SaaStr

MARCH 10, 2020

But for as long as business is in flux, let’s take a look back at what happened to us as a SaaS vendor in ’08-’09, and maybe what learnings you can leverage there. Marc Benioff said not hiring more sales reps in 2009 was one of his top mistakes. We’ll see. Thank goodness we didn’t need more capital.

Sales Hiring 350

Sales Hiring SaaS Churn Enterprise 350

Buffer Resources

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

I never set out to start a business. People started asking me if I would teach them not only how to organize photos, but also how to build a business around it. So, in 2009 The Photo Managers was born: an association that helps others start their own photo-organizing businesses.

Education 107

Education Engagement Software Business 107

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 31, 2020

I remember reading the Netflix culture deck published in 2009 and feeling inspired. The brilliance and the bravery of both Hastings and Dalio is the confidence to express pointed views of the culture with which they operate their businesses, and to hold fast despite the trade-offs.

Interviewing 267

Interviewing Management Data Marketing 267

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 6, 2023

In Q4 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos for $1b. That’s when people started to believe in better times ahead again, that the exit markets would support higher valuations, that businesses could thrive - when exits started to flourish again, liquidity returned to the system to founders, teams, & investors. at $1.5b.

Venture Capital 231

Venture Capital Acquisition Investment Marketing 231

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

And even before they did, panic set in in businesses with no cash reserves. Yes, when hiring stopped, so did the automatic seat upgrades that come with hiring But silos still expanded a bit, and business process change did not end. We still doubled sales in 2009. Almost irrationally. Upsell slowed way down. Of course it will.

SaaS Payments 280

SaaS Payments Sales Hiring Scale SMB 280

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 18, 2019

PagerDuty was founded in 2009 by 3 former Amazon engineers who were often on-call. In the 10 years since that day, PagerDuty has built an exceptional business. On Friday, the company published its S-1 and revealed to the world a very strong business. Congratulations to the PagerDuty team on building an impressive business.

Metrics 222

Metrics Benchmarks Software Review Engineering 222

SaaStr

JULY 2, 2024

The Market Has Stabilized What does that mean for individual businesses? Software businesses, for the most part, require heads to grow a business through sales reps or customer support. In the public markets, Q1 wasn’t pretty in terms of expectations, and businesses were sometimes missing their numbers.

Venture Capital 303

Venture Capital Management Scale AI 303

SaaStr

MARCH 22, 2024

While working at LinkedIn back in 2009, she was offered the role of building out the first SDR and BDR organization. They also come in the form of people she cares about leaving the business or struggling to succeed because they don’t have the tools they need. The highs and lows always come, usually involving the people on your team.

Scale 303

Scale Underperforming Technical Team SMB Finance 303

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. I’m the former SVP of Sales at a Los Angeles based business called PatientPop. If you’re an SMB SaaS business, I would recommend hiring SMB SaaS salespeople. Want to see more content like this?

Sales Recruiting 332

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 332

Hitenism

JANUARY 6, 2017

I was founding a SaaS business, KISSmetrics. At that point in 2009, I was also responsible for marketing. When you’re in the earliest stages of your business, you need to answer these three big questions about marketing: How do you identify your target audience? First, building a business on assumptions is sheer stupidity.

Startup 182

Startup Marketing Content Marketing Engagement 182

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 5, 2023

What You Will Learn: May’s perspective on the economy now compared to that of 2008/2009. Highlights: (6:12) May’s learnings from Lehman Brothers and the economic crisis of 2008/2009. (14:11) 14:11) How much attention the average business leader should spend thinking about AI and how much of a near-term impact AI will have. (25:17)

Sales Recruiting 126

Sales Recruiting Enterprise AI Banking 126

The Angel VC

JULY 17, 2015

As much as I disagree with Jason on many things he writes about how to build a business – kudos to 37signals for their focus on product, design and usability. If it's possible to pinpoint the beginning of modern SaaS to a specific company or product, I think this honor is due to Jason Fried and his colleagues at 37signals.

SaaS 188

SaaS Software Review B2B Trends 188

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2022

Grammarly was founded in 2009 and is a successful consumer product revolving around a virtual writing assistant that individuals and students use to write better content in their professional, educational, and personal lives. Like when Grammarly scaled, they expanded from a consumer business. Overview: Grammarly’s Enterprise Evolution.

