The 3-Part Strategy for Building Efficient B2B SaaS Companies
PLUS: Acquired founder ($650m) building a carbon credit certification platform
Behind The Scenes
The past year has been challenging for the SaaS industry, with rising customer acquisition costs, high churn rates, and significant pressure to conserve cash. As businesses strive to recover, they must not only "do more with less" but also "do different with existing teams," particularly as 70% of B2B SaaS operating expenses are tied to headcount.
Key Drivers of Change:
Evolving B2B Buyer Journey: The journey is now multi-threaded, varies by customer segment, and is increasingly driven by self-guided discovery and education.
Rising Cost of Capital:
Customer Side: Requires building confidence in short-term value realization.
Vendor Side: Demands a sharp focus on understanding unit economics by segment and cohort.
These factors necessitate a reevaluation of traditional customer engagement approaches and competencies within SaaS organizations. The goal is to enhance Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) through higher pricing tied to delivered value or reduced churn, and to track the cost of engagement by customer segment and cohort.
Framework for Organizational Design: This framework, developed by two highly experienced leaders, one a CFO and the other a CRO, offers a process to realign GTM activities with buyer engagement and value realization. It emphasizes thinking critically about each customer touchpoint and eliminating ineffective practices.
1. Goals and Jobs To Be Done The role of BDRs differs depending on where your company falls on the self-directed spectrum:
Product-Led: System signals guide BDRs to reduce friction and accelerate value realization.
Product-Led Sales: Focuses on accelerating the buyer’s journey through collaboration and content.
Pure Sales: Aims to help buyers discover value through direct interaction.
2. Measuring Effectiveness Measurement should align with the specific role:
Product-Led Growth: Track system signals, impact on stickiness, and virality.
Product-Led Sales: Measure multi-threaded engagement and pipeline creation.
Pure Sales: Shift focus to multi-threaded MQLs and SQLs, with increased partner collaboration.
For full version of this article, you can read them here.
Geeks of the Week
Startup Name: Isometric
Geography: UK
One-liner: High quality carbon credits, backed by science.
Founder(s) Background: Co-founder & COO of Onfido (acquired for $650m by Entrust).
Startup Name: Flowcarbon
Geography: US
One-liner: Financing the future of carbon solutions through pioneering project finance and technology, project development and credit portfolio services.
Founder(s) Background: Co-founder & COO of Headliner Labs (acquired by The Stagwell Group).