The hottest SaaS Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Zombiecalypse in Startupland

East Wind • 9 implied HN points • 30 Jul 24
💼 Business Venture Capital Startups Investing SaaS Economics
  1. The SaaS market is struggling, with many companies facing slow growth. This makes it hard for them to go public or find buyers.
  2. There are lots of startups that were once valued highly, but now they can't exit or sell without losing value. This is creating a backlog of troubled companies.
  3. Investors are still showing interest in AI startups, but there’s a risk of repeating past mistakes and ending up with even more struggling businesses that can't deliver for their investors.

What makes something defensible?

Superfluid • 79 implied HN points • 29 Mar 23
💼 Business Venture Capital SaaS Startup Investment Competition
  1. Moats are evolving rapidly in the business world, fueled by technological advancements like GPT-4.
  2. Founders need to articulate their product's defensibility to VCs and focus on long-term moat building strategies.
  3. VCs may need to be more selective in their investments, considering competition, data as a moat, and the importance of long-term product vision.

Creating Pricing Power through M&A

Good Better Best • 2 implied HN points • 15 Nov 24
💼 Business Mergers Acquisitions Pricing Strategy SaaS Market Trends
  1. SaaS companies can use acquisitions to improve their products, which lets them raise prices confidently by adding new features.
  2. Acquisitions help expand a company's offerings into a platform, allowing them to bundle products and sell them together more effectively.
  3. By acquiring diverse companies, a SaaS leader can use extreme discounting to win competitive deals, making it easier to attract new customers.
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The Perfect Homepage for Early-stage SaaS companies: Free Template + Examples + Tips

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 34 implied HN points • 04 Nov 23
💼 Business SaaS Marketing Strategy Growth Tips Pricing Strategies
  1. A good SaaS homepage is crucial for attracting potential clients and guiding them towards the next steps in the sales journey.
  2. The key sections of a perfect SaaS homepage include a sticky navigation bar, a powerful hero section, social proof, a problem introduction, an introduction to the solution, showcasing capabilities, special purpose sections, additional social proof, and a strong call-to-action section.
  3. General tips for building a perfect homepage include having a clear CTA in each section, using concise and engaging headlines, maintaining a conversational tone, and incorporating testimonials and case studies for credibility.

How Intercom Launched Fin AI

Good Better Best • 3 implied HN points • 18 Oct 24
💼 Business SaaS Product Development Pricing Strategy AI Technology
  1. Teasing features before they launch can create excitement. It helps customers know what's coming and encourages the team to work harder.
  2. Doing a soft launch allows a company to gather feedback and make improvements. It's important to stay flexible and adapt based on what you learn.
  3. Having a pricing strategy ready before launching is crucial. It saves time and helps ensure the product is set to succeed right from the start.

A super boring SaaS with $9,747 in monthly recurring revenue - Startups.email

startupsemail • 19 implied HN points • 08 Jul 23
💼 Business SaaS Entrepreneurship Market Trends AI Revenue statistics
  1. Startups with 'boring' SaaS ideas can still generate significant monthly revenue.
  2. Use a 4-step framework to develop simple and successful SaaS ideas: identify problems, assess market size, evaluate feasibility, and build/test within 4 weeks.
  3. Success as a founder often requires experimenting with multiple ideas until finding one that gains traction.

Really, really good blog posts on building, scaling, and financing startups

The Down Round • 19 implied HN points • 07 Mar 23
💼 Business Startups Funding SaaS Economics Management
  1. Having a core group of users who love your product is crucial for startup success and growth.
  2. Carefully consider how much funding your startup actually needs, as too little or too much can have negative consequences.
  3. Not all revenue is the same in a business, focus on creating high-value revenue streams for success.

Clouded Judgement 1.30.25 - The Year of AI Applications

Clouded Judgement • 3 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Software Business Models SaaS Innovation
  1. 2025 is expected to be a big year for AI applications because the costs of using AI are going down. This means businesses can try out more AI features without worrying about high costs.
  2. As the cost to use AI tools decreases, companies are likely to innovate more. This could lead to exciting new applications and services that impress users.
  3. SaaS businesses are usually valued on their revenue, and understanding these revenue multiples helps compare companies. As companies grow, their market value can change based on how they manage their costs and profits.

Pricing Strategy Breakdown: beehiiv 🐝

Good Better Best • 2 implied HN points • 01 Nov 24
💼 Business SaaS Pricing Growth Marketing Monetization
  1. Beehiiv has a smart pricing model that offers a free plan with great features, perfect for newbies to grow their newsletter. They also have different paid plans based on subscriber numbers, making it easy for users to find the right fit.
  2. The company regularly updates its features, often adding them to lower-priced plans, which keeps all users happy and supports their growth. It's about helping users succeed rather than just chasing profits.
  3. Beehiiv’s approach focuses on rapid development and customer feedback, allowing them to adapt quickly and maintain a competitive edge in the newsletter space. This flexibility is a big part of their success.

#37 The definitive guide to SaaS funnels

Organic SaaS Growth • 1 implied HN point • 12 Dec 24
💼 Business Marketing Sales SaaS Growth Strategy
  1. SaaS funnels are key to making a business successful. They help you understand your customers and improve sales.
  2. A clear funnel can lead to steady growth and better marketing decisions. Without one, it’s tough to know where to focus your efforts.
  3. You can get help creating or improving your funnels. Having an expert audit your current system might boost your performance.

SaaS tiered pricing: why do it & its implications to engineering

Brick by Brick • 27 implied HN points • 21 Aug 23
💼 Business SaaS Pricing Engineering Features
  1. SaaS companies often use tiered pricing with free, middle, and high tiers to attract different customer segments.
  2. Each tier serves a purpose: free for lead generation, middle as the anchor attracting most customers, and high for generating the most revenue.
  3. Assigning features to pricing tiers has implications on product development, requiring deliberate assignment, modular implementation, and robust analytics.

