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Browse: Home / startups / Page 3

startups

Don’t Fire Your “Worst” Customers.  Hire Them a Psychiatrist Instead.

Don’t Fire Your “Worst” Customers. Hire Them a Psychiatrist Instead.

By Jason M. Lemkin on October 13, 2014

There’s a lot of Internet advice that makes a lot of sense, but not necessarily in SaaS.  Somewhat bad advice that entrepreneurs share again and again, without having really tested the ideas behind that advice. One bit of advice you hear again and again, that I 93% disagree with, is “Fire The Customers That Don’t […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Customer base, echosign, Entrepreneurship, revenue, saas, software as a service, startups

The Authoritative Guide to Prorata Rights

The Authoritative Guide to Prorata Rights

By Mark Suster on October 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, Fundraising / Negotiations, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, VC Industry, venture capital

Planning to Do a SaaS Startup?  Don’t Forget the 20 Interview Rule.

Planning to Do a SaaS Startup? Don’t Forget the 20 Interview Rule.

By Jason M. Lemkin on October 10, 2014

Recently I spent some time with two seemingly similar SaaS start-ups.  Both are at about $100k in MRR (congratulations!).  Both have happy, enthusiastic customers.  Both have really great products and are organically growing.  Both have great founder CEOs. But even though both are now at $1m ARR … one is just so much better positioned […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, J&Bshow, saas, startups

Come to the SaaStr Sessions at Dreamforce — And Win a Free Ticket to the SaaStr Annual in February (And Other Good Stuff)

Come to the SaaStr Sessions at Dreamforce — And Win a Free Ticket to the SaaStr Annual in February (And Other Good Stuff)

By Jason M. Lemkin on October 9, 2014

We’ve got 2 great SaaStr sessions at Dreamforce on Wednesday, October 15 at 1pm and 3pm.  Each has about 15 seats left so add them to your Dreamforce event planner now! To make it (even more) fun, we’ll give away 2 free tickets to the SaaStr Annual on Feb 5, 2015 in San Francisco (details […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged #df14, dreamforce, Entrepreneurship, saas, startups

What is the Definition of a Seed Round or an A Round?

What is the Definition of a Seed Round or an A Round?

By Mark Suster on October 7, 2014

Marc Andreessen kicked off another great debate on Twitter last night, one that I’ve been talking about incessantly in private circles for the past 2-3 years – what actually IS the definition of a seed vs. A-round.   This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do. My view: “Spending […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, venture capital

I Never Lost a Customer I Actually Visited

I Never Lost a Customer I Actually Visited

By Jason M. Lemkin on October 6, 2014

There’s a lot to talk about in customer success about churn, and about upsells.  Together, they are one of the most critical topics in recurring revenue business models. To all that, I wanted to add one very tactical insight:  of the 1000s of customers we closed when I was running EchoSign … while we lost a few […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, saas, startups

Three Words Entrepreneurs (and VC’s) Should Take to Heart

Three Words Entrepreneurs (and VC’s) Should Take to Heart

By Mark Suster on October 6, 2014

Note: this is a non-religious post. This weekend was Yom Kippur, holiest of the Jewish holidays and the day of atonement. It’s also the day when most Jewish minds are least focused since one needs to fast for 24 hours. I sat in schul listening to the rabbi’s sermon and given my mind is prone […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, venture capital

What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

By Mark Suster on September 29, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post on whether one’s “Startup Burn Rate is Normal.” I highly recommend reading it. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Danielle goes through some commentary from Bill Gurley, Fred Wilson and Marc […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Bill Gurley, burn rate, Danielle Morrill, Entrepreneurship, Fred Wilson, Marc Andreessen, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, venture capital

What to Do If Your Business Decelerates

What to Do If Your Business Decelerates

By Jason M. Lemkin on September 22, 2014

A little while back, I did what turned out to be a very popular piece:  If You Do Sell [Your Company] — Do it a Local Maximum. A wise friend of mine commented on it afterwards.   “You’re absolutely right.  Selling your company at a non-local maximum is incredibly frustrating.  But you know what’s 100x […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, saas, startups

Come See 3 Epic Sessions at Dreamforce on Predictable Revenue, Benchmarking, and “The Best of SaaStr”

Come See 3 Epic Sessions at Dreamforce on Predictable Revenue, Benchmarking, and “The Best of SaaStr”

By Jason M. Lemkin on September 22, 2014

Salesforce has put together another pretty epic founder / entrepreneur track this year at Dreamforce.  You can check out the schedule here. There are three sessions I wanted to highlight in particular, that I’ll either be at or leading. First, on Day One, Monday October 13 at 1:30pm, Aaron Ross, my good friend, colleague and […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, saas, startups, Uncategorized

Why Recruiting Isn’t Over When an Employee Accepts Your Offer

Why Recruiting Isn’t Over When an Employee Accepts Your Offer

By Mark Suster on September 22, 2014

Recruiting. It is the bane of every startups existence because it takes up so much time, it is so competitive to sign people and it feels like unproductive time because it’s not moving the ball forward on product, engineering, sales, marketing, biz dev, fund raising. It consumes time and energy and the payoff doesn’t come […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, hr, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, venture capital

When VCs Play Defense

When VCs Play Defense

By Mark Suster on September 19, 2014

Somehow the world seems to be spinning faster these days than just a few years ago. The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It’s exhausting. Perhaps unsustainable. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, startups, vc funding, VC Industry, venture capital

Bad Notes on Venture Capital

Bad Notes on Venture Capital

By Mark Suster on September 18, 2014

This week. On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Him: Yeah. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. We raised a convertible note. Me: With a cap? Him: Yes, $8 million. Me: Ah. I see. So you did raise with a price. It’s […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, venture capital

Money, Bonuses, “Customers That Waste My Time”, and Greed:  You Get What You Pay For

Money, Bonuses, “Customers That Waste My Time”, and Greed: You Get What You Pay For

By Jason M. Lemkin on September 15, 2014

There was one thing prospective sales reps would say in an interview that always chilled my spine.  It would especially come from sales reps from larger companies in high-velocity in-bound environment (e.g., WebEx-type environments).  They’d say this:  “Those type of leads just Wasted My Time.” Sigh. Yes, I guess it’s technically true.  If you’re a […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, saas, startups, Uncategorized

Why We’re Looking to Fund Stuff With More Meaning

Why We’re Looking to Fund Stuff With More Meaning

By Mark Suster on September 15, 2014

Venture Capital is a tricky industry. If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar+++ idea. Far from it. […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged Entrepreneurship, startup lessons, startups, vc funding, venture capital

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