Hey everyone -
There's less than 30 Days Until the start off SaaStr Annual 2023 on September 6, 7 and 8.
Don't Miss Out on the Biggest SaaS Event of the Year!
This year's Annual will bring together an impressive lineup of over 12,000 SaaS CEOs, founders, and investors, eager to share their insights and network with fellow industry leaders just like you.
If you're considering attending SaaStr, now's the time to act as this will be another SELL OUT SaaStr event.
With so many amazing speakers, sessions, and networking opportunities, you'll have everything you need to take your business to the next level. Not to mention the chance to connect with some of the brightest minds in the industry and discover new partnership opportunities.
And the best news? You can still take advantage of our special offer to save 20% on your ticket when you register now – before it's too late!
So, don't miss out on this incredible opportunity! Register now to join us at SaaStr Annual 2023 in the San Francisco Bay Area this September.
We can't wait to see you there!
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Ok here is basically a bible for you for raising venture funding. Trust me. There’s too much advice that is biased, or from the inexperienced out there. Raising venture capital is not a game. But it is a process.
Here’s the insider guides to making it easier:
#1. 5 Things That Can Make a Good VC Pitch Deck … Great.
The differences between good and great.
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#2. 16 Rookie Errors Founders Make Pitching to VCs — And Passing the “20 Minute” Test.
The top errors founders make pitching to VCs.
#3. 9 Tips to Do Better at a Full VC Partner Pitch.
How to handle the final pitch in front of all the partners. At that point, it’s often yours to lose:
4. 10 Things Not to Say During a VC Pitch.
Read this one, and avoid a ton of unforced errors.
5. How to Stand Out to VCs.
The #1 way to stand out and make a difference.
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It’s almost always better to have different sales teams handling different products.
Why? If for no other reason — Incentive Alignment.
Sales reps work on commission, and they are driven almost entirely by what they get the most commission for.
When they sell 2 products, the #2 product almost always gets less attention.
It’s just natural.
If you have 40 hours a week to work, and 50%+ of your comp comes from commission … you’ll put those 40 into what you perceive to make you the most money.
And that’s almost always the most proven, #1 product in the portfolio.
Yes, you can do “spiffs” and such. That will help a bit, but only a bit. A spiff is rarely enough to change fundamental incentives, however.
You can also have a secondary product count materially toward quota retirement. That will help a bit, too. But often, only just enough to hit that portion of quota retirement. After that, the rep will go back to spending most of her time selling the #1 product.
But … this doesn’t mean you should always have 2 sales teams.
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This edition of the SaaStr Daily is sponsored in part by Hubilo
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Webinars are a lot of work, and repurposing that content takes hours, and no one seems to want to own it. Using gen AI, Hubilo Webinar+ with it’s new Snackable Content Hub can create 40+ assets in minutes, including video snippets and video shorts, blogs, social posts, and even ebooks.
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Harry and Jason did their latest deep dive on 20VC the other day and there’s a lot in it.
In Today’s Episode with Harry We Discuss:
1. WTF is Happening At Seed Right Now:
Why does Jason believe seed is more active than ever? Is the pricing of seed rounds impacted since the downturn? Why does Jason believe it is not only not the end of party rounds but just the beginning of them? Why does Jason believe you cannot fail if you have $1M in ARR and an amazing founder? Why does Jason believe that seed investors cannot participate in “hot seed rounds” anymore?
2. Is Series A a Dead Zone:
How does Jason analyze the Series A and B environment today? What has changed in what investors expect and want to see in potential Series A and B investments? What happens to the many companies who raised pre-emptive Series As and have 10 years of runway but no product-market fit? Why does Jason believe founders should offer to give the money back when it is not working? What happens to the Series A and B market in the next 18 months? When does it come back?
3. Growth: People are Too Negative!
Why does Jason believe that growth is more active than many are giving credit for? What are the ARR benchmarks required to get a good growth round term sheet today? Why does Jason believe that VC DD is a load of BS? Why does Jason believe that every VC has fraud in their portfolio? Will they come out?
4. Ring That Bell: IPOs and M&A:
Why does Jason believe 2024 will be an amazing year for IPOs? Why does much of the IPO market rely on Stripe and Databricks? What is needed for an amazing 2024 IPO market? How does Jason evaluate the M&A market in 2024? Will regulation get in the way?
