SaaStr

JANUARY 11, 2023

Lemkin describes the sudden shift of capital being cut off that forced leadership to change strategy: “Sometimes these companies are struggling, but for the most part, COOs are waking up to the fact that there’s just no more money coming. That’s the issue; that’s what’s fueling layoffs.”.

Venture Capital 173

Venture Capital Investment Sales Hiring Entrepreneurship 173

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

During an enlightening session at SaaStr Europa 2022, Zach Coelius (Managing Partner at Coelius Capital) and Tiffany Luck (Investor at GGV Capital) share the secrets and lesser-known players in the world of venture capital. VC Associates. Remember, it’s a two-way street. Ask how they can help you (intros, feedback, etc.).

Venture Capital 198

Venture Capital Management Metrics Investment 198

SaaStr

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Don’t raise venture capital. Venture capital is not a gift. Venture capital is not an accomplishment. Venture capital is not free. Venture capital is not a tap. Venture capital is highly dilutive. Venture Capital, at least U.S.-style Mailchimp did.

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital SaaS Leadership 239

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Roughly speaking, this is what generally will happen after 3 rounds of traditional venture capital. This is after 3 full rounds of venture capital, and if you are then on the path to IPO or Big Acquisition (which hopefully you are if you take 3 rounds), that 10% (or whatever amount) will still be worth a lot.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Acquisition SaaS Leadership 265

Andreessen Horowitz

DECEMBER 22, 2023

In true CLF fashion, we brought together leaders across entertainment, sports, music, and business and tech at our annual Cultural Leadership Summit to celebrate the undeniable influence and impact of culture, and foster real connections to build the future together. But making next-level moves requires discomfort and learning something new.

Leadership 52

Leadership Entertainment Venture Capital AI 52

OPEXEngine

JANUARY 28, 2020

Is RBF simply an alternative to venture capital funding? Companies can use RBF instead of working with VCs, but often, RBF is highly complementary to venture capital funding. Those who eventually seek venture capital funding very often find that VCs are then more receptive.

Venture Capital 61

Venture Capital Finance Payments Revenue 61

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 10, 2024

The Harsh Reality of Venture Capital Returns pic.twitter.com/zACASqVcED — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin  ?? Often really more than that, 30x-100x to return the fund. So if the VCs don’t “see” the chance of 10x or more, they’ll pass on investing. No matter the other positive attributes.

Venture Capital 227

Venture Capital Startup Investment Leadership 227

SaaStr

APRIL 8, 2024

Venture capital, if you raise it, is there to invest. Dear SaaStr: Why Do VC Backed Startups Seem To Almost Always Be Running Out of Money? The #1 issue I see is not understanding what investments really are accretive — and which aren’t. And so the money goes far, far faster than anticipated.

Sales Hiring 186

Sales Hiring Scale Startup Venture Capital 186

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2021

And Pay Them Back once you make it: Finally raised that Venture Capital? P.S. If you want to read one of the most interesting leadership bios, check out Phil Jackson’s bio on Wikipedia. You can ask people to take some equity instead of cash. For a while. But you have to Pay People Right, at least when you can.

Venture Capital 251

Venture Capital Travel Leadership Marketing 251

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It worked out, but only barely, and I had to strike the worst deal in all of venture capital and sign away my house and all my savings to fund it. The moment I realized the arguably terrible idea I had for my first start-up made sense to me I dropped everything and did it — with no way to fund the company or make payroll.

Venture Capital 235

Venture Capital Startup Investment Leadership 235

Kellblog

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

Is your leadership team world-class? Does your board think you have the right leadership team? Heck, does your leadership team think you have the right leadership team? new ARR), OKRs , or hiring goals — either in terms of number or quality (particularly when staffing their own leadership team).

Leadership 114

Leadership Underperforming Technical Team Sales Hiring Scale 114

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

Companies like Atlassian and Qualtrics have cruised past nine-figures in ARR (and IPO’d in the case of Atlassian) without needing any venture capital. Bootstrapping in SaaS it isn’t that hard, per se. It happens all the time. This doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It just means that in your sweet spot of deals … you usually win.

