SaaStr

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Offers workshops, networking, and investor matchmaking for startups and enterprises. Large Audience: Considered the biggest SaaS conference with a large number of attendees from leading SaaS companies, startups, and venture capital firms. Features 300+ speakers from top SaaS companies like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Snowflake.

Software 243

Software Scale Venture Capital SaaS 243

SaaStr

MARCH 1, 2025

The best leaders have experience with both startups and scale to navigate the in-between. The ideal leadership hire is someone who has seen both startups and scale. The CEO’s job is to force the leadership team to accept that their core responsibility is to phase-shift and re-architect systems regularly.

Scale 185

Scale Systems Review Scaling Leadership 185

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 14, 2022

The company’s leadership should calculate sales efficiency on the combined OTE (on-target earnings) to quota ratio of these teams. Most startups operate between 0.15-0.25. Top startups will record 200-300% NDR as PLG becomes a dominant go-to-market strategy. A land AE with a $300k OTE might have a $600k quota.

Startup 342

Startup Construction Sales Compensation 342

SaaStr

AUGUST 16, 2024

Dear SaaStr: When Should You Sell Your Startup? The post Is Selling Your Startup “Good” or “Bad” For The Employees? But if the time has come to sell … if your experience and guy says it’s time … fight for them again. But don’t assume it’s not the journey for them. It might not be.

Startup 311

Startup CTO Leadership Acquisition 311

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2022

The life of a startup is not a smooth ride. Everything your business encounters is not of equal importance, and it’s the role of leadership to choose the right path — even if that sometimes means focusing on fewer and more impactful things. Know when to diversify leadership.

Startup 312

Startup Leadership Innovation Scaling 312

SaaStr

JULY 24, 2024

In a recent Workshop Wednesday, SaaStr Founder and CEO, Jason Lemkin sat down to discuss 9 signs a startup isn’t going to make it. So, let’s look at the nine signs a startup will likely not be a real success. Sign #2: You’re Too Slow to Hire VPs If you want to gauge momentum in a startup, see how quickly they hire VPs.

Sales Hiring 301

Sales Hiring Startup Scale SMB 301

SaaStr

APRIL 26, 2022

However, this push-and-pull doesn’t have to be part of your organization as long as you hire and empower the right leadership. Startups might not be ready to hire sales and marketing leaders in the very early stages of their company life, which is entirely normal. Your market model will guide your leadership model.

Leadership 244

Leadership Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale 244

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2025

Codeium has emerged as one of the hottest AI startups, growing from 30 to 150 employees in just one year, with a valuation already exceeding $1 billion. Our best hires consistently came from our leadership team’s networks. I really liked this one and wanted to write up a few more learnings.

Sales Recruiting 242

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale AI 242

SaaStr

DECEMBER 27, 2024

AI in B2B SaaS: The Incumbent Advantage On the AI revolution in B2B software, it’s the age-old ‘startups are innovating and racing to get distribution, and the bigger companies have distribution and are racing to innovate.’ ’ The twist this time is the data is very hard for startups to acquire or accumulate.

AI 284

AI Marketing SaaS Interviewing 284

SaaStr

JUNE 22, 2023

So my LinkedIn feed is full of sales execs complaining how unfair startups are: VPs get fired seemingly without cause (it’s never that simple, though. Startups not even hitting 40% quota attainmen t (more common these days, and brutal indeed). VC-backed startups can be an incredible journey. Is this fair? Perhaps not.

Startup 282

Startup Leadership Investment Sales 282

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2024

Tomasz Tunguz , General Partner at Theory Ventures, shares nine observations from a Go-To-Market survey Theory Ventures did with hundreds of startups, 68% of them early-stage, well-funded, mostly mid-market ACV, and 25% remote. Six months ago, security was the number one prohibition preventing businesses and software companies from buying AI.

Venture Capital 331

Venture Capital Marketing AI SaaS 331

SaaStr

AUGUST 9, 2024

From startup to $500M CARR, Spencer Burke, SVP of Growth at Braze, shares how Braze scaled a growth and customer success team. As an early startup team, you’re doing every job under the sun. We get lazy writing job descriptions, and taking shortcuts is a luxury most startups don’t have. But that was it.

Scale 291

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Startup 291

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What is The Biggest Difference Between Running a 10 Person Startup and a 100 Person Startup? VP of Nothing image from here ) A related post here: What Your First 100 Hires Will Look Like The post Dear SaaStr: What is The Biggest Difference Between Running a 10 Person Startup and a 100 Person Startup?

Sales Hiring 301

Sales Hiring Startup Scale Scaling 301

SaaStr

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What Happens if One Founder Wants to Quit When the Startup Has Just Raised VC Funding? options: Find a replacement “founder” While this isn’t literally possible, by that I meant someone who can operate at a very senior role and carry the founder-level emotional and leadership role. Basically, you have 2.5

Startup 284

Startup Banking Leadership Engineering 284

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 19, 2023

During that session, she alluded to a book sharing her expertise in building exceptional teams at two of the most successful startups. Millions of businesses around the world—individuals, startups, and large enterprises—are open for business only if we are. That book, Scaling People : Tactics for Management & Company Building.

Startup 222

Startup Scale Systems Review Compensation 222

SaaStr

AUGUST 26, 2021

You need startup folks to succeed at a startup. Many startup folks have no idea how to work at scale. It’s a reminder the same is true of SaaS startups. Folks that know startups, and what it takes to put those initial points on the board. This is really the only way most startup folks can really scale.

Sales Hiring 322

Sales Hiring Scale Startup Scaling 322

SaaStr

JULY 22, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Should One Do After a Failed Startup? The post Dear SaaStr: What Should One Do After a Failed Startup? If it “failed” after < 12-24 months or so, and you didn’t raise any or too much money — it doesn’t matter too much. No one will care. Dust yourself off, and decide if you want to do another one.

Startup 292

Startup Business Leadership 292

SaaStr

MAY 21, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Were the Biggest Mistakes You Made Getting Your Startups Going? Both these stories are more here: The post Dear SaaStr: What Were the Biggest Mistakes You Made Getting Your Startups Going? The biggest two mistakes I made, I made twice, maybe thrice. They were: One, starting with too incomplete a management team.

Startup 300

Startup Management Marketing Leadership 300

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

The 4 states of an engineering team is a mental model that resonated with me, and I think it provides a framework for leadership teams and boards to understand the state of a developer team. Recently, many startups have tried to measure engineering throughput. Will extends the concepts of systems thinking into engineering management.

Engineering 363

Engineering Software Review Systems Review Technical Review 363

SaaStr

APRIL 21, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Top 5 Things I Should Know Before Starting a SaaS Startup? The post Dear SaaStr: What Are The Top 5 Things I Should Know Before Starting a SaaS Startup? My Top 5: It will take you at least 24 months to really get anywhere. Everyone mentally budgets 10–12 months. It’s never enough. appeared first on SaaStr.

Startup 307

Startup CTO SaaS Interviewing 307

SaaStr

OCTOBER 13, 2022

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Benefits of Having Your Own Startup? This is a subtle but huge benefit of having your own startup. Yes, startups take their toll on you. The post Dear SaaStr: What Are The Benefits of Having Your Own Startup? Few things are harder than being a CEO, once you have something. Some meta-thoughts.

Startup 293

Startup Education Innovation Engagement 293

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

This showcases a narrow segment of a niche market, and it’s missing a lot of startups. Any startup in any reasonable category likely has dozens of competitors, and Altman believes the best strategy to compete in 2023 and beyond is multi-product. Startups are no longer fringe. How can a startup compete with a big company?

Scale 284

Scale Scaling Startup Sales Hiring 284

SaaStr

APRIL 22, 2024

Dear SaaStr: How Do I Craft a Winning Investor Deck for an Early-Stage Startup? The post Dear SaaStr: How Do I Craft a Winning Investor Deck for an Early-Stage Startup? Not using 6 point font. Then fill out each section, and functional area, and the model, and the team, and the competition, etc. appeared first on SaaStr.

Startup 284

Startup Investment Leadership 284

SaaStr

MARCH 12, 2025

About Dave Kellogg Dave Kellogg brings a rare combination of marketing and executive leadership experience to his analysis of SaaS businesses. It’s a guide based on real-world experience working with startups, focusing on common mistakes and challenges. This isn’t a generic Marketing 101 course.

Sales Hiring 202

Sales Hiring Marketing Technical Review Underperforming Technical Team 202

SaaStr

APRIL 18, 2023

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Things Startups Just Have to Get Right? Many startups don’t start off with particularly amazing software. You can do a single co-founder startup. But more broadly, Successful Startups can be built a lot of ways. Let’s break it down. Not required. Amazing Technology? First to Market?

