SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2024

It’s now falling to 150 because 81% percent of the dollars invested in venture capital at the height of the boom came from non-traditional venture capital firms which are all very likely to leave investing. If you look at the net dollar retention change, the top quartile used to be 130% pre-2020. Now, it’s about 120%.

Venture Capital

SaaStr

AUGUST 3, 2025

Early on, you’re investing heavily in ensuring customers are successful, driving adoption, and reducing churn. This is the stage where happy customers are your best marketing and retention tool, so over-investing here makes sense. enterprise customers) will require more investment.

Customer Success

SaaStr

JUNE 6, 2025

Several macro factors are converging to create this perfect storm: Enterprise Budget Scrutiny : CFOs are demanding higher ROI thresholds for software investments. The low-hanging fruit of digital transformation has been picked, and companies are being more selective about additional software investments.

Cloud

SaaStr

JULY 23, 2025

Invest in Automation and Efficiency Automate as much of the sales, billing, and collections process as possible. Focus on Net Revenue Retention (NRR) NRR is the most important metric in SaaS. Misalignment here is one of the biggest killers of growth. This isn’t just about saving time—it’s about reducing errors and improving cash flow.

Sales Hiring

Clouded Judgement

JUNE 17, 2025

net retention and CAC payback). In simpler terms — if you had 10 customers 1 year ago that were paying you $1M in aggregate annual recurring revenue, and today they are paying you $1.1M, your net revenue retention would be 110%. Net new ARR added was down 28% from Q1 last year.

Cloud

SaaStr

JULY 6, 2025

Customer Cohort Durability: 96% Gross Retention While everyone focuses on the 132% Net Dollar Retention, the 96% Gross Retention Rate for customers above $10K ARR is remarkable. In an era of software consolidation and budget scrutiny, Figma has achieved near-permanent customer status—once teams adopt it, they don’t leave.

Software Review

SaaStr

JUNE 22, 2025

Learning #3: The NRR Superpower – This One Metric Can Transform Your Entire Business Here’s a stat that should make every SaaS executive stop what they’re doing: Companies with the highest Net Revenue Retention report median growth that is 83% higher than the population median.

B2B

SaaStr

DECEMBER 27, 2024

The gross retention for people was low and I think we’re just getting back into a better spot. Engineering resources: With thousands of engineers, companies like HubSpot can make substantial AI investments when they choose to 3.

AI

Clouded Judgement

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

The purpose of the detailed information is to help investors (both institutional and retail) make informed investment decisions. ServiceTitan discloses that their net retention is “>110%” Gross Margin Adjusted CAC Payback (Previous Q S&M) / (Net New ARR x Gross Margin) x 12.

Benchmarks

SaaStr

JULY 1, 2025

132% net dollar retention $1.5B+ cash, zero debt 🏢 Market Position 78% of Fortune 2000 use Figma 76% of customers use 2+ products Millions of weekly active users 13 years from founding to IPO filing 🚨 FIGMA S-1 DROPPED 🚨 The numbers are … strong: 📈 $821M LTM revenue (46% YoY growth) 💰 18% non-GAAP operating margin (turned profitable!)

B2B

SaaStr

DECEMBER 12, 2024

So theres a theme Ive been working on with all the SMB-focused founders I work with and have invested in: # 1. All that does in fact drive up retention, to an extent. The Goal for SMB SaaS is 100%+ NRR. Easy in enterprise, hard in true SMB. # However, SMBs have a certain level of inherent churn. Thats often 3% a month or so.

Churn

Tom Tunguz

JULY 1, 2025

Net Dollar Retention 132% NA Customers > $100k ARR 963 NA Figma is about 3% the size of Adobe but growing 4x faster. Figma’s 132% Net Dollar Retention is top decile. While Figma is investing heavily in AI, the technology lowers the barrier for new entrants. Non-GAAP Op Margin 17.0% Sales Efficiency 1.00

Compensation

SaaStr

MAY 10, 2025

A good playbook for customer success is all about driving retention, expansion, and customer happiness while making it scalable: Hire Truly Product-Savvy Customer Success Managers at First Focus on hiring people who customer-focused product nerds to start. Focus on Net Retention Net retention is the ultimate metric for customer success.

