SaaStr

MARCH 8, 2024

Don’t disguise it in growth and/or venture capital. They weren’t a 3H startup. Rag & Bone is selling to Guess $GES for $56m on ~$250m of revenue. That means you can probably fix this situation — if you act soon enough: Relentlessly attack churn. But we aren’t all HubSpot.

Churn 234

Churn Startup SaaS Payments Venture Capital 234

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Biggest Problems You Face as a Startup Founder? The list of problems is endless (this is one of the hardest parts of the job), but let me try to order a few of the biggest challenges roughly based on stage: Pre-Revenue: Finding a Truly Great Co-Founder That is Just as Committed as You. It never ends.

Sales Recruiting 260

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Startup Scale 260

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 27, 2022

Reflecting on this question a founder posed this week, I remembered how we came to be here, the three eras of startup pricing: cash-flow, multiples, and discount-to-future-value. The art of startup pricing in a recipe. $5m Startups were priced first on forward-revenue multiple. 5m on $25m post. Home-office rodeo redux.

Startup 255

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Investment 255

SaaStr

MAY 20, 2024

So there are times in startup life when it seems like a wave is just overpowering you, that there is only so much you can do. But startups aren’t always as agile as social media paints them to be. A Burn Rate That is Too High Venture capital is meant for investing, for sure. ” Let’s make a list: #1.

Trends 289

Trends Scale Sales Hiring Venture Capital 289

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 13, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Top Reasons You See Startups Fail? Here’s what’s caused startups I’ve invested in to fail, or at least, not to thrive and succeed: Founder conflict. This really can kill some startups. This hasn’t driven any startup I’ve invest in 100% to failure, but it’s driven them to unoptimal exits.

Startup 218

Startup Venture Capital Scale Churn 218

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

SaaStr 635: CRO Confidential: How Customer-First Focus Drives Retention and Revenue With Brex GM of Startups Lucas Fox   3. SaaStr 631: What Is Going On In Venture Capital in 2023 with SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin and 20VC Host Harry Stebbings                     Top Videos This Week: 1.

Scale 216

Scale Venture Capital Startup Retention 216

OPEXEngine

JANUARY 28, 2020

As Chief Credit Officer at Lighter Capital, I work behind the scenes grappling with the data that informs all of our decision-making regarding financing deals, from revenue-based financing (RBF) to term loans and lines of credit. What should VCs make of revenue-based financing? Funding options by stage of growth.

Venture Capital 61

Venture Capital Finance Payments Revenue 61

SaaStr

JUNE 17, 2023

In the ever-evolving landscape of SaaS, Venture Capital, Bootstrapping, and Valuations – understanding market trends and investment patterns is critical. By doing so, they’ve maintained steady revenue streams while also enhancing product offerings and customer service capabilities.

Venture Capital 224

Venture Capital Scale Technical Review Software Review 224

SaaStr

DECEMBER 26, 2023

The average public SaaS company now has hit $300,000 in revenue per employee or so on average. Venture capital is there to bridge the gap, and let you hire more to go faster. So well-funded startups can certainly hire more than 88 employees at $25m ARR — if they are well-funded and growing quickly.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Scaling AI Investment 285

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

When reps want a $160k+ OTE for hitting say a $400k attainment, really, that’s only possible when fueled with a lot of venture capital. Either higher quotas, lower attainment, or for a while, even more venture capital. Startups that just accepted compressed ROI on sales commissions ended up pretty stressed in 2022.

Scale 320

Scale Venture Capital Sales Hiring Sales 320

Baremetrics

APRIL 21, 2021

At Bigfoot Capital , we wanted to know how early-stage companies think about capital as a component of their business. To do so, we decided to ask 30 SaaS Founders their thoughts on raising money and venture capital. Question: What has your experience been in raising capital? Venture Capital.

Venture Capital 71

Venture Capital SaaS Finance Scale 71

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

VCs could count on a 3x-5x “mark-up” to almost any round in a great startup. Public “multiples”, or how much top public SaaS companies are valued at a multiple of revenue, have fallen by half since the peak in Q4’21. Venture capital also often has some lag from the public markets, but it’s not more than a quarter or two.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Cloud Startup SaaS 363

SaaStr

OCTOBER 27, 2023

Building and scaling a startup isn’t for the faint of heart and often comes with many ups and downs that SaaS veterans have experience in. With two caveats… They have to close a significant amount of revenue themselves. Venture capital is a niche niche niche asset class only designed for outliers.

