Gleb Polyakov

We just dropped a new episode of SaaS Expert Voices, featuring Dan Balcauski, Founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility and a true pricing guru. If you’re in the B2B SaaS space and looking to optimize your pricing strategy, this episode is a must-listen! Why you should tune in: 📊 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬: We discussed the importance of aligning your pricing strategy with clear business objectives. Whether you're aiming to maximize revenue or profit, understanding the metric you're optimizing for is key. Dan shared how companies can avoid the trap of trying to do everything at once, which often leads to suboptimal outcomes. 🔍 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝟐𝐁 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐬: Dan kicked off by busting a major myth: pricing isn’t just about the amount you charge. It's about who you charge and how you structure those charges. This mindset shift is crucial for any SaaS leader looking to optimize their revenue. 🤝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Afraid to discuss pricing with your customers? These pricing conversations are much like those tough talks you have with your kids about certain life topics–inevitable and crucial. Dan emphasizes the importance of discussing pricing with customers early and strategically, instead of waiting until the final stages of their decision-making process. 💡 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Dan shares how companies like Intercom are revolutionizing their pricing models with AI capabilities. They differentiate between tools that enhance human performance and fully autonomous solutions, each with distinct pricing strategies. If you're looking to refine your pricing strategy and drive growth in 2024, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Share your thoughts and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gVw94gVB

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Rolling into another day of the Primary Summit. Hit me up if we should connect onsite. Kudos to the Primary Ventures team so far, as yesterday’s Pre-Seed Summit was on point. Mar Hershenson, Benjamin Sun, Chris Douvos, Zach Weinberg, and Graham Pingree all dropping helpful nuggets for fund managers. Some paraphrased highlights: - Chris Douvos (AHOY Capital) - Most fund decks are terrible. Start with your people (not your strategy) and know you have about 6 slides of his attention. - Zach Weinberg (Curie.Bio ) - beleives SF’s AI talent is a significant advantage over NY, wouldn’t build AI in NY. Also questions if VC exits can keep up with VC expansion (generally hilarious and smart Twitter follow) - Mar Hershenson (Pear VC) - VC is so much more competitive now. It’s not enough to be an ex-founder with a great network and domain expertise. Have a better “why you are different” or do something else! - Benjamin Sun (Primary Venture Partners)- still sees arbitrage in going long NY venture (vs. SF). Do the work to keep various influential networking nodes aware of what you’re doing and how you think.

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Tem ‎Nugmanov, CEO of Optemization, was on the podcast this week. Ironically… he cautioned Notion users on the idea of OVER-OPTIMIZING their workspaces. At LA Tech Week, some VC and founder types hit him with a question that stopped him in his tracks. — ”How do you take a workspace that is already a 4/5 to a 5/5?” Apparently, that's not a situation Tem deals with on the regular. But it got his gears turning, and he realized something key. The answer? Keep it simple, stupid. Tem sees tons of folks getting a little too excited about all the crazy stuff Notion can do. They get sucked into this never-ending cycle of tweaking and optimizing every little thing. But here's the reality: There's a point where all that extra effort starts to give diminishing returns. At some point, you just gotta call it good and start actually using the workflow. And here's the kicker: Even a "good enough" setup is going to get you most of the results you're after. So Tem's words of wisdom for all you Notion nerds out there? Don't get too carried away with all the bells and whistles. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. — What is the silliest over-optimization you have ever seen? How do you keep your Notion workspace simple? If you wanna hear more of Tem’s expert takes on Notion, catch the full episode, now live.

Employee terminations: they're a topic no one wants to discuss but that every company has to navigate. Thankfully, Melanie Naranjo and wonderful Ethena advisor (& Gusto's former People Leader) Jess Yuen are tackling this tricky topic for the next Ethena webinar. Register if you want to learn more about these topics: How to pressure test whether or not termination is the right course of action Best practices for communicating termination decisions How to minimize risk and choose the best course of action when things get tricky Critical pitfalls to avoid

