We Attended SaaStr Annual. Here’s What We Learned.

We Attended SaaStr Annual. Here’s What We Learned graphic

With in-person events back in swing, our team has been on the move. Several team members flew out to San Francisco this month to attend this year’s SaaStr Annual. With three days of content, selecting only a few key takeaways from SaaStr Annual can be difficult.

But our team is up for the challenge. Take a look at a few insights from our SaaS PR team members who attended the event.

Ride the SaaS wave

Markets fluctuate. Platform approaches are in, then out. Point solutions are in, then out. There will always be some external factor affecting an organization. A strong product-market fit can trump volatility and lead to a lasting brand. (And being first to market doesn’t hurt either!) – Vice President of PR, Kelsey Sowder

SaaS leaders are more optimistic about the market

While many hit the panic button in Q2, there has been an upturn in positive business signals over the past 60 days. Sales cycles are shortening to normal, the number of people in buying committees is decreasing and reverting to the typical decision-makers, and conversations with investors have resumed. – President, Lindsey Groepper

Work smarter, not harder, when engaging audiences

B2B marketers need to get smarter about how they engage their audiences. Buyers want more control over their journey and increasingly leverage peers, communities and SaaS marketplaces to influence their decisions. Marketers must find ways to meet customers on the channels they use and remove barriers to the information they want. – PR Director, Zach Weismiller

Pay attention to the self-serve buyer

Sales and marketing tactics are changing as we enter the age of the self-serve buyer. SaaS sellers should make product information easily accessible and move away from emails and cold calls, instead using customer data to identify where buyers are in their journey and personalize outreach. SaaS marketers need to prioritize their presence on third-party sources and activate customer voice across all channels as customers increasingly use a variety of sources. – PR Director, Sami Miller

When to reinvent your company

When building a SaaS company, you should think through three factors. Pick the market. Find the people. Build the systems.

This is and should be repeatable. But a key learning is that there are phases of your business, and at each stage, you must reinvent your company.

  • 0-$10M – Pattern Matching
  • $30M – Product / Market Fit
  • $100M – Repeatability 
  • $250M – Early Scale
  • $500M – Mid Scale
  • $1B – Scale & Diversify

As you hit each phase, you must build and/or rearchitect plans through systems (Finance, People, Marketing, Product, etc.). The people aspect is crucial. The individuals that got you to $30M might not be the same people that can get you over the $100M hump and beyond. Leadership and employees should always think about what’s next. For example, a SaaS CEO should think 36 months out, and individual contributors should think six months out. – CEO, Mendy Werne

SaaStr Annual might be over, but you can still get more insights from us about all things B2B  SaaS. Contact Lindsey Groepper to learn more about partnering with our SaaS PR agency. 

BLASTmedia

About The Author

BLASTmedia

Established in 2005, BLASTmedia is the only PR agency in the US dedicated to B2B SaaS, representing companies from growth-stage to publicly traded. BLASTmedia understands the unique challenges associated with scaling a SaaS business and uses media coverage and thought leadership campaigns to impact four primary pillars: investors, employees, partners, and customers.

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