Events and Investment

How to Think About The Huge Expenses of Events and Tradeshows

SaaStr

JANUARY 11, 2022

Events and trade shows. That’s 10% of all the invested capital!! Let’s talk about why it’s a good investment: Trade shows / events produce a lot of so-called “leads”, but a lot of cr*p leads and long lead time leads. This is some of the magic in the math of the investment. True enough.

Scale

Scale Investment Retention Customer Success

LinkedIn Audio Events — How to Run Them and Why You Should

Buffer Resources

AUGUST 1, 2024

LinkedIn allows creators and brands to set up aptly named Audio Events on the platform similar to X/Twitter Spaces or Clubhouse. LinkedIn Audio Events offer a unique way to engage with your professional network in real-time, providing opportunities for meaningful discussions, knowledge sharing, and community building.

Social Media

Social Media Branding Engagement Investment

10 Secrets to Putting on a Great Event

SaaStr

JUNE 5, 2021

So we’re back for “real-world” / IRL events. After 6+ mega-digital events including doing the 2020 SaaStr Annual digitally, the 2021 SaaStr Annual is back in the SF Bay Area Sept 27-29. So the first plan was to do try to somehow do better than those events at least in part, both in focus and in experience.

Interviewing

Interviewing Scaling B2B Investment

5 Growth Channels That Drove Rupa Health to $100M+ in Value: Head of Growth’s Deep Dive — With Real Numbers

SaaStr

APRIL 5, 2025

Here are the five channels that worked for Rupa: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Proof and Trust Building Educational Partnerships and Rupa University Conferences and Event Sponsorships Outbound Sales and Data Quality Lets dive into each. They also found success with lanyard sponsorships , which provided high ROI and credibility.

Scale

Scale AI Search Sales Hiring Acquisition

Stop Investing in Forgettable Learning Events

Download this whitepaper to find out how to leverage online product sales training platforms to increase retention and improve ROI––and stop investing in unforgettable sales events. Engage reps who may not pay attention, leave sessions early or simply skip classes if they perceive it to be boring or low value?

Investment

Is a Bigger Booth Worth it at Top Industry Events? Surprisingly — Our Data Says Yes. Really Worth It.

SaaStr

OCTOBER 9, 2023

After all, it’s a bigger, and more important, investment for them in many cases. Almost double the Qualified Leads for not double the investment. So should you spend even >more< at events? That seems like a top reason to sponsor early for events that let the first to sign up choose first (like SaaStr).

Data

Data Investment Branding Marketing

GTMfund’s 3 Areas of Focus for Investing

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

GTMfund’s 3 Areas of Focus for Investing Thanksgiving weekend is always a period of reflection and gratitude. Reflection across go-to-market trends, but also on the investment front (not to mention community !). A common misconception is that the name is representative of the type of software we invest in.

Investment

Investment Technical Review Development Team Review Scale

11 Tips to Get the Best ROI on Your Event Sponsorships

SaaStr

AUGUST 28, 2021

With SaaStr Annual 2021 now just a month away, and one of the first IRL events in some time — we’re getting a lot of questions from sponsors wanting to know how to get the best ROI from their sponsorship package. Dinners or events held outside of the venue? Tell them you’ll be at the event and have a question for them.

Social Media

Social Media Software Review Engagement Enterprise

500,000+ Tuned into Our Digital Events in 2020. Here Were The Top 10 Sessions.

SaaStr

DECEMBER 25, 2020

Things start off looking bleak, with SaaStr Annual 2020 the first big tech event to be postponed due to Covid. And after resisting doing digital events since the beginning, we decided we at least had one good idea. We’ll be doing more in 2021, starting with a big mega event on building better Cloud products, SaaStrBuild.com.

Technical Review

Technical Review Cloud Enterprise Engineering

The Cutting Edge Techniques for an Impactful Live Event Strategy with Dooly

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

A lot can happen when it’s a live event. Live events are unpredictable but always encompass two things: a) the event dates don’t change and b) you need a plan A, plan B, and at least a plan C, for when something doesn’t go accordingly to plan. Go to the events they’re going to. . Think Zapier.

Strategy

Strategy Travel Branding Interviewing

Dear SaaStr: How Do VCs Find Companies To Invest In?

SaaStr

JULY 19, 2021

Q: How do VCs and investors find companies to invest in? They track who else invest. Hunt : Attend events. Referrals from other folks invest at the same time, or in the pre-seed or prior round. The post Dear SaaStr: How Do VCs Find Companies To Invest In? Anything more looks like spam. Watch ProductHunt.

