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47 THINGS I WROTE DOWN
@SAASTR ANNUAL 2017
J E R E M Y S T E W A R T, H E A D O F C L I E N T S E R V I C E S

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Thanks to all of the organizers and speakers that contributed to the assembly of this material
SaaStr Annual 2017
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Josh James, CEO @ Domo
→ ONLY CARE @ SALES
→ Recruit like you’re selling BIG customer’s
→ In non-tech hubs, have candidates meet other local CEO’s to give them confidence in
the unpopular area
→ Celebrate successes - have a short dance party for each closed deal
Michael Pryor, CEO @ Trello
→ “If you get to $20M ARR, don’t sell” – because you will already have the momentum to
get to $100M ARR
Chris O’Neill, CEO @ Evernote
→ Shrinking focus to 3 things saved the company
Jeff Lawson, CEO @ Twilio
→ Wear your customers’ shoes - don’t just walk in them (experience vs. understanding)

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Thanks to all of the organizers and speakers that contributed to the assembly of this material
SaaStr Annual 2017
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Peter Gassner, CEO @ Veeva Systems
→ Don’t follow the herd…if no one sees the opportunity, it’s probably real
→ Be aggressive, don’t be wreckless, but be intentional
→ Don’t over-cover on sales reps
→ Pick a clear and correct target market, then focus on value
Jon Miller, CEO @ Engag.io
→ Concentrate on building a healthy company with teamwork
Mikkel Svane, CEO @ Zendesk
→ **Simplicity**
→ Build a pricing model that allows flexibility and creativity
Brad Feld, Managing Director @ Foundry Group
→ CEO with hands in the product is a weakness for the company @ $5M ARR

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Thanks to all of the organizers and speakers that contributed to the assembly of this material
SaaStr Annual 2017
4
Nick Mehta, CEO @ Gainsight
→ CS needs to be a “state of mind” in the company, and a revenue driver, not a cost
→ Don’t worry about making customers happy, work to make them successful
→ Avoid throwing high cost CSM @ clients with no opportunity to spend
Anand Sanwal, CEO @ CB Insights
→ Don’t half-ass employee onboarding
→ Don’t waste money on PR to get customers, but it’s ok for recruitment & brand
awareness
→ Don’t be boring to prospects, they expect dry and boring
→ Don’t do demo’s…have conversations
→ Invest in Sales Training
Promise Phelon, CEO @ TapInfluence
→ If it requires a pros and cons list, the answer is “no”

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Thanks to all of the organizers and speakers that contributed to the assembly of this material
SaaStr Annual 2017
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Patrick Meenan, Partner @ Arthur Ventures
“5 operational consistencies of our most successful investments”
1. Product first
2. 50% of revenue growth comes from upsells, changes to product and pricing
3. Triple down on what worked to achieve $1M ARR
→ Takes 2 years to double $3M to $6M ARR, or $5M to $10M ARR, etc.
→ Will take slightly less than $5M burn to get to $10M ARR
4. Need a recruiter @ 20 employees, need leadership @ 40 employees
5. Turn customers into a community
Fred Stevens-Smith, CEO @ Rainforest QA, Louis Jonckheere, CEO @ Showpad, & Laura
Bilazarian, CEO @ Teamable
“Breaking through the $5M ARR wall”
1. Lack of Sales
2. Lack of Exec Team
3. Marketing often fails
→ Scale will come from investing in outbound and building teams around AE’s.
Whystall?

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Thanks to all of the organizers and speakers that contributed to the assembly of this material
SaaStr Annual 2017
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Byron Deeter, Partner @ Bessimer VP, Kristina Shen, VP @ Bessimer VP
2017 Predictions
1. The era of human-assisted AI
2. APIs will serve as the backbone for a majority of software infrastructure
3. Architect for success in an infinite compute world: infinite scale without infinite spend
→ Cost optimize your cloud infrastructure as you grow
4. Mobile unlocks non-desk worker productivity
5. NPS everything – leading indicator of churn (internal & external)
6. Diverse teams win
→ 75% funded have 1 core foreign born member
→ 51% unicorns founded by immigrants
→ 20% of top 10 in SV by market cap run by women
7. The screenless software movement - virtual assistants
Other notables
→ After you find product-market fit, and biz is repeatable & scalable, HIT THE GAS!
→ If there’s any friction in the product, fix it now or scalability and success will suffer