Every post of theirs in the library
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Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin
Writes about Revenue, SaaS and Founder. 64% of posts open with an observation. A typical post reaches 260 likes.
- Posts
- 129
- Likes
- 51K
- Typical
- 260
- Best
- 2.1K
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Every post of theirs in the library
| Post | Topic | Likes | Replies | Reposts | Score | Posted | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @jasonlkFounders notice everything. Every bug, Every screwed up deal, Every employee that didn't g… | Engineering | 2.1K | 41 | — | 41 | ||
| @jasonlkYour top performers will take on a lot of responsibilties not in their job description whe… | Hiring | 1.5K | 11 | — | 38 | ||
| @jasonlkTry this exercise as CEO: * Create brand new email account * Fire up Incognito Then .. * S… | SaaS | 1.4K | 28 | — | 38 | ||
| @jasonlkFirst-time managers often focus on getting junior hires in that will work for them, and wh… | Hiring | 1.3K | 24 | — | 37 | ||
| @jasonlk10 Things That Would Have Helped Me Go From $1m to $10m Faster with Less Stress: 1/ Spendi… | Hiring | 1.2K | 18 | — | 37 | ||
| @jasonlkBlack founders: I don't do that many investments a year (I am a slow+quiet investor), but … | Founder | 1.2K | 60 | — | 37 | ||
| @jasonlkWho's speaking at 2020 https://t.co/5gjWmKtIdv CEO Box CEO Airtable CEO Zoom CEO Pagerduty… | Marketing | 1.1K | 67 | — | 37 | ||
| @jasonlkSpecialists are great, and it's natural to want to hire them, especially in areas new to y… | Hiring | 1.1K | 25 | — | 36 | ||
| @jasonlkBeen investing for 5.5 years. I have returned almost no capital, but have lead 1 round fro… | Founder | 1K | 20 | — | 36 | ||
| @jasonlkThings you don't think >really< matter in the early days: 1. culture 2. brand 3. customer … | Marketing | 968 | 11 | — | 35 | ||
| @jasonlkIf the company is doing reasonably well And your boss is a good boss And your team is a go… | Hiring | 920 | 10 | — | 35 | ||
| @jasonlkFounders are builders I have been stressed a lot Worried a ton Almost failed thrice But on… | Lessons | 919 | 19 | — | 35 | ||
| @jasonlkThings you think are hard to recover from: - Losing a top customer - Not getting VC fundin… | Founder | 915 | 21 | — | 35 | ||
| @jasonlkIf you are in a start-up and unhappy in your job, you can - move on gracefully - quit - su… | Hiring | 853 | 14 | — | 34 | ||
| @jasonlkThe simplest way to sell more, for a customer from $500-$50,000: Sell faster. - Simplify y… | Revenue | 843 | 19 | — | 35 | ||
| @jasonlkYour weapons to win: Try Harder Never Quit Interview Just One More Ask Why Nurture Talent … | Hiring | 765 | 13 | — | 34 | ||
| @jasonlkIf you are early to a market, just be prepared for: - lots of smart people + VCs telling y… | Product | 716 | 18 | — | 33 | ||
| @jasonlkI know you want to think your killer UI will win deals in the enterprise But it won't, for… | Product | 662 | 21 | — | 33 | ||
| @jasonlkIME, rough order to make hires in: VPM: $0.2m ARR VPS: $1-$1.5m ARR VPCS: $2m ARR VPP: $3m… | SaaS | 660 | 15 | — | 33 | ||
| @jasonlkA great salesteam is almost a guaranteed pick-me-up for any startup. The energy of winning… | Founder | 648 | 9 | — | 33 | ||
| @jasonlkIn any billion dollar or larger space, There is almost always at least $100m or more in re… | Revenue | 598 | 10 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkVC: Your job as CEO is: - recruiting - fundraising - strategy All true, but job #1 really … | Hiring | 596 | 9 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkIn my first start-up, my CTO and co-founder was not our best engineer. Not close. But what… | Engineering | 595 | 6 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkFor every hyper-well funded Silicon Valley startup at $2m-$3m I generally find there's ano… | SaaS | 582 | 28 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkIt's work, but perhaps best way to do diligence on a VC: Find a portfolio company that sol… | Founder | 571 | 8 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkWho's speaking at 2020 SaaStr Annual CEO Box CEO Airtable CEO Zoom CEO Pagerduty CEO Front… | Marketing | 565 | 19 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkNot everyone is cut out for management However, ultimately 1 person can only scale so far … | Founder | 559 | 5 | — | 31 | ||
| @jasonlkIf I had 1 mentor, just 1, Who said: If you are at $10m ARR, Growing 100%, With 150% net r… | SaaS | 556 | 14 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkBest deal in tech: Get into YC Get customers from YC Get PR from YC Get brand halo from YC… | Founder | 532 | 7 | — | 31 | ||
| @jasonlkBlack Swan events I've experienced: - Landlord voiding an 8 year lease for no reason - Key… | Founder | 530 | 29 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkYou might not be a great CEO, especially not yet But anyone else: - wouldn't really know t… | Product | 525 | 6 | — | 31 | ||
| @jasonlkA top trend I have noticed past 3 years: Startups are MUCH, MUCH worse at finance. Like, a… | SaaS | 511 | 41 | — | 32 | ||