Investment

Investment Startup Data Revenue

A Founder’s Guide to Building and Scaling Marketing Channels: Lessons from Datadog’s CMO and First Marketing Hire

SaaStr

MARCH 16, 2025

Marketing leaders face crushing expectations from all sides: Management wants leads Sales needs collateral Product needs launches The team wants career growth The instinct is to spread your resources across everything: blogging, analyst relations, PR, events, SEO, paid search, content marketing, and more.

Scale

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Marketing

The Operator Investor: Angel Investing

Sales Hacker

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

More operators behind fast-growing SaaS companies are turning to angel investing - not just as a way to diversify but to actively support the companies they believe in.This is core to GTMfunds thesis: providing investment access and opportunity to operators.

Investment

Investment Strategy SaaS Sales

Speaker Submissions for 2021 SaaStr Events are Now Open!

SaaStr

JANUARY 9, 2021

With over 500,000+ people tuning into our live events in 2020, we’re getting going on the full calendar of 2021 SaaStr events. assuming we can safely host an event in those regions , we’ll be there!). All-in, we have room for about 350+ speakers and 1,000 mentors spread across our 2021 events. Apply here.

Sales Hiring

Sales Hiring Scale Outbound Sales Team Interviewing

The Future of B2B SaaS Investing with G2, Accel, Salesforce, Inspired Capital and SaaStr

SaaStr

DECEMBER 25, 2023

G2 had us back for another great deep dive on just where SaaS investing is there days, and it was a great panel: Accel Partner Arun Mathew Inspired Capital Founder & Managing Partner Alexa von Tobel Salesforce Ventures Managing Partner Paul Drews and Jason Lemkin! Low investment multiples pose a key challenge.

B2B

B2B Investment Venture Capital SaaS

Top 10 Reasons SaaStr Annual 2025 Will Be Better Than Ever!! May 13-15 in SF Bay!

SaaStr

APRIL 14, 2025

SaaStr Annual has always been the go-to event for SaaS founders, executives, and investors, but 2025 is shaping up to be the best one yet. Heres why this years event is bigger, bolder, and more impactful than ever. VIP Summits for Every Role Weve expanded our VIP events to include summits for CROs, CMOs, CFOs, and CCOs.

VP of Engineering

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

Join SaaStr, Salesforce Ventures, Accel and Iconiq for The State of Growth Investment (And More) at G2’s Reach

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

Excited to lead this deep dive for and with our good friends at G2’s Reach event on Dec 1 with 3 of the top investors in SaaS and Cloud: Doug Pepper, GP at Iconiq. The post Join SaaStr, Salesforce Ventures, Accel and Iconiq for The State of Growth Investment (And More) at G2’s Reach appeared first on SaaStr.

Investment

Investment Cloud SaaS

The Enterprise Journey: 8 Keys to Going Upmarket Successfully with Workiva’s CEO Julie Iskow

SaaStr

JANUARY 23, 2025

But the rewards – higher retention, bigger deals, and ultimately a much larger TAM – make it worth the investment. Master the Multi-Stakeholder Sale Enterprise deals aren’t won in a single meeting. The Bottom Line Moving upmarket successfully requires intentional planning, the right team, and relentless execution.

Enterprise

Enterprise Sales Hiring Scale Outsourced Development

The Top 10 Reasons to Attend 2025 SaaStr Annual, May 13-15 in SF Bay!!

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

The event is strategically designed to facilitate 1000s of meaningful connections through 1000+ on-site “Who Do You Want To Meet” dedicated 1-on-1s for B2B founders and execs (no service providers, sorry!) The event attracts investors ranging from seed-stage to growth equity, making it relevant regardless of your funding stage.

Sales Recruiting

Sales Recruiting Scale CTO Hire Sales Hiring

From $1M to $3B ARR: Databricks CRO Ron Gabrisko on Scaling a Revenue Rocket Ship

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

Encouraging customers to share success stories at events. Create environmentswhether through events, forums, or Slack communitieswhere customers sell for you. Final Advice for Revenue Leaders After nearly a decade of scaling Databricks, Ron has one core piece of advice for revenue leaders: hire the best people and invest in them.