Sales Hiring

SaaStr

AUGUST 4, 2025

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) This measures how much revenue you retain from existing customers, including upsells and expansions. A shorter payback period means you’re recovering your investment faster, which is critical for scaling efficiently. A shorter TTV usually leads to better adoption and retention.

Scale

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Organizations that invest heavily in customer success earlier see much higher customer retention and loyalty than the competition. But you have to be intentional and clear on what and where you want to invest to drive that high-value impact. You’ll likely retain these long-term, dedicated customers and brand ambassadors.

Customer Success

SaaStr

JULY 24, 2025

It needs to answer the “Why You Should Invest in Me” question in one glance. Highlight your ARR, growth rates, customer acquisition costs, retention rates, and any other metrics that demonstrate momentum. Maybe in a handful of cases when the investment is blindly obvious. Make it great. Is a teaser deck that great?

Trends

SaaStr

AUGUST 8, 2025

What’s net revenue retention (NRR)? SDRs : Invest in 2–3 SDRs to generate pipeline for the AEs. Marketing : If marketing isn’t generating enough leads, you’ll need to invest here. Sales Team : How many reps are there, and what’s their productivity? Are they hitting quotas? If not, why? A good rule of thumb is 1 CSM per $2M ARR.

Scale

SaaStr

JUNE 14, 2025

For example, “If our churn rate exceeds 10%, we’ll invest in a dedicated customer success team to improve retention.” Leverage Early Traction If you have early traction—like paying customers, strong pipeline growth, or high retention rates—use it to validate your projections.

Scale

SaaStr

JULY 27, 2025

You’ll need to double down on differentiation and customer retention to stay ahead. Customer Retention Becomes Your Lifeline At this stage, net revenue retention (NRR) is everything. You’ll need to invest heavily in marketing to build a brand that resonates with enterprise buyers.

Scale

SaaStr

JANUARY 23, 2025

Just look at the numbers: Enterprise customers bring 95%+ best-in-class retention vs. 85% in mid-market. But the rewards – higher retention, bigger deals, and ultimately a much larger TAM – make it worth the investment. That compounds dramatically over time. Your future self will thank you.

Enterprise

SaaStr

JUNE 4, 2025

Net Dollar Transaction Profit Retention hit 104%, meaning older cohorts actually became more profitable over time. Marketing Efficiency Improves With Product-Market Fit – Early Investment Pays Off Sales & marketing spend was ~$380 million in 2024, but efficiency has improvedmeasured by ARPU growth and profitability.

Outsourcing Services

SaaStr

MARCH 9, 2025

The 86% loyalty factor : Companies that provide strong onboarding and continuous educational experiences see 86% higher customer loyalty rates – making AI-powered personalization a critical retention tool. Continuous Education is the New Retention Strategy 86% of customers stay loyal to brands offering educational experiences.

AI

FastSpring

OCTOBER 11, 2024

However, in Asia, retention for monthly subscriptions is notably lower at 75%. That said, there’s a silver lining: While monthly retention in the EU and North America remained stable from 2023 to 2024, Asia’s monthly retention rate improved by approximately 3%, showing positive momentum.

Merchant Services

SaaStr

JANUARY 25, 2025

Thats just how investing work. Marketing automation vendor Act-On acquired for $53 million [link] — Jason SaaStr 2025 is May 13-15 Lemkin (@jasonlk) January 25, 2025 So a lot of folks somehow think venture capital is bad, that it throws founders under the bus. I used to sort of think that way. The stakes go way up.

