The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders

Latest Episodes:

SaaStr 758: Avoid These Common Founder Mistakes to Hire a Great VP of Sales in 2024 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Sep 20, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 758: Avoid These Common Founder Mistakes to Hire a Great VP of Sales in 2024 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin

In this episode of the official SaaStr podcast, we delve into the common pitfalls founders encounter when hiring a VP of Sales.

SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin kicked off the SaaStr Annual by reflecting on twelve years of hiring lessons, sharing critical insights into why sales leaders fail and how founders can avoid these mistakes. The discussion covers the importance of due diligence, understanding the product, embracing sales involvement post-hire, and recognizing the signs of jaded or broken candidates.

The episode emphasizes the need for rigorous hiring processes and the impact of a bad hire on startup growth. Tune in for practical advice to ensure your next critical hire drives success.

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SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2025 at:

SaaStr Annual: May. 13-15 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Get your early bird tickets TODAY.

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This episode is sponsored by: Pendo

This episode is sponsored by Pendo, the all-in-one product experience platform. Pendo helps your users do the things you really want them to do. You can try Pendo for free at Pendo.io/saastr and check out Mind The Product, the community for product people like… us.

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This episode is sponsored by: remote.com

Big things start like this. Every industry leader began with a simple idea and the courage to dream big. At Remote, we're here to help you turn your vision into reality. From onboarding top talent to managing payroll worldwide, our tools and expertise support your journey from initial start to impressive growth worldwide. Start anywhere. Grow everywhere. Forge your path to success at Remote.com.

SaaStr 757: 10 Cheat Codes I Learned While Scaling to $400M with Yext and Roam Founder Howard Lerman Aug 31, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 757: 10 Cheat Codes I Learned While Scaling to $400M with Yext and Roam Founder Howard Lerman

Dive into a unique and tactical journey with Howard Lerman, Founder at Roam, sharing unconventional yet effective strategies drawn from personal experiences and notable figures like John Lennon. Learn the importance of mastering storytelling, the art of live demos, the controversial take on one-on-one meetings, and the benefits of Sunday night executive meetings. Discover how leveraging your cap table for strategic advisors can accelerate your business and understand the significance of maintaining product market fit. Embrace the philosophy of doing things your way and making your company an extension of your vision. This episode is packed with practical advice for startup founders looking to navigate the complexities of building and scaling their companies.

Howard's 10 cheat codes:

Memorize Your Lines: Master storytelling by memorizing your company's story.
The Live Demo: Take the risk with live demos.
1:1 Meetings Are Terrible: Avoid scheduled one-on-one meetings.
Sunday Night Meetings: Start your week with Sunday night exec meetings.
Advisor-Led Growth: Use stock options to bring on influential advisors.
5-Minute Meetings: Hold short, effective meetings.
Meet with Customers: Meeting customers lifts spirits.
Board Chair: Have a powerful chairperson.
Do Not Delegate: Retain control over critical functions like product-market fit.
Have Fun: Make your company your creative canvas.

SaaStr 756: From Challenges and Churn to Triumph - How to Deliver Exceptional Customer Support at Scale with Monday.com's VP of Customer Experience Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 756: From Challenges and Churn to Triumph - How to Deliver Exceptional Customer Support at Scale with Monday.com's VP of Customer Experience

In this episode of the Official SaaStr Podcast, Natalie Margolin, VP of Customer Experience at monday.com, shares her journey and strategies for enhancing customer experience in a rapidly growing company. From tackling challenges of scale, implementing AI and chatbots, to ensuring customer satisfaction and building an expert support team, Natalie explains the transformative steps and guiding principles that have positioned monday.com as an industry leader in customer experience.

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SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2024 at:

SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20

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This episode is sponsored by: Paragon

Are you constantly saying no to your customers' integration requests? You're not alone. That's why companies like Copy.ai and Sinch use Paragon, an embedded integration platform, to ship integrations 7 times faster. Ready to scale your product's integration strategy? Visit useparagon.com/saastr to explore how Paragon can help you go-to-market faster with integrations today.

