USIO

JULY 1, 2024

How to Implement a Referral Program: Create a Referral Incentive : Offer existing customers a discount, a free month of service, or other perks for every new customer they refer. Simplify the Referral Process : Make it easy for customers to refer others by providing them with a unique referral link they can share via email or social media.

Payments 306

Payments SaaS Payments Payment Solutions Payment Services 306

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

And some do very in-depth ones with lots of “off sheet” references (i.e., Many do few references checks beyond the CEO, but not all. 1 rough reference isn’t going to stop a deal. Everyone does some background checks, or least they did outside of the Boom Times of late 2020 through late 2021. ones not provided by the CEO).

Investment 262

Investment Leadership 262

SaaStr

JULY 22, 2021

To get that word-of-mouth/viral/refer ral engine going faster. The more you share success with your existing customers — the more they will refer more of their friends to you. If you see 20% or more of your new customers coming from word-of-mouth by $2m-$3m ARR, Things are going really well. Do it for rea l. More on that here.

Sales Hiring 358

Sales Hiring Scale Customer Success Branding 358

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

In my opinion, the most informative and useful SaaS content “speaks for itself” and is well suited for future reference. Just like David Sacks’ SaaS Org Charts talk + slides , this Battery slide on the evolution of PQLs versus MQLs by company stage is a great standalone reference point. #3

Scale 351

Scale Cloud Forecasting Pricing 351

SaaStr

JANUARY 8, 2022

References Really Do Matter Here — from Customers Too if possible. Sometimes, references are just a Check the Box exercise. If they won’t provide a positive reference — that’s a big flag. But even in that case, the products don’t have to be remotely similar. Not here.

Sales Recruiting 290

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Sales Pricing 290

SaaStr

AUGUST 14, 2020

I’ll give you 5 tips: First, ask her for 3 customer references. Second, ask her for references from 3 sales reps she hired. But they don’t learn these skills. Not sure if she or her is great at sales? Call those 3 customers. Ask how the candidate helped their customer. You’ll hear and learn if they can sell.

Sales Recruiting 363

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 363

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2021

Finally, some founders after deciding who can help the most, and how important and big a brand they can get, move on to reference checks. But mostly, reference checks sort of tease at personality fit, which is important. Actual value is more important than brand, but brands are a proxy for some sort of value. And these are important.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital Branding Pricing Investment 360

SaaStr

OCTOBER 12, 2022

He has one terrible reference. Yes, but what about the other 3 great references? True, but it got the journey going. Don’t leave. I’ll pay you $50,000 to stay. A lot of money. But it was time. Don’t hire that VP. The best in startups often break a little glass. Too much is a problem.

Investment 289

Investment Startup Technology 289

SaaStr

MARCH 12, 2024

Do Reference Checks — Thoughtfully VC reference checks are a bit nuanced. A lot of VCs publish today. Blog posts. Read, watch, and listen. Do this enough, you will get a sense of what they are truly like. #5. What will failed founders say? What about folks that never hit the plan? They may give negative feedback on VCs.

Sales 298

Sales 298

SaaStr

MAY 6, 2021

Additionally, after Sandi had checked Kathy’s backdoor references, Kathy asked those references how they felt about Skilljar and Sandi. People’s past accomplishments and references tell you more than their interview. She used her interviews with investors to find out how they really felt about the product and their why.

Sales Hiring 301

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 301

SaaStr

JUNE 4, 2023

A few tells: No CEO-level reference. Please, do real reference checks — and find at least one CEO or boss that says they are truly great. Reference checks are not a waste of time. But they actually aren’t that good. They didn’t really do it. They just worked there. Maybe not everywhere. Zero is an issue.

Sales Hiring 300

Sales Hiring SaaS Interviewing Startup 300

The Daily Egg

APRIL 7, 2020

Mobile optimization refers to optimizing a website specifically for mobile devices. For a long time, responsive design dominated the web as the format of choice for business and personal sites. Now, however, mobile optimization has begun to gain credence as a potentially preferable strategy.

