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Startups

2023

Snow Angels Come Early to Data : Snowflake's Strength Spells Success for Startups

November 29

The 4 Questions Startups Should Ask Themselves about Building with Generative AI

April 7

The Change in Burn Multiple for Startups in 2023

April 3

The Implications of Increased Regulatory Scrutiny for Startup Acquisitions

February 26

Which Customer Segments are Healthiest During the Downturn?

February 21

The Compounding Advantage of a Big Chip Stack in a Downturn

February 6

Predicting Cloud Growth Rates for 2023

February 3

Microsoft as a Mirror - What We Can Expect for SaaS in 2023

January 24

How Layoffs in Startupland Differ Between B2B & B2C Companies

January 23

The Startup M&A Market Fell 94% Year over Year - But One Segment Thrives

January 5

2022

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Sand Hill Road

December 14

Losing a Month of Runway to Inflation

November 6

Grey Skies in Cloud Earnings

October 28

Would You Leave the Cloud to Improve Sales Efficiency by 11%?

October 23

Just How Troubled is the Bay Area Startup Scene?

October 3

Pipeline Supply Shocks in SaaS Sales

September 23

Your Customers' Profitability is Your Startup's Future Health

September 12

200% NDR: What Does it Take to Achieve this Stellar Milestone?

September 2

Do PE Acquisitions of Public Startups Imply We've Hit a Pricing Bottom?

August 8

The Math Behind Starting a Successful Software Startup

August 2

How Much Should You Expect Your Startup to Slow in 2022? About 21%.

July 29

The Health of Cloud Spending in Mid-2022

July 26

How Important is Your Software to Your Customer? It's Time to Find Out.

July 22

Spot the Difference

July 20

PE in VC in 22

July 19

The Bid/Ask Spread in Venture Capital

July 18

Deliberately Underselling as Sales Strategy

July 11

Defending a Startups Greatest Asset through Recession & Recovery

June 22

Top 10 Insights from the 2022 Startup Sentiment Survey

June 6

The Macroeconomic Signal to Watch for Software & Infrastructure Startups

June 1

So You Want to Improve Your Sales Efficiency

May 18

The 4 Startup States During a Recession

May 16

The People Roadmap for Startups

March 9

2021

What is the Product the Customer Buys Before They Buy Yours?

September 14

The Productivity Implications of Working from Home Across 150,000 Employees

June 10

Executive Recruiting as Competitive Advantage - The 3 Knock-On Effects of Failed Executive Hires

June 1

The One Force that Will Govern How We Return to Work

May 3

How Much is 20% More NDR Worth to Your SaaS Startup?

March 5

The Fastest Growing Sectors of Startup Fundraising in 2020

January 18

2020

Why Fast Learning Curves are So Important to Startups

December 21

Your Responsibility as a Manager is to Hire 7 People

September 8

A Quick Diagnostic to Determine if Your Sales & Marketing Teams are Aligned

August 31

Why Startups Should Establish Qualifying Signals for Sales Teams Early On

August 24

Conflicting Data on the State of the US Early Stage Market

August 10

Inside Rounds Have Become a Sign of Strength at the Series B

August 2

The Fundraising Market Two Quarters into COVID

July 5

Top 10 Learnings from the Redpoint 2020 GTM Survey

June 25

What is the Structure of the Typical SaaS Company as it Scales?

June 21

How to Transform Your Board Meeting with Written Narratives

June 15

Where are Most Unicorns Headquartered?

May 28

California Dreaming - Is Silicon Valley Still the Best Place to Start a Company?

May 25

Narrative Economics and the Power of Stories

April 22

Why Margin Matters Now in Startupland

April 12

The Startup Sectors Most Impacted by the Coronavirus

April 6

Six Startup Disciplines for Challenging Times

March 20

What Could the Venture Market Look Like in the Coronavirus Era

March 12

Notes from Office Hours with Lisa Lawson

March 9

What I Expect in the Next Few Months in Startupland

March 6

Why Your Startup's Org Chart is Limiting Your Growth

February 25

The Strategic Importance of Competition

February 23

One of the Most Frequent Errors in Sales Planning and Forecasting

February 17

When You Have an Advantage, Speed Up the Game

February 13

Simpson's Paradox in Measuring Net Dollar Retention Rate

February 3

Has VC Become So Big It Must Be Disrupted?