| @jasonlkDear founders: if you are past $1m ARR and have happy customers, This is already likely th… | SaaS | 511 | 9 | — | 31 | ||
| @jasonlkIt used to be you basically had two options to make money as a founder: * hope for an IPO … | Founder | 469 | 17 | — | 31 | ||
| @jasonlkDon't let ego get in the way of a good business decision Your partners owe you nothing. No… | Revenue | 454 | 4 | — | 30 | ||
| @jasonlkIt helps to have a thick skin until about $20m ARR or so, probably longer You'll hear: - I… | SaaS | 434 | 6 | — | 30 | ||
| @jasonlkWhat would you be doing, if not this? Sitting on a beach? Great for a month. Getting in sh… | Founder | 434 | 12 | — | 30 | ||
| @jasonlkEvery successful start-up had a Magical Sales Rep in the early days: * often from a non-tr… | Product | 421 | 13 | — | 30 | ||
| @jasonlk"Churn" is a term we borrowed from our B2C friends It makes sense to use when you have 10,… | Revenue | 420 | 11 | — | 30 | ||
| @jasonlkI found raising VC capital challenging, but not THAT hard Of course: - I am/was white male… | Founder | 406 | 11 | — | 30 | ||
| @jasonlkJob of CEO after about $3m ARR or so, generally speaking: 1. Recruiting 2. Recruiting 3. C… | SaaS | 372 | 3 | — | 29 | ||
| @jasonlkYou’ll have brand equity probably as early as $1m in ARR. As soon as you have 100 happy cu… | SaaS | 365 | 5 | — | 29 | ||
| @jasonlkOnce you have 5% market share, even in a niche, and it's growing ... you can run the table… | Marketing | 346 | 4 | — | 28 | ||
| @jasonlkWhen a key customer churns, When a top partner dumps you, When someone leaves to go to the… | Revenue | 345 | 7 | — | 28 | ||
| @jasonlkProud of you all Every CEO I work with: Adjusted the plan, Reforecasted, Communicated to t… | Hiring | 330 | 5 | — | 28 | ||
| @jasonlkMarketing tip: Sponsor the top podcasts in your industry 100k folks in your industry actua… | Marketing | 328 | 10 | — | 28 | ||
| @jasonlkWhen you think about #goinglong and mental health, and staying int he game, remember that … | Lessons | 325 | 11 | — | 28 | ||
| @jasonlkArc of raising venture capital: - Youth: Raise It, Raise It, Raise It! And Raise More!! - … | Career | 317 | 2 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlk90% of folks do not want to do what it really takes to do great things wait until around E… | Hiring | 311 | 5 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkImagine you are only growing 40% a year at $10m ARR That's not great But if you just go he… | SaaS | 306 | 24 | — | 29 | ||
| @jasonlkWhen a VC invests in you, they'll be thinking: "How can I make at least the size of my fun… | Founder | 304 | 6 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkMany VC firms giving blanket advice to freeze hiring today Probably good advice on average… | Hiring | 303 | 7 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkThe customer may be annoying The customer may be stupid, I guess The customer may be wrong… | Revenue | 299 | 5 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkTypes of investors: Angel: even forget some deals they invested in Seed: can write off any… | Founder | 295 | 4 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkFounders do not make better investors But they do have one superpower: They know in 10 min… | Founder | 293 | 6 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkYou are always about 2 years ahead of any clone They don’t know the market yet anything li… | Hiring | 292 | 3 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkVisa: We could see ourselves going as high as $500m P: huh? Visa: $900m P: gotta run Visa:… | Revenue | 289 | 7 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkSome quick definitional help: ARR = MRR * 12 MRR = ARR / 12 sorry but anything else is inc… | SaaS | 288 | 38 | — | 29 | ||
| @jasonlk2001-2004: Outsource, outsource, outsource 2005-2007: Outsourcing isn't any cheaper, we ne… | Revenue | 286 | 10 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkThere is no such thing as a "VP Sales and Customer Success". Can only be VP of one. Many w… | Revenue | 284 | 18 | — | 28 | ||
| @jasonlkHow to close a $100k deal -- for most of us: First, close a $10k deal Then, ask the next p… | Revenue | 283 | 8 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkStartups generally are either sales-focused or product-focused Sales-focused by nature bec… | Product | 281 | 8 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkAt first, you do it to do it Then maybe to make money Then to win And then, at some point … | Hiring | 277 | 2 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlk$1m ARR, growing 6% MoM = good product $1m ARR, growing 10% MoM = product-market fit $1m A… | SaaS | 276 | 9 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkWhat limits growth: Very Early: no customers Pretty Early: scarce leads Then: mini-brand A… | Growth | 260 | 5 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkAt $1m ARR, you have to stop worrying about $1k customers At $10m ARR, you have to stop wo… | SaaS | 257 | 7 