Sales Hiring 361

Sales Hiring Venture Capital Scale SaaS 361

SaaStr

JUNE 22, 2021

Especially these days, when more and more seed, Series A and even Series B rounds are being done by less traditional sources of venture capital. A related post here: How Bridge Rounds Work in Venture Capital: Messy, Full of Drama, and Not Without High Risk. The subtle issue is this: A Weak Investor Syndicate.

Venture Capital 249

Venture Capital Investment Cloud Branding 249

SaaStr

JUNE 10, 2023

The 10x Rule: What Raising $1 of Venture Capital Really Means Personal example: in my first startup, we sold for $50m after 12.5 You may be encouraged to push on, and say No. But in the end, most VCs are OK with any deal where they make money. Even if they’d prefer to roll the dice. They would have preferred we not sell.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Scale Startup Pricing 233

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

You can raise ever more venture capital to fund it, or you can try to stay more capital efficient but often trade off some growth just when it’s getting going. Many functions simply need more bodies to keep up with larger bookings goals, and inefficiencies come from that, especially in sales-driven models.

Sales Recruiting 245

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Startup Scale 245

SaaStr

MAY 27, 2021

For the past 10 years, I’ve been a sales advisor for the portfolio companies of early stage venture capital firm True Ventures. You’ll want them to be a powerful individual contributor but also exhibit leadership in their own right. Lars Nilsson is a special advisor for early stage venture capital firm True Ventures.

Sales Hiring 171

Sales Hiring Scale Venture Capital Sales 171

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

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

Finance 273

Finance Venture Capital Consulting Investment 273

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

Many start-ups think they need to net venture capital to jumpstart their growth. Even if you start in a place where capital is more limited (like UserZoom’s early years in Europe), don’t let those restrictions limit your ambition to be bold and change the world. This focus can be a risk because it is shrinking your market.

Scale 203

Scale Venture Capital Sales Hiring SMB 203

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Venture fundraising should not be done because it can be done. You should only raise Venture Capital if you (x) have to, or (y) it’s “cheap”. This is the mistake so many founders made in the Boom Times of late ’20-early ’22. If you need VC $$$ to survive, don’t worry about it. It is what it is.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Pricing Investment Revenue 238

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Here’s the thing: >> The best companies, that are on-point for venture capital, always get a term sheet. So like applicants to almost anything, including colleges and incubators, a lot of it is noise.

Investment 213

Investment Venture Capital Leadership 213

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

With more rounds of venture capital come more board seats, and after a few rounds, the founders often don’t control the board. First, it’s tough to be truly fired if you control the majority of the board, voting shares, et c. So the more rounds you raise, the less it’s really up to you who the CEO is.

Venture Capital 343

Venture Capital Sales Hiring Forecasting Startup 343

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

These are the Best of Times for venture capital. And as part of this, more and more big corporations are adding and expanding their venture arms. 500+ new seed funds, and 1000+ unicorns and decacorns. For the most part, this is a great thing. More options are almost always better for founders.

Outsourcing Services 337

Outsourcing Services Investment Venture Capital Pricing 337

SaaStr

JUNE 5, 2022

But, over the years as both a founder and a start-up exec, I have raised over $40m in Venture Capital across 4 successful start-ups. Because in Venture Capital, it turns out Getting the First Check is Easy. I’ve also pitched over 110 VCs. Yes, 110. IA lot of them have come and gone in that time.

Venture Capital 216

Venture Capital Technical Review Finance Investment 216

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2023

A nice example of a sale at this Local Maximum is Pardot selling for $100m to ExactTarget — on zero venture capital. But then — The $30m Venture Round Sort of Ends That Local Maximum. The good news of finally hitting $10m ARR, growing 100% YoY, is you can raise an epic venture round with trivial dilution.

Acquisition 361

Acquisition Venture Capital Generative AI Scale 361

SaaStr

JULY 30, 2020

If you aren’t 100% sure which founder should be CEO — then I’d strongly suggest the one that most fits the following criteria should be CEO: Has Raised Venture Capital Before (and Has A Positive Reputation in VC Community ). Or At Least, the One Best Positioned to Do It.

