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. The Goal for SMB SaaS is 100%+ NRR. Easy in enterprise, hard in true SMB. # However, SMBs have a certain level of inherent churn. And then your NRR will cross 100% with SMBs. Thats often 3% a month or so.

Churn 273

Churn SMB Payments Payment Solutions 273

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

So two of the great leaders in SMB SaaS, Shopify for e-commerce, and HubSpot for sales, marketing and more, are going more upmarket: HubSpot 100+ seat deals are up 55% Shopify now gets 31% of its revenue from “Plus” or its bigger brands and more enterprise product And yet … they are also both going more SMB as well!

SMB 322

SMB Enterprise Scale Scaling 322

SaaStr

JUNE 17, 2025

Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Tips For Shortening Enterprise Sales Cycles? A bit more on that here : How to Cope With Long Sales Cycles But there are plenty of things that help : Hire a VP of Sales with Enterprise Experience : A great VP of Sales who’s closed deals at your price point can shave months off your sales cycle.

Sales Hiring 175

Sales Hiring Enterprise Sales SMB 175

SaaStr

JULY 26, 2022

So in theory, SMB SaaS is better than enterprise, at least 9 times out of 10: Deals close much faster. Don’t need as much sales experience on sales team. SMBs often force you to build a better product, as they lack a deployment and IT team. SMBs go out of business, and quickly. Endemic churn.

SMB 363

SMB Churn Payment Services SaaS 363

SaaStr

APRIL 16, 2022

Per LinkedIn data, SMB AEs at some of the top SaaS and B2B companies have: an average base salary of $70k, an average OTE of $125k, and. SMB AE | TOP 30 Sales Organizations. Sales Organization 1 Miro 2 Okta 3 Arctic Wolf 4 Sprout Social 5 Google 6 Clickup 7 Cisco Meraki 8 Microsoft 9 Klaviyo 10 AWS 11 Rippling 12 Fivetran.

SMB 335

SMB AWS SaaS B2B 335

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

And when it IPO’d, it was still solidly an SMB solution. Spending on sales & marketing is down. Leaning More into Free Even as it goes more enterprise, and see a decline in SMB / Commercial accounts, PagerDuty is still leaning in more on Free. We all used some sort of tool for website monitoring, but the O.G.

SMB 276

SMB B2B Enterprise Scale 276

SaaStr

APRIL 28, 2025

The Journey: From WiFi to IoT Fleet Management Sekar’s journey began unexpectedly when he joined Meraki (founded by MIT researchers Sanjit Biswas and John Bicket) to help them figure out marketing and sales “from first principles.” This cross-pollination effect accelerated product development in unexpected ways.

Scale 260

Scale Transportation Scaling SMB 260

SaaStr

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Even With a Big Enterprise Push for Years, 60% of Revenue Still From Mid-Market and SMB RingCentral closed 20 $1M+ TCV deals last quarter. But even as they push more and more into the enterprise, the SMBs still are buying. A reminder to not stay too reliant on direct sales as you scale. Either way — ouch.

Scale 284

Scale SMB Compensation Cloud 284

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2024

How do you build GTM efficiency in SMB sales? While this title is SMB-oriented, the advice applies to Mid-Market and Enterprise, too. You shouldn’t be adding a bunch of sales reps or spending a bunch of money on marketing if the economics aren’t sustainable. Kyle made this mistake in his first startup.

Scale 301

Scale SMB Sales Hiring Sales 301

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

​Accurate sales forecasting is more critical to business success than most realize. During SaaStr Annual , Eric Huff, VP of Sales Strategy and Programs, and Theresa Stevens, Regional VP of the SMB sales team, shared an “under the hood” look at how Salesforce does its internal forecasting using Salesforce.

Forecasting 284

Forecasting SMB Sales Technical Review 284

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2025

The 250,000 Customer Club: How HubSpot and Monday Both Created SMB+ Empires #4. Dear SaaStr: How Do I Become a Great Sales Rep? How to build GTM Efficiency in SMB Sales Kyle Norton, CRO @ Owner.com #5. 10 Ways AI Is Changing Sales. OpenAI to Hit $12.7 Billion in Revenue This Year. The Bar Today for a Series B #5.

AI 242

AI SMB Revenue Startup 242

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Check out this week’s top blog posts, podcasts, and videos: Top Blog Posts This Week: Your Sales Efficiency Will Probably Plummet Toward $10m ARR. 30+ SaaS CEOs Share The Signs Their First VP of Sales … Just Wasn’t Going to Work Out. Dear SaaStr: Should We Pay Our Sales Reps on Renewals? Plan For It.