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RevOps under the CFO? PROBLEM: RevOps should be solving for seamless alignment across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success to optimize rev generation, drive efficiency, and deliver predictable, scalable growth. BACKGROUND: I've seen RevOps under both Sales and Marketing. Neither seemed optimal (as both have a functional bias), so at Base64 we placed RevOps under the CFO / Head of Finance. WHY THE CFO: 1) COMPANY HEALTH & ALIGNMENT: Modern AI / SaaS CFO’s have evolved from accounting leaders to strategic architects of company health. I work very closely with my CFO to optimize the entire revenue lifecycle...balancing growth with efficiency...unlike Sales, where I primarily focus on quarterly new license bookings and renewal targets, or Marketing where I primarily focus on top-of-funnel demand gen, positioning and brand equity. 2) DATA-DRIVEN OPTIMIZATION: RevOps thrives on cross-departmental data, and I work with my CFO to integrate insights to minimize inefficiencies and maximize ROI for the company and within each function. 3) LONG-TERM VALUE CREATION FOCUS: While Sales and Marketing prioritize short-term wins (absolutely critical), the CFO aligns RevOps with the company’s broader financial strategy for scalable, sustainable growth (i.e. preparing the business for funding rounds, identifying levers to hit annual growth targets). By placing RevOps under the CFO, I believe companies unlock a metrics-driven approach where every dollar fuels Profitable Efficient Growth (PEG). In AI-SaaS where commercial models are being disrupted (i.e. usage vs. consumption)...having a modern CFO that owns RevOps is proving to be a game-changer at Base64. The primary risk leaders need to look out for is 1) if you have a risk-averse or fixed mindset CFO that prioritizes expense mgmt over PEG 2) they do not value CX (1st class product experience is table-stakes, but the overall experience with your company needs to be 1st class...from buying to servicing to renewing). Thoughts? #CFO #RevOps #StrategicLeadership #RevenueOptimization #SaaSLeadership

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This is an interesting article from SaaStr sharing data from ICONIQ Capital about revenue per employee. “These are useful yardsticks for folks scaling: At less than $25m ARR, actually SaaS start-ups aren’t any more efficient than in 2017-2019, at $130,000 per employee / FTE. Although that’s still more efficient than the Boom Times. At $25m-$100m ARR, SaaS scale-ups are about 25% more efficient than they used to be, at $172,000 in revenue per employee / FTE. Time to get real at $25m ARR, apparently 😉 And at $100m+ ARR, they are 20% more efficient then they used to be, at $249,000 in revenue per employee. On the path to the $300k+ we see in public SaaS leaders.” At Worksmith in October, our annualized revenue per employee was $238K. https://lnkd.in/gqkkpjEW

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🎙️ Exciting insights from SaaS Academy's CEO Johnny Page on the Expertise Economy podcast! Johnny breaks down their two-step approach to helping SaaS founders: 1️⃣ The Discovery Call: Uncovering the founder's "why" and long-term vision 2️⃣ The Strategic Game Plan Session: Creating a 90-day action plan to achieve 12-month goals 🔑 Key focus: Identifying and solving business constraints Want to dive deeper on the secrets of building a successful SaaS business? Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/dju-Be2u #SaaS #BusinessStrategy #SaasAcademy #ExpertiseEconomy #Podcast

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🚀 Calling All Product Leaders! 🚀 I'm partnering with several innovative, early-stage vertical SaaS companies to find their very first VP of Product. If you're passionate about shaping product strategies, building teams, and driving growth, this is your chance to make a significant impact. These well-funded companies are on an impressive trajectory, and they need experienced leaders like you to help scale their success. 🌟 Why This Role Rocks: - Trailblaze: Be the pioneer VP of Product, defining the product vision and strategy from the ground up. - Scale Impact: Leverage your product expertise in a fast-paced, venture-backed company. - Innovate: Join vertical SaaS companies who are leading their industry with cutting-edge AI-based solutions. 🌟 Is This You? - You've got experience driving product success from $10M to $100M ARR. - You're excited by the challenge of building teams and scaling products. - You like to both "do and direct" to deliver on your product vision. - You have worked on several B2B products with serious complexity. If you or someone you know is ready to take on this challenge, let's connect. Comment below, DM me, or share this with your network. #ProductManagement #VPProduct #vSaaS #Hiring #ProductLeadership

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In case you missed it last week, one of my favorite SaaS benchmark reports was released. Thanks to High Alpha and OpenView for the work and having us as a partner! This thing is stuffed full of insights on everything from growth rates, net revenue retention, ARR per FTE, and more. You can't build a great SaaS business without it! https://lnkd.in/ghKT_tBY

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4 yrs ago we wrote: fintech scales Vertical SaaS, increases rev/customer 2-5x & opens new markets. Vertical SaaS - Now with AI Inside - enables companies to take on tasks previously too complex for software, increasing rev/customer 2-10x. This will be the most impactful product evolution to date. 1⃣ Cloud🌥️, brought services online (e.g., Shopify for e-commerce, ServiceTitan for service workers) 2⃣ Cloud 🌥️+ fintech 💵, increased revenue by enabling VSaaS companies to embed financial services within their software offerings (e.g., Toast makes >80% of revenue from finserv) 3⃣Cloud 🌥️+ fintech 💵+ AI 🧠 expands the surface area of VSaaS by turning Labor into Software. This will be the most impactful product evolution to date! As Software eats Labor -- Roles where human connection isn’t a key benefit, delivering on a core product, or differentiation to the business -- will be augmented, in some cases replaced, by AI. AI powered VSaaS will take on marketing, sales, customer service, finance, operations. New post (in comments) by James da Costa & me. Building here? we'd love to hear from you https://a16z.com/ enterprise/

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Difference between PE and VC.

