The Latest from SaaStr: You Just Gotta Push Through the Tough Times. It Always Pays Off.

Even lower than they really are. It’s not that they aren’t low. It’s just, especially in the earlier days, there’s so little cash, so few customers, so few teammates … that any body blow feels like it can end everything.

And you’ll almost fail indeed during some low times. But you’ll look back and see you got through those with tenacity and commitment. And actually missed other things that were most important to really worry about.

Near-death / low-time examples:

Running out of money. This is indeed scary as heck. But somehow, someway, the best founders find a way. Many almost run out of money, however. I did.

Losing your #1 customer. This is terrible. But it also teaches you how not to lose the next one.

We’ve talked a ton on SaaStr about how to hire a great VP.  We even have 3 great checklists to make sure you hire right:

• VP of Sales hiring checklist here
• VP of Marketing hiring checklist here
• VP of Customer Success hiring checklist here

Beyond that, there are also a handful of VP personas that CEOs hire again and again … that don’t work out.  A quick list, just to think about before you hire one of them.

This edition of the SaaStr Daily is sponsored in part by SAP

SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition delivers the latest industry best practices and continuous innovation to navigate change in the high-tech industry.

Ironically, it is rarely for missing the plan — at least at start-ups.

Rather, execs and CEOs are fired for (x) hiding that they are missing their plan, and (y) blaming others.

The reality is VCs and board members know externalities do matter. Times get tougher and then easier. And they know the best VPs and CEOs will course correct and go find the help they need to get back on track.

Don’t miss this week’s live Workshop Wednesday with Planday!

These live, interactive workshops are hosted each and every Wednesday with a SaaS expert and speaker, and this week Fred Linfjard, Director of Growth Marketing at Planday will be hosting: “5 Lessons Learned Evolving From Sales-Led to Product-Led Go-To-Market Strategy”

This edition of the SaaStr Daily is sponsored in part by MERGE

Merge’s Unified API allows you to access 150+ integrations across HR, payroll, ATS, accounting, CRM, and ticketing systems.

If you are an early-stage VC, absent fraud, crime, or other truly existential issues … basically you always back the CEO. Or at least, almost always.  There’s really not another choice in many cases, really.

For an early-stage investor, a co-founder break-up is one of the Top 5 Dramas. It happens all the time, unfortunately. You try to avoid it. But it’s too common to not plan for.

You can’t fix this as an investor. You can try to help. You can help bring in a mediator (do this — it does help). You can try to get them to work out their issues (sometimes, if it’s not really a break-up, just drama, this can work).

But after you try to help a bit, you have to just move on. The thing is, the CEO usually is 50%-90% of an early-stage VC’s bet. You try to be supportive, and if possible, help recruit a VP or two to replace the departing founder. But unless the CEO did something unethical, or the other founder is stepping up as the new CEO (this can happen) … outside of those scenarios, the VCs basically have to back the CEO in this scenario.  Who else is there, really?

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