Growth
Back in 2018, Rory O'Driscoll, a VC at Scale and the inventor of the SaaS magic number, came up with another important SaaS concept: the Mendoza line for SaaS growth. Taking an idea from baseball, the Mendoza line is a measure of "offensive futility" named after
Metrics
I was reading a SaaS benchmark report the other day and encountered this line: "Win rates declining [over the two-year period] from 23% to 19% might not seem all that significant. But in terms of required pipeline, it represents a dramatic shift from 4.3x to 5.3x coverage.
Entrepreneurship
I've realized that one of things I do for (or should I say, to) early-stage startups is detect whether they have a real or a faux focus (pronounced fo-focus) -- the latter being a focus that appears to be real at first, but is in fact fake. Focus
Metrics
The growth-adjusted enterprise value to revenue multiple is a personal favorite metric because it’s a quick way to determine if a SaaS stock is in the bargain basement, where I sometimes like to shop. Quick reminders before proceeding: * I don’t give investment advice, see my terms & conditions
AI
Well, it’s that time of year again, time for my annual predictions post, now in its tenth incarnation. As per my custom, let’s review my 2023 predictions before presenting those for 2024. Please remember that I do these for fun and fun alone. See my FAQ for my
Marketing
The other day an old friend, a highly accomplished marketing executive, asked me a simple question: if you only had five metrics to summarize marketing performance for a quarterly business review (QBR) or board meeting, what would you pick? In this post, I'll share my answer to that
Metrics
Quota attainment can get confusing quickly. It's simple concept, but: * Do you mean percent of reps at 100% of their quota or above some lower bar? Board members bark rules like, "we should shoot for 80% of our reps at 100% of quota," almost hearing the
Boards
I love writing and speaking about board meetings. Why? Because: * They're critically important. Board meetings can make or break careers. * You get little to no instruction on how to do them. Most training for CEOs and execs is of the "throw them in the deep end of
Metrics
Last month I spoke at SaaStr Annual 2023 on The Strategic Use and Abuse of SaaS Metrics (video here). When I wrote that presentation I found myself with something of a content blivit on my hands. I had a bunch of strategic things I wanted to say, but darn it,
Metrics
At some point the folks at SaaStr will release the official video of my SaaStr Annual 2023 presentation, but for now they have posted the livestream from the room, done with some nice edits that cut back and forth between the stage and the slides. It even includes the Q&
Metrics
This is a quick post to share the slides from my SaaStr Annual 2023 presentation entitled The Strategic Use and Abuse of SaaS metrics. Thanks to everyone who attended the session, laughed at my jokes (yes, there were jokes in a SaaS metrics presentation), asked questions in the session, and
Metrics
Come to my SaaStr Annual presentation on The Strategic Use and Abuse of SaaS Metrics.