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Usage-Based Revenue Models: Successes and Pitfalls from Checkr COO Lindsey Scrase on CRO Confidential

SaaStr

When Lindsey joined, she inherited an already built-out self-serve/PLG model for small businesses and a mid-market and enterprise sales, customer success, and post-sales team. But at the start of its expansion play, Checkr’s enterprise motion failed, and sales cycles were slow, taking up to a year for $100k & up deals.

Revenue 293
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Is AI Penetration … Slowing Down? Ramp Says Possibly

SaaStr

I pay more for AI subscriptions than I do for my car lease — Matthew Berman (@MatthewBerman) June 5, 2025 Why the Slowdown May Be Real Several structural factors suggest this isn’t just a temporary pause: Implementation complexity has caught up with enthusiasm. Skills bottlenecks are widening. Integration challenges are mounting.

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Thanks to Demandwell, Rattle, Panther, Chargebee, and Globalization Partners for Sponsoring SaaStr Annual!

SaaStr

Rattle is building a magical combination between Salesforce and Slack that lets the sales team track and update Salesforce all while sitting in Slack. Panther helps remote startups hire anyone, anywhere, in just a click. Chargebee integrates with the leading payment gateways like Stripe, Braintree, PayPal etc.

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A Framework For Your First SaaS Sales Comp Plan

SaaStr

I’m not ashamed to admit that when I set up our first SaaS sales comp plan, I had no idea what I was doing. But I did all the sales myself, and stupidly, had no sales comp plan at all ??. Then, as we first scaled up a sales team, we ended up literally copying Salesforce’s comp plan. the Moment After Sale.

Scale 363
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How to Hit $20M ARR in Just 2 Years with Secureframe’s CEO and Lightspeed Venture Partners

SaaStr

Dedicated Slack Channel For Every Metric From the early days at Secureframe, they have had a dedicated Slack channel for every metric: every net new sale, every expansion, every churn, and every expense. Work with Great Executive Recruiters ”The first time I saw an invoice for an executive search, I think I had a heart attack,” Shrav joked.

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CRO Confidential: Bringing Product-Led and Sales-Led Growth Together For Go-To-Market Success with Giancarlo Lionetti, CRO of Zapier

SaaStr

Everything from hiring on the GTM side to layering in a sales-led motion into PLG. From a Go-To-Market perspective, Zapier uses a hybrid model that involves a combination of freemium offerings, subscription plans, and partnerships. Let’s dive into what’s making that hybrid model successful: PLG and Sales Led?

Scale 317
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Even A Slightly Too High Burn Rate Can Get Out of Control

SaaStr

This usually doesn’t happen in the very early days, when you just have a few employees and almost no real marketing or sales expense. It’s just, to invest in sales and marketing now, and make those extra hires, the burn rate is growing even faster at 12% a month after $100k MRR. This sounds about right.