Sales Recruiting 315

Sales Recruiting Venture Capital CTO Hire CTO 315

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

But if after 18-24 months of bootstrapping, you can raise venture capital — I would take it, in SaaS at least. And you can also bootstrap for a while, and then raise later. This worked out well for Atlassian and Qualtrics and more. So bootstrapping is great.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Sales Hiring Scale Cloud 299

Andreessen Horowitz

JANUARY 23, 2024

I love seeing founders mature in their leadership, finding themselves in the process. There are many folks that I’m grateful to… Marc and Ben, true mavericks who rewrote the rules of what venture capital could look like. I love seeing a startup grow from a dream to a global phenomenon. I love seeing hope in someone’s eyes.

Venture Capital 94

Venture Capital Travel Startup Leadership 94

SaaStr

OCTOBER 10, 2022

From a venture capital perspective, there’s now a premium on driving efficient growth rather than growth at any cost. . “Sales and marketing alignment is a terrific place to figure out and improve efficient growth.” . Over the last three years, the United States economy has shifted drastically.

Scale 260

Scale Sales Hiring Marketing Venture Capital 260

SaaStr

JULY 7, 2021

First, If you need to raise more venture capital, and aren’t doing incredibly well, a VC not being supportive can be a gating item to getting further funding. So as long as you don’t sell too much of your company, really the meanest thing VCs can do is Not Support The Company. This can be a big deal. Depending on the scenario.

Banking 351

Banking Venture Capital Finance Investment 351

SaaSOptics

AUGUST 11, 2022

So what should you do if you’re strapped for cash and have your sights set on venture capital? In this case, you may not be prepared to take on a round of venture capital. The following questions will help you determine whether or not you’re ready to dive into the VC pool. Do you have a clear growth strategy? .

Scale 97

Scale Scaling Technical Review Venture Capital 97

Andreessen Horowitz

MAY 14, 2021

When we first met Chris Lyons eight years ago, he did not have the experience that most venture capital firms were looking for: early college days as a Cheesecake Factory server and Sound Engineer for So So Def, to launching … The post Chris Lyons appeared first on Andreessen Horowitz.

Venture Capital 124

Venture Capital Engineering Leadership 124

SaaStr

MARCH 15, 2021

The same is true in venture capital, when you go to raise money. They are a proxy, albeit an imperfect one, for quality. They at least help guide us on what vendors and products to pick, especially if we don’t have time to do the diligence ourselves. There are good reasons to take money from the Top Brands in VC.

Venture Capital 280

Venture Capital Branding Investment Startup 280

Mattermark

AUGUST 22, 2017

Natasha Azur of Osage Partners takes a look at trends in venture capital activity ( which we’ve also been digging into lately on the Mattermark blog ) in “ What’s the Pulse on 2017 Midyear VC Investment? Believing in the product is most of the reason I like coming to work.

VP of Engineering 40

VP of Engineering Leadership Venture Capital Technical Review 40

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

These are the Best of Times for venture capital. And as part of this, more and more big corporations are adding and expanding their venture arms. 500+ new seed funds, and 1000+ unicorns and decacorns. For the most part, this is a great thing. More options are almost always better for founders.

Outsourcing Services 174

Outsourcing Services Investment Venture Capital Pricing 174

SaaStr

JUNE 30, 2023

When I look at the purpose of venture capital, it’s not to burn a dollar five in order to grow a dollar of revenue,” says Magnuson. Those companies will have a headstart on the competition when the market arrives. It’s to give you the opportunity to already be building for the market while it’s still developing.”

Scale 187

Scale Mobile Venture Capital Scaling 187

ChurnZero

JANUARY 18, 2024

The role of the chief customer officer has become an essential function in subscription-based business models such as software-as-a-service (SaaS), where customer retention is paramount and requires executive-level leadership. The experts we work with suggest searching for leaders who have worked in multiple post-sale functional roles.

Development Team Review 52

Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review Sales Hiring 52

The Angel VC

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

Inspired by Ben Horowitz’ excellent “Good product managers, bad product managers” post and Stefan Smalla’s “Good leader, bad leader” masterpiece I’ve tried to put together my thoughts on what I think makes a great venture capital investor. Feedback and discussion with other VCs and entrepreneurs is very welcome. Inch by inch.”

Technical Review 248

Technical Review Venture Capital Investment Finance 248