January 27

2019

The Most Frequent Mishire in Startups

November 10

The Rise of the Founder-CEO

October 28

What I've learned about IPOs and Direct Listings

October 21

The Early Discipline of Remote Startups

October 4

One Call to Make Before Picking Your Startup's Headquarters

August 2

Why Product Innovation Slows After the Series A

June 10

Hustle As Strategy

April 8

Viewing Valuation as a Discount of Future Value

April 4

Where Have All the Angels Gone?

March 11

2018

Jacob's Ladder in the Startup Fundraising Market - How Startups Today Skip a Round of Fundraising

July 23

Why Your Startup Doesn't Invest Sufficiently in its Differentiators

July 20

Does Winner Take Most in SaaS?

July 8

A Deeper Dive into the Dynamics of the Seed Market

June 27

Why Series As are Much Easier to Raise in 2018 than the Past 5 Years

June 24

The Blockbuster Software M&A Market of 2018

June 12

When You Hire an Executive, You're Hiring a Network

June 7

The 5 Forces Driving Startup Valuations Today

June 3

The Importance of Time Value of Money for Startups

April 1

An Often Forgotten Characteristic About Your Startup's Ideal Customer Profile

March 25

Is Geographic Dispersion of Seed Dollars Really Happening?

March 8

Why Does Your Sales Team Lose Deals?

March 4

The Clearest Articulation of a Marketing Roadmap

March 2

Startup Best Practices 27 - How to Use Options to Retain Key Employees in Your Startup

February 16

Jettisoning the Assumptions of Last Year

January 1

2017

Why Cash Conversion Cycle Matters for Your Startup

August 15

One of the Hardest Things to Do in Sales

February 10

Against All Odds in Startupland

February 5

Modesty, First Principles and Opportunities for Startups

February 3

Which to Prioritize - Churn or Growth?

February 1

How Much Money Should I Raise for My Startup?

January 29

The Software Startup Sectors Raising the Most Capital in 2017

January 27

One of the Greatest Entrepreneurial Stories Ever Told

January 20

How Does Your Startup's Management Spend its Time?

January 9

2016

Are SMB SaaS Companies Valued Differently than Mid-Market SaaS Businesses?

September 21

What's the Maximum Rate of Growth for Your SaaS Startup with Paid Customer Acquisition?

September 19

How Should I Think About My SaaS Startup's Burn Rate

September 9

Designing a Sales Quota Structure at the Earliest Stages of a SaaS Startup

September 2

How Much is Your SaaS Startup Worth?

August 31

Success Has 1000 Fathers and Failure is an Orphan

August 24

Why Understanding Startup History is a Competitive Advantage

August 22

How Fast Does a SaaS Startup Have to Grow to Survive?

July 27

Dream Teams: The Characteristics of Billion-Dollar Startup Founders

July 14

The Decline of New SaaS Company Formation

June 21

Party Rounds in Seeds - Just Getting Started or Has the Clock Struck Midnight?

April 18

Resilience and Telos in Entrepreneurs

March 4

What Pricing Implies About Product Market Fit for Startups

March 1

The Question to Ask Before Starting a Company in 2016

January 26

2015

Is Now a Good Time to Start a Company?

December 14

A Framework to Maximize Your Startup's Hiring Success

December 4

How Much Cash Should Your SaaS Startup Burn?

