Leadership
Most employees tolerate their managers more than love them. According to a year-old survey in Forbes: * Only about 50% of employees say the boss values their opinion. * Only 35% of employees feel inspired by their boss. * Some 25% say they can do a better job than their boss does. * Almost
M&A
I’m delighted to say that Host Analytics has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vector Capital, a San Francisco private equity (PE) firm with over $4B in capital under management. Before diving into some brief analysis of the deal, I want to thank Host Analytics customers, employees,
Marketing
"The last thing I want at Quota Club is to be lying on a chaise lounge by the pool, roll over, and see some effing marketing guy next to me."
Entrepreneurship
In an industry obsessed with the 1 in 10,000 decacorns and the stories of high-flying startups and their larger-than-life founders, Lost and Founder takes a real look at what it's like to found, fund, work at, and build a quite successful but not media- and Sand-Hill-Road-worshiped startup.
Enterprise
At most sales review meetings what do you hear sales management asking the reps? Questions like these: * What stage is this opportunity in? * What value do you have it at in the pipeline? * Is there upside to that value? * What forecast category is it in? * In what quarter will it
Churn
While I've blogged about this presentation before, I only recently stumbled into this full-length video of this very popular session -- a 30-minute blaze through some subtle SaaS basics. Enjoy! I look forward to seeing everyone again at SaaStr Annual 2019.
Churn
This post won't save your life, or your company. But it might save you a few precious hours at 2:00 AM if you're working on your company's SaaS metrics and can't foot your quarterly and annual churn rates while preparing a
BI
I preferred Silicon Valley [1] back in the day when companies raised modest amounts of capital (e.g., $30M) prior to an IPO that took 4-6 years from inception, where burn rates of $10M/year looked high, and where $100M raise was the IPO, not one or more rounds prior
CAC
Financial analysts speak a lot about “billings” in a public SaaS companies, but in private VC-backed SaaS companies, you rarely hear discussion of this metric. In this post, we’ll use a model of a private SaaS company (where we know all the internal metrics), to show how financial analysts
CAC
My ears always perk up when I hear someone say "net new ARR" -- because I'm trying to figure out which, of typically two, ways they are using the term: * To mean ARR from net new customers, in which case, I don't know why
Boards
Startup boards are complex. While all board members own stock in the company their interests are not necessarily aligned. * Founders may be motivated by a vision to change the world, to hit a certain net worth target, to see their name in an S-1, to make the Forbes 500, or
Marketing
Like it or not, once in a while it's appropriate for a vendor to walk away from a prospective deal. Why might you want to do that? * You think your product is a poor fit with the customer's needs. * You believe there is insufficient budget to