What First-Time CEOs Should Know About Fundraising; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

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Hey SaaStr Community,

Fundraising … It is sales.

It is selling stock.

And sometimes, it’s easier than other times. For many, 2H’20-’21 was the easiest time. At least, for those with a hot hand. Right now, things are harder for just about everyone. So it’s time to up your game. And be even more careful about who you take advice from. Those who had it easy will give you some wrong advice. And those that think the sky is falling, will do. As will those with positive and negative VC experiences.

11 Things All First-Time CEOs Should Know About Fundraising

READ MORE

5 INTERESTING LEARNINGS FROM BOX AT $1 BILLION IN ARR

5 INTERESTING LEARNINGS FROM MOMENTIVE AT $500,000,000 ARR

So I’ve been waiting for this milestone for some time, ever since 2014, when we wrote in TechCrunch that Box would eventually get to $1B in ARR. It was just a matter of time.

And now we’re here!

Box is now crossing $1B in ARR. In fact, it’s growing the fastest at $1B ARR it has in quite some time, with its all-time highest NRR ever!

THE LEARNINGS

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

NEVER QUIT IF

Almost all of us go through some tough times in SaaS. And other times that are not quite tough, but just … hard. It’s hard to be a founder, to be a CEO. It’s hard to grow, but not at a high rate. It’s hard to be a VP of Sales and every month, every quarter, you have to do better than the last ones.

Sometimes, you might even think it makes sense to just quietly quit. Or retreat and give up on growth. And maybe it does.

BUT NOT ALWAYS

Q&A: I JUST RECEIVED A $1M INVESTMENT FOR MY 3-YEAR OLD INDUSTRIAL SAAS PRODUCT TO SCALE. WHAT SHOULD I DO FIRST?

$1m isn’t enough to scale anything, at least not in the U.S., and probably not anywhere.

To hire a true sales & marketing team, you’re going to need about $3m-$4m.

But … $1m can help you do what you are already doing that is working a little bit — and do that better, with less stress.

SOME BASIC TIPS

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES: THE WHAT, WHO, WHY, WHEN & HOW WITH VENAFI HEAD OF COMMUNITY HOLLY FIRESTONE

How do you build a flourishing community around your SaaS business? How can you get your audience excited enough to contribute, and how can they derive value from the community? Holly Firestone, Head of Community at Venafi, taps into her impressive experience in building communities to share the secret to success.

WATCH NOW

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