Mobile 59

Mobile Strategy Business 59

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024

The AI even references images in the post. They reference a pasted image & the contents of the image - in this case a schematic of the Initia stack. There are some inaccuracies : the AI references TVL (total value locked) as cash, which isn’t exactly right in this case, but it’s close.

AI Search 237

AI Search AI Generative AI Advertising 237

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2024

If you aren’t sure … then check references. So pick investors: You trust ; that Can help the most. Everything else is secondary. But those two points do encompass a lot of variables. The post Dear SaaStr: How Can I Remove a Troublesome Investor from my Cap Table? appeared first on SaaStr.

Leadership 287

Leadership 287

SaaStr

JUNE 27, 2020

Easy / quick back-door reference checks. Formal reference calls. Typical pre-term sheet diligence for Seed or Series A: A couple of customer calls. Often just 2 or 3. But quickly confirm they love the product. Basic financials and model review. But often only a cursory one. Competitive review — up to a point. Post term sheet.

Software Review 302

Software Review Banking Education Software 302

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Customers you have a bond with will give you positive reviews on G2, become your reference customers, share their success stories, and work together with you on product innovation. This will naturally build trust with your customers. Extending Your Service Window As you scale, you may expand your target audience, even internationally.

Customer Success 290

Customer Success Scaling Social Media Enterprise readiness 290

TechEmpower SaaS

JULY 31, 2023

channels (search, social, viral, new media), cost-efficient distribution We often reference Dave’s work when talking to innovators. Be sure to check out the entire presentation. Conclusion Startup metrics are an invaluable tool for founders and innovators. Focus on building an MVP to gather startup metrics.

Metrics 390

Metrics Startup Scale New CTO 390

SaaStr

MARCH 23, 2024

What will matter is that you don’t squander the leads, that you make them happy, that you learn from them, and that they refer others to you. In the end, it won’t matter too much if your first 100 customers pay you $50,000 in total or $100,000. It will matter, but not too much. But after that, you need some professionals. Often 2x better.

Pricing 289

Pricing Sales Revenue 289

The Daily Egg

JUNE 9, 2020

Recruiting software is commonly referred to as an applicant tracking system (ATS). From the initial job vacancy listing through the employee onboarding process, leveraging software helps you fill vacant positions faster while attracting top-level talent. However, these two terms […].

Software Review 273

Software Review Software Systems Review Onboarding 273

SaaStr

APRIL 1, 2023

We stopped doing reference checks. While layoffs are all across the news today, looking back, July 2021 was the nadir for layoffs. Everyone was hiring everyone, anyone, back in mid-2021. This data from Carta helps illustrate it: So we cut corners. No time, didn’t want to know.

Sales Hiring 314

Sales Hiring Investment Leadership Startup 314

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2022

If a user refers you to a friend, you will want to live up to the expectation of their referral. Nobody wants to refer a service that may not be able to deliver. The Shield: market consensus. If you have a product-led business model, your growth via word of mouth depends on people talking about you.

Scale 309

Scale Marketplace as a Service Advertising Business Model 309

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

It takes time here, often a few years for enough happy customers to refer you enough other happy customers to really matter. Which means once you get 100, then 500 or 1000 customer … there will be enough super happy customers to get a word-of-mouth engine going.

Scale 277

Scale Engineering Acquisition Metrics 277

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 7, 2024

They refer all single-user prospects to a competitor — right on their website. Put the Customer First Fast — Including When It’s Not the Right Fit Mangomint today at eight figures in ARR isn’t just focused on SMBs, it’s focused on the “M” in SMB (much like HubSpot historically was).

SaaS Payments 315

SaaS Payments Payments Payment Methods SMB 315

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

37,400 agencies and web design shops referred a customer to Shopify in the last 12 months. You don’t have to in many cases. Referrals and agencies can really work as channels with SMBs. We’ve seen this with Hubspot as well. What are you doing to really incent agencies, designers, third parties, partners, etc. to promote your app?

Payments 363

Payments Merchant Services Payment Solutions Scale 363

SaaStr

APRIL 15, 2022

Send the reference list, if asked. Everyone is looking for the same thing — but they have different approaches and risks. Ask what more they want to learn. Make it easier on them. The easier you make it on a prospect, the easier it is to close the deal. Send the deck. Send a competitive analysis. Do research.

