested personally. They’re highly invested in you. But top VCs attract other VCs to want to invest. Your VCs are. More Money.

Sales Hiring 216

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Investment Acquisition 216

SaaStr

JULY 7, 2021

If your prior investors aren’t 100% positive, or at least, 90% positive on the investment … usually … the Next Round guys simply won’t invest. They will almost instantly smell the lack of commitment, and see it as a sign not to invest. You can game this. If you are struggling, and ask for more money, you may get it.

Venture Capital 351

Venture Capital Banking Finance Investment 351

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

In my opinion, the most informative and useful SaaS content “speaks for itself” and is well suited for future reference. Just like David Sacks’ SaaS Org Charts talk + slides , this Battery slide on the evolution of PQLs versus MQLs by company stage is a great standalone reference point. #3

Scale 310

Scale Cloud Forecasting Pricing 310

SaaStr

MAY 19, 2023

Reference other great investments they’ve made, and why they are similar. And no one is in a rush today to invest. You probably are unfundable if growth has slowed or is nonexistent, and yes, it’s stressful to have only a few months of runway. But hiding both doesn’t help. #3. Truly hyper-personalize it. Share lots of details.

New CTO 254

New CTO CTO Banking Cloud 254

SaaStr

APRIL 15, 2022

Send the reference list, if asked. Spend enough time on the VC’s website to have a thesis on why they’d want to invest. Send the deck. Send a competitive analysis. Send an NRR analysis, and a good financial model. Do research. A great sales rep does research on their prospect. You need to do the same. Outbound works.

Startup 299

Startup Investment Sales Data 299

SaaStr

JANUARY 10, 2024

Leading him to some of his biggest mistakes when hiring: Not investing enough time. Mistake #5: Not Investing Early Enough in the Brand By investing early enough in branding, you lift demand gen higher. Databricks invested in the brand early, and it paid off with customers telling their story for them.

Sales Hiring 251

Sales Hiring Scale Technical Review Leadership 251

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2022

Investors will invest in your business if: You have a strong brand. If a user refers you to a friend, you will want to live up to the expectation of their referral. Nobody wants to refer a service that may not be able to deliver. Try not to limit your thinking to the economics your VCs want in business economics.

Scale 252

Scale Marketplace as a Service Business Model Advertising 252

SaaStr

AUGUST 26, 2020

The other thing that VCs are doing is one very important part of their jobs, and that’s meeting companies and studying markets to figure out where they might want to invest eventually. And so, for all of those reasons, seed right now is a very different beast than Series and later-stage investing. Not the case to the seed stage.

Scale 284

Scale Investment Venture Capital Technical Review 284

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

It’s important to ask yourself if you’re engaging your clients enough, helping them to want to invest more in your offerings. Pay attention to your SLAs and, depending on their level of investment and commitment, commit your time and resources back into your partnership with them. Velocity refers to how quickly you can close a deal.

Scale 232

Scale Sales Hiring Compensation Sales 232

Clouded Judgement

APRIL 11, 2024

Generally when you hear “consensus estimates” it refers to revenue and earnings (EPS), but for the purpose of this analysis we’ll just be looking at revenue consensus estimates (as this is the metric these companies are valued off). This is for information purposes and should not be construed as an investment recommendation.

Cloud 177

Cloud Software Azure AWS 177

SaaStr

MARCH 30, 2021

We invest outsized amounts in “customer success” — in our existing customers to get the best referrals and other customers from them. Nurture those VCs over time , so when the time comes to raise another round, some of the prospects are pretty far down the path of wanting to invest; and. Danger, Will Robinson.

Sales Funnel 363

Sales Funnel Investment Metrics Customer Success 363

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

Failure #4: Not Investing In Systems This is a big mistake many make in the beginning, and it can be challenging to recover from. Invest in back-office systems early. Failure #5: Not Investing In Digital Customer Success Early Enough Eventually, you hire a ton of people, and it’s chaos. Make sure they’re worth it.

Scale 241

Scale Sales Hiring SaaS Scaling 241

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 16, 2019

If the partner leading the deal leaves the firm to start her own, this can leave your investment as an orphan, which can be a significant disadvantage. Firm Diligence: What are your top investments, and how much did you own in them, and at what stage did you invest? Where would this investment be in the current fund?

Investment 197

Investment Finance Branding Management 197

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2021

If you have options, if more than one VC wants to invest in you — do reference checks. It’s not your company anymore at that point. Pick VCs on your board, especially early stage VCs, that you trust. This will go a long way. On the individual partner, not just the firm. Look at the track record of the Series A-B-C VCs you bring in.

Finance 347

Finance Investment Marketing Leadership 347

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2023

If you treat them well on the way out and trust they’re making decisions that are good for their business, and if you have a great product, they’ll likely come back in a few years or refer others to you over time. People come back or refer people if they’re treated well. The Lesson: End every relationship in a human-first way.

Scale 220

Scale Leadership Scaling Customer Success 220