5. Jason Lemkin: AMA:
Why does Jason Lemkin believe this generation of workers will never work hard again? What is the only way for seed funds to make money investing in serial entrepreneurs? What does Jason know now that he wishes he had known when he started investing?”
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Working harder than you want to? A bit frustrated about having to get it all into that release, or hit that plan? I get it. It happens to all of us. But just one thing. If you’re been pushed to work harder, understand if the Why. Is it to do great things? And is it because your boss … truly believes in you?
The reality is, you will be lucky to have 2 bosses that truly care about you in your career.
For real.
Many of us have just 1.
Now, the ones that care, it’s not always easy. Not at all.
They will have your back … and they’ll always stand by you. But … but …
They’ll push you. Especially when you’re not quite going as hard as you could.
And they won’t thank you for just doing your job. Because they’ll see that as tablestakes.
And they’ll even take you partially for granted. Because they know you’ll always show up.
But those bosses that truly care, if you stick with them one way or another, they’ll be in your corner forever.
Need a job, an intro, a reference, a whatever. Usually, they’re there forever.
If you have one of those, at least recognize it’s rare.
And that with that, comes being pushed a bit out of your comfort zone, from time to time.
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This edition of the SaaStr Daily is sponsored in part by Infinicept
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Start earning payments revenue today, get straightforward and transparent pricing, chart a clear path for growth, and your merchants will love you. What are you waiting for?
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It’s hard but it can be done. A few examples:
- Mailchimp was bootstrapped to $1,000,000,000 in ARR
- Qualtrics was bootstrapped to a $6B acquisition
- Atlassian was bootstrapped all the way to … today
- $30B+ Veeva is very enterprise but only spent ~$3m in true venture capital. Close to bootstrapped.
The key is you have to be efficient somewhere. Mailchimp was 100% self-serve and viral enough to acquire customers cheaply. Qualtrics has a sales-led motion, but kept a very tight lid on costs until they could scale. And Atlassian is a classic PLG play, and used partners to do the heavy lifting in sales and enablement.
The stories aren’t all the same. PLG and self-serve aren’t magical. Sometimes, enterprise is more cost-efficient if you have a great sales motion. Sometimes, smaller deals can be more efficient since they close faster. Sometimes, bigger deals are more efficient because you don’t need as many sales reps.
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Ok we’ll keep this page and list updated all the way through 2023 SaaStr Annual on Sep 6-8 in SF Bay Area!!
This is just an early start:
Tuesday, Sep 5: The Night Before Annual
- ChartMogul and Cledara are hosting a pre-Annual cocktail party at one of our favorite spots, Fogbird in downtown San Mateo just minutes from the venue.
Wednesday, Sep 6: Kick-Off Day with The Legends of SaaS!
- SaaStr Annual Happy Hour starts on site at 3:30 in the Cantina on our campus
- SaaStr’s first Wine and Food Festival starts at 5pm! Try some of the best wines from Napa and more and our all time favorite food trucks, dinner and snacks in the Hangers on our campus!
- Greenhouse has a great co-hosted after-party event with HiBob around WorkTech on September 6 at 7 pm PT here.
- Mission Cloud and AWS are hosting a happy hour at the Paul Martin’s just near the campus.
- Plain Sight Capital has an evening of networking, great cocktails, and tasty bites!
Thursday, Sep 7: The Big Party with Cheat Codes and Much, Much More!
- The Big Party with Cheat Codes! Our Big Party always rocks, and we’ve had everyone from Cash Cash to Duke Dumont to Mixmaster Mike. This year it’s Cheat Codes!!
- Consensus is hosting an after-house of Bowling, Bocce, and More at Pinstripes right near the venue from 8pm-10pm!
- Women in Sales is hosting a happy hour starting at 5pm
- Greater Sacramento SaaStr 2023 Happy Hour! SacTo folks, get together at another of our favorite venues here, Wursthall, just minutes from the venue.
Friday, Sep 8: On Site Parties, After Parties, and More on VC and CRO Confidential Day!
- Official SaaStr Beer Garden and Happy Hour! We’ll go from 3pm until they close the place in the Container Park and more!
- Much more coming!
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