SaaStr

MARCH 26, 2024

Since then, I’ve made some pretty good other investments as well. The top reasons an investment has turned out to be a Zero: #1. The post The Investments Where I’m Going to Lose All My Money appeared first on SaaStr. cash Second was Algolia leading U.S. But also, I made some that … weren’t.

Investment 327

Investment Scale Churn SaaS 327

SaaStr

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Many first-time founders have a decent understand of how to charge for their product, but haven’t really rolled it up into a strategy to get to $10m, $20m, $100m in ARR. Basically I only invest in first-timers. Focus and model often change as what it takes to get to the first $10m gets figured out. Cheap is good.

Scale 310

Scale SaaS Social Media Business Model 310

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2025

Let’s unpack the key strategies that drove this remarkable expansion. Founder-led sales provides invaluable dat a When founders sell the first $2-3M, they generate critical insights on customers, conversion rates, and retention that inform the GTM strategy. What is Codeium and Windsurf?

Sales Recruiting 245

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale AI 245

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Organizations that invest heavily in customer success earlier see much higher customer retention and loyalty than the competition. Your customer success strategy has to evolve as your organization grows. But you have to be intentional and clear on what and where you want to invest to drive that high-value impact.

Customer Success 287

Customer Success Scaling Social Media Enterprise readiness 287

Buffer Resources

JULY 24, 2024

Brainstorming content ideas, scheduling posts, replying to comments, analyzing your social media marketing performance, tweaking your marketing strategy based on data — and repeating it all over again day in and day out for multiple social media platforms. You’re spinning multiple plates at once as a social media marketer.

Social Media 115

Social Media Outsourcing Services Strategy ChatGPT 115

SaaStr

JUNE 2, 2024

Dear SaaStr: From An Investor’s Perspective, What is a “Good” Exit Strategy/Plan for a SaaS Company That’s Raising a Seed Round? Ok, people are going to tell you not to have a slide or discussion on an “exit strategy” and they are right. So don’t have an “exit strategy” slide.

Strategy 297

Strategy SaaS Investment Software 297

User Pilot

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

What if you could boost revenue without having to invest a small fortune in new customer acquisition? While it may sound too good to be true, the reality is that you can achieve this by implementing an effective customer expansion strategy. What is a customer expansion strategy?

Strategy 105

Strategy Payment Solutions Payments Customer Lifetime Value 105

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2025

The result was a 5x increase over initial projections – growing from an $8M revenue target to $40M actual results – driven by a belief that market demand justified the investment. This approach required immense trust from the CEO to invest millions ahead of proven results.

Scale 188

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Headcount 188

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

But with that out of the way, let’s talk just enough about financial accounting to explain why Big Tech Companies both acquire smaller ones — and do corporate VC investment. Because in the short-term, it often costs basically close to nothing to acquire a smaller startup with cash on hand, or do a corporate VC investment.

Acquisition 302

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 302

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 78

Investment Strategy SaaS Sales 78

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

Don’t underestimate the investments you need to make here to be compelling to your customers. Another big investment during rapid growth is digital moments. Copilot for support implementation has been a winner, followed by partner strategy. You want to invest time and energy here so that partners are ready to talk to customers.

Scale 263

Scale AI Scaling Marketing 263

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 28, 2024

I try to look at two things in Vertical SaaS startups, at least when investing : Will everyone in the vertical / industry use it? Roughly, there are two main strategies: One way is with 5,000 customers paying you $20,000+ a year. Dear SaaStr: How Big Should The Addressable Market Be to Go into Vertical SaaS?

Payment Solutions 263

Payment Solutions Inbound Sales Team Marketing Scale 263

SaaStr

MARCH 9, 2025

His background combines deep product strategy with practical AI implementation experience. The New AI ROI Framework Before investing in AI, Calendly’s team evaluates four key factors: Customer value (will this meaningfully improve outcomes?) Building separate AI experiences that force users to learn new workflows.

AI 205

AI Scale Education User Experience 205

SaaStr

AUGUST 5, 2024

You have to show a return on investment, so this value narrative is essential to secure renewals and build those business cases to expand into existing customers and go after net new customers, too. What is the time investment so far in implementing the software and training the team to get where it is?

Scale 287

Scale Customer Success Scaling Revenue 287

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

In today’s world, there’s a clear shift in what founders, boards, and investors are all after — scalable, low-CAC (customer-acquisition cost) growth strategies. In this playbook we’ll share: Automated outbound at-scale strategies. Sales-assisted, product-led growth strategies that close Enterprise leads.

Scale 276

Scale Sales Hiring Strategy Marketing 276

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2025

Joselyn Goldfein , Managing Director at Zeta Venture Partners, which invests in AI and data infrastructure-focused startups from inception through seed stage And see everyone at 2025 SaaStr Annual, May 13-15 in SF Bay!! Examples like ChatGPT and Perplexity demonstrate how AI applications can be adopted through PLG strategies.