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkYour cold email is likely >seen< At least the title Even by the CEO of a $100b+ company. E… | Founder | 256 | 9 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkone thing that makes me sad is when great founder becomes a VC & then in like 6-12 months … | Founder | 254 | 13 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlk"We need a product guy" "Ok, but we aren't ready for a VP yet. Let's just hire a junior pe… | Product | 254 | 8 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkWe're getting to the point in the year where prospects and deals will start to push to Jan… | Engineering | 249 | 13 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkAbout 20% of the advice from a great mentor should make you uncomfortable and even a bit a… | Lessons | 248 | 6 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkBefore you sell, Before you quit, Before you step down At best, we have 3 >real< start-ups… | Career | 245 | 3 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkDistributed sales teams are the last frontier So many startups now are distributed ... exc… | Revenue | 245 | 16 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkAlmost none of us have done this before But once you get to $2m, $10m, $20m, $50m, $100m A… | SaaS | 242 | 1 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkEarly stage investors are paid to take risk What they don't want to do is have to discover… | Revenue | 234 | 4 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkYes, WeWork and Uber have confusing and maybe unsustainable business models. And had crazy… | AI | 230 | 9 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkYou blame sales, But is it really marketing? I.e., are there enough leads? _________ You b… | Marketing | 229 | 15 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkIf you want to quit every day, that's a bad job If you want to quit say once a quarter, th… | Hiring | 228 | 3 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkSometimes, you cannot make it work Still, if I'd quit each time smart people: - told me it… | Career | 224 | 7 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkYour revenue may be flat, or even shrinking right now That is what it is But that's not an… | Growth | 223 | 4 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkWho is your "lead" investor? She/he is: - most responsible for bringing in next round inve… | Founder | 216 | 9 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkYour job as CEO: Bridge the Gap We will return to normalcy. We don't know when. * When we … | Hiring | 213 | 2 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkI have talked to a lot of high growth SaaS companies that get 30%-40% of their pipeline fr… | SaaS | 211 | 12 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkI'm a B2B guy But we have now sold almost $20,000,000 in tickets to SaaStr events Here's w… | SaaS | 208 | 5 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkM&A pricing is so odd to me If you want it, buy it for the price that clears It is either … | Revenue | 207 | 15 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlk#1 thing I've learned sitting on boards with VCs who have invested in companies worth $100… | Lessons | 201 | 2 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkOk my annual tweet on costs at events at scale for a little fun SaaStr Annual 2020: Cost t… | Food tech | 200 | 12 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkSaaS: 1 Year: Find a customer 2 Years: Pay the rent 3 Years: Mini-brand 5 Years: Can't Be … | SaaS | 200 | 6 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkDead: Blogging Sponsored Posts "Thought Leadership" Used to Be "Dead", Not Dead Now: Twitt… | SaaS | 197 | 16 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkSo many SaaS companies firing their CMO or VPM right now Are they really going to find som… | SaaS | 197 | 33 | — | 27 | ||
| @jasonlkplease please please please no COOs, "co-founders", "advisors", CFOs or others reaching ou… | Founder | 194 | 8 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkAfter say $3m ARR it might be OK if the board meeting was just the following slides: Hirin… | Hiring | 192 | 4 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkIf you can do say 140% net revenue retention ... Then when you hit $100m ARR. You can stil… | SaaS | 191 | 4 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkGot got a message from a founder that took 20 years to get to $2m ARR 20 years But now ...… | SaaS | 190 | 8 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlk* CEO should not drink at work, at least not more than 1 * Do not have dated / sexist even… | Hiring | 190 | 6 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlk“Don’t start chasing new segments where you have zero customers. You already have a well e… | Revenue | 189 | 3 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkWeWork is the Starbucks of corporate offices Looks cool but only at first Super convenient… | Marketing | 186 | 11 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkThe best product does win Just remember, best includes: - best brand - best solution - bes… | Marketing | 185 | 0 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkTriple Double Double is a good goal, but tough to skate to in practice 10-100-110 is enoug… | SaaS | 182 | 4 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkSalespeople: Remember than while 80% of the world likes to negotiate, 80% of CEOs don't. A… | Revenue | 181 | 5 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkDatabricks worth $62B, sounds like a lot but: - Crossing $3B ARR - Growing 60% (!) and >ac… | SaaS | 180 | 21 | — | 29 | ||
