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 111

Investment Technical Review Development Team Review Scale 111

SaaStr

AUGUST 9, 2022

Investments I've made that didn't work out: – Momentum investment – CEO a bit of bulls**t artist – CEO good at sales but weak product team / CTO. Investments I've made that had so-so outcomes: – CEO not better than me – CEO couldn't control burn rate – Not really SaaS.

Investment 307

Investment Sales Recruiting CTO Startup 307

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2024

It’s now falling to 150 because 81% percent of the dollars invested in venture capital at the height of the boom came from non-traditional venture capital firms which are all very likely to leave investing. US venture funding went from 8 to 300 over 15 years.

Venture Capital 331

Venture Capital Marketing AI SaaS 331

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 325

Investment Scale Churn SaaS 325

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 307

Scale Social Media SaaS Business Model 307

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 284

Customer Success Scaling Social Media Enterprise readiness 284

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 294

Strategy SaaS Investment Software 294

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

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 261

Scale AI Scaling Marketing 261

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 299

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 299

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 233

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale AI 233

SaaStr

APRIL 28, 2025

Kiren Sekar, Chief Strategy Officer and founding team member at Samsara, came to SaaStr Annual to do one of our best deep dives even on going multi-product. Samsara leveraged this strategy to build a powerful enterprise business with 1,500+ customers paying $100K+ annually, while maintaining a healthy mid-market foundation.

Scale 260

Scale Transportation Scaling SMB 260

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 74

Investment Strategy SaaS Sales 74

SaaStr

MAY 29, 2025

The performance distribution in sales teams will become dramatically wider, forcing tough talent strategy decisions. This creates a talent strategy challenge. Do you invest in upskilling your middle performers, or do you focus resources on amplifying your stars? Revenue-Generating Time for Reps Can Hit 70-80% With AI.

Sales Hiring 234

Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team AI Scale 234

SaaStr

MAY 27, 2025

Secondary markets and alternative exit strategies will become increasingly important. #4. Why It Matters : This is forcing LPs to completely rethink their investment strategies and cash flow planning. This affects everything from GP compensation to LP allocation strategies. #5.

Outsourcing Services 170

Outsourcing Services Venture Capital Outsourced Development Data 170

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 261

Payment Solutions Inbound Sales Team Marketing Scale 261

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 284

Scale Customer Success Scaling Revenue 284

SaaStr

APRIL 5, 2025

SEO: How Rupa Health Dominated Search with Programmatic SEO and AI Rupa Health invested heavily in search, aiming to own the top spots for specific lab tests and biomarkers. Conrad shared that Googles Pmax has been a game-changer in recent years, but the real secret sauce was their programmatic SEO strategy.

Scale 225

Scale AI Search Sales Hiring Acquisition 225

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 180

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Headcount 180

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 273

Scale Sales Hiring Strategy Marketing 273

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 260

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 260

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 306

Scale Scaling Strategy Sales Hiring 306

SaaStr

MAY 24, 2025

Most VCs wont invest unless they see a clear path to 3x ARR in 12-18 months. The key is to reignite growth where possiblewhether through expanding your TAM, improving your go-to-market strategy, or doubling down on upsells. Fundraising and Hiring Challenges Raising a Series A or B at 35% growth will be essentially impossible.

Sales Hiring 198

Sales Hiring B2B Churn Retention 198

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 197

AI Scale Education User Experience 197

SaaStr

MAY 9, 2025

In theory, collecting upfront for annual and even multi-year contracts can be a fantastic strategy, especially in the earlier days of your B2B business when cash is tight. Even make it the default for all bigger deals. But be careful in smaller ones, and where it’s not natural.

Payments 170

Payments Churn B2B Branding 170

SaaStr

JUNE 2, 2025

” Snowflake’s Enterprise-Focused Approach Snowflake’s strategy targets enterprise customers and government agencies. .” ” Snowflake’s Enterprise-Focused Approach Snowflake’s strategy targets enterprise customers and government agencies.

157

157

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

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 284

Forecasting SMB Sales Technical Review 284

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 181

Technical Review Artificial Intelligence AI Marketplace as a Service 181