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This episode is sponsored by: remote.com

When the right person for the job is a world away, Remote Talent brings the world to you. As the top job board for remote-first companies, we give you powerful tools to post your listings and reach the world's top candidates and remote professionals. Start building your dream team from anywhere—visit Remote.com/jobs today.

SaaStr 755: How to Optimize Sales Performance, SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin Answers Your Top SaaS Sales Questions Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 755: How to Optimize Sales Performance, SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin Answers Your Top SaaS Sales Questions

In this episode, we dive into the intricacies of effective sales check-ins, best practices for managing remote teams, and the essential strategies for hiring and ramping up sales leadership. Jason Lemkin answers audience questions, covers why Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are becoming obsolete, the significance of measuring sales team activities, and the critical importance of ensuring new hires are product experts before they start. Other key topics include handling lone wolf sales reps, sourcing pipeline percentage, and the differing approaches needed for SMB and enterprise sales teams. A must-listen for SaaS founders, sales leaders, and anyone looking to optimize their sales process in our remote-first world.

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SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2024 at:

SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20

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This episode is sponsored by: Paragon

Are you constantly saying no to your customers' integration requests? You're not alone. That's why companies like Copy.ai and Sinch use Paragon, an embedded integration platform, to ship integrations 7 times faster. Ready to scale your product's integration strategy? Visit useparagon.com/saastr to explore how Paragon can help you go-to-market faster with integrations today.

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This episode is sponsored by: remote.com

Elevate your contractor management with a platform built for SaaS leaders. With Remote, you get zero-cost compliance screening and a fair price guarantee from day one. Enjoy fast, international payments, round-the-clock support, and robust indemnity coverage with Contractor Management Plus. Scale your operations confidently with Remote.com—visit us to start your free 30-day trial and unlock a solution that simplifies end-to-end contractor management.

SaaStr 754: 7 Things the Best Sales Reps Get Right and 8 Ways the Rest Make Things Worse with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 754: 7 Things the Best Sales Reps Get Right and 8 Ways the Rest Make Things Worse with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Join Jason Lemkin, in this insightful episode as he dives deep into distinguishing the best sales reps from the rest. Jason outlines seven key traits that make sales reps successful, such as understanding customer problems, facilitating product demos, and being honest about competition. He also discusses common pitfalls that mediocre sales reps fall into, including playing endless games with pricing and creating urgency without value. Perfect for founders, sales leaders, and team managers looking to improve their hiring process and team efficiency, this episode offers practical, real-world examples and strategies to implement right away.

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SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2024 at:

SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20

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This episode is sponsored by: Paragon

Are you constantly saying no to your customers' integration requests? You're not alone. That's why companies like Copy.ai and Sinch use Paragon, an embedded integration platform, to ship integrations 7 times faster. Ready to scale your product's integration strategy? Visit useparagon.com/saastr to explore how Paragon can help you go-to-market faster with integrations today.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This episode is sponsored by: remote.com

When the right person for the job is a world away, Remote Talent brings the world to you. As the top job board for remote-first companies, we give you powerful tools to post your listings and reach the world's top candidates and remote professionals. Start building your dream team from anywhere—visit Remote.com/jobs today.

SaaStr 753: Unveiling the 2024 CRO Playbook, How to Navigate A Shifting Sales Environment with Salesloft's CRO Mark Niemiec Jul 26, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 753: Unveiling the 2024 CRO Playbook, How to Navigate A Shifting Sales Environment with Salesloft's CRO Mark Niemiec

In this insightful podcast, Mark Niemiec, the CRO of SalesLoft, shares his strategic approach and key lessons learned since joining the company in February.

Drawing from his extensive experience at Salesforce and Cisco, Mark discusses the challenges and opportunities that come with onboarding as a new CRO, especially in dynamic market conditions. He emphasizes the importance of vision setting, strategic planning, and effective communication. Mark also provides practical tips on customer engagement, team dynamics, and the significance of maintaining a balanced work-life routine. Whether you're a founder, sales leader, or aspiring CRO, this episode offers valuable actionable insights for driving successful change in your organization.

