Big deals take years to close. If you’re not running pilot projects in six months, you’re already behind.
You need early pilots fast. Why? Because real contracts take much longer to land.
Founder Sales = Faster Growth 🚀
At the start, sales are on the founder. No one knows the product better. No one sells it harder.
Founders can hit $1-2M ARR on their own. Once you crack the sales playbook, then bring in a team (usually by Series A).
Retention = Real Growth 🔄
Getting customers is great. Keeping them is what matters. High churn? Big problem.
By year two, founders should know what’s working. Each new group of customers should stay longer than the last. That’s how you grow.
You’re Always Being Measured 📊
There’s a rulebook, but every startup has its own challenges. The catch? Investors compare you to others.
You’re always being benchmarked.
🚀 Founders, what’s been your hardest enterprise SaaS lesson?
PS: These are based on lessons that I have learnt from working with SaaS founders. What is with the image, you ask? I asked Grok to give me an image with tennis players (from my headline here on the "long game"), different sides of the net, but it could not!