Scale

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Revenue

What Could the Venture Market Look Like in the Coronavirus Era

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 11, 2020

What could happen to the fundraising market in the coronavirus era where organizers cancel events, the financial markets suffer from a bear market, and there is a lot of uncertainty? The most recent event to use as an analogy is the 2008 financial crisis. In 2006, VCs invested about $3.5B In 2006, VCs invested about $3.5B

Marketing

Marketing Startup Investment Trends

The Top 10 Learnings from Launching SaaStr’s Own AI: What Every B2B Founder Needs to Know

SaaStr

APRIL 7, 2025

After just a month of launching our own SaaStr AI (trained on a decade of content and hundreds of founders, speakers, and events), we’ve already had over 34,000 (!) conversations with our AI in just the first 30 days. It beat me and the other investors in feedback. All the feedback was good, but the AI overall was the best.

AI

AI B2B ChatGPT Scale

Dear SaaStr: How Should I Get Our First Partner Program Going?

SaaStr

MARCH 28, 2025

Shopifys partner revenue grew from 8% in 2018 to 20% by 2020, but it took years of investment to get there . Treat your partner acquisition like a sales funneldefine stages, track progress in your CRM, and invest in partner enablement 3 7. Events in particular work really well here. Do lots of them.

Scale

Scale Sales Hiring SMB Enterprise

Dear SaaStr: How Can I Get The Attention of Software VCs?

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

Get on stage at any B tier or A tier event. Rent a cheap booth at an event lots of VCs attend. A third founder I funded at Owner, copied this format and I invested as well: 2 Cold Emails I Funded For Millions Finally he’s a great recent example of Mangomint, an SMB for the beauty industry. 1: Get Out There: Get in TechCrunch.

Software

Software SMB Banking Startup

5+ New Ways to Network at SaaStr Annual 2024: Sept 10-12

SaaStr

AUGUST 26, 2024

Sep 10-12 in SF Bay Area, once again across our 40+ acre indoor-outdoor campus at the San Mateo County Events Center. With so much change in SaaS, Cloud, and AI the past few years, it’s albeit become much harder to predict so many things — including how events will go.

Benchmarks

Benchmarks Finance Business Model Forecasting

Coate: We Have a 25 Year IPO Backlog. But Software Will Bounce Back Soon.

SaaStr

JULY 13, 2024

We kicked off the event with our annual “Coatue View on the State of the Markets” to provide an outlook on the macroeconomic landscape that helps guide our view on both the public and private markets. Private Equity does have record amounts to invest. #4. Software growth is the next big phase from AI investment.

Software

Software AI Scale Investment

How Venture Capital Has Changed Since Covid-19

SaaStr

AUGUST 16, 2020

Portfolios in many cases were hit hard, with startups in travel, events, fitness, etc. Every fund one way or another got used to investing over Zoom. At first, funds invested in founders they already knew. The next wave was adjusting and investing in founders they hadn’t met face-to-face. That was easy.

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Travel Cloud Investment

Dear SaaStr: How Should I Approach Hiring My First Executives?

SaaStr

MARCH 16, 2025

And dont underestimate the power of PRpodcasts, blog posts, and events can make a big difference in attracting talent. Dont wait too long to make this hireits worth the investment. Hire an Internal Recruiter Early Once youre hiring more than one person a month, its time to bring in an internal recruiter.

Software Review

Software Review Interviewing Engineering Startup

Clouded Judgement - 3.28.25 - The New AI Risk Curve

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 28, 2025

This additional facility may be costly and may not be operational in a timely manner in the event our primary data center facility is not operating properly or is no longer available to us.” That juxtaposition is what makes investing in venture markets these days so fun! Altimeter is an investment adviser registered with the U.S.

Cloud

Cloud AI Scale Scaling

Who We Are Hiring for at Team SaaStr. Join Us!!

SaaStr

JANUARY 16, 2021

Love email mktg at scale – Sr AE: Make real $$ selling to CMOs – Head Digital Events: love ‘em now? Fund: – Assoc/VP (know SaaStr cold, 1+ ys investing). So after a crazy 2020 — including being the first major SaaS event to be cancelled due to Covid in March — SaaStr is stronger than ever. We have the list.

Technical Review

Technical Review Social Media Software Review Cloud

Dear SaaStr: If You Just Received a $10m-$15m Funding Round, What Should You Actually Use It For?

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2023

Tiny experiments are OK, and investing in segments that are just starting to take off is good. Do more top tier events, if events work for you. Once you are past $8m-$10m in ARR, you can make an investment in something new that takes material resources. Give the biggest customers more attention. You have to be patient.