Sales Hiring 250

Sales Hiring Scale Venture Capital Generative AI 250

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 31, 2022

We are delighted to share that we are officially launching our new program for fast-growing, venture-backed startups. We’re working with venture capital, accelerator, incubator, and technology partners to help founders bring the best communication experience to their customers.

Startup 118

Startup Venture Capital Scale SMB 118

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 13, 2022

A funny thing happened along the way to Sand Hill Road in the last decade : startups stopped talking about how much runway a Series A would buy them. In the 2000s, when capital was scarcer, founders & VCs would derive round size by debating the quantum of money required to achieve Series B milestones. Runway in Months.

Headcount 305

Headcount Venture Capital Finance Startup 305

SaaStr

OCTOBER 16, 2022

SaaStr 599: Growth vs. Efficiency: How to Weatherproof Your SaaS Startup for Tougher Times with Point Nine Founder and Partner Christoph Janz. ? ?. SaaStr 597: VC State of the Market with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Cowboy Ventures Founder & Managing Partner Aileen Lee. ? ? ?. Top Videos This Week: 1. appeared first on SaaStr.

Venture Capital 272

Venture Capital Business Model B2B Startup 272

SaaStr

OCTOBER 11, 2022

Of paying your sales team well, of not capping sales commissions, of putting customer success on a variable plan, and of the power of second order revenue. We and I are still strong proponents of paying your revenue team well. While that may not sound like a lot, it actually is a lot of all your revenue. xkcd chart from here.

Scale 233

Scale Customer Success Venture Capital Sales 233

SaaStr

JUNE 1, 2023

The company is trusted by more than 30,000 companies, over 5,000 investment funds, and half a million employees for cap table management, compensation management, liquidity venture capital solutions, and more. SAP for Startups? Our vision is a world where everyone has the power to innovate without limits.

Scale 209

Scale Payments Payment Solutions Artificial Intelligence 209

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. Venture capital firms pumped a lot of money into the economy during the pandemic, buying countless software companies.

Venture Capital 218

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Construction 218

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Let’s all be clear, 2021 was insane: * SPACs worth billions with no revenue * Multiples magically tripled * Fintechs with 10% GMs worth same as 80% GMs * #5 in market got same premium as #1 * Growth stage seen as free money * Seed VCs bought in $3B-10B rounds vs sell. All your revenue in low-margin fees? No one cared. It really did.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Innovation Acquisition Cloud 263

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

Today’s Startups Need Both with Jason Eubanks, CRO at Harness  2. SaaStr 631: What Is Going On In Venture Capital in 2023 with SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin and 20VC Host Harry Stebbings    4. SaaStr 628: Revenue Alignment: How to Pull Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success Together with Divvy CRO Sterling Snow  5.

Sales Recruiting 206

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Venture Capital 206

SaaStr

MARCH 27, 2022

Instead, it sort of makes you think about taking the First Good Offer for your startup. There are 1000s of startups but only a handful of great opportunities for most of it. I’ll never make more money in the stock market, or investing in startups, or anything else … than I’ve made betting on myself.

Scale 361

Scale Sales Hiring Venture Capital Startup 361

SaaStr

JULY 31, 2022

The 10x Rule: What Raising $1 of Venture Capital Really Means. SaaStr 574: 5 Scale-Up Mistakes for Startups with Dave Kellogg. SaaStr 572: 10 Mistakes in Building Out Your Revenue Organization: A CEO’s Perspective with Insider CEO Hande Çilingir. 5 Scale-Up Mistakes for Startups with Dave Kellogg.

New CTO 254

New CTO CTO SMB Venture Capital 254

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Well, it is a category of investors in private (or private-to-be) companies and startups that is larger than venture capital (at least, larger than the traditional, pre-Softbank categories of venture capital). revenues or so wasn’t huge by M&A or venture standards. The multiple at 3.5x

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital SaaS Startup Pricing 333

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2021

It’s been a fun experience being on Quora for … a decade We’ve crossed 60,000,000 views of our answers there, so let’s take a look at the Top 50 most viewed SaaStr Answers on Quora in 2020: Why do many startup owners sell their firm and move on instead of planning on making it a big player like Google, Microsoft, etc.?