November 12

Five Words of Wisdom from SaaS Office Hours with Bill Macaitis

October 22

8 Customer Discovery Questions to Validate Product Market Fit for Your Startup

October 8

Take Your Startup to the Limit

July 20

The Fastest Growing Areas of Startup Investment in 2015

July 14

Five Charts on the Second Seed Market

July 6

The Risk Sales Discounts Impose to Startup Burn Rates

May 26

The Runaway Train of Late Stage Fundraising

April 1

The 5 Key People in a SaaS Sales Process

March 26

The Best Book on Building a SaaS Sales Team

March 24

Sales Funnel Optimization for SaaS Startups

March 10

The Sudden Growth in Series A Round Sizes

March 6

Trends in the Startup Acquihire Market

March 5

Modeling Your SaaS Startup's Revenue Growth Effectively

February 25

Challenging Your Customers During Your SaaS Startup's Sales Process

February 13

The Rising Costs of Scaling a Startup

February 10

A Single Report to Measure the Health of Your Startup's Sales Team

February 9

The Employee Productivity Patterns of Billion Dollar SaaS Companies

February 5

3 Questions about Founders as CEOs in SaaS Companies

January 6

2014

Why the Time to $1B in Valuation for Startups is Decreasing

December 16

Why 2015 Will be a Great Year for Startups

November 21

A Unique Chronicle Of A Billion Dollar Company

November 14

The Most Effective Questions to Use When Interviewing Candidates

November 10

Why It's a Great Time to Raise a Seed Round

November 6

The 7 Factors to Consider When Pricing Your Startup's Product

November 5

Four Important Data Points on Measuring Your Startup's Customer Happiness

October 29

The Impact of Investor Geography on Your Seed, Series A and B Check Size

October 26

The 9 Marketing Disciplines of Great SaaS Companies

October 22

The Four Key Trends of the Startup Acquisition Market

October 14

The Unexpected and Uneven Evolution of the Startup Fundraising Market

October 8

Second Seed Rounds: How They Impact a Startup's Ability to Raise a Series A

October 6

How Much Cash Should Your Startup Burn?

September 29

Startup Best Practices 9 - Structuring One on Ones to Maximize Your Team's Success

September 26

The Three Frameworks You Need to Create Powerful Presentations and Tell Compelling Stories

September 24

The Optimal Price to Maximize Sales Efficiency for a SaaS Startup

September 9

Not A Conventional Company

August 21

The Four Kinds of Social Capital that Matter When Building Products

August 20

Benchmarking Consumer and SaaS Companies' Path to IPO

August 19

The Most Important Investment a Startup Can Make

August 14

4 Major Competitive Trends in Mobile App Stores

August 11

The B Corporation - A Novel Structure for Mission Driven Startups

August 7

The Secret Ingredient to the Best Startup Fundraising Pitches

August 1

How to Retain Your Startup's Best Employees

July 29

The Best Advice I've Ever Received

July 25

The 3 Minute Technique for Brainstorming Your Startup's Product Roadmap

June 17

The Optimal Seed Round Construction to Maximize Series A Success

June 12

The Impact of VCs in Seed Rounds in Seven Charts

June 9

The Riskiest Investment a Startup Can Make

June 6

The Hidden Costs of the Switching Products in the Consumer Web

June 4

The Common Characteristics of Successful Freemium Companies

May 30

How the Fund Raising Market Will Evolve in 2014

May 19

The Workplace of the Future

May 16

Ruthlessness and Grit in Startups

May 13

Startup Best Practices 7 - How to Use Andy Grove's Stagger Chart to Build Predictability into a Startup

May 12

The Worst Time of Year to Raise A Seed Round

May 9

9 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read

May 8

The Current State of the Consumer Internet Market

May 6

A Framework for Maximizing Startup Marketing Effectiveness

May 5

Surprising Trends in Startup Founder Equity Stakes

May 2

The Surprising Compensation Trends of Startup Executives

April 29

Quantifying the Cost of a Bad Hire

April 28

How to Determine Which Price is Best for Your SaaS Startup's Product

April 21

The Power of a Coach

April 16

Do Startups Require Less Capital to Succeed than 10 Years Ago?

April 4

The Financing Trends of Billion Dollar SaaS Companies

April 3

Startup Best Practices 6 - Avoiding the Bike Rack Effect

March 24

The Hardest Round to Raise for Startups

March 21

Are VC Mega-Rounds the New Normal?

March 19

How Fast Must a SaaS Startup Grow to Raise a Series A?

March 17

Do More Competitors in a Sector Decrease Fundraising Success?

March 3

The Four Key Steps in Startup Fund Raising Processes

February 28

The Things You Do Often Create the Things You Believe

February 27

Which Acquirer Pays the Most for Startups?

February 26

What to Look for When Hiring a Head of Marketing for Your Startup

February 20

The Impact of a Startup's Location on Its Ability to Raise Capital

February 18

Why Startups Face Increasing Competition in Raising Series As and Bs

February 12

How Your Startup's Sector Affects Your Ability to Raise a Series A

February 9

Using Data to Pick the Optimal Name for Your Startup

February 7

The Minimum Size Seed Round to Maximize Series A Follow On Investment

February 6

Do Larger Seed Rounds Lead to Bigger Series As?