Scale 246

Scale SMB Enterprise Sales Hiring 246

Andreessen Horowitz

APRIL 16, 2024

When Marc and I started the firm in 2009, the conventional wisdom in Venture Capital was that in any given year, only 15 companies would ever generate $100M in revenue and those 15 companies would drive almost all of VC returns. I am pleased to announce that we have just raised $7.2B This marks an important milestone for us.

Venture Capital 144

Venture Capital Innovation AI Enterprise 144

OpenView Labs

JULY 21, 2021

However, it’s hard to argue that something is genuinely new in human endeavors like leadership, politics, and business. Behind The Cloud by Marc Benioff (Published 2009). Almost 20 years later, I picked it up on a whim and found it was the prescription for any business decision-maker. Is Blockchain the technology unique?

Business 101

Business Artificial Intelligence Blockchain Software Engineering 101

SaaStock

MARCH 1, 2019

SAIF Partners is one of the top private equity firms that provides growth capital financing for Asia businesses. It focuses on disruptive tech businesses. Ceyuan Ventures is an early stage VC firm investing in emerging growth and IT businesses. Founded: 2009. SAIF Partners. Founded: 1999. Size of fund: $20M. Stage: Seed.

SaaS Payments 190

SaaS Payments Venture Capital Payment Services Telecommunications 190

Buffer Resources

APRIL 12, 2023

I’ve been an influencer at heart since 2009, before that was even a thing you could be, and have spent my career looking for ways to make a sustainable living from sharing my passions and expertise with the world. I also know business owners who hire virtual assistants to take on the work of reformatting.)

Business 114

Business Sales Hiring Social Media Education 114

Tom Tunguz

MAY 13, 2015

Before its acquisition, which was consummated at the highest historical multiple of any software company , Ariba was the largest independent procurement software business. It sold software to help businesses buy the things they need in order to operate, everything from pens to planes.

Outsourced Development 113

Outsourced Development Software Review Technical Review compliance 113

SaaStock

JANUARY 30, 2019

One of those was 2008/2009 when 5 funds were started. Undoubtedly, Brazil is the most mature market for VC funding in Latin America – with both a diverse pool of venture companies and a range of promising SaaS businesses to attract funding. A.B.Seed provides businesses with the basics they need for fast growth.

Venture Capital 155

Venture Capital SaaS Healthcare Finance 155

SaaStr

MAY 8, 2019

Namely is an HR software company that offers HR, payroll, benefits and talent management tools to businesses. Adaptive Insights is a cloud-based platform for modernizing business planning. Tom Bogan is the EVP of Workday’s Planning Business Unit but has a long history in both tech and finance.

CTO Coach 30

CTO Coach New CTO CTO Web Development 30

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 12, 2014

This post is part of a continuing series evaluating the S-1s of publicly traded SaaS companies in order to better understand the core business and build a library of benchmarks that might be useful to founders. Just how significant is the professional services component to WorkDay’s business?

Benchmarks 113

Benchmarks Deferred Revenue Venture Capital Outsourced Development 113

SaaStr

OCTOBER 6, 2023

It’s 2009, and the Obama Inauguration is happening in town. This is your business, and you know what’s important. They collect the payment online and take a 15% fee for every booking. That’s it. A lot of the magic comes in the specific example. Real-world example: Imagine that you’re a waiter who lives in Washington, D.C.

Payment Methods 276

Payment Methods Startup Payment Solutions Sales Hiring 276

FastSpring

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Pricing positioning based on regional purchasing power (2 minutes): Note: Check out our Recession-Proof Pricing Report for a collection of data from the 2009 recession and the global inflation surge in 2021 to look for trends. No matter what your business model, we meet you where you are. How to Price a New Product.

Pricing 146

Pricing Payment Solutions Payment Services Scale 146

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 3, 2012

Over the weekend, I watched Page One, a documentary which chronicles the turmoil occurring within the New York Times in 2009 and 2010 when newspapers were going out of business all over the country. Since 2009, the NY Times has created more than 40 successful blogs. Many wondered if the Times would also file for bankruptcy.

Advertising 100

Advertising Subscription Payment Features Innovation 100

FastSpring

JANUARY 21, 2019

Staying on top of the latest trends can help your digital business find a lot of success online. However, there are many other important ecommerce dates throughout the calendar year that drive significant sales for businesses. In 2009, Alibaba and its founder, Jack Ma, decided to turn the anti-Valentine’s Day into an ecommerce dream.

