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Browse: Home / Early

Early

Is Growth Bad for Startups? Feat. Think3 (Video + Transcript)

Is Growth Bad for Startups? Feat. Think3 (Video + Transcript)

By Jason M. Lemkin on January 31, 2019

Alex Western, Managing Director at Think3, talks about the problem he has seen consistently across SaaS startups that have VC funding – overgrowth. Overgrowth normally happens because of misalignment in VC initiatives and founder initiatives. Because VCs want to make 15x on their investments, founders aren’t realizing that overgrowth is actually dangerous for their companies. […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged Blog Posts, Early, Fundraising, growth, saastr europa, scale, videos

9 Things First-Time Founders Get Wrong About The Journey

9 Things First-Time Founders Get Wrong About The Journey

By Jason M. Lemkin on January 9, 2019

Want to start your own SaaS company? Do it.  It is hard, harder than you can imagine.  But if you do it right, and for real — it can last 30+ years. If you haven’t done it before, though, here’s my list of the top 9 things founders get wrong before they start: It almost […]

Posted in Business | Tagged Blog Posts, Early

From Burn-Out to $100M in ARR with Jason Cohen of WP Engine (Video + Transcript)

From Burn-Out to $100M in ARR with Jason Cohen of WP Engine (Video + Transcript)

By Jason M. Lemkin on January 8, 2019

Metrics are important, but so is making the tough, gut-wrenching decision to part ways with a key employee. Product strategy is important, but a fixation on the competition is counter-productive. A successful exit can set you up financially, but how do you avoid the fate of (statistically) the majority of founders who become sad and […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged Career Growth & Advice, Company Culture, Early, Featured Videos, hiring, Human resources, leadership, Other, SaaStr Annual, saastr events, scale, videos

5 Traits to Look For When Hiring An Early Marketing Team For Your Startup

5 Traits to Look For When Hiring An Early Marketing Team For Your Startup

By Jason M. Lemkin on April 11, 2018

As the CRO at SaaStr, I am doing a lot of hiring these days! A lot. And that means spending countless hours skimming through resumes, taking phone screens, and meeting candidates in person. Quick shameless plug–seriously, I am hiring for a lot of people, so if interested in working at SaaStr–check out our open jobs […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged Early, hiring, Hiring & Retention, marketing, Marketing & Partnerships, marketing hires, saas-startups

The One Best, “Secret” Hack to Getting Venture Funding

The One Best, “Secret” Hack to Getting Venture Funding

By Jason M. Lemkin on January 11, 2018

I am fairly confident there are at least 10,000 Medium posts, 20,000 WordPress articles, and over well over 1,000,000 Tweets on How to Get Funded. It bores me personally, but I know it’s an important topic.  Raising money for many CEOs is one of the their top 5 priorities.  Without venture capital, I’d be nowhere.  […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, venture capital

The Two Things to Do.  When You Don’t Know What to Do.

The Two Things to Do. When You Don’t Know What to Do.

By Jason M. Lemkin on May 15, 2017

There may come a time, or two, in your company when you just don’t know what to do. You aren’t growing fast enough.  or The competition seems to be getting the best of you.  or You can’t raise financing.  or You just lost an important deal.  Or maybe more than one.  or That great new […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Customer Success, Early, growth, Sales & Customer Success

One Tough (But Rewarding) Job:  Being the First Sales Rep at a SaaS Startup

One Tough (But Rewarding) Job: Being the First Sales Rep at a SaaS Startup

By Jason M. Lemkin on May 9, 2017

Ah, the first sales rep. Being the first salesperson into a start-up in a rewarding — but very tough job: Your Founder Boss likely will never have managed a salesperson before. She likely won’t know what you are supposed to do 40+ hours a week. Your Founder Boss may have strong views on what you […]

Posted in Business | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Building a Sales Team, Early, Hiring & Operations

Last Minute Tips & Tricks for The SaaStr Annual!

Last Minute Tips & Tricks for The SaaStr Annual!

By Jason M. Lemkin on February 6, 2017

It’s almost here.  The 2017 SaaStr Annual. Just a few extra last minute tips: It Will Be Packed.  We’ll have ~10,000 nominal attendees which realistically means about 5,000 on-site at any given time at the Bill Graham (not everyone will be there at all times, etc).  The Bill Graham is a super fun venue, the […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, exit, growth, scale, The Journey

The Top 10 Worst Pieces of SaaS Advice

The Top 10 Worst Pieces of SaaS Advice

By Jason M. Lemkin on January 18, 2017

Advice is very context sensitive, so take this post with a grain of salt. But for me, it’s “Blue Monday” … so I thought I’d take a stab at the Top 10 Pieces of Classic SaaS Advice … that in my experience at least are usually Just Plain Wrong. The advice and thinking that leads you […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, exit, growth, Sales & Customer Success, scale

A Newbie’s Guide to Dreamforce.  Hint:  You Can Go For Free.  And You Will Learn at Ton.

A Newbie’s Guide to Dreamforce. Hint: You Can Go For Free. And You Will Learn at Ton.

By Jason M. Lemkin on September 30, 2016

Next week is the largest SaaS event on Planet Earth:  Salesforce’s Dreamforce.  (The SaaStr Annual ’17 will be #2).  I’ve been going since 2005, from ’06-’11 as a vendor, and ’12-today as a participant / speaker / etc.  I went first in ’05, when I knew nothing about SaaS.  Back then, I think it just […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged #df16, 1 - Stage, Early, scale

4 Tips To Earn Respect as a Young CEO

4 Tips To Earn Respect as a Young CEO

By Jason M. Lemkin on June 21, 2016

While age ultimately doesn’t matter — results do — in SaaS, starting off as younger-than-average can create stress in a sales and customer-driven environment. But Aaron Levie started Box at 19, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates dropped out at 19-ish, you know all this. Some some hacks: Start with SMBs. It’s easier to get taken seriously, […]

Posted in Business | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, Getting Going, saas-startups

Don’t Let Them (Your Best Employees) Go

Don’t Let Them (Your Best Employees) Go

By Jason M. Lemkin on May 26, 2016

Now that a handful of next-generation SaaS companies have IPO’d, you can start to see the turnover more viscerally that you can observer at quieter, privately-held start-ups.  You see the VPs moving on.  6-12 months after almost any IPO, and especially after one that doesn’t create a slew of millionaires … folks leave.  It’s a […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, growth, Hiring & Operations, scale, The Journey

The Lead Plateau You May Hit Just As It Gets Good.  How to Plan Around It.

The Lead Plateau You May Hit Just As It Gets Good. How to Plan Around It.

By Jason M. Lemkin on May 16, 2016

Many SaaS companies hit an “organic lead plateau” at several phases: When you get Really Big, at some point, every company in the world is an Opportunity.  Box, Salesforce, etc. really don’t have many new opportunies to hit up.  Instead, they have to work them better.  This can hit you around $50-$80m-$100m ARR or so. […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, Getting to Initial Scale, Getting to Initial Traction, Traction & Scale | 1 Response

At $50k in MRR, Running Out of Money Is No Longer an Excuse

At $50k in MRR, Running Out of Money Is No Longer an Excuse

By Jason M. Lemkin on April 27, 2016

We’ve talked a lot about SaaStr on the challenges in getting from nothing to that first $1m-$1.5m in ARR, “Initial Traction”.  That is takes longer than you think.  That if you get 10 customers, you can get another 10, 100, and so on. There’s a particular moment in time I want to focus on here […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged 1 - Stage, 2 - Topic, Early, Getting Going, saas-startups, The Journey

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