Scale

Scale Sales Hiring Banking Engineering

You Aren’t Doing Enough Customer Marketing

SaaStr

JUNE 10, 2020

The playbook is similar, but not the same, and needs different content, marketing, and ultimately, staffing: Customer and Field events. It’s fine even if no prospects come to your new Digital Event. What % of your soft and hard budget for events goes to retention, and what % to lead gen?

Marketing

Marketing Customer Success Retention Content Marketing

16 Rookie Errors Founders Make Pitching to VCs ? And Passing the ?20 Minute? Test

SaaStr

JUNE 8, 2020

At the recent New New in Venture SaaStr event , we asked many of the top VCs from Aileen Lee to Keith Rabois and more if they read cold emails. A cold email has to be so awesome, anyone would want to invest. You should know their other investments in the space. Show me a product I want to invest in — I’m in. The deck.

Consulting

Consulting Investment Cloud Data

What’s Really Happening in Venture Capital, Right Now

SaaStr

MAY 6, 2020

Q: Are Silicon Valley VC firms suspending or significantly cutting down on startup investments during this pandemic given the vast economic uncertainties of this time, or is it business as usual? VCs have not fully adjusted to remote investing. I’m glad you asked! But everything is still … nervous. This just slows things down.

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Cloud Investment Startup

What Makes a Great VP of Marketing in SaaS: A Deep Dive with Jason and Dave Gerhardt, ex-VPM of Drift

SaaStr

MAY 24, 2024

Understanding the Importance of Revenue Goals Jason expresses concerns about the high costs associated with producing a podcast and questions the return on investment if not done thoughtfully. Events offer valuable opportunities for marketers to connect with customers, especially during the lockdown.

Sales Hiring

Sales Hiring Outsourcing Services Technical Review Scale

10 SaaS New Year Resolutions For You. Pick a Few.

SaaStr

DECEMBER 28, 2019

Increase your Customer Events. Events don’t have to cost $9m+ like the SaaStr Annual. Do 2x the customer events you did last year. Invest in Your Brand and Customer Marketing. This is the one investment everyone skimps on, but always works. Marc Benioff still does. This works. Double the pace of last year.

Part-Time VPE

Part-Time VPE Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting

The Fastest Growing Sectors of Startup Fundraising in 2020

Tom Tunguz

JANUARY 17, 2021

From time to time, I chart the fastest growing categories of startup investment in the US for seed through Series C. But let me explain: music streaming includes companies empowering musicians to hold live digital events supplanting the coliseum experience with high definition video and audio at home.

Startup

Startup Software Engineering Finance Engineering

An Economic History of the US in Five Stock Market Crashes

Tom Tunguz

JULY 16, 2020

Given all that’s happening, I wondered how events today compare to other times in US history. I read Galbraith’s The Great Crash of 1929 and it’s good, but focuses only on a single event. But, the storytelling engrosses you, and you can imagine yourself reading the paper during those times, wondering how to invest.

Marketing

Marketing Banking Investment Technology

You Are Not a Media Company

SaaStr

MAY 7, 2020

Viurtal events can work. I see so many marketers tweeting and LinkedIn about how they have 1,000 signed up for their virtual event. And more digital events now each week than any human being in your industry could ever possibly attend. Because they are invested. Which is good. Webinars almost always work. To their job.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing Investment Metrics Marketing

The “Hybrid Office” is Going to Be More Work, Not Less. Time to Start Preparing.

SaaStr

JANUARY 4, 2021

Culture and people ops will be tougher — and you’ll need to invest more here. It will take an investment to get it all to work together. They are great, but they drive up costs and importantly, are like a mini-event and require a lot of planning and logistics. So you may end up needing more offices.

Investment

Investment Engineering Company Culture

Lighter Capital: “We’ve Funded at Least 15 Companies We Met at SaaStr Annual”

SaaStr

JULY 26, 2024

And because it has the highest concentration of SaaS founders and CEO, it also attracts the highest concentration of VCs and tech finance firms of any event. You’ll have many opportunities to meet with capital providers like Lighter Capital, who are looking for remarkable startups to invest in. Sep 10-12 in the SF Bay Area.

Banking

Banking Finance Startup Investment

Why Investing in Standalone Session Replay Tools Is a Bad Idea

User Pilot

JANUARY 19, 2025

At first, this seemed like a smart investment for my company, so I invested. Reasons why you shouldn’t invest in standalone session recording tools You might think standalone session replay tools have one flaw, but theres more to the story. Reasons for not investing in standalone session recording tools.