SaaStr 752: 9 Signs a Startup Isn't Going to Make It with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Jul 24, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 752: 9 Signs a Startup Isn't Going to Make It with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin

SaaStr Founder and CEO, Jason Lemkin sat down to discuss 9 signs a startup isn't going to make it. We all know, we're living in strange times.

A lot of AI companies are growing 500% a year and exploding
A lot of public leaders are struggling
Some unicorns are doing incredibly well, while others have stalled and are growing at zero

Founders are struggling with how to deal with these changes, and VCs and executives are trying to decide if companies are worth joining, investing in, or sticking it out with. It's nuanced.

So, let's look at the nine signs a startup will fail. As leaders, if you see yourself doing some of these things, maybe it's time to stop it.

SaaStr 751: How to Use AI-Powered Marketing to Get More Leads and Customers with Guillaume Cabane of HyperGrowth Partners Jul 19, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 751: How to Use AI-Powered Marketing to Get More Leads and Customers with Guillaume Cabane of HyperGrowth Partners

As a marketing leader, how do you use today's AI platforms and tools to become more efficient?

Guillaume Cabane, Co-Founder and General Partner at HyperGrowth Partners and ex-head of marketing at Drift, Gorgias and Segment, shares how you can win with AI in outbound, SEO, and paid.

AI was good a year or two ago, but its quality was less than that of a human. There was less cost and less quality. Nowadays, we have more quality and speed, yet still at a lower cost.

What does that mean for marketing?

Each motion has different CACs. The sales-led approach we're used to, which is pretty efficient but relatively expensive. On the other side, you have PLG, which is fairly cheap but generally drives lower CAC and smaller customers. You have this spectrum from low contract value to high ACV, which is correlated with low CAC to high CAC.

With those CACs and ACVs, you have typical segmentation of micro to Enterprise, and within that segmentation, you have the channels. On the cheap, low-CAC side, you'll have SEO and virality: the PLG playbooks.

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SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2024 at:

SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20

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SaaStr 750: What it Takes to Get Funded in 2024 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 750: What it Takes to Get Funded in 2024 with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin

What it really takes to raise venture capital today, in 2024

Stress in System
Why Everyone Seems to be Chasing AI
Where the Decacorns Are
Databricks and Canva
What a "Fund Returner" is in Venture Capital
How a $2B and a $100m VC Fund Make Money
What a Top Decile Startup Looks Like
and Much More!!

SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2024 at:

SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20

SaaStr 749: The Lost Podcast Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, and Jason Lemkin, CEO of SaaStr, in 2013: "Thinking About $1 Billion in ARR" Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

SaaStr 749: The Lost Podcast Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, and Jason Lemkin, CEO of SaaStr, in 2013: "Thinking About $1 Billion in ARR"

Hey, everybody at SaaStr, we didn't realize until a Twitter exchange the other day that we have a lost SaaStr podcast for real. Just when SaaStr was getting going in January 2013, SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin went out and went to Box's offices and interviewed Aaron Levie CEO and Co-founder of Box.

This was over a decade ago now and it was lost.

We recorded it but didn't know what to do with it. And the audio quality was pretty bad, but we used AI to clean it up and we thought this would be really fun to listen to at a formative time. Back then, Box had just crossed 400 employees. It was no longer a startup. And we talked about going enterprise. We talked about squinting on the horizon and seeing the $1B ARR which box has since passed, and what it might be like to go bigger.

It's a moment in time but you can listen to a different side, maybe even a more lighthearted side before things get really hard after the IPO.

It is harder after you go public. But this was just before that. It's the lost SaaStr podcast. The earliest days of Box with Aaron Levie and Jason Lemkin together.

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SaaStr hosts the largest SaaS community events on the planet.

Join us in 2024 at:

SaaStr Annual: Sept. 10-12 in the SF Bay Area. Join 12,500 SaaS professionals, CEOs, revenue leaders and investors for the world's LARGEST SaaS community event of the year. Podcast listeners can grab a discount on tickets here: https://www.saastrannual2024.com/buy-tickets?promo=fave20

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