SaaS Weekly goes big 🚀

Link Roundups

• The SaaS Trends Report – 2023 Year in Review: Link

• How we reached #1 on Product Hunt: Link

• The top SaaS sales performance metrics: Link

• The Bar for Going Public: Link

News Roundups

• OpenAI announces ChatGPT price changes, embedding models and API updates: Link

• Databricks backs $33M round for data quality monitoring startup Anomalo: Link

• Prismatic lands $22M to connect disparate B2B SaaS apps: Link

• Flexport Raising $260M From Shopify: Link

SaaS Weekly Reads

I acquired a newsletter! And I’m rolling it up under the SaaS Weekly brand

Why you ask? Here’s the strategy behind it. Plus, my vision for this publication.

Ian Ito @ SaaS Weekly [saas]

Growth Reads

Content-Driven Growth – Advice From Hubspot, Ahrefs, Intercom, Slidebean, And Webflow

A timeless classic from Lenny's Newsletter.

This deep dive explores how some of the top SaaS companies use content as a key lever for growth. There are five ways to do this, but my top pick is using 'Editorially generated SEO-optimized' content to grow.

Popularized by companies like HubSpot and Slidebean, in this approach, employees or contractors create content with the goal of ranking higher for specific keywords.

Here’s one key takeaway to get started. Start with a focused approach on one media channel, aim for excellence, and gradually expand. Be aware of the broad competition for audience attention, and strive to create outstanding content that serves clear, aligned goals.

Lenny Rachitsky @ Lenny's Newsletter [growth]

How Atlassian Grows

There is a ton of information packed within this article. To help make it digestible, I highlighted one strategy that I found the most impactful.

Atlassian used channel partnerships for global expansion and enterprise customer base growth.

Instead of an internal sales force, Atlassian built a global network of resale partners for better market penetration and local representation.

These partners help to manage local sales, support, and on-site client meetings, simplifying international expansion.

The benefit? Over 500 worldwide partners, helping to create a strong marketing and local presence without direct involvement.

This GTM strategy highlights the flywheel effect of combining self-serve models, content marketing, and channel partnerships.

Jaryd Hermann @ How They Grow [growth]

Marketing Reads

The Power of Comparison Pages in SaaS [The Ultimate Guide]

A not-so-secret, secret to increase your SEO ranking.

Competitive pages offer B2B SaaS companies a way to appear above the fold and control the narrative against competitors.

But this isn’t a silver bullet for all your lead gen woes, building out comparison pages requires a thoughtful approach and a long-term horizon. Here are some common components to include as you build your pages. 1) Use comparison tables, 2) Include social proof, 3) Address FAQs.

Ethan Crump @ Foundation [marketing]

The New Playbook for Pipeline Generation is Emerging

New year, new playbook. Gone are the days of solely relying on tried and true tactics. With GenAI emerging for marketers and sales teams, filling your pipeline got a lot more crowded.

Here are 14 predictions for evolving B2B SaaS GTM strategies in 2024. I highlighted three of my top picks below.

1) We are seeing an increase in personalization at scale and end of traditional cold emailing.

2) An increased use of automation in outbound sales, replacing SDR teams.

3) Plus, more and more adoption of community flywheels and influencers as key GTM strategies.

Brendan Short @ The Signal [Sales]

Lessons From A Founder

Finding product-market fit is all about finding the right signal. But during the growth stage, the challenge switches from sourcing signal to selecting which one to follow.

For Prem, the founder of Humanly.io, the biggest hurdle when growing was not trying to be everything to everyone. Here are the lessons learned from his journey.

Quickly create MVPs to see which features align with specific segments before you write any code. (Source signal before shipping.)

“Startups that fail don’t starve for ideas, they drown in them.” It’s harder to figure out what not to build as opposed to what to build, and that distinction is decided by your customers not necessarily by your ideas.

Lean into your Mission, Vision, and Values sooner, don’t wait for them to be perfect before publishing them internally and to your customers.

Prem at Humanly.io

Podcasts I'm listening to

• Building a Top-Down Sales Strategy While Maintaining a Bottoms-Up Approach: Link

• From Zero to Hero: How to Dominate Outbound SaaS Sales with Rippling and Founders Fund: Link

SaaS Weekly Resources

1) The SaaS Weekly Database: Search Thousands of the Best SaaS Articles and Resources

2) Generative AI Tracker: B2B SaaS Companies Adding GenAI Capabilities

3) Chat with SaaS Weekly: Ask Questions Across All Our Articles

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How to build a $4.5m revenue company with 0 Full Time Employees