SMB 283

SMB Scale Marketing Sales 283

SaaStr

APRIL 28, 2025

What’s Changing in Sales: The AI Revolution is Here — and Coming Fast After analyzing 139,000+ conversations through SaaStr’s New AI, it’s now clear from the data: AI is about to fundamentally transform B2B sales. This isn’t some distant futureit’s happening right now.

AI 244

AI Underperforming Technical Team Sales Technical Review 244

SaaStr

JUNE 9, 2025

Dear SaaStr: What is The Best Way to Set Sales Rep Quotas at Each Stage of a B2B Business? Setting sales rep quotas in a SaaS business depends heavily on your stage of growth and ARR. It’s not scalable, but it keeps them engaged while you figure out your sales motion. More here: A Framework For Your First SaaS Sales Comp Plan 2.

Scale 175

Scale B2B Benchmarks Sales 175

SaaStr

JANUARY 8, 2025

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

Revenue Scale Sales Hiring Compensation 293

SaaStr

JANUARY 3, 2025

Or a great growth marketer paired with a great sales team will punch above their weight class. In sales, t he more SMB you are, the more you should lean on your bench. With SMBs in particular, internal promotions can work better due to more “at-bats” and learning opportunities on the front lines.

Sales Hiring 284

Sales Hiring Scale Systems Review Interviewing 284

SaaStr

JULY 11, 2025

Later, it’s about building a repeatable sales process and ensuring your infrastructure can handle the growth. Hiring the Right Team: A lot of founders wait too long to hire great VPs—VP of Sales, VP of Marketing, VP of Engineering. Some can stay SMB only to $100m ARR, even $1B ARR. Ok, almost all founders. And should have.

Scale 235

Scale Part-Time VPE Scaling Sales Hiring 235

SaaStr

MAY 18, 2025

Dear SaaStr: How Should I Specialize My Sales Team? One thing is clear: most founders and VPs of Sales and CROs look back and wish they’d specialized their sales team earlier. SMBs often require a high-velocity sales motion, while enterprise deals are slower and more relationship-driven.

Scale 162

Scale Sales Healthcare SMB 162

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 27, 2023

Sales cycles shifted dramatically in 2023. Slower sales cycles create pipeline shocks & startups are feeling the impacts. The average startup saw a 24% increase in sales cycle from early 2022 to 2023. 60 day sales cycles are now 75 days. But the latency isn’t evenly distributed.

Startup 350

Startup SMB Headcount Sales 350

SaaStr

JUNE 7, 2021

If a sales rep closed a deal, A customer success manager should take it over. Find a way to fund both, even with SMBs. I’d suggest a few basic thoughts and rules: If you have sales involved, then you need customer success, too. Just assign a certain amount of ARR per each SMB customer success manager.

Customer Success 353

Customer Success Scale SMB Sales 353

SaaStr

MAY 4, 2025

Dear SaaStr: How will Ai Change Sales in The Next 12 Months? It’s already fundamentally remade the contact center and post-sales. And it’s just getting there in sales. This will take sales calls from 10% being great to 95% being great because the AI will always be prepared and accurate.

AI 157

AI Scale Sales SMB 157

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Full-Stack SaaS for SMBs Toast today is worth $14B at $1.5B There will likely be multiple Toasts for SMBs. For restaurants, it’s the back end, front end, point of sale, payroll, ERP, and workforce management. Most sales reps hate it. When you build a high-velocity sales motion, you must find systems to scale it.

SaaS Payments 257

SaaS Payments Payments Payment Solutions Payment Services 257

FastSpring

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

In this episode, we’re going to be talking about how SMB digital brands can win the best talent Joining us for that conversation is someone who knows quite a bit about that. X sales force, X meta. The post How SMB Digital Brands Can Win the Best Talent appeared first on FastSpring. I’d like to welcome Lizzie Mintus.

SMB 107

SMB Sales Recruiting Branding Sales Hiring 107

SaaStr

JULY 11, 2023

How do you win with a high-velocity sales strategy in a fast-moving, competitive market? In a special session of Workshop Wednesday, Gorgias Founder & CEO Romain Lapeyre and Gorgias VP of Sales & Partnerships Aasif Osmany share their learnings, advice, and hacks for optimizing your sales process. Sign up for free.

Sales Hiring 200

Sales Hiring SMB Sales Recruiting Payment Methods 200

SaaStr

DECEMBER 14, 2022

Yamini Rangan, CEO at HubSpot, has many insights on how to serve SMB customers at scale. The Challenge of Digital Expansion for SMB. When the shift began in 2020, everyone wrote off SMBs as unprepared for the necessary changes that lie ahead. HubSpot only made direct and partner sales for the first eight or nine years.

