The Latest from SaaStr: The Broken State of SaaS Sales Rep Comp

THE LATEST FROM SAASTR

By Jason Lemkin  · Friday, September 9, 2022 | Hiring, Sales

Back in the day, premium comp for some software sales execs made simple and easy sense.  Traditional software had 90% gross margins, and the classic enterprise sales reps, the best ones, could close a million or more dollars a year.  Paying them 20% all-in on what they closed was easy, a 5:1 ratio.  Close a million, make $200k.  Close two million, make $400k.  More or less.

But the math got tougher as we moved to $400k-$600k quotas, and it got tougher again as OTE expectations went up. 

DEAR SAASTR

By Jason Lemkin  · Friday, September 9, 2022 | Q&A

You have to keep your investors in the loop, but you can't let them take >too much< of your time.

NEW VIDEO + PODCAST

By Amanda Beaty · Friday, September 9, 2022 |   Fundraising, Leadership

Fundraising with a successful VC firm is a huge goal for entrepreneurs, especially in the early stages of the business. But the path to a deal isn’t always as straightforward as it may seem. During an enlightening session at SaaStr Europa 2022, Zach Coelius (Managing Partner at Coelius Capital) and Tiffany Luck (Investor at GGV Capital) share the secrets and lesser-known players in the world of venture capital..

We're super close now to SaaStr Annual 2022. 

Grab one of the last tickets now to experience:

• All 3 days of SaaStr Annual 2022, Sept 13th-15th 
• 200+ sessions, speakers, workshops + content. Full program here. 
• Networking, including 1,000+ Braindates (one-on-ones and small groups 1:4). Braindate networking is OPEN, so register now for immediate access to start networking. 
• Lunches & Happy Hours each day are included in your ticket 
• Access to the Big Party on Wednesday, September 14th with DJ Duke Dumont
• And so much more

GROWTH

By Jason Lemkin · Thursday, September 8, 2022 | Growth

I remember the first time I saw a CEO fire their entire revenue team.

I’d invested in a PLG-first company that was transitioning at millions in revenue to being more sales-led.  And the VPs of Sales and Marketing were … well … pretty good.  But not great.

But a VC on the board was convinced they could do even better.  And after these endless criticisms and complaints, the CEO fired both the VP of Sales and Marketing — at the same time.

And the go-to-market motions … well, they just stopped.  The company hit a wall on revenue growth.

SAASTR ANNUAL NEWS

By Jason Lemkin  · Tuesday, September 6, 2022 | Hiring, Human Resources

Just a small note, but it’s interesting how inflation has hit SaaStr events this year:

• Booth costs are up 26% (!) from 2020, on top of another 10% or so costs in building them outdoors
• Labor costs overall are up about 18% from 2021 Annual
• Internet costs are up about 45%, as just one example

Inflation.  It’s almost everywhere.  It went away for a little while, and we ignored it for the past 6-9 months.  But it’s caught up to us.

SAASTR ANNUAL NEWS

By Amanda Beaty  · Thursday, September 8, 2022 | Blog Posts

We wanted to give a special shout-out to some of our newest sponsors for SaaStr Annual 2022. At the 8th ever SaaStr Annual, ~200 of the best and hottest companies on earth will go BIG as partners/sponsors.

 DEAR SAASTR

By Jason Lemkin  · Thursday, September 8, 2022 | Career Growth & Advice, Q&A

The biggest, simplest lesson I’ve learned:

Truly Great VPs make recruiting, scaling, and hiring 100x easier.

Once you want to grow, the hardest part will be finding good talent. By far. Truly Great VPs just … handle this.

Not that it’s easy. But Truly Great VPs become talent magnets

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