Investment

Investment Scale Software Review Technical Review

4 Takeaways For Founders From Battery Ventures’ “State of the OpenCloud”

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

The slides from Battery Ventures’ “State of the OpenCloud” event meet that standard. . Example Referenceable Slide + Full Deck : The flagship deck from Battery Ventures’ recent OpenCloud event is an equally authoritative and durable resource. Full YouTube Session.

Scale

Scale Cloud Forecasting Pricing

10 Learnings From Jeff Lawson (CEO Twilio) + Byron Deeter (Bessemer Ventures): “Adapt, Plan, Deliver”

SaaStr

MAY 20, 2020

Our recent SaaStr Summit: Bridging the Gap was the first time I’ve had a chance to be a participant at a SaaStr event in a long, long time. They wanted to invest in apps, not APIs. Jeff says he’s realized startups are either “product constrained or distribution constrained “ Make your investments accordingly.

CTO Hire

CTO Hire New CTO CTO Airlines

How to Think About The Huge Expenses of Events and Tradeshows

LinkedIn Audio Events — How to Run Them and Why You Should

Trending Sources

10 Secrets to Putting on a Great Event

5 Growth Channels That Drove Rupa Health to $100M+ in Value: Head of Growth’s Deep Dive — With Real Numbers

Stop Investing in Forgettable Learning Events

Is a Bigger Booth Worth it at Top Industry Events? Surprisingly — Our Data Says Yes. Really Worth It.

GTMfund’s 3 Areas of Focus for Investing

11 Tips to Get the Best ROI on Your Event Sponsorships

500,000+ Tuned into Our Digital Events in 2020. Here Were The Top 10 Sessions.

The Cutting Edge Techniques for an Impactful Live Event Strategy with Dooly

Dear SaaStr: How Do VCs Find Companies To Invest In?

A Founder’s Guide to Building and Scaling Marketing Channels: Lessons from Datadog’s CMO and First Marketing Hire

The Operator Investor: Angel Investing

Speaker Submissions for 2021 SaaStr Events are Now Open!

The Future of B2B SaaS Investing with G2, Accel, Salesforce, Inspired Capital and SaaStr

Top 10 Reasons SaaStr Annual 2025 Will Be Better Than Ever!! May 13-15 in SF Bay!

Join SaaStr, Salesforce Ventures, Accel and Iconiq for The State of Growth Investment (And More) at G2’s Reach

The Enterprise Journey: 8 Keys to Going Upmarket Successfully with Workiva’s CEO Julie Iskow

The Top 10 Reasons to Attend 2025 SaaStr Annual, May 13-15 in SF Bay!!

From $1M to $3B ARR: Databricks CRO Ron Gabrisko on Scaling a Revenue Rocket Ship

What Could the Venture Market Look Like in the Coronavirus Era

The Top 10 Learnings from Launching SaaStr’s Own AI: What Every B2B Founder Needs to Know

Dear SaaStr: How Should I Get Our First Partner Program Going?

Dear SaaStr: How Can I Get The Attention of Software VCs?

5+ New Ways to Network at SaaStr Annual 2024: Sept 10-12

Coate: We Have a 25 Year IPO Backlog. But Software Will Bounce Back Soon.

How Venture Capital Has Changed Since Covid-19

Dear SaaStr: How Should I Approach Hiring My First Executives?

Clouded Judgement - 3.28.25 - The New AI Risk Curve

Who We Are Hiring for at Team SaaStr. Join Us!!

Dear SaaStr: If You Just Received a $10m-$15m Funding Round, What Should You Actually Use It For?

You Aren’t Doing Enough Customer Marketing

16 Rookie Errors Founders Make Pitching to VCs ? And Passing the ?20 Minute? Test

What’s Really Happening in Venture Capital, Right Now

What Makes a Great VP of Marketing in SaaS: A Deep Dive with Jason and Dave Gerhardt, ex-VPM of Drift

10 SaaS New Year Resolutions For You. Pick a Few.

The Fastest Growing Sectors of Startup Fundraising in 2020

An Economic History of the US in Five Stock Market Crashes

You Are Not a Media Company

The “Hybrid Office” is Going to Be More Work, Not Less. Time to Start Preparing.

Lighter Capital: “We’ve Funded at Least 15 Companies We Met at SaaStr Annual”

Why Investing in Standalone Session Replay Tools Is a Bad Idea

4 Takeaways For Founders From Battery Ventures’ “State of the OpenCloud”

10 Learnings From Jeff Lawson (CEO Twilio) + Byron Deeter (Bessemer Ventures): “Adapt, Plan, Deliver”

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