Building SaaS (Software as a Service) startups are notoriously challenging.
Founders must not only build a stellar platform, they must ensure it is scalable as they bring on new and bigger customers.
Navigating the fast-paced and crowded world of SaaS can be daunting for new founders. So we turned to some venture-backed leaders across the Southeast for their top advice for budding entrepreneurs looking to build in the SaaS space.
Here’s what they had to share:
Rachel Renock, Co-founder & CEO at Nashville-based Wethos
Wethos is a SaaS platform that is a one-stop-shop for freelancers looking to build up their careers.
Renock’s advice: “In a world where it’s easier than ever to copy features via AI or no-code tools, my advice to SaaS founders in this era is to think about what valuable first-party data you could start collecting via your product that benefit your customers and widen your moat beyond features and UX. For our market, pricing data was the key to unlocking product growth, engagement, and enabled us to secure huge distribