SaaStr

JULY 25, 2022

SaaS pricing can be overwhelming when there are unlimited paths and opportunities that exist. Even though most companies acknowledge its importance, SaaS founders often choose a simplistic approach to pricing—that is, if they don’t choose to ignore it altogether. Making pricing work for your business.

Pricing 274

Pricing Strategy SaaS Forecasting 274

Sales Hacker

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

SaaS pricing isn’t static – it’s a living strategy that grows with your company. In this article we dive into a playbook for pricing across different stages of company growth, inspired by Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm. Tiered pricing models emerge to address these differences.

Pricing 111

Pricing Scale SaaS Technical Review 111

SaaStr

JANUARY 2, 2025

I knew what a good pitch was, and what good metrics were, and what VCs were interested in. I was advised to push back and ask for a significantly higher price. I asked for something like $7m-$8m at a significantly higher price. And we were a pretty good duo pitching, my co-founder and me. Without even thinking about it.

Pricing 274

Pricing Metrics Marketing 274

SaaStr

MAY 8, 2024

Let’s jump right into this set of community questions focused on SaaS metrics, growth, and efficiency. What metrics should we expect in this environment? These payback metrics are important for investing. Q: When it comes to GTM efficiency, what are the most important leading indicator metrics? Do zero-cost budgeting.

Metrics 272

Metrics Scale Sales Hiring SaaS 272

Clouded Judgement

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

As far as an expected timeline - typically companies launch their roadshow ~2-3 weeks after filing their initial S-1 (the roadshow launches with an updated S-1 that contains a price range). ”” Benchmark Data The data shown below depicts how the ServiceTitan data compares to the operating metrics of current public SaaS businesses.

Benchmarks 299

Benchmarks Payments Payment Services SaaS Payments 299

Tom Tunguz

JULY 11, 2024

3x as productive as humans, which would parallel mechanical robots, how does a software company price? Building on yesterday’s post , pricing in software companies may change significantly when AI agents become the norm. This would be a significant increase in price, but the value of the software would be much higher.

AI 240

AI Pricing Software Compensation 240

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

Metrics are the key to evaluating success and setting goals, but not every SaaS business should orient itself around the same one-size-fits-all numbers. This flexible mindset creates just the right conditions for embracing evolving business models and new metrics. The Metric Monolith: The Rise and Fall.

Metrics 272

Metrics Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Technical Review 272

User Pilot

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

Dan, a Stanford-trained engineer with experience guiding companies like Intuit, understands how to optimize your product metrics for growth by focusing on retention and building a product users truly value. Understanding the product metrics Let’s have two products – A and B. The key is to go beyond surface-level metrics.

Metrics 105

Metrics Scale Acquisition Retention 105

SaaStr

MARCH 14, 2024

Mobile Subscription Pricing is Flat, Not Up This is interesting. I suspect it’s because of the huge friction in mobile of moving beyond organic price points like $9.99 a month to pricing, especially for the existing base. #3. It’s actually even harder over there. So in many ways, they have to be better.

Mobile 320

Mobile Subscription Payment Features Pricing 320

SaaStr

JANUARY 8, 2025

As Checkr follows usage-based pricing, it’s a transactional business that needs to be managed differently than a typical subscription SaaS model since they only earn revenue when the customer is using the product. The team lacked visibility into key metrics like average revenue per customer.

Revenue 293

Revenue Scale Sales Hiring Compensation 293

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2025

Rep Performance : Dive into individual and team performance metrics. Metrics like time spent in each stage and reasons for lost deals can provide clarity. This includes contracts, pricing approvals, and any legal requirements. Look at quota attainment, activity levels (calls, emails, demos), and conversion rates. If so, why?

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Sales Forecasting AI 185

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 22, 2023

The company’s pricing power at work : limited supply & increased demand pushes prices higher. Looking at some of the inventory metrics (this isn’t a software company!) Metric Q1 Q2 Inventory, $b 4.6 DSI 165 97 Long term supply obligations, $b 7.3 Accounts receivable, $b 4.1

Pricing 246

Pricing AI Business Cloud 246

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Balanced Metrics : While they track traditional SaaS metrics, they also measure customer success indicators specific to the construction industry. This isn’t just about features it’s about understanding where the construction industry is heading.

