Hey SaaStr Community,

A huge thank you to everyone who attended SaaStr Annual 2023 and made it an absolute ~vibe. We had so much fun across the 3+ days with everyone! 

If you couldn't make it IRL this year, there's a ton of sessions already live on the SaaStr YouTube Channel, and lots of attendee recaps and tags across social to help you catch up on what you missed. 

We hit a bunch of milestones at this year's Annual:

• We hosted more than 10K attendees across 3+ days 
• Indoor/ outdoor festival style 
• 25,000 attendee connections were made
• 3,200 hours of workshops and braindates hosted
• 289 speakers, 52% women, 53% less represented
• 159 sponsors
• 213 zipline rides
• We had attendees from over 100+ different countries(!)
• And 1 really Big Party with Cheat Codes and Anabel Englund

SaaStr Annual will return

SaaStr Annual will officially be back next year, Sept 10-12 2024 at the San Mateo County Events Center for an even bigger, more festival-style SaaStr Annual. 

If you don't want to miss out on being there in-person next year, book your early bird tickets now to lock in your attendance at our best rates possible!

So the other day I looked back at about 25 SaaS seed investments I’d made that had scaled well past $10m-$20m and reflected on the top themes. 

Including — the top mistakes founders make again and again as they cross $10m ARR. Trust me.

Here they are. They are all avoidable:

#1:  Stepping Out of Sales

Ok really this is mistake #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5.  I see way too many founders, in the transition from founder-led sales to their first (or second) VP of Sales, look to get that time back.  This almost never works.  Founders never get that time back.  Instead, how they spend time in sales changes.  You spend more time in the middle of deals, and less at the beginning (qualifiying) and end (closing).  But you still have to do 10+ customer calls a week.  Are you doing that?

#2:  Not Taming the Burn Rate

I know this one may sound obvious, and yet, it’s not.  Way, way too many founders never quite tame the burn rate as they scale past $10m ARR or so.  The teams all get bigger.  You start hiring faster.  It starts to feel more like a “normal” company.  And these additional costs just compound, and stack on top of each other.  Pretty soon, that $300k burn has turned into $800k, and then … it never declines.  It grows to $1m and beyond.  Burn rates never seem to decline unless you take serious, and often radical action.  No matter what the model says.  Whatever you do, at least do a rolling L4M model.

#3:  Getting Less Competitive (Sneaks Up On You)

Once you really start to scale post $10m-$15m, the “internal” stuff starts taking up a ton of time.  Keeping existing customers happy.  Fixing long-standing product gaps and technical debt.  Scaling DevOps and TechOps and FinOps and AllTheOps and HR and Recruiting and the SKO.  Again, you’re finally building a real company.  What can happen with all that internal focus is you lose a little focus on remaining ruthlessly competitive.  Especially if your space is evolving.  You might be the #1 vendor in your niche, but if that niche no longer is quite enough on its own, without more functionality, you can quietly fall behind.  I’m constantly surprised how many founders are less close to the pulse of the competition once things start to scale.

Here’s what I look for to try to get a sense if they’ll perform:

Do they call out top performance with metrics? 

The best reps are often quite precise. E.g., hit 152% of Quota last year, 143% year before, etc. Maybe they are exaggerating, that’s beside the point. The question is, do they love to win and have a history of it? Metrics are a good indicator here.

Have they sold at your core price point? 

This may be a little work, but look at where they worked and see if it’s a fit for your price point. If not, maybe move on.

Are their LinkedIn recommendations solid? 

Yes, of course these can be gamed a bit. But I don’t mind that. That’s part of sales. Most top reps and top leaders have 3+ glowing LinkedIn recs. I just want to see them there. Tablestakes.

This edition of the SaaStr Weekly is sponsored in part by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise 

We think globally from day one and understand how to partner internationally, scale at speed, and deliver localized solutions to meet the needs of markets worldwide. There’s a reason why our companies are trusted by some of the biggest brands in the world.

So Samara is that vertical fleet-and-more-management-and-more SaaS company that has just roared out of the gate since its quiet IPO.  Things did get harder for them about a year ago, but growth has since reaccelerated.  And efficient growth at that.

Fast forward to today, Samsara is at almost $1 Billion ARR growing a stunning 40% — and are now cash-flow positive.

New Bookings Growth Has Re-Accelerated, with Highest Growth in Six Quarters

You can see below Net New ARR has come back and his a new high last quarter, and well above the somewhat tougher times of 12-15 months ago.  That’s even with going profitable. 

Downturn?  Not for Samsara.

Practica put together its guide of the top SaaStr articles to excel at work.  Many are my favorites too, and some you may not have seen.  I think this is some pretty helpful reading here, a good slice of some of the most tactical insights.

Whether you’re just starting out in SaaS or have a successful SaaS startup, founders and startup teams can learn a lot from those who have found success in the industry through its ups and downs. 

That’s why SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin held an “Ask Me Anything” session at this week’s Workshop Wednesday, held every Wednesday at 10 a.m. PST. 

In this Ask Me Anything Part 1, Lemkin answers the questions: 

• Many VCs talk about funding, yet you’re so focused on sales. Why is that?
• When do you know you have a good SDR or AE? 
• How do you build high-quality content that’s consistent and repeatable?
• Do you see any segments getting stronger in the next 12-18 months? 

Let’s find out the answers.

Founder and General Partner of Craft Ventures, David Sacks, shares his perspective on what to expect from SaaS in 2024. Is everything going to be focused on AI? Can you raise a Series A if you’re not “AI SaaS?”

These are some of the questions Sacks and SaaStr Founder Jason Lemkin discuss at this year’s SaaStr Annual.

• SaaStr 686: What the Future of SaaS Holds for 2024 with David Sacks, Founder & General Partner, Craft Ventures, and Jason Lemkin, Founder & CEO, SaaStr              

• SaaStr 685: Why Investors Love SaaS with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin and QED Partner Amias Gerety on Fintech Beat                      

• SaaStr 684: A Deep Dive Into G2, The Power Of AI, Going Multi-Product, And The 2023 Ecosystem  

Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts or Spotify

Over-generalizing, but in a start-up:

First 10 employees looking to do it their way

First 51-100 employees looking to be part of something great

100-500 just don't want to work at a Big Company

501+ want to work at a more nimble Big Company. they just don't know it.

If you've never listened to your sales reps' calls,

Especially the ones that are mediocre performers,

You'll often be shocked what you hear.

3 ways make top returns in Seed VC:

#1. Have the top, top founders pick you

-> In practice, very rare.

#2. Hustle like few have before. Meet 100s and 100s of >good< startups

-> Most too comfortable to do this

#3. Write small checks ($10k-$200k) and squeeze into rounds

© SaaStr 2023

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