February 4

Military Strategy Applied to Startups

January 31

The Best Times of Year to Raise Capital for Your Startup

January 28

How One Startup's Engineering Team Cut their Engineering Release Times in Half

January 22

Three Important Trends in the Startup Exit Market

January 20

The Average Value of a Tech Company is Decreasing

January 16

The Two Key Skill Sets Startups Must Develop To Grow

January 14

Why Quotas Aren't the Most Important Number for Startup Sales Teams

January 13

How Healthy is the Public Technology Market?

January 6

Should Your Startup Adopt a New Management Style?

January 3

Startup Best Practices 5 - Effectiveness, not Productivity

January 2

2013

Startup Best Practices 4 - Managing Monkeys

December 20

Revenue per Employee Benchmarks of Billion Dollar Companies

December 17

The 10 Most Important Metrics in a Startup's Financial Statements

December 16

Using Price & Demand Curves to Inform Startup Product Roadmaps

December 11

How Much Does It Cost to Take Your Startup Public?

December 10

The Typical Billion Dollar Startup Acquisition

December 9

How to Grow Huge: Proprietary Distribution Channels

December 4

Startup Best Practices 3 - How to Structure a Sales and Marketing Team

December 3

Startup Best Practices 2 - Startup Team Sizes

November 20

How Much Cash Does Your Startup Need To Go Public?

November 18

Startup Best Practices 1 - Situational Management

November 15

The Missing Startup Design Pattern

November 14

Why the Petal Diagram Isn't the Best Competition Diagram for Startup's Pitch

November 12

The Ratio of Engineers to Sales People in Billion Dollar SaaS Startups

November 11

The Single Biggest Determinant of Startup Valuations at IPO

November 5

Quick and Dirty Product/Market Fit Validation: Can You Hit Your Quota?

October 30

The Unexpected Compensation Trends of Post-Series A Startup Founder/CEOs

October 29

A Startup's Rosetta Stone - How to Succinctly Communicate the Details of a Business

October 23

What a Dog and a Monkey Taught Me About Management at Google

October 21

Using Gaming Product Hacks to Maximize Freemium SaaS Growth

October 17

How Much Should Your Startup Spend on Managing Churn?

October 16

The Simplest Brand Health Question For Your Startup

October 9

Which of the Five Types of Data Science Does Your Startup Need?

October 2

The Single Best Content Marketing Channel for Your Startup

September 30

Which Half of Your Startup’s Emails Are Wasted?

September 20

Crossing the People Management Chasm - A Necessity of Startup Growth

September 12

The One Best Metric for Your Startup to Maximize

September 9

The Series A Is Overloaded

August 29

Choosing a Content Marketing Strategy for Your Startup

August 19

Your Startup’s Three Horizons

August 16

Cohort Analysis for Startups - Six Summary Reports to Understand Your Customer Base (With Code)

August 12

Framing Your Startup’s Sales Pitch: Focus on Value, Not on Cost

July 25

Product Market Engagement: The Missing Step in Lean Startup Methodology

July 22

Your Startup’s Office Is Missing a Room

July 18

The Three Phases of Startup Sales

July 17

It’s Time to Start Worrying About the Next Round for Your Startup

June 19

The Most Effective Price Discovery Question for Your Startup

June 11

The Most Under-Appreciated Startup Team Member

June 6

Reverse Engineering Your Startup’s Success

May 7

Founders, Equip Your Champions

April 15

Startup Judo - The Secret You Should Know Before Starting a Company

April 10

A Startup’s Three Visions

April 9

Your Startup’s 10 Most Important Metrics

March 26

Discovering, Honing and Exploiting Your Startup’s Strengths

January 23

What my high school chemistry class taught me about startups

January 14

2012

The one ideal characteristic of your startup’s first customers

December 7

A Startup’s Two Financial Plans - the Board Plan and the Stretch Plan

November 26

A great entrepreneur can come from anywhere

November 2

No startup is an island - The three ecosystems startups should develop

October 22

Culture is the biggest growth driver for social services

October 18

The value of a patent to a startup

October 11

Learning from Amazon’s Startup Judo

October 9

Must startup founders be charismatic?

September 17

Choosing market segments on customer profitability

September 13

Building auction pressure in financings

September 3

On negotiation

August 24

The most important question a startup can ask

August 22

The 3 Kinds of Startup Metrics

June 20