Construction 251

Construction Scale SaaS Travel 251

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 2, 2025

Companies need to: Ensure secure data handling Maintain clean data for model training Integrate effectively across multiple systems Enable real-time data access where needed Evolution of Business Models The integration of AI is driving changes in how vertical software companies approach pricing and business models: Pricing Strategies Traditional subscription-based (..)

AI 222

AI Technical Review Artificial Intelligence Systems Review 222

SaaStr

DECEMBER 17, 2021

Pricing is one of the most challenging elements to get right for SaaS companies. How much should you charge, and what pricing model works best? In an era of empowered buyers, vendors should take care to remove obstacles from the pricing process or risk losing the customer to a competitor.

Pricing 260

Pricing Scale Retention AI 260

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

The company’s pricing structure, centered around $10,000 average contract values (ACVs), created a problematic middle ground – too expensive for small and medium-sized businesses but not substantial enough to support a partner channel strategy effectively.

Scale 162

Scale Scaling Outsourced Development Sales 162

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Sessions typically focus on real metrics, strategies, and lessons learned, not theoretical concepts. Many vendors offer special event pricing or extended trials, creating additional value. Companies frequently report implementing changes based on SaaStr insights that directly impact their growth metrics within weeks of the event.

Sales Recruiting 195

Sales Recruiting Scale CTO Hire Sales Hiring 195

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 28, 2025

Quarterly Reports Summary Top 10 EV / NTM Revenue Multiples Top 10 Weekly Share Price Movement Update on Multiples SaaS businesses are generally valued on a multiple of their revenue - in most cases the projected revenue for the next 12 months. I created this subset to show companies where FCF is a relevant valuation metric.

Cloud 299

Cloud AI Scale Scaling 299

SaaStr

AUGUST 7, 2023

Learn about the most important SaaS metrics for founders in 2023 with the CEOs of the most metric-oriented company, monday.com, and the founder of SaaStr. For a quick recap on SaaS metrics: What is ARR in SaaS? So now we must be smarter about the most important SaaS metrics because they matter again. The takeaway?

Metrics 245

Metrics SaaS Sales Hiring Finance 245

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 21, 2025

Price undisclosed but sounds like >$300m DataStax acquired by IBM. Price undisclosed but sounds like >$1B M&A has followed an interesting arc over the last ~20 years. Given most software companies are not profitable, or not generating meaningful FCF, it’s the only metric to compare the entire industry against.

Cloud 188

Cloud Pricing Subscription Payment Features 188

SaaStr

JANUARY 23, 2025

You need to: Engage with procurement early – don’t treat them as a rubber stamp Build relationships with 20+ key accounts in year one Get executive sponsorship on both sides Never negotiate price with the business buyer Document clear ROI and business cases Remember: The actual buyer is often not the end user.

Enterprise 244

Enterprise Sales Hiring Scale Outsourced Development 244

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

So when building out your forecast, do the math and work backwards to the top of funnel metrics you need under this 20-20-20 framework. #2 Now back to the final call out from Battery Ventures’ 2021 “State of the OpenCloud”: #4 – The Advantages of Consumption-Based Pricing. The much lower R-squared (0.22

Scale 354

Scale Cloud Forecasting Pricing 354

SaaStr

JANUARY 3, 2021

One question I struggled with a lot in the early days was what price points supported inside sales reps. It was clear to me that our freemium offering, priced at from $0 to $19/month, couldn’t really support a traditional inside sales team. What about a $199 or even a $99/mo price point? But how low can you go?

SMB 337

SMB Pricing Sales Metrics 337

SaaStr

MARCH 18, 2025

This practical, observable metric drove more decision-making than sophisticated dashboards or forecasting models. Trust Was Built Through Admitting Pricing Mistakes Wiz took the counterintuitive approach of quickly acknowledging errors in their pricing models.

Scale 185

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Headcount 185

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

It requires: Distinct products for each tier Different value propositions Separate price points Aligned organizational structures The companies that fail at PLG usually try to treat it as an add-on feature rather than a fundamental business transformation. Making It Work: The Organizational Playbook Want to make this work?