Business 78

Business Scale Mobile Trends 78

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 2, 2015

In the past few years, Netsuite’s LTV/CAC ratio has more than doubled (an impressive feat given the stage of the business). In the 2009-2011 period, churn mitigation improved the LTV/CAC. Companies churned from Netsuite because they went out of business or were acquired, not because they selected a competitor.

Startup 113

Startup SaaS Churn Engineering 113

SaaStock

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

It is based on blockchain and allows businesses to take care of their finances on a number of platforms and in multiple currencies. Easyship provides e-commerce businesses with a single solution for shipping worldwide. They provide incident response and threat protection for businesses of all sizes. Funding to Date : $1.6M

SaaS Payments 225

SaaS Payments Payment Solutions Merchant Services Payment Methods 225

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

The chart above details the revenue growth of the business compared to the median of the 50+ publicly traded SaaS companies. It follows a beautiful geometric curve characteristic of Flywheel business models, where an efficient customer acquisition engine keeps building momentum and growing revenues exceptionally.

Benchmarks 124

Benchmarks Metrics Venture Capital SaaS 124

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 8, 2015

The business was founded in 2004, but hit its stride 2009 and went public in 2012. But that’s not to say the business isn’t very capital efficient. Although not that well known, ServiceNow is a business to be studied. ServiceNow has mostly operated unprofitably, investing as much capital as it can into growth.

Benchmarks 113

Benchmarks Metrics SaaS Investment 113

Tom Tunguz

JULY 29, 2015

Over time, Netsuite has added a few more product lines including ECommerce platform, CRM, business intelligence and a professional services management product. In 2006, according to the company’s S-1, the business shifted from longer term contracts to one year contracts. Most ERP systems require substantial configuration.

Benchmarks 113

Benchmarks Outsourced Development Metrics Scale 113

Neil Patel

APRIL 23, 2021

And regular interactions on social networks are vital to any business success. No matter the size of your business, people are talking about you, including prospects, customers, clients, and their friends. One of the most important business commandments is “Be transparent.” User-generated content is a must.

Management 145

Management Social Media Sales Hiring Branding 145

Totango

APRIL 7, 2021

In 2009, Apple debuted its “There’s an app for that” commercials – and started a worldwide phenomenon. It allows businesses to streamline repetitive tasks – like sending emails or creating calendar invites – and free up more time and attention for important tasks. That’s where workflow automation tools can help.

Social Media 118

Social Media Technology Customer Success Trends 118

Stax

APRIL 18, 2024

Not only are there a number of ways your customers could be using their mobile devices to give payments, but you as a business owner could be leveraging mobile devices to accept them as well. It pays to know exactly how mobile technologies will be impacting your business, or potentially already are.

Payment Services 88

Payment Services Payment Methods Merchant Services Payment Solutions 88

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Numbering more than 400 people, Optimizely has built an amazing business since 2009, serving thousands of customers. On November 18, SaaS Office Hours at Redpoint will welcome Pete Koomen, Co-Founder and CTO of Optimizely, the incredibly fast growing AB testing and personalization company Pete founded with Dan Siroker.

CTO 100

CTO SaaS Engineering Education 100

Hitenism

DECEMBER 26, 2016

That’s because the people who are working in the SaaS industry or investing in these businesses are sharing much more of the details about all aspects of growing and scaling a SaaS business. Technical knowledge about SaaS businesses is widely available for free. SaaS is more crowded than ever, but you can still grow fast.

Scale 152

Scale SaaS Marketplace as a Service SMB 152

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

In fact, it’s twice as costly to operate a startup in 2014 as it was in 2009. Typically businesses allocate about 150 square feet of office space per employee. These heightened costs of doing business may explain some of the increase in startup round sizes.

Startup 100

Startup Scaling Cloud Technology 100

Clouded Judgement

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

In older MS CIO surveys, budget expectations went negative only in 2009 and 2020. It shows the number of months it takes for a SaaS business to payback their fully burdened CAC on a gross profit basis. The overall takeaway seemed to be as uncertainty persists, companies plan to spend less. The purple dot at 2.8%

Cloud 130

Cloud Subscription Payment Features Trends 130