Software Review 278

Software Review CTO Coach Technical Review Sales Recruiting 278

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

The Rise of 1000 Unicorns and 100 Decacorns, combined with the overnight changes to fundraising processes from Covid, have radically changed venture capital: Tiger alone is deploying $100 billion , mostly into Cloud startups, and very quickly. For some: Top accelerators will create 1000+ high quality startups a year.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Banking Cloud Startup 282

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

VCs and The Three Types of Struggling Startups. SaaStr 589: The Secrets to Working with VC Associates, Scouts, Syndicates… and the True Gate Keepers to Venture Capital with Coelius Capital Managing Partner Zach Coelius and GGV Capital Investor Tiffany Luck. The Ultimate Guide for Hiring a Great VP of Sales.

Scale 202

Scale Sales Hiring Venture Capital B2B 202

SaaStr

MAY 23, 2022

But public stock prices are way down, and venture capital is much tighter than it was just a few months ago. They can negotiate themselves on where to spend incremental revenue and dollars. An L4M speaks with data, and it projects your revenue and burn rate more accurately than a “wish and a hope” model. And stick to it.

Sales Hiring 286

Sales Hiring Management Airlines Venture Capital 286

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 11, 2022

VCs and The Three Types of Struggling Startups. VCs don’t see all struggling startups the same. SaaStr 588: Navigating the Rocky Road from Founder-Led Sales to The First Dozen Sales Professionals with Demodesk CEO Veronika Riederle and VP Revenue Lauren Wright. Sign up now. They do want to believe. Top Videos This Week: 1.

Sales Hiring 198

Sales Hiring Scale Venture Capital Scaling 198

SaaStr

JANUARY 14, 2023

Harry Stebbings and I did an extra last minute 20VC this week on “WTF is Going on in Venture Capital in 2023” and it was a pretty honest and fun one. Should startups prioritize growth? Capital efficiency? About how investing is a bit broken now, and how VCs are dealing with fraud and more. Much more here.

Venture Capital 212

Venture Capital Investment Startup Pricing 212

SaaStr

MAY 20, 2022

So right now is both great times in SaaS (record growth in revenues) and tougher times in SaaS (markets down 50%). A bit more on bridge rounds here: How Bridge Rounds Work in Venture Capital: Messy, Full of Drama, and Not Without High Risk. One thing is clear — fundraising is harder right now. An extension. A second seed.

Venture Capital 293

Venture Capital Investment Startup SaaS 293

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

While the world of public tech stocks is defined by consumer-facing juggernauts like Facebook, Amazon, and Google, the world of venture capital is defined by the North Star of SaaS. Recurring software revenue is now recognized as a great way to generate tons of cash for investors,” says Gerety. Let’s dive right in.

Sales Hiring 238

Sales Hiring Headcount Finance Technical Review 238

SaaStr

AUGUST 4, 2022

And startups that had planned on a big up round this year are in many cases, really struggling. Exceeding expectations again, and importantly, also raising guidance in revenues for the full year. #3. I’m not saying there isn’t a radical slow down in venture capital, with a ton of valuation compression.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital AWS Cloud Scale 292

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2023

Probably just say Yes pic.twitter.com/K483lKnyzd — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin  (@jasonlk) April 21, 2021 So I wrote a version of this post years ago, about when to think about selling your startup, if you do get an attractive offer. Here’s what happens: Pre-Revenue – You Aren’t Interesting. Anyhow can build an MVP.

Acquisition 360

Acquisition Venture Capital Generative AI Scale 360

Clouded Judgement

JANUARY 12, 2024

Setting the stage for our convo was the increase in startups either shutting down or being acquired / acquihired recently. Every type of investor was broadly operating in a “risk on” mindset given the ZIRP environment, and the venture capital ecosystem was no exception. Normal round sizes doubled or tripled.

Cloud 284

Cloud Venture Capital Acquisition Metrics 284

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

The Most Surprising Thing About VC This Year Shen has been in venture capital for 12 years now, and it’s been a crazy ride to watch the whole bull market back in ‘10 and ‘11 when 10x revenue was insanely expensive for a SaaS company. Existing ticketing systems like Zendesk or Intercom embed AI smartly and capture value.

AI 263

AI Generative AI Venture Capital SaaS 263

Baremetrics

MAY 7, 2019

There are more funding and financing options for startups today than there ever have been before. There’s also been an explosion in debate and transparency about navigating startup funding and financing. Let’s explore the funding and financing options for your startup. Funding Your Startup. Buffer spent $3.3

Finance 111

Finance Startup SaaS Payments Payment Methods 111