VC Sunday School with Jason Calacanis and Jason Lemkin; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

Hey SaaStr Community,

The other day, I asked Doug Pepper to join us for our podcast and YouTube to talk about where the venture markets really are today.  Doug has done it all, from being the first seed investor in Marketo all the way to being a growth investor in Calendly, Loom, Braze, Lattice, and much more

Here are my 7 key takeaways from my conversation with Doug.

Where Venture is Going, Right Now: A Deep Dive with Doug Pepper, Iconiq Growth

So the last time we caught up with Palantir, they had just IPO’d and were at $1B ARR.  Fast forward to today, and so much has changed.  They’ve now cruised to $2B in ARR, but the world for Cloud and SaaS stocks has changed a lot.

At $2B ARR, Palantir is growing a still impressive 31%.  But at $1B ARR it was growing 49%.  And while its core Defense Business has slowed down substantially for now, its Commercial Business, while just 15% of revenues today, is accelerating.

This edition of the SaaStr weekly is sponsored in part by DuploCloud

Tune in for a deep dive on what’s happening in SaaS, venture and more with  Jason Calacanis, Molly Wood and Jason Lemkin!

So much of classic SaaStr content is on getting that first VP of Sales hire right.  Getting it wrong so often sets you back a year, and burns half your cash.

But the reality is many of you will hire a Pretty Good First VP of Sales.  Just not a truly, truly great one.  And that can be fine either for a while, or if they grow into a great one, forever.

And then I see the same mistake again, and again, and again. 

This edition of the SaaStr weekly is sponsored in part by Reachdesk

It’s a well-proven path.  If you want to get into SaaS sales, start at SDR and knock it out of the park.  There is only one real issue with this path.

CircleCI is a cloud-based continuous delivery platform that helps software delivery teams build, test, and ship changes to their applications. Offering its services as a freemium-based model, CircleCI recognizes driving trials as the cornerstone of a go-to-market strategy for any developer tool. 

Jim Rose, CEO of CircleCI, leverages his experience marketing to software developers to discuss the merits of moving from a subscription-based to a usage-based business model.

• SaaStr is seeking new team members! We're hiring in Sales, Marketing, Event Content, and Customer Success. If you're ready to help us grow the SaaStr community, see all the opportunities!

• Appcues is looking for a passionate, curious, and collaborative leader to head our growing Product teams. As our VP of Product, you will own all things product strategy, helping us scale from a single- to a multi-product company.

553

10 Things You Can Do Today To Grow 10x Faster With SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and Boast.ai Co-Founder Lloyed Lobo

554

The Builders and Sellers Playbook: Proven Models that Help GTM and Product-led Teams Scale with CircleCI CEO Jim Rose

555

Secrets to Building a High-Performing Revenue Marketing Engine with Demandbase VP of Marketing Tracy Kraft

Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts or Spotify

I’ve been in SaaS from ‘05-‘22

From ‘05-‘20, it was clear as a VC, you could only truly make money from the very, very, very best investments

Then in 2H’20-‘21 it seemed like everyone could be a unicorn, and somehow, the rules had changed

Now we know the rules didn’t change

2021: "We're mainly only interested in Sequoia and Andreeseen"

2022: "Your fund, while new to us, sounds pretty impressive!"

If anyone told me SaaS companies >really< had to be valued on free-cash flow like I never would have done any of this

Sign of a great cofounder:

You look forward to catching up at the end of every day

© SaaStr 2022

255 Kansas, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94103

If you'd like to stop receiving the SaaStr Weekly, click here