| @jasonlkThere isn’t too much venture capital There are far more good and great startups being form… | Founder | 180 | 5 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkThe customer that always complains, it's annoying. But that probably means they care. And … | Revenue | 180 | 3 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkThere are really very few customers you want to fire If the big ones are driving you nuts,… | SaaS | 180 | 3 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlk* A pause is better than a cancel * A downgrade is much better than a cancel * A downgrade… | Revenue | 179 | 2 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkMost of the top VCs I know sit in the lobby until the founder takes their term sheet. Some… | Founder | 176 | 15 | — | 25 | ||
| @jasonlkI have done B2C, B2B, VC, frontier tech, media, telecom. Honestly I don’t care what produc… | SaaS | 176 | 5 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkSometimes, it can feel like nothing is working But usually, if you get a little perspectiv… | Product | 176 | 0 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkThe startup fantasy job you imagine does not exist But perhaps, if you have a great boss, … | Founder | 175 | 3 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkAfter $1m-$2m ARR, you can do it your own way, a different way, your special way Or you ca… | SaaS | 174 | 1 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkCan feel good to burn bridges on the way out FWIW, here's what my past bosses did for me t… | Hiring | 171 | 7 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkMore later, but in end the most frustrating part of the past 30 days is that our tiny team… | Hiring | 169 | 26 | — | 26 | ||
| @jasonlkCapital-efficient start-ups look like the smart play today 3 weeks ago, momentum investing… | Revenue | 169 | 1 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkNot sure it's happened yet, but if the downturn gets a lot worse, venture-backed CEOs shou… | Founder | 168 | 7 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkFacebook, Google: February 2020: "Compete with Zoom? That's just like WebEx not our thing.… | Engineering | 166 | 6 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkImposter Syndrome: Harvest it to stay young at heart, and keep driving to do great things … | Food tech | 166 | 7 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkAre you bringing your Customer Success team to 2020 Annual? New sessions you can't miss! "… | Revenue | 165 | 3 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkWhen I went into venture capital in 2013, it felt like an episode of Mad Men I was genuine… | Founder | 163 | 4 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlk#1 investor learning from 2013-2019: Even if you are conservative ... with the very, very,… | Founder | 162 | 6 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkIf your startup, fund, etc is "hot" Leverage it. Hire more. Raise more. Get on stage more.… | Founder | 162 | 1 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkSMBs do churn, generally speaking, at a higher rate than enterprises But they also general… | SaaS | 160 | 6 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkMy first start-up was the only one that saved lives, literally. We made implantable batter… | Product | 160 | 9 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkLong sales cycles are real in the enterprise However, they can't be an excuse Because you … | Revenue | 160 | 4 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkDon't worry too much if you aren't sure you can get to $100m ARR Worry more if you can tru… | SaaS | 158 | 0 | — | 22 | ||
| @jasonlk"Mid-market customers are the worst. They need all the handholding and onboarding of a lar… | Revenue | 156 | 13 | — | 24 | ||
| @jasonlkWhen I was at Adobe, it was the very tail end of the era when every engineer got their own… | Engineering | 153 | 4 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlkA great boss is someone that Lets you grow Helps you grow Ensures you grow Has your back P… | Career | 152 | 4 | — | 23 | ||
| @jasonlk90% transparency is usually about the right amount as CEO 100% of everything and you overl… | Hiring | 152 | 2 | — | 22 | ||
| @jasonlkHardest part of running a SaaS company, up to $1m ARR: great software Hardest part of runn… | SaaS | 151 | 5 | — | 23 |