Startup 344

Startup Investment Sales Data 344

SaaStr

MAY 27, 2023

The latest Carta data summarizes it well: But while raise VC capital has gotten harder, the rough rules in B2B / SaaS haven’t really changed: Seed Round: $10k-$100k a month in revenue Growing 150% annually or more Strong founders, including strong technical co-founder Series A: $2m ARR or more ($1m if in hot space and growing fast) Growing 100%-150% (..)

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Startup CTO Churn 289

SaaStr

JULY 18, 2022

You gotta do reference checks. They won’t succeed, if for no other reason than you won’t backfill them the right way. If you’re not sure how to hire for a role, get an advisor that does. And have them interview your top candidates. But they don’t all have to be perfect. But an ex-boss or two should say they are great. Even if one disagrees.

Sales Hiring 289

Sales Hiring Strategy Interviewing Startup 289

SaaStr

AUGUST 13, 2021

Customer References Re ady to Go. Have 5+ customer references ready to go, on a sheet, on a list. Your Personal References and LinkedIn Ready to Go. This clearly violates the Easy philosophy. They may not bother, and just pass instead. Send them a logo sweatshirt and a big Thank You afterwards. You need to do the same.

Scale 299

Scale Sales Hiring Venture Capital Headcount 299

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 11, 2020

In computing, the terms “master” and “slave” refer to the primary and secondary nodes in a database replication scheme. Master” and “slave” also refer to the gruesome practice of slavery. Master/slave” refers to a relationship between a primary source and its replicas.

Technical Review 289

Technical Review Software Review Systems Review CTO Hire 289

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

His main innovation is to write small notes that cross-reference each other. Then, as new ideas emerge that reference each other, update these notes continually. The son of a German brewer, he published 58 books in 30 years and is heralded as one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century.

Innovation 263

Innovation Startup Pricing Strategy 263

Tom Tunguz

JULY 10, 2022

She refers you to a friend, who buys software from you and then tops up again. ” which leads to a nonchalant upsell: “You’re over your usage and we love that. We should probably increase your contract.” ” The customer is in control. Other stakeholders compliment the champion on a great choice.

Strategy 311

Strategy Sales Compensation Retention 311

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 17, 2023

User Evidence which helps collect high value references, case studies, and more. Other than your own, what app would you never let anyone take away from you no matter what: Asana – our team lives in it and it keeps us in sync. #4. What’s your top “undiscovered gem” — an app you love but others may not have heard of?

Marketing 298

Marketing Scale Mobile Branding 298

SaaStr

MARCH 2, 2023

At this point, customers start referring other customers to you. If your product costs $2,000 a year, that might be around 1,000 customers. If your product costs $20,000 a year, your mini-brand might kick in around 100 customers. Folks talk about you in the industry.

Branding 288

Branding Development SaaS Investment 288

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2021

If you have options, if more than one VC wants to invest in you — do reference checks. It’s not your company anymore at that point. Pick VCs on your board, especially early stage VCs, that you trust. This will go a long way. On the individual partner, not just the firm. Look at the track record of the Series A-B-C VCs you bring in.

Finance 350

Finance Investment Marketing Leadership 350

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Check out this week’s top blog posts, podcasts, and videos: Top Blog Posts This Week: How to Do a Reference Check in 60 Seconds Building a Global SaaS Empire: 5 Bets That Paid Off with Freshworks How to Be a Much Better Sales Executive in About 60 Seconds Salesforce, Samsara, Monday and More: “Layoffs are Over.

Sales Hiring 289

Sales Hiring Scale AI Cloud 289

SaaStr

JANUARY 3, 2022

You have enough reference account s. But the day-to-day operational pain in SaaS companies seems to go away around $10m-$15m in ARR, depending on how each is structured, capital needs, etc. At that point: Your customer base becomes more diverse , and not dependent on any whales.

Scale 341

Scale Sales Hiring SaaS Engineering 341