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Dear SaaStr: What Was Your First Step When You Decided to Do a Startup? Lemkin get the idea for his first startup? The post Dear SaaStr: What Was Your First Step When You Decided to Do a Startup? For me, both times, it was to find my co-founder. It was really all her. I never had any interest in starting without one.
The Traditional “Triple, Triple, Double, Double, Double” Rule is Dead for AI Startups If you’ve been in SaaS for a while, you know the classic growth rule of thumb: “Triple, Triple, Double, Double, Double.” But here’s the thing – AI startups are breaking this model entirely. Harvey hit 10x.
Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Startup Costs That You Didn’t Anticipate? A related post here: Even A Slightly Too High Burn Rate Can Get Out of Control The post Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Startup Costs That You Didn’t Anticipate? And how much that dramatically drives up the burn rate and cost of doing business. Dramatically.
Dear SaaStr: How Do You Evaluate Startups for Seed Investments? The post Dear SaaStr: How Do You Evaluate Startups for Seed Investments? Here are our criteria for SaaStrFund.com : Are both the CEO and CTO insanely good? Better than I was as a founder? Are they committed to this market and journey for a decade or more? It’s hard.
The landscape of startup financing is changing. One of the most important job requirements for a startup CEO is being diligent about financing growth while navigating the ebbs and flows of business. Learn why SaaS founders are turning to debt capital options like revenue-based financing.
Dear SaaStr: At What Point Should a Startup Hire a Salesperson? Much more here: The post Dear SaaStr: At What Point Should a Startup Hire a Salesperson? Only once you have closed 10 customers yourself. Never before. After 10 you will know. Youll not only know how to actually pitch, sell and close your product.
Dear SaaStr: If a startup is at $1.5M The post Dear SaaStr: If a Startup at $1.5M ARR and is looking to hire an experienced COO how much equity should they give him/her? I think $1.5m ARR you should still be the COO. Go find them. And stop wasting time on an idea of a magical “COO” too early. appeared first on SaaStr.
The post Battery Ventures: Startups Are Actually Far More Overvalued Now Than in 2021 appeared first on SaaStr. There’s just not enough IT budget otherwise. We’ll see! A related post here: The Cloud Bubble Lasted About 18 Months. How Long Will the AI Bubble Last?
Dear SaaStr: How Much Money Have VCs Lost on Startups In the Past 5 Years? Dealroom data from here The post Dear SaaStr: How Much Money Have VCs Lost on Startups In the Past 5 Years? Im going to estimate about $200-$300 Billion of losses. Not all realized yet, but about that much. Why $300 Billion? appeared first on SaaStr.
Download Lighter Capital's Startup Finance Playbook to learn more. The capital choices you make will have a lasting impact on the trajectory of your company. Knowing the right questions to ask and how to compare your options is vital to making the best decisions.
Dear SaaStr: Should SaaS Startups Really Have CROs or COOs? Theres no way a SaaS startup needs a CRO or COO or other C-level Officers Without a Clear, Single Functional Area to Own Until $40m-50m+ in ARR. image from here ) The post Dear SaaStr: Should SaaS Startups Really Have CROs or COOs? Is That Too Many Management Layers?
The post Dear SaaStr: What Is The Shortest Time It Took for a Startup to Go From Launch to IPO? But a useful metric to understand nevertheless. More on that data here: It’s Taking Longer and Longer to IPO. Years Or More For The Next Batch. appeared first on SaaStr.
The post Lightspeed VC: 100% of Startups See $250k+ Deals Take Longer Than 6 Months to Close appeared first on SaaStr. It was also helpful to see that respondents said 53% of $100k deals close in less than 3 months. A related post here: Dear SaaStr: How You Deal With Long Sales Cycles, E.g. 7-8+ Months?
Dear SaaStr: What is it like to be pitched by startups as an investor? There is no point IMHO in meeting any startup you dont think you would potentially invest in. The post Dear SaaStr: What Is It Like to be Pitched by Startups as an Investor? This is 80%+ of the investments Ive done. These are also a great use of your time.
Speaker: Brian Chang, Managing Director of Warburg Pincus & Scott Schwan, Chief Product Officer of A-LIGN
Scaling your SaaS business to the growth stage requires a strong product/market-fit, an optimized marketing funnel with repeatable sales processes, and a strategy for customer retention. But how do you truly get to that coveted phase of continued growth and profitability?
Lemkin Change his Point of View on The Value of a COO for Earlier Stage Startups? Lemkin Change his Point of View on The Value of a COO for Earlier Stage Startups? Dear SaaStr: Why did Jason M. I try to work with (and invest in) CEOs that are better than me. they all failed or came up way short. appeared first on SaaStr.
When talking to startup founders or other innovators, we always ask questions to better understand their business as a core. Conclusion Startup metrics are an invaluable tool for founders and innovators. Focus on building an MVP to gather startup metrics. What does the business do? How does it meet customers’ needs?
What does it mean to be a CTO for a startup? Should a startup CTO spend their time programming? Here’s a graphic from Socal CTO that illustrates the roles as they change over time: In its earliest days, a startup’s top need is often to produce a product. What does the role demand? Exploring new technologies? It might be.
Dear SaaStr: What Factors Do Investors Consider When Deciding to Exit a Startup? A deep dive in this convo with Dave Kellogg: The post Dear SaaStr: What Factors Do Investors Consider When Deciding to Exit a Startup? Investors rarely get to choose. Founders and the CEO make the decision to exit. appeared first on SaaStr.
If you’re like many SaaS startups, billing and payment management is a big challenge. With this playbook, we’ll show you how to implement an AR management process to handle late payments, subscription renewals, and other recurring billing functions.
