The Broken State of SaaS Sales Rep Comp; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

Hey SaaStr Community,

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. 

So Gitlab is the latest SaaS and Cloud leader to do what seems almost impossible.  To grow even faster as it scales.

At $250m in ARR, it was growing a stunning 69%.  Fast forward to today, at $400m in ARR, it’s now growing even faster, at 75% year-over-year.

Wow.  Just Wow.

I recently was in discussions with senior execs at 3 of the top SaaS companies about their platforms and partners.  And all 3 made the same point — their partners can charge for stuff they can’t.  Even if it doesn’t totally make sense.

The same will happen to you as you scale.

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

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This mostly comes into play in smaller scale outcomes and startups that have only raised a round or two.

The journey to $100M ARR may seem like a typical success story in Silicon Valley, but that doesn’t make it simple or easy. But what guideposts can you follow to survive the years it takes to succeed? UserZoom CEO Alfonso de la Nuez and CMO Sophie Chesters have a few suggestions.

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

• Reprise is looking for a Commercial Sales Manager to work closely with Account Executives to ensure we drive business value across multiple stakeholders within organizations throughout complex sales cycles.

• Laika is seeking a Lead Product Designer to partner with designers, product managers, and developers to skillfully execute our product design strategy throughout the product development life cycle.

• SaaStr 589: The Secrets to Working with VC Associates, Scouts, Syndicates....and the True Gate Keepers to Venture Capital with Coelius Capital Managing Partner Zach Coelius and GGV Capital Investor Tiffany Luck
• SaaStr 590: 10 Lessons Learned Along the Path to $100M ARR with UserZoom CEO Alfonso de la Nuez and CMO Sophie Chesters
• SaaStr 591: The Key to Successful Scaling Across Markets, From a Founder Turned VC with OMERS Ventures Managing Partner Harry Briggs

Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts or Spotify

For 4 months, I was the only support rep during European support. I had to just do it myself. From midnight to 6am.

From that pain, I invested in:

Talkdesk

Front

Gorgias

MaestroQA

Invest in your pain

"Given today's multiples, you're looking at a flat round at best."

"We're Figma for _________"

"In that case WE ARE IN!!"

71 Degrees in SF,

Bridges So Pretty

Good Vibes in the City

10,919 at Annual 2022

Not the Same,

But Still Something to the Bay Area

Relatively confident @scottbelskywill be looked back on as that generational leader that transformed Adobe

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