The Latest from SaaStr: Top Startup Valuations Are Falling

By Jason Lemkin · Monday, April 18, 2022 | Fundraising, Growth

FT summarized the latest data from 2 platforms trading private shares.  These platforms are used to trade shares in the largest, late-stage startups:

Forge Global, which just SPAC’d / went public itself, found the clearing price for trades for top startups fell 10% in February and another 10% or so in March, after just starting to go down in January.

Zanbato saw Stripe fall 4% in value, perhaps not material, but still interesting, and Hopin fall 40%.

Read the full article: ForgeRock: Top Startup Valuations Fell 19.95% in February and March

By Jason Lemkin · Sunday, April 17, 2022 | Marketing, Metrics

As a founder, I was fired by 3 PR firms.  I was fired for one simple reason:  I demanded results.

The first PR firm fired me for asking for measuring results.  The second PR firm fired me for asking us to drive it up (the score), as it went down.  And the third fired me because they wanted credit for low-scoring PR that I got myself (not them).

Read the full article: A SaaS Founder’s Guide to PR

We’re gearing up for 2022 SaaStr Europa in-person again in sunny Barcelona, at the spacious muchly open air and outdoors convention center by the sea, 7-8 June!!

As part of that, we are (of course) bringing back our Equality, Inclusion, and Balance program to set aside 1,000 no-cost VIP Passes to Europa.

Here's the details on our program and how to apply.

By Jason Lemkin · Saturday, April 16, 2022 | Career Growth & Advice, Hiring

Being a founder is easy.  You just start something.  Grab a smart friend, hop on over to WeWork (when we did that), hit 99 Designs for the logo, and you’re off to the races.

Being a CEO is tough.  You have to convince people to join you.  To drag the troops up the hill.  To invest in you when there’s no logical reason to.  To do the impossible.  You probably haven’t done it before.

Turns out, first-time CEOs are often the most successful.  Because they don’t know it’s impossible. But they are often just awful managers, at least the first time around.

Read the full article: How to Prepare Yourself to Be a Great CEO

By Faith Storey · Saturday, April 16, 2022 | Leadership, Marketing

In 2019, Karl Sun joined us to share some of Lucidchart’s most interesting marketing experiments. Karl co-founded Lucid in 2010 and served as CEO until April 2022. He now serves as Board Chair.

Lucidchart has been recognized as one of the most mature Product Led Growth business models in the market, driving over 700,000 registrations per month, combined with a hyper-efficient B2B business model. It didn’t happen by accident. It happened through experimentation.

Read the full article: A Look Back: “Top Lessons Learned from Our Best and Worst Marketing Experiments” with Lucidchart Co-Founder Karl Sun (Video + Transcript)

WHAT B2B MARKETING LEADERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SEO IN 2022

By Amelia Ibarra

This webinar with top marketing leaders Dave Gerhardt & Mitch Causey is your crash course on B2B SEO essentials for 2022—and beyond.

WIN WITH COMMUNITY-LED GROWTH

By Amelia Ibarra

Today's buyers hear from their peers about what works, before they talk to you or your competitors. It’s time to activate community-led growth.

© SaaStr 2022

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