The Ultimate B2B SaaS Pricing Guide for early-stage startups.

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 25 implied HN points • 12 Jul 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Startups Sales SaaS
  1. The guide provides 5 steps to start with your SaaS pricing, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer pain and choosing a value-based pricing model.
  2. Key pricing fundamentals include isolation effect, price anchoring, incentivizing yearly payments, avoiding undercharging, and collecting pricing-relevant insights for continuous pricing optimization.
  3. The post shares inspiring SaaS pricing examples and expert advice on the significance of learning speed over productivity in startup success.

The Ultimate Guide to Sales Product Demos: Mastering the Art of Closing Deals.

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 21 implied HN points • 21 Mar 23
💼 Business Sales SaaS Growth Strategy Startups
  1. A powerful SaaS product demo combines structure, value-focused messaging, and engaging communication.
  2. A successful SaaS product demo follows a 9-phase structure, from research and preparation to pricing and next steps.
  3. Key aspects of a strong SaaS product demo include keeping it engaging, focusing on benefits, and addressing pain points.

3/16/22 Digest Liu He and the Rebound from the "Policy Bottom", Livestreaming ecommerce after Viya, China SaaS & the Long Way to Go

Tech Buzz China Insider • 19 implied HN points • 17 Mar 22
🕹 Technology Ecommerce SaaS Market Analysis
  1. Chinese internet stocks experienced a significant rally on 3/16, rebounding from previous drops.
  2. Livestreaming ecommerce in China saw changes after Viya's exit, with Austin facing challenges in filling the void.
  3. The Chinese SaaS industry is still developing, facing issues like lack of standardization, support, and differentiation.

Community Synergy 🤝: Supercharge Your SaaS Journey with Strong Connections

Friends Of SaaS • 9 implied HN points • 06 Jun 23
💼 Business SaaS Community Networking Marketing Entrepreneurship
  1. Building connections and community in the SaaS industry is crucial for growth and support.
  2. Avoid overselling, spamming, and neglecting the reason why individuals join your community.
  3. Consider joining active SaaS communities like Indie Hackers, Micro SaaS, Microconf Slack, and Reddit to network and gain insights.

SaaS Shrinkflation

Good Better Best • 6 implied HN points • 28 Jul 23
🕹 Technology SaaS Pricing Software AI
  1. SaaS companies are implementing Shrinkflation by reducing usage limits while keeping prices the same.
  2. The debate between PLG and SLG in SaaS focuses on removing friction for customers.
  3. Recent SaaS trends aim to make it easier for small teams to build products and offer outcome-based solutions.

💰 SaaS Watch #1 (Feb 13, 2024)

SaaS Watch • 1 HN point • 13 Feb 24
💼 Business SaaS Acquisitions Startups Entrepreneurship Technology
  1. SaaS Watch curates micro SaaS acquisition opportunities priced between $0 to $100k weekly, making it easier for everyday people to find potential investments.
  2. The newsletter is considered an MVP, and if validated, the plan is to expand sources and improve the data provided to subscribers.
  3. Various SaaS opportunities are listed in different price ranges, from $0-$1k to $50k-$100k, catering to different investment budgets and interests.

Mastering the B2B Analytics Stack from Founding to Growth stage: A Comprehensive Guide

nonamevc • 6 HN points • 22 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Analytics SaaS CRM Data Warehousing Business Intelligence
  1. Consider the timing and readiness of your organization before implementing new tools in the B2B analytics stack.
  2. In the founding stage, focus on qualitative data, understanding customer needs, and building a customer profile.
  3. During the growth stage, invest in sophisticated analytics tools, like data warehouses and experimentation platforms, to effectively manage growing data.

Interview with Chris Hexton, co-founder and CEO of Vero – marketing software for the modern data stack

nonamevc • 4 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
💼 Business Marketing Data Software Entrepreneurship SaaS
  1. Vero Connect is designed for data-driven businesses to connect with user data effectively and efficiently.
  2. Vero focuses on being a valuable partner for businesses that require email marketing and marketing technology tools.
  3. Vero plans to merge its products to allow querying Snowflake for building audiences and automations.

👋🏼 SaaS companies are getting rid of freemium

Good Better Best • 3 implied HN points • 21 Apr 23
💼 Business SaaS Pricing Monetization Market research Community Engagement
  1. SaaS companies are getting rid of freemium plans recently.
  2. Use clear storytelling principles on your pricing page: build for someone, use resonating names, offer clear value propositions, focus on benefits not features, and provide expanding detail.
  3. Consider different strategies for pricing research based on the nature of your product and market.

SaaS: The Lazy Industry

Alex Ghiculescu's Newsletter • 4 HN points • 07 Apr 23
💼 Business SaaS Software Development Innovation Competition Product Management
  1. SaaS companies prioritize cash flow over product improvements, leading to less investment in innovation.
  2. The high cost of software production creates strong moats for B2B companies, making it challenging for competitors to enter the market.
  3. To avoid becoming 'lazy,' companies can focus on disciplined spending, lean teams, and continuous innovation.

Pay as You Go: The Rise of Usage-Based Pricing in SaaS

Termsheet by Attack Capital • 2 HN points • 25 Apr 23
💼 Business SaaS Pricing Subscription
  1. Usage-based pricing helps companies limit risks, monetize growth, and increase retention compared to traditional models.
  2. Defining users in pricing is challenging with automation and API interactions, pushing the shift to usage-based pricing.
  3. SaaS companies are transitioning to hybrid models combining subscription and usage-based pricing for better customer acceptance and business growth.