ISSUE #274

I remember the first week I sent this newsletter.

September 2022. A simple email with "We've got some exciting news!" in the subject line.

I had just bought SaaS Weekly and had no idea what I was doing. The plan was vague - relaunch the website, expand the content, maybe build something bigger.

Back then, I thought I'd be somewhere else by now. Maybe running a SaaS company. Maybe building the next big GTM tool. I definitely didn't think I'd still be here every week, curating articles and writing intros.

But here we are. Three years later.

The funny thing about looking back…you're always surprised by the distance you traveled. A journey of thousands of words, hundreds of posts, and a few moments of memories.

Here's to the next chapter.

Let's dive in!

Ian at SaaS Weekly

THIS WEEK IN SAAS
Trends across the industry

🚀 GTM Tools | Clay just collapsed the GTM stack into one AI-native platform
Clay wrapped up their annual Sculpt conference Wednesday (I was there!) with product launches that turn fragmented GTM workflows into a unified operating system (Clay):

• Sculptor (natural language workflow builder)

• Claygent Builder + Connectors (AI prompts that connect to Salesforce, Gong, and Google Docs)

• Audiences (unified buyer intent tracking)

• Sequencer (native email campaigns)

Why it matters: Clay started as a RevOps tool for building automated workflows behind the scenes. Now, the company has shifted to "frontend workspace for end users" – expanding beyond enrichment tools.

🛂 Talent | Trump's $100K H-1B fee prices startups out of global talent
President Trump signed a proclamation Friday adding a $100,000 fee to H-1B visa applications for skilled foreign workers (New York Times). The fee affects new applicants starting today, September 21, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Why it matters: The fee structure creates a two-tier system where big tech can continue accessing global talent pools while early-stage startups face prohibitive costs per hire. "Early teams can't swallow that tax," Garry Tan, CEO at San Francisco's Y Combinator, wrote on LinkedIn (GeekWire).

📊 CRM Wars | Zendesk just handed HubSpot the SMB market
Zendesk announced it's retiring Zendesk Sell by 2027 and pushing customers to Pipedrive (Garo Aroian). Meanwhile, HubSpot posted Q2 revenue of $760.9M (up 19% YoY) with nearly 268,000 customers.

Why it matters: Platform consolidation continues in the CRM space. HubSpot owns SMB and mid-market, Salesforce holds enterprise, and everyone else is getting squeezed out.

THE ARCHIVE
Three years of curation, now searchable

SaaS Weekly across the years

SaaS Archive: the database for the best articles on the web

Speaking of looking back - three years of curation deserves better than sitting buried in email inboxes. I've turned the newsletter archive into searchable content.

Dive into the SaaS Weekly Archive: every article I've handpicked, organized by topic and strategy. Three years of filtering signal from noise, now in one place.

Below are a few of my favorite posts I've written.

Past Lives: The Story of SaaS Weekly

I often find words are easier to sell than code.

In my past life, I would spend months writing lines of code without writing a single piece of content, only to find that there was no audience to showcase my work. Long story short - those products are now buried in my virtual backyard.

After two failed startups taught me that distribution beats product every time, I made a different bet: build an audience before building anything else. SaaS Weekly became my laboratory for that experiment.

Are SaaS companies becoming media businesses?

One of my favorite posts I’ve written. Over the past decade, SaaS companies have either launched or purchased a media arm.

HubSpot acquired The Hustle. Salesforce launched its own streaming service. The shift happened when audiences began trusting creators more than corporate messaging. Media companies win attention because content is their product, not a byproduct designed to funnel clicks. SaaS companies realized they could own distribution channels instead of renting them from Big Tech platforms that change algorithms overnight.

How to automate a signal-based outbound motion

Cold outreach has become spray-and-pray marketing disguised as a sales strategy.

Teams send thousands of generic emails to prospects who've never heard of them, then wonder why response rates keep dropping. The better approach is to wait for companies to signal interest first through website visits, content downloads, or product usage.

TOP READS FROM LAST WEEK

1. The ultimate guide to AEO: How to get ChatGPT to recommend your product (Lenny’s Newsletter)

2. HubSpot introduces the Loop: A new playbook for growth in the AI era (HubSpot)

3. How to Win the New SEO Game: AI Search, GEO, and the Future of Visibility (GTM Strategist)