So Bloomberg and CB Insights have the latest data out on start-ups getting acquired,

and 2025 is off to a record start.  

Wiz’s record $32 Billion acquisition by Google pushes the dollar value to a record, but you may have also missed there were 11 VC-backed $1B+ exits already in 2025, worth $54.5 billion altogether, per Bloomberg. And 37 over the past 12 months, which is twice the prior 12-month period.

Now 37 is way up but it isn’t a record. Per Crunchbase, there were a stunning 211 (!) billion+ exits for U.S.-based start-ups just in 2021!

Hey SaaStr Fans,

The biggest SaaS + AI event of the year is almost here. 

Join 12,500+ SaaS leaders, VCs, and founders for 3 days of tactical content, hands-on mentorship, and networking that will help you scale to $100M ARR and beyond—with less stress and more success.

• 10,000+ SaaS + AI leaders.
• Legendary speakers from Snowflake, HubSpot, OpenAI, Canva, and more.
• Unmatched networking, fundraising, and deal-making.
• New AI Demo & Pitch Stage—your chance to win up to $5M in funding!

Don’t miss your chance to lock in your tickets with an insider discount.

Up Next: Wednesday, March 26th @ 10AM

Topic: AI is Already Remaking SaaS. 10 Trends To Watch Right Now. And Not Fall Behind On.

Speaker: Jason Lemkin, CEO and Founder at SaaStr

Workshop Wednesdays is our weekly series where we’ll be bringing some of the best SaaStr speakers to you LIVE, every Wednesday. 

Each workshop will be hosted in a live, interactive 30-minute format at 10am Pacific each and every Wednesday. This workshop will be 100% LIVE, not pre-recorded, and will be hosted in an, interactive 30-minute format, including Q&A.

So what’s the real bar to raising a Seed, Series A or Series B round today?

Christoph Janz of Point9 Capital came to SaaStr Annual to do a deep dive.

Who is Christoph Janz?

Christoph Janz isn’t just another VC – he’s been spotting and backing SaaS winners for over a decade as Managing Partner at Point Nine Capital. If you’ve used Zendesk, Algolia, Contentful, or Loom, you’ve experienced the impact of his investment thesis firsthand. Some fun facts:

• 10+ years of SaaStr conference attendance
• Partner at Point Nine Capital, a leading early-stage VC firm
• Geographic reach: Actively investing across Europe, US, and Australia
• Notable portfolio: Zendesk, Algolia, Contentful, Loom (and many more)
• Known for his “five ways to build a $100M business” framework

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

TiDB Cloud delivers robust multi-tenancy, effortless scaling, and AI-readiness — all in one dynamic platform. Learn More

A new VP of Sales can add value immediately by focusing on a few critical areas that drive results and demonstrate leadership from day one:

1. Assess and Support Top Performers: A great VP of Sales will immediately identify the top-performing reps and double down on them. They’ll make sure these reps have the resources, leads, and support they need to succeed. At the same time, they’ll start addressing underperformers—either coaching them up or moving them out. If they’re not making these moves early, it’s a red flag .
2. Close Deals Themselves: In the early days, a VP of Sales should be closing deals. They need to learn the product, the sales process, and the customer firsthand. This builds credibility with the team and accelerates results. If they can’t sell the product better than anyone else on the team, they’re not the right hire .
3. Optimize the Existing Pipeline: Even with the same leads and processes, a great VP of Sales can find ways to improve. This could mean running better demos, asking for higher deal sizes, or simply being more aggressive in closing. You should see a lift in pipeline metrics and closed deals within one sales cycle if they’re doing their job well.
4. Recruit Top Talent — Even Before You Start: The best VPs of Sales don’t just manage—they recruit. They’ll bring in 2-3 top reps they’ve worked with before, people they know can deliver results. If they don’t bring anyone with them or haven’t hired stellar reps within the first 30 days, that’s a serious warning sign.

A great VP of Sales will make their impact felt almost immediately.

For a VP of Customer Success (VPCS), their “quota” or ownership should revolve around two key metrics: Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Retention Rate (GRR).

NRR is the North Star metric for customer success—it measures how much revenue you’re retaining and expanding from your existing customer base. Top-tier SaaS companies aim for 120%+ NRR, meaning they’re growing revenue from their existing customers by at least 20% annually through upsells and expansions. GRR, on the other hand, is the floor—it shows how much revenue you’re retaining before upsells. A strong GRR (80-90%) ensures your base is solid, and you’re not just masking churn with upsells.

The VPCS should also own time-to-value (TTV)—how quickly customers realize ROI from your product.

A shorter TTV means happier customers and faster expansion opportunities. And finally, they need to drive customer advocacy—turning your best customers into references and case studies. This isn’t just about NPS scores, it’s about creating “pound-the-table” advocates who will vouch for your product in the market.

For a VP of Product (VPP), their “quota” is generally less about direct revenue metrics and more about product adoption and stickiness.

They need to own metrics like DAU/MAU ratios, feature adoption rates, and churn reduction tied to product improvements. If customers aren’t using the product daily or adopting key features, you’ve got a problem. The VPP should also be responsible for delivering on the product roadmap—not just shipping features, but shipping the right features that drive retention and growth. A great VPP will also align closely with the VPCS to ensure the product is solving real customer pain points and reducing churn.

In short:

VPCS Quotas: NRR, GRR, TTV, and customer advocacy.

VPP Quotas: Product adoption, feature stickiness, churn reduction, and roadmap execution.

Both roles need to be single-threaded leaders, fully owning these outcomes. If they’re not hitting these metrics, it’s a clear signal something’s off. And just like with a VP of Marketing’s lead commit, these quotas create accountability and alignment across the team. Without them, you’re flying blind.

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

Download the guide to learn the key factors that'll help you decide whether building or buying native integrations is the best option for you.

As we’ve talked about before, the great thing about SaaS is it compounds. Once you have something, it builds on itself. But it takes time. It takes 7-10 years to build something real. And probably 20 years to build something for the ages in SaaS.

If you are reading this, you’re probably up for that 7-10+ year commitment, assuming you’re fortunate enough to get there.

But what about your prospective co-founders?

Are you all sufficiently committed enough to make it in SaaS, over the extended term?  You guys can talk about it.  And say all the right things.

Per Carta, 25% of co-founders leave at least by Year 4.

Not you?  Here’s the thing: do you know for sure? As Mark Suster wrote a while back, the #1 thing founders privately tell him is they got this wrong. They thought they had a cofounder that would stay and go the distance.  But they were wrong.https://www.saastr.com/a-simple-commitment-test-for-you-and-your-co-founders/

So I’ve got a simple test for you. For you and your co-founders in SaaS at least, do this with your founder stock:

• An 8-10 year vesting schedule (not the traditional 4), with
• A 1 year cliff starting 12 months after you close seed funding, or launch of MVP — whichever comes later.  (I.e., if you leave before those 12 months, you leave with 0 shares.  Zero).
• No vesting at all for all the hard work you’ve already done prior to that cliff.  None.
• With full acceleration / 100% vesting if terminated after an acquisition (so-called “double trigger”).

The latest SaaStr CRO Confidential is out and Sam Blond did a great deep dive with Graham Mareno, VP of Worldwide Sales at Codeium.  I really liked this one and wanted to write up a few more learnings.

Codeium has emerged as one of the hottest AI startups, growing from 30 to 150 employees in just one year, with a valuation already exceeding $1 billion.

What makes this growth story particularly fascinating is how quickly their go-to-market (GTM) organization scaled from just 3 people to 75 in less than a year. Let’s unpack the key strategies that drove this remarkable expansion.

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