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Annual revenue planning to reprioritize accounts, plan capacity for the next fiscal year, and realign territories takes an average of 3-4 months. Even for revenue teams with less than 25-30 reps this process is still months in the making. For RevOps or a Head of Sales without operations support, you're spending weeks plugging new data into your models (if you have them), refining options, and coming up with the perfect scenario. Then your data gets picked apart as individual managers and even reps want to make changes. What they don't understand is switching those "3 customers" can impact multiple territories and can require hours or weeks of additional work. Territories.ai is changing this. We believe pigeoning RevOps into spreadsheets and reactive requests is hurting teams. RevOps is a strategic partner, and Territories.ai is the platform designed to enable them to be that partner.

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On this episode of Building Jam w/ Retool + ex-Stripe eng leader Tamar Ben-Shachar: 1. How to get out of fire-fighting mode and back to proactive engineering 2. Slowing down short term to add observability to move faster long term 3. The importance of aligning on what does "Done" mean on your team 4. Why the best dev teams are good at saying no 5. What are the best engineering interview questions to ask Hope you enjoy the episode! YT link below

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🚀 Big news: ServiceTitan, a SaaS leader in field service management, has officially filed its S-1 to go public! With $685M in LTM revenue and 24% YoY growth, it’s clear the company has carved out a significant niche in the market. However, their -$183M net loss and growth rate bring challenges. By SaaS standards, ServiceTitan falls short of the Rule of 40—a key metric combining revenue growth and profit margin to evaluate efficiency and scalability. Their score is -2.7, well below the ideal 40%. Excited to see how the market responds—your thoughts? Let's discuss! #IPO #SaaS #Growth #Startups #Tech

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In his latest piece, Paul Graham dives into a thought-provoking realization sparked by Brian Chesky's memorable talk at a recent YC event: **what if the conventional wisdom on scaling companies is fundamentally flawed for founders?** Graham dissects why advice that works for professional managers often fails founders, leading to disastrous results. He introduces the concept of "Founder Mode" — a distinct approach to running a company that clashes with traditional management practices. Graham argues that embracing this mode could be the key to unlocking greater success for startups, potentially revolutionizing how founders scale their companies. Made me think. https://lnkd.in/exHmEE5M

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The SaaS landscape is evolving rapidly, with fresh startups seeking to disrupt and innovate every day. Recent analysis highlights that in 2023, 47% of all venture capital funding—around $567 billion—was directed to SaaS startups. This isn't just about numbers; it's about a clear signal that the demand for software solutions is more robust than ever, even amidst broader market fluctuations. Take Univerbal, for instance. This AI-driven platform is revolutionizing language learning by allowing users to practice with AI in real-time across 21 languages. Launched with a solid funding boost from Y Combinator, it garnered over 50,000 users within the first two days. That kind of growth isn't just luck; it's a well-executed strategy responding to a genuine need. Trends show a profound shift towards niche solutions and sustainability, with numerous startups addressing specific market gaps while leveraging powerful AI and machine learning. Whether it's reducing energy costs with Elyos Energy or creating stunning visuals with Vizcom’s AI tools, these companies are not just participating in a trend—they're defining it. What do you think? Are we witnessing the rise of smarter startups or merely a temporary spike in interest? https://lnkd.in/ecKzNNec

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When stuck in a scenario where revenue is growing at a moderate pace, but not fast enough and burn is putting the pressure on getting to the ARR target of $1M+ faster, Founders need to find a way to grow revenue quickly. One thing Founders get advice on is “increase the deal size and you only need X deals to get there.” The problem is, it’s not just about hitting a revenue milestone, it’s telling the story of your ability to acquire and grow your customer base for the next 10+ years. 

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Today, GTMfund’s is excited to announce to launch of Operator, its first incubated company. Max Altschuler (founder of GTMfund) teamed up with co-founder Adam M. (design engineer and 0-1 builder) and co-founder Mark Kosoglow (Outreach employee #1 and former SVP of Global Sales) to create Operator.ai alongside an insanely talented team Pleasant Middelhof, Jeremy Jonas, Carl Gunderson. We've entered a period called “The Great Ignore”. Spam and irrelevant, poorly-automated outbound campaigns are running rampant.   Operator gives you an easy-to-use Growth Engineer that allows you to build and enrich lists with accurate data, and run experiments and queries using AI to generate highly targeted outreach.    Check out their website to get updates, early access, and see how they are taking the world back to 2 touches meant to attract buyers into conversations that convert, instead of 20 touches meant to make sure you hit your activity number: https://www.operator.ai/

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Top H1 takeaway from QBR's about our Rev Org: "We're an ecosystem, not a hierarchy." (h/t Alexandra B.) We collaborate, everyone's voice matters, and we strive to put people in roles they love so they can be madly successful. Hearing this statement was validation that what we are building in the Revenue Org at LibraryPass is unique, and scalable, and contagious. And we have roles coming soon! So if you're interested in being part of an ecosystem, let's chat. Here's to an even better H2!

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