So SaaStr Annual 2024 — the 10th Annual — is coming up fast. Sep 10-12 in the SF Bay Area.  And because it has the highest concentration of SaaS founders and CEO, it also attracts the highest concentration of VCs and tech finance firms of any event. I loved the recent write-up by Lighter Capital... The post Lighter Capital: “We’ve Funded at Least 15 Companies We Met at SaaStr Annual” appeared first on SaaStr ..read more

You say we're in a "downturn"? It's more like the weather Raining in some places, Sunny and bright in many others, Almost too good to be true in a few https://t.co/AL5H7dA4BG — Jason ✨?SaaStr.AI Sept 10-12✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 24, 2024 So just what the heck is going on in SaaS today? There really are... The post How is SaaS Doing Today? For 10% It’s Great. For 20% It’s Still Pretty Good. For the Rest? It’s Tough appeared first on SaaStr ..read more

Dear SaaStr: I’ve Been Out of Sales For 6+ Years. Is It Too Late to Get Back In?  I stayed at home as a parent and then played professional poker for several years. Ok here’s the thing: you have 2 flags already (and staying home for the kids isn’t one of them). Issue #1 isn’t... The post Dear SaaStr: I’ve Been Out of Sales For 6+ Years. Is It Too Late to Get Back In? appeared first on SaaStr ..read more

This Week in SaaS is back! Recorded late last night with Harry Stebbings and Jason M. Lemkin ? Harry’s summary here: Agenda: 1. Wiz: Should they have accepted the $23BN? What went down? 2. Crowdstrike: WTF happens now? Bull and bear case? 3. $1BN in legal tech in a day with Clio and Wiz. Say... The post New This Week in SaaS with Harry + Jason: Wiz Says No, CrowdStrike Will Endure, Clio at $3 Billion, and More! appeared first on SaaStr ..read more

The part of the startup journey everyone likes to talk about is how it’s all up and to the right, but that’s not usually the case. Rebecca Lynn, Co-Founder and General Partner at Canvas Ventures, and Jake Heller, CEO and Co-Founder at Casetext, share the top 10 questions every SaaS founder needs to ask their customers to course correct when facing near-death experiences. Casetext was acquired for $650M in cash, but they, too, faced near-death experiences. Sometimes, you think you have product market fit and try to scale up sales and marketing just to find out you don’t have it. Other times, yo ..read more

So many outside of cybersecurity had barely heard of Crowdstrike before … it took down a big chunk of the Internet the other day. 12-hour timelapse of American Airlines, Delta, and United plane traffic after what was likely the biggest IT outage in history forced a nationwide ground stop of the three airlines. pic.twitter.com/wwcQeiEtVe — Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 19, 2024 But you should have.  Why?  That big miss aside, it’s one of the most incredible SaaS and Cloud leaders out there.  The metrics are breathtaking (even if there may be some short-term challenges n ..read more

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. We all know, we’re living in strange times. Top AI startups are growing 500% a year and exploding A lot of public leaders are struggling Some unicorns are doing incredibly well, while others have stalled and are growing at zero or close to it Founders are struggling with how to deal with these changes, and VCs and executives are trying to decide if companies are worth joining, investing in, or sticking it out with. It’s nuanced. So, let’s look at the nine signs a ..read more

So I caught up by email with a VP of Sales who told me he wasn’t coming to SaaStr Annual this year for the first time. I asked why — what could we do better? Was it us? He said it wasn’t that. It was that his startup “was just growing 15%-20% now, so I’m slowing things down.  I’m not going to travel much anymore.” This is a tough one. Does Slow Growth = Slow Effort?  Is it a Doom Loop? This is a tough issue with no perfect answer that many founders and execs are facing today. If you’re in the 70% or so of B2B startups that are growing more slowly, do you cut the team slack?  You ..read more

Dear SaaStr: What is the best move for a startup founder to make when he talks to a completely rude and arrogant potential investor? Look, I can’t stand this either. But … if you can … Get Over It.  Smile, say Thank You, and Move On. VCs: Are a pretty ego-driven bunch, in part because they themselves are being judged as a number (their returns), and in part because that’s the internal culture at many firms (my cos. are the best ones), in part because many are really smart … and in part because they aren’t the CEO … so they aren’t the ones really creating value, not really; Often talk a ..read more

The world is a different place than it was ten years ago. As an incoming or current CRO or sales leader, you have a whole lot of variables to account for. At this week’s Workshop Wednesday, held every Wednesday at 10 a.m. PST, Salesloft CRO Mark Niemiec shares a 5-step playbook for how to deal with market conditions and execute on your vision successfully. Step 1: Research and Discovery When you join a company as a CRO or sales leader, you want to evaluate the business to understand the organization and how it fits into the broader market landscape. Are you going to stay in that space or bro ..read more