Enterprise readiness 147

Enterprise readiness Enterprise compliance Acquisition 147

SaaStr

OCTOBER 18, 2022

There are so many metrics out there these days on how public SaaS companies are doing. etc, So many metric sometimes it’s a little hard to get a handle on what they all mean. The latest Bessemer Parting the Cloud summarized it all I think with one helpful metric: SaaS multiples are down 75% from a year ago. .

SaaS 71

SaaS Cloud Metrics Pricing 71

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 4, 2020

Let’s cover one today: does the market price efficiently? I correlated the top 7 metrics to the FMG score to see if there was another factor at play across the data set, but none were significant. The market isn’t pricing modern software companies well if pricing them principally on forward multiple.

Software 348

Software Pricing Revenue Retention 348

Buffer Resources

OCTOBER 2, 2024

It should ideally contain everything from organic traffic to PPC competitor research to engagement metrics to help you do a wholesome analysis. Price : Plans start at €16.58/month. You can filter for views per hour (VPH), publishing date, views, and performance metrics. Pricing starts at $4.50/month.

Social Media 115

Social Media AI Search Benchmarks Software Review 115

Buffer Resources

AUGUST 14, 2024

The most important things to consider when weighing Buffer vs. Hootsuite are the following: Buffer vs Hootsuite feature overview Plans and pricing Social media planning and scheduling Social media analytics Social media engagement Teamwork and collaboration Let’s take a closer look at the two tools.

Social Media 111

Social Media Management AI Pricing 111

Tom Tunguz

MAY 16, 2024

Both the companies with negative account retention still see relatively minor account churn : 15-25% account churn at these price points is common. These data points suggest that AI infused software companies’ metrics will asymptote to overall software metrics in time. NDR is almost equal.

AI 300

AI Churn Trends Pricing 300

Tom Tunguz

MAY 23, 2021

While not as hyperbolic an inflation rate as copper or lumber, the price trajectory of early stage cloud startups does result from a similar supply demand/imbalance. 3 of the years saw declining prices. Perhaps these prices are tied to blockbuster IPO markets. Pricing rounds on multiples like public market investing.

Software Review 364

Software Review Venture Capital Cloud Pricing 364

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

As consumer tech growth teams move through this adoption funnel, they evolve their north star metric. This evolution can be described in four stages—each stage with a goal measured by a specific metric. Cost per quality user is the north star metric here. Pricing by design creates friction. Pricing after the “aha!”

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Technical Advisors Scale Compensation 284

How To Buy Saas

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Manage Subscription Billing: Managing subscription billing models can be a challenging aspect for SaaS businesses as it involves keeping track of different pricing structures over different subscription periods for each customer. Key Metrics of SaaS Accounting Standards Several KPIs determine SaaS accounting standards.

Payment Services 52

Payment Services SaaS Payments Payment Solutions Payment Features 52

SaaStr

OCTOBER 30, 2024

And there’s a rough metric you can use to meter this: for each 10% of your company you sell roughly, you’re going to give up a board seat. So if you hit it at the same price as before, tranches are a terrible deal. Nobody has time anymore, but you don’t want them to control it. You have to take their money.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Software Review Investment Startup 312

Clouded Judgement

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Given most software companies are not profitable, or not generating meaningful FCF, it’s the only metric to compare the entire industry against. I created this subset to show companies where FCF is a relevant valuation metric. Revenue multiples are a shorthand valuation framework.

Cloud 144

Cloud Banking Subscription Payment Features 144

SaaStr

OCTOBER 11, 2020

Even though the metrics were very impressive. Investing based on a good deal / cheap price. Not investing due merely to a high price. Almost, at any price in Cloud / SaaS. Now, I just ask the founder what they want in terms of price, terms, etc. Making things up is bad. I shouldn’t have invested in this one.

Investment 363

Investment Startup SaaS Pricing 363

Valuize Consulting

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

I’m talking about new pricing models: usage-based, consumption-based, value-based, output-based, and similar models that disrupt the conventional ARR-based, and seat-count approaches. Beyond their clear advantage of customer-centric pricing, these models are set to drive an AI-powered transformation across go-to-market strategies.

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Pricing Investment Revenue 52