Venture Capital

SaaStr

JULY 31, 2025

Focus on Gross Retention First Gross retention is the foundation. The best SMB SaaS companies have gross retention in the 75-85% range ‌. Invest in Product Stickiness Your product needs to be indispensable. You don’t have to abandon SMBs, but adding a layer of larger customers can offset churn.

Payments

Clouded Judgement

JULY 25, 2025

This is for information purposes and should not be construed as an investment recommendation. Altimeter is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Altimeter and its clients trade in public securities and have made and/or may make investments in or investment decisions relating to the companies referenced herein.

Cloud

SaaStr

AUGUST 6, 2025

And revenue growth is accelerating 83% non-GAAP gross margins (+600 bps) $130M FCF (23% FCF margin) 117% NDR, 98% client retention. 117% NDR + 98% Logo Retention = The Holy Grail Combination The Numbers : 117% net dollar retention, 98% client retention, 3.4% raised, tripled on debut), CoreWeave ($1.5B

Scale

SaaStr

JUNE 25, 2025

Company Snapshot: Founded : January 2014 (11 years) Current ARR : $1.09B+ (Q1 FY2025) Growth Rate : 39% YoY ARR growth, 47% revenue growth NPS Score : 80 (exceptionally high for enterprise software) Net Revenue Retention : 133% (as of Jan 2024) Customers : 2,246 customers with $100K+ ARR contracts IPO : April 2024 on NYSE (RBRK) at $5.6B

Cybersecurity

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2025

Net Dollar Retention >110% and GDR of >95%: The Power of Being a True Operating System ServiceTitans NRR consistently exceeds 110%, even with SMB-heavy customers. But remember, this requires significant investment in product depth and breadth. Larger customers bring higher ACVs, better retention, and more predictable revenue.

Payments

SaaStr

APRIL 15, 2025

About Ethan Kurzweil Ethan is the founder of Chemistry VC, a focused early-stage venture firm that writes $3-30M checks with an average of $10-12M for Series A investments. Prior to founding Chemistry, Ethan spent 16 years at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he led investments in successful companies like PagerDuty, Intercom, and SendGrid.

Technical Review

SaaStr

AUGUST 12, 2025

The Hard Truth About SaaS Revenue Durability: Why 80% of Post-IPO Companies Don’t Compound in Value Bottom Line Up Front: The math on SaaS investing is … tough. The 2021 Hangover: When Good Bets Go Bad The SaaS investment landscape of 2021 feels like a different universe. Growth that compounds is growth that stays.

Revenue

SaaStr

JUNE 13, 2025

Andreesen Horowitz recently pulled some great data from the deals its invested in and looked at. Now this isn’t all start-ups, it’s many of the best ones. But the data is telling.

Enterprise

SaaStr

OCTOBER 23, 2024

” Investing for growth has been pretty flat year over year for SMBs, which means there is money there, but they’re holding onto it. At BILL, logo retention is 86% in the first 90 days. ’ Bill is approaching half a million customers, so has a good pulse on small businesses. So I call this the wait-and-see economy.”

SMB

SaaStr

JULY 17, 2025

Not 2020-2021 growth, but top decile growth: What This Means for B2B Leaders Today If You’re Pre-$100M ARR: Don’t panic about “only” 40-60% growth – that’s the new exceptional Focus obsessively on unit economics – capital efficiency is the new growth at all costs Pick a lane and dominate – the days of (..)

B2B

SaaStr

JULY 11, 2025

They’re “willing to try almost anything if it’s a reasonable investment.” Yet companies often spend 80% of their orchestration effort on acquisition and 20% on retention and expansion. ” Scaling Philosophy : The same customer-first approach that built their PLG motion now guides AI implementation.

Scale

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2025

Founder-led sales provides invaluable dat a When founders sell the first $2-3M, they generate critical insights on customers, conversion rates, and retention that inform the GTM strategy. Invest early in supporting functions Don’t underestimate the importance of enablement and revops in driving growth.

Sales Recruiting