The Key to Winning the Best Talent? Transparent Comp; Plus Weekly SaaS News and Updates

Hey SaaStr Community,

Hiring has never been easy in SaaS.  In the old days, it was hard just because there weren’t enough seasoned candidates.  Today, it’s hard because there are 1000x more SaaS startups before. It’s always been hard.

But it’s not necessarily harder — it’s just different.  And key to winning the best talent is knowing what they really care about, not just what you think they care about.

Women in Revenue had a great recent 2022 Annual Report you should download here on how things have, and haven’t, changed in the workplace since Covid, The Great Resignation, and more. We've highlighted a few important takeaways.

Women in Revenue: Transparent Comp is #1 in Evaluating Job Offers

So when we last checked in with Snowflake, it was at $850m ARR growing a breathtaking 110%, with 162% NRR.

It hasn’t really slowed down!  At $1.5 Billion in ARR, it’s still growing 102%.  That’s triple-digit growth going into a $2 Billion run rate!  Goodness.

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

We’ve talked quite a bit on SaaStr about Customer Success, and there’s a very specific reason for it.  It’s one of the most non-obvious drivers of revenue growth in Years 3, 4, 5, and beyond of your SaaS start-up.

What we haven’t really talked about is Customer Support.  Basic, reactive, customer support.  Solve the customer problem.  Try to.  Pretend to.  Etc.

So what’s going on with AE comp inflation?  Everyone is looking for a higher OTE, and they’re often getting it.  There are so, so many SaaS companies looking to hire AEs.

But what I’ve seen anecdotally, BenchSights now has data on:  higher OTEs and OTE inflation is coupled with higher quotas.

This year's SaaStr Annual, Sept. 13-15 at the San Mateo County Events Center will feature 3+ days of networking with like-minded founders, SaaS leaders, and VCs.

Why not bring your co-founder, VPM, Head of Sales or CRO with you to experience the biggest SaaS event in the Bay Area, together?

Learn from the best in SaaS as a team!

Starting today, our newsletter subscribers get exclusive access to our limited-time only BOGO sale. 

That's right, you can get all the perks of attending SaaStr, and bring a member of your team, on us —all you have to do is enter the code APRILBOGO before April 15th to secure your discounted tickets. 

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

Carly Brantz scaled marketing at SendGrid to grow company revenue from $5M to $200M. Now as DigitalOcean CMO, she’s focused on marketing to its developer and startup audiences and helping them on their growth journeys. Carly will share lessons learned as a marketing leader – and how simplicity, community, credibility and happiness – provide a powerful platform for growth.

• SaaStr is seeking a Head of Event & Industry Content to own management, some of the sourcing, choosing, slotting, and iterating the core content for SaaStr Annual and SaaStr Europa, as well as our digital events which attract 50,000+ worldwide.

• Alviere is looking for a Director, Sales Engineering to manage diverse team of sales engineering professionals and maintain your technical expertise to engage directly with prospects and work cross-functionally.

543

The Office is Back!! But What Will It Be Like? Jason Lemkin & Justin Bedecarre of Raise.Work

544

People, Process and Product: A Product Leader’s First 90 Days with Notion CPO Madhu Muthukumar

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Marketing to Developers: Why Happy is Our Hack with DigitalOcean CMO Carly Brantz and SaaStr GM & SVP, Marketing Amelia Ibarra

Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts or Spotify

Being a VC isn’t easy

But it’s somewhere between 66% and 95% easier than being a successful founder

That’s why the lack of empathy can be especially galling sometimes

A $500m acquisition is so rare

And yet a $500m round has become so common

Probably that's fine, But it does make you wonder

I know those hot start-ups seem to be lapping you,

Growing faster,

Raising bigger rounds

You should worry

But here’s the thing

UiPath took 10 years to get to $1m ARR.

It’s worth $10B.

Procore took 10 years to take off, only once mobile emerged.

It’s worth $8B.

Etc.

B2B companies, ACV $20k:

“We can’t afford to pick up the phone or respond to chat in real-time”

B2C companies at $150 price point:

“We answer every call and chat in 60 seconds or less”

© SaaStr 2022

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