Scale 261

Scale SMB Scaling Innovation 261

SaaStr

JANUARY 23, 2025

You need: Sales leaders who understand complex, multi-stakeholder deals Customer success teams ready for high-touch support Legal expertise for enterprise contract negotiation Product leaders who can balance current needs with future vision Pro tip: Hire enterprise reps in pairs. Waiting too long to start their enterprise planning.

Enterprise 244

Enterprise Sales Hiring Scale Outsourced Development 244

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 3, 2024

We Have Too Many Leads, And The Sales Team Doesn’t Want to Follow Up” And Top Videos and Pods: #1. Approaching Half a Million Customers: How to Win in SMB | BILL CEO and Founder René Lacerte #5. One Thing is Clear: AI Is Leading to 1000+ New Competitors in SaaS #4. Genesys Files to IPO.

Cloud 273

Cloud AI SMB SaaS 273

SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2021

So SaaS companies now must think about ways to sell to prospects before the sales team even contacts them. . This means that your team’s work is far from over at the closing of the sale –– your customer service must be on point, your product useful and simple to use. . Key Highlights: Adopt a product-led growth mindset.

Software Review 284

Software Review SMB Enterprise Software 284

Stax

JUNE 18, 2025

The most common challenges associated with vertical SaaS are competing for adoption against popular legacy or traditional SaaS solutions, a smaller lead pool that may soon exhaust, and managing the expectations of consumer-like SMB customers. Contact sales Some of the key characteristics of vertical SaaS include: Industry-specific solutions.

Merchant Services 167

Merchant Services SaaS Payments Payment Services Payments 167

SaaStr

MAY 28, 2025

The company is successfully evolving from its SMB roots into a serious enterprise software contender. Their sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue dropped from 113% in FY-20 to just 51% in FY-24. This suggests their brand recognition, product-led growth motion, and sales execution have all matured.

Scale 199

Scale SMB Acquisition Enterprise 199

SaaStr

JULY 27, 2022

If a SaaS business hopes to win over the SMB market successfully, it will need a precise GTM approach. Founded in 2015, PayFit is a software company that empowers entrepreneurs and SMBs to digitize payroll and HR processes. Secret 1: A Self-Serve Product is Non-Negotiable For SMBs.

SMB 244

SMB Sales Hiring Scale B2C 244

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2020

Justin Welsh, former SVP of Sales at PatientPop explains how he started in SaaS in 2009 as the second sales hire at Zocdoc. Justin used Sales Culture to grow a successful PatientPop team to 140 employees and 55 million in revenue. Justin Welsh | SVP Sales @ PatientPop. I was a local sales manager or regional manager.

Sales Recruiting 332

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 332

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 6, 2021

The other day Brendon Cassidy, the first head of sales at LinkedIn and the first VP of Sales at $10B Talkdesk, Adobe Sign / EchoSign, and more — and now co-CEO of Cosell — and I caught on what’s changing in the Sales Playbook for 2022. Even in SMB and mid-market. Well in most cases.

Scale 341

Scale Sales Hiring Sales SMB 341

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2022

Dorian Stone , Head of Organizations Revenue at Grammarly, is here to share lessons from his experience of scaling the company from consumer to SMB to Enterprise to help you steer your expansion efforts in the right direction. The admin, influential decision-makers, and consumer sales reps can be the same people in a Consumer or SMB setting.

Scale 246

Scale SMB Enterprise Sales Hiring 246

SaaStr

APRIL 1, 2023

How To Capture This Global SMBTech Opportunity There is massive market opportunity to sell to SMB businesses. Efficient Go To Market There are a lot of ways to GTM as an SMB. With SMB, you want hundreds or thousands of little merchants to pay you every month. Nail an efficient SMB motion before trying to move upmarket.

Scale 245

Scale SMB Merchant Services Payment Methods 245

SaaStr

APRIL 14, 2025

AI Speakers: CEO Snowflake + CEO Observe: Where B2B Applications Are Going CEO Box Aaron Levie: AI, Agents and The Next Era of SaaS COO Google Cloud Francis deSouza: Hyperscalers: The Future and More CTO Rubrik: Co-Founder & CTO, Arvind Nithrakashyap CTO Neo4j: Philip Rathle (Valuation $2B+): How Revolut Left Salesforce and More: Rolling Your (..)

VP of Engineering 204

VP of Engineering CTO Coach VPCs (Virtual Private Cloud) Scale 204

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2021

We’ve talked a lot about hiring a VP of Sales at SaaStr , and if you hire a stretch VP of Sales (as most of you will) … how much you can stretch. A related question is — just how quickly can you gain the requisite experience to be a true first time VP of Sales? Month 6: promoted to first SMB rep.

Sales Hiring 301

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting SMB Sales 301