Technical Review 191

Technical Review Artificial Intelligence AI Marketplace as a Service 191

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

But with that out of the way, let’s talk just enough about financial accounting to explain why Big Tech Companies both acquire smaller ones — and do corporate VC investment. Because in the short-term, it often costs basically close to nothing to acquire a smaller startup with cash on hand, or do a corporate VC investment.

Acquisition 261

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 261

SaaStr

DECEMBER 22, 2023

For any Cloud and SaaS Founders or execs seeking practical strategies and inspiration to stay ahead of the curve, this session’s for you. At the SaaStr Annual, Kiren Sekar, Samsara’s Chief Strategy Officer and founding chief Product Officer shared five lessons he learned along the way from scaling six products to $100M+.

Scale 309

Scale Scaling Strategy Sales Hiring 309

SaaStr

MARCH 24, 2025

And while the Wiz deal hasn’t closed yet, seeing a record M&A deal price fuels more VC investment. billion+ exits for U.S.-based based start-ups just in 2021! So good times are back. In part, because they see the absolute potential exit sizes just going up and up.

Acquisition 245

Acquisition Cloud Pricing Investment 245

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Having a predictable pipeline enables more effective decision-making, from headcount planning to strategic investments in technology and beyond. The post How Salesforce Runs Its Internal Forecasting Process with Salesforce’s VP Sales Strategy & Programs and RVP SMB Sales appeared first on SaaStr.

Forecasting 287

Forecasting SMB Technical Review Sales 287

SaaStr

APRIL 4, 2023

If you don’t want your company defeated by change, you need to adapt your Go-To-Market strategy at every stage of growth. And your CAC target defines your GTM strategy. When It’s Time To Readjust Your GTM Strategy You know you have a GTM fit when there is a clear sales model and a repeatable Go-To-Market playbook.

Scale 246

Scale Scaling Strategy Outbound Sales Team 246

SaaStr

JULY 18, 2023

In this session, CEO and Founder Christina Cacioppo, and GM of EMEA Andrew Foley, reveal the strategies that have propelled Vanta’s remarkable scaling success despite the constraints of the capital-restricted environment. With a multi-billion dollar valuation and a trajectory to double growth annually, Vanta is seizing the spotlight.

Strategy 246

Strategy Scale Sales Hiring Startup 246

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

IBM’s $7B Bet on Vertical AI and What It Means for SaaS Founders.

AI 188

AI Scale SaaS Government 188

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

These early conversations helped shape Databricks product, pricing, and go-to-market strategy. Then refine your packaging strategy as you scale. 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. Ron recalls.

Scale 179

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Revenue 179

SaaStr

JANUARY 28, 2025

Their conversation offers a rare, insider view of the strategies, challenges, and opportunities driving the next wave of technological innovation. The company’s strategy is focused on staying competitive by delivering value on top of the increasing capabilities of Transformers, a type of AI technology.

AI Search 244

AI Search AI Artificial Intelligence Technical Review 244

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Sessions typically focus on real metrics, strategies, and lessons learned, not theoretical concepts. Speakers share their playbooks on everything from achieving product-market fit to optimizing CAC:LTV ratios and scaling go-to-market strategies. Meet and Find Your Next VP / CXO!

Sales Recruiting 195

Sales Recruiting Scale CTO Hire Sales Hiring 195

SaaStr

JUNE 6, 2024

What’s your most recent disclosed investment? What’s your sweet spot for investing — check size, stage, type of deal? We invest in early-stage startups, so we’ll participate in Seed through Series C rounds, with an emphasis on Series A and B. What’s different about your fund / how you invest and support founders?

SaaS Payments 296

SaaS Payments Management Scale Venture Capital 296

SaaStr

APRIL 26, 2023

Keep reading to learn Robertson’s five customer marketing strategies guaranteed to grow your business. The three most important areas of focus almost always include: Great onboarding Content to educate customers Campaigns as a foundation The Takeaway — Invest in your team and prioritize ruthlessly.

Scale 246

Scale Strategy Marketing Education 246

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

The playbook shifts: heavy investment in domain experts to build the brand in a trusted way, and local market adaptation is key. One challenge Procore faced in expansion was assuming brand awareness. In the U.S., everyone in construction knows Procore. But when we enter a new country, we have to start from scratch.

Scale 287

Scale Construction SaaS AI 287

SaaStr

APRIL 5, 2023

Shah is the Senior Vice President of Go-To-Market Strategy, Operations, and Enablement at Guild Education and formerly held the same role at Brex, working alongside Blond. Considering aspects of sales and GTM strategies. If you’re growing quickly and making a lot of sales hires, you might invest earlier. Enablement.

Sales Hiring 245

Sales Hiring Education Scale Strategy 245