Most startups play defense when discussing pricing with customers. Startups operate in newer markets where pricing standards haven’t been set. But throughout this turmoil, startups must adopt a process to craft a good pricing strategy, and re-evaluate prices periodically, at least once per year. AWS, Twilio, Heroku, etc.
This helps your startup stay agile and competitive in a fast-paced marketplace. A Fractional CTO bridges the gap between founders and developers to help keep your tech strategy aligned with your business goals.
So Emergence Capital put together a great report here on B2B startups, “Beyond Benchmarks 2024” , with a ton of great data across 664 software startups. One piece I loved is how 2023 growth rates compared to 2022 for Top Quartile Software Startups. From $5m-$20m ARR, top quartile startups are growing 58%.
But for many startups, the hangover from the Excesses of 2021 is a real and tough one. Startups shutting down are up 238% this year — already. So, so many SaaS startups got funded in the Boom, and they just can’t all make it. And the latest Carta data here supports that. Now it sort of has to be that way.
Included in our SOC 2 starter pack: Boosting your startup with SOC 2. This SOC 2 starter pack will help you take a few, manageable steps now in order to avoid major headaches later. Don’t put it off – get started today. The SOC 2 examination process. Top tips for effective audit prep. SOC 2 readiness checklist.
What drives the acquisition market of startups? It’s the big deals. In the last decade, the total number of venture backed software M&A by count has remained relatively constant. The black line shows the linear trend across US venture backed companies with disclosed values of $50m or more.
The post Maybe Only 10%-15% of VC Backed Startups Can Raise Another Round Right Now appeared first on SaaStr. And at the growth stage, top decile may not even be enough to raise another round. Ask your existing investors. They will know. More on that here: Are You Fundable in 2024? Just Ask Your Existing Investors. Just Ask Them.
Suppose you’re a startup in a competitive market with a large incumbent who owns the system of record - the software that runs the sales team or the support team or the marketing team. In the last decade, startups have chosen to identify a feature or workflow to improve & leverage that wedge into an advantage. How do you win?
SaaS products and services like Pilot track the finances of 1,000s of SaaS and other startup so they’re an interesting source of hard data. Something that’s both not surprising but also pretty impactful: 57% of venture-backed startups will have to go “back to market” in 2024 to raise more capital. Carpe Diem.
For the first time, we’re sharing the winning plays that took us from scrappy startup to a publicly traded company. Hit your number with 100 Pipeline Plays. Use our proven data-driven plays to grow your pipeline and crush your revenue targets. Close more deals with these winning plays!
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.
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.
Dear SaaStr: In B2B Startups, How Useful is Cold Calling? The post Dear SaaStr: In B2B Startups, How Useful is Cold Calling? Look, I hate getting those calls. Especially the really pushy, dumb ones from SDRs that barely know their own products. Do those work? I don’t know. But we aren’t always our buyers.
So I firmly you believe you can build an incredible SaaS startup from anywhere now, or at least, any major-ish tech center. Of Pre-Seed Rounds Are to California Startups per Carta appeared first on SaaStr. See, e.g., Atlassian, Canva, Cloudflare (CEO now in Park City), Adyen, etc. Heck, Oracle apparently is moving to Nashville!
Whether you're an established firm or a startup, these insights will help you make informed decisions, ensuring your payment strategy is not only profitable but also in sync with your long-term goals. This guide is crucial for identifying potential pitfalls and aligning with the right partners.
More at the full report here : The post SaaS Capital: Across 1,500 SaaS Startups, Yearly Contracts Don’t Actually Increase NRR appeared first on SaaStr. You start to go upmarket, you get better at sales and upsell, and you start to add more value, and learn to close bigger customers and make them happier.
Parker Conrad, founder CEO at Rippling, has done a great job including at SaaStr Europa talking about building compound startups. Answers from the CEOs of Twilio, Veeva, Amplitude, HubSpot, Gainsight and More The post The #1 Biggest Issue for SaaS Startups In The End appeared first on SaaStr. We can’t all be Rippling.
Dear SaaStr: Does a SaaS Startup CEO Need to Have Sales Skill? The post Dear SaaStr: Does a SaaS Startup CEO Need to Have Sales Skill? Yes, if you have customers that talk to humans. Possibly no, if you only have “users” and/or are a freemium + no-touch model. But if you build Snowflake or Datadog or Box, you have to get good at it.
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.
Speaker: Laura Klein, Principal at Users Know and Author of UX for Lean Startups
Laura—principal of Users Know and author of Build Better Products and UX for Lean Startups—has over 20 years of experience helping companies innovate responsibly and improve their product development processes. Join UX designer and product management expert Laura Klein for a no-holds-barred Ask Me Anything session on UX design.
Dear SaaStr: When You Sold Your Startup, What Were the Downsides? The post Dear SaaStr: When You Sold Your Startup, What Were the Downsides? When you sell: it’s not yours anymore; and your upside is capped. Start with Challenge #1. Ask yourself 4 “Are You OK With” questions: The name being changed? I was the first time.
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.
Dear SaaStr: When Should a CEO Tell Startup Employees That The Company Is Going Under? It’s more common these days than in the past, given all the explosion of capital in 2020-2021 … into startups that aren’t going to make it. Everyone knows in a startup, even a big one. But they know when things are … off.
Note I did take out a few that would have made the list but were a bit dated etc: #1, 279,000 Views: “How To Perfectly Pitch Your Seed Stage Startup With Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel: Ycombinator is pretty popular #2. So if you want to catch up, here are The Top 10 Most Popular SaaStr YouTube Sessions of All Time.
Join Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Predictable Revenue Collin Stewart to learn how to use this formula to fast-track your startups’ growth journey. Sales effectiveness = Product Market Fit*(Messaging + Channels + Tactics).
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