This week’s roundup includes Forbes’ 5 lessons on building from the ground up, a dive into why SaaS creation is slowing, the most important start-up metrics, and a SaaS pricing guide.
Five Lessons On Building A SaaS Company From The Ground Up
Forbes
SaaS companies may be growing in popularity, but that does not necessarily make them easy to found, grow, and succeed. Those things only come by time and testing, and above all, incredible customer service. CEO of Yocale.com, Arash Asli, outlines five lessons he learned “the hard way” in his journey to building a SaaS product.
“Your intuition, no matter how strong, does not necessarily match what your customers want in the technology or how they can best use it. Your customers may not know exactly what they want either, and even if they do, your interpretation changes things.” [Read more here.]
What’s Behind Slowing SaaS Startup Creation?
Mattermark
After years of growth in the number of SaaS startups, 2015 saw a dropoff and 2016’s numbers appear to be falling even furthers. While this may be true, other metrics tell us that SaaS is thriving. So, what is the real story? Alex Wilham analyzes several recent reports, studies, and articles on the theories of the slowdown of SaaS and its future and answers the question of why the growth trend is spiraling downward.
“SaaS startup formation is down as costs rise and the easy stuff has already been done well.” [Read more here.]
Everybody Lies 2016: SaaS Revenue in the Inc. 5000
Enterprise Irregulars
In 2013, the SaaStr blog debuted with a deep dive on the Inc 5000 list, which requires companies to provide and share GAAP revenues in order to be eligible for the award. SaaStr has done it again for the 2016 list. While many of the recognizable names are not on the list this time, there is still insight to be gained.
21 Most Important SaaS Start-up Metrics
SaaS Genius
Tracking progress is key in making any startup a success, but which metrics are most necessary when it comes specifically to SaaS companies? Which positive numbers are actually worth being excited about? SaaS Genius CEO, Tom Gorski, outlines the 21 most important metrics by breaking them into three categories: metrics for fundraising, metrics for growth and acquisition metrics.
“Traffic growth, for instance could paint a pretty picture. So couldthe growing subscriber rate, for instance. But couple these with a rising cost of acquisition and the picture suddenly turns grim. That’s why, it’s imperative that you monitor the right metrics, depending on your business objectives.” [Read more here.]
SaaS Pricing Guide: When & How To Raise Prices Without Losing Customers
Overview
Would you have ever imagined that a 5% price increase leads to a 22% improvement in operating profits? So how exactly do you gauge what pricing increase will bring positive change to your bottom line without running the customers off and deterring new ones?
“A successful price increase helps you acquire better customers, who are more serious about using your product and less likely to churn. It dramatically improves the lifetime value of a customer, which in turn boosts the LTV: CAC ratio. Plus, it allows startups to build a more sustainable business model, and hence be more in control of their own destiny.” [Read more here.]