Outsourcing Services 283

Outsourcing Services Startup Outsourced Development Technology 283

SaaStr

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Dear SaaStr: Why Do Many Startup CEOs Quit After Their Companies Are Acquired? I left my first startup after 20 days, post-acquisition. Acquirers should recognize this and turn the CEOs into 50%-time consultants and “non-executive chairpeople” of their startups, until the help isn’t needed anymore. That can be tough.

Startup 293

Startup Consulting Acquisition Retention 293

SaaStr

APRIL 6, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Will Venture Capitalists Do if Our Startup is a Loss? Bill said] ‘most startups do fail, so the odds were that Fanbase would fail , not succeed. Especially, if you’ve only raise one VC round or so. appeared first on SaaStr.

Startup 292

Startup Investment Leadership 292

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

Dear SaaStr: When My Startup Raises $10m, Would It Be Appropriate to Take a $170k Salary (no co founders)? Image from here The post Dear SaaStr: When My Startup Raises $10m, Would It Be Appropriate to Take a $170k Salary (no co founders)? Yes, not a problem. I don’t write $10m checks. appeared first on SaaStr.

Startup 300

Startup Investment Marketing Compensation 300

SaaStr

DECEMBER 23, 2021

Q: Dear SaaStr: How Can I Develop Confidence as a Startup CEO? The post Dear SaaStr: How Can I Develop Confidence as a Startup CEO? We’ve all been there in the early days — and even beyond. You can have 1000% conviction in your start-up but still not be 100% confident in yourself as a CEO yet. It’s OK. It’s natural.

Underperforming Technical Team 293

Underperforming Technical Team Development Startup Leadership 293

SaaStr

JUNE 15, 2024

Dear SaaStr: Is It Normal for a Startup to Not Disclose Burn Rate and Other Details to its Employees? Knowing — and Sharing — Your Zero Cash Date (Updated) (image from here ) The post Dear SaaStr: Is It Normal for a Startup to Not Disclose Burn Rate and Other Details to its Employees? That’s about right.

Startup 301

Startup Metrics Leadership 301

SaaStr

JANUARY 26, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Was Your Biggest Early Days Mistake In Your Startups? But I’d have to say in both my startups, the biggest mistake was not taking the time in the beginning to get the founding team right. I survived this in both of my startups. Boy it’s tough to pick just one mistake. This is tough. You want to go, go, go.

Startup 273

Startup Leadership 273

TechEmpower SaaS

AUGUST 21, 2023

The explanation from software leadership is often unsatisfying or unclear. Outgrowing your stack: Your tech stack was just right for your startup. Process and Team Review It’s easy for development teams, especially startup teams, to cut process corners in the name of shipping features. Will they resent scrutiny from the outside?

Technical Review 390

Technical Review Software Review Development Team Review Systems Review 390

SaaStr

JULY 31, 2021

The post 7 “Little” Things That Almost Caused My Startups to Fail appeared first on SaaStr. Use products like PlatoHQ.com to source mentors for engineering and product]. Maybe just avoid a few of these! note: an updated SaaStr Classic post).

Startup 313

Startup Sales Hiring Communication B2B 313

SaaStr

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Dear SaaStr: As a Founder, How Do You Deal With Stress In a Startup? less stress image from here ) The post Dear SaaStr: As a Founder, How Do You Deal With Stress In a Startup? Dealing with stress is important, especially for founders, who do have to hide … some of it. More than in 21+ years. Because it will be shared.

Startup 300

Startup Management Business Leadership 300

SaaStr

JULY 15, 2023

Dear SaaStr: Who Should Approve Startup CEO Expenses ? In a startup, the reality is a CEO can probably do almost anything they want — up to a point. More here: Founders: Get Your Comp Package Approved By Your Board of Directors The post Dear SaaStr: Who Should Approve Startup CEO Expenses? Transparency builds trust.

Startup 243

Startup Finance Compensation Leadership 243

Intercom, Inc.

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

. “You grow into the big, bloated company once you stop being a startup” This talk I gave at Web Summit 2021 is about pushing back against that. Here, I dive into how to remain a startup, what to look out for as you scale, and how to grow up without growing old. The key takeaway?

Startup 257

Startup Scaling Innovation Company Culture 257

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 10, 2024

Dear SaaStr: How Big of a Return Are VCs Looking For in a Startup? jasonlk) June 17, 2023 The post Dear SaaStr: How Big of a Return Are VCs Looking For in a Startup? For Angel, Pre-Seed: At least 50x, with a possible chance of mode. The loss rate in general is so high here, the winners have to do 50x. appeared first on SaaStr.

Venture Capital 284

Venture Capital Startup Investment Leadership 284