12 Things You’ll Look Back On in SaaS And Regret; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

To view this email as a web page, click here

Hey SaaStr Community,

A little ways back on LinkedIn and Twitter, we put together a list of things that later, once you are successful, even very successful, you’ll regret. It got a lot of engagement from the SaaS veterans out there, so we thought it would be worth digging in more on each point:

Regrets are different than mistakes. Regrets are things that especially in recurring revenue companies, you’ll look back and say … well, I knew I should have done that at the time, and it wasn’t crazy hard, and it would have helped a lot … but I still didn’t do it.

> 12 Things You’ll Look Back On in SaaS … And Regret

New This Week

Even With Just “Pretty Good Growth”, You Can Build a Unicorn After $10m ARRs

Today, the very best SaaS companies are scaling faster than ever. A hyper-growth company really can get to $100m ARR fast. UiPath did it. But you know what? They didn’t start there.

Some advice on how to get there -->

This edition of the SaaStr weekly is sponsored in part by 8x8

6+ Key Signs a VP Can’t Scale Beyond $5m-$10m ARR

It’s a bit of a bummer that oftentimes, once you finally hire a few great VPs at $1m, $2m, $3m ARR … and they do a great job … that they then don’t scale. They don’t turn out to be the right folks for the next level (as you approach and pass $10m ARR) and beyond.

A few signs to look for -->

The Average SaaS CEO is 43 at IPO

Does “age” even matter anymore for SaaS founders, if it ever did? On the one hand, the Stripe founders became billionaires in their teens. On the other hand, many SaaS founders are on to their 3d or 4th success. SaaS has just been around for a while.

The vast size of Cloud is attracting more founders of all ages -->

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

Q&A: What Would Cause a VC To Try to Force a Founder Out?

Today, the vast majority of traditional South Park / Sand Hill type VCs want the founder-CEO to go the distance, if at all possible. Bringing in “adult supervision” a la Google isn’t part of the core Silicon Valley playbook per se anymore. Also, kicking out a founder CEO is risky. On so many levels. VCs do not want to add risk to their investments.

The answer-->

Catch up on SaaStr Scale with Gitlab, Box and Asana

This week was SaaStr Scale 2021! We had top leaders and Founders from leading companies share their playbooks to $100M and Beyond. Catch up on the content you missed.

Watch now -->

Hot Jobs

•	Zapnito is looking for a SDR Team Lead to be a "player coach," and help develop and grow the SDR function across EMEA.

•	Mindtickle is seeking a Director of Customer Success to maximize net retention, orchestrate and perfect a delightful customer experience throughout the journey and grow a high performing team of trusted advisors.

Latest Podcast Episodes

506

A $100M ARR Pivot from Platform Product to Vertical Apps with Treasure Data's CEO, Kazuki Ohta

507

Shifting to the Next Gear: Proven Strategies to Accelerate Growth with Intercom CEO, Karen Peacock

508

Picking the Perfect Pricing Model that Fits Your Application with HackerOne CEO Marten Mickos

Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Play Music or Spotify

@jasonlk Tweets of the Week

You really can only focus on 1-3 core things

The biggest problem with mediocre hires is they force you to spend so much time on 4-400

How do founders that have never done it before scale to $10m, $100m, $1B in ARR?

They hire people better than them

This is the mistake most Stretch VPs make. They don’t hire folks better & later more experienced than them as their managers

And they hit a wall at the next stage

The root of almost all serious VC-founder conflict is running out of money

If you have board meetings every 60 days, your investors will be actively involved

Every 3 months, they'll be up to speed, but you won't always be top of mind

Never, and your investors will focus on other things

Up to you which path is best, really

Unsubscribe

The Latest From SaaStr: Picking the Perfect Pricing Model That Fits Your App With HackerOne CEO Marten Mickos (Podcast 508 and Video)

Saturday, December 18, 2021

To view this email as a web page, click here Picking the Perfect Pricing Model That Fits Your App With HackerOne CEO Marten Mickos (Podcast 508 and Video) By Amelia Ibarra · Friday, December 17, 2021

12 Things You’ll Look Back On in SaaS And Regret; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

Older messages

The Latest From SaaStr: Picking the Perfect Pricing Model That Fits Your App With HackerOne CEO Marten Mickos (Podcast 508 and Video)

Wishlist: SaaStr Superfans

The Latest From SaaStr: SaaStr Scale: Live, TODAY! Tune into sessions from Box, Asana, Calendly and More

The Latest From SaaStr: 12 Things You’ll Look Back On in SaaS … And Regret

In 2021, We Minted 46 Unicorns a Month; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

You Might Also Like

Witness the AI power for yourself: Join our training LIVE!

Jons Growth Journal Issue #3 - why I'm avoiding short form content, side hustle updates, YouTube Channnel

Alternative to Google Traffic?

Digiday's annual guide to ad-supported streaming services, from the top platforms to marketing spend

♦️ Why your brand needs an enemy to grow faster (and how to choose one)

🕝 24hr trading on the NYSE?

Tomorrow is the last chance to recognize your company's rising leaders

The future is retail media

Take a peek into the marketers’ tech stack, make it easy for customers to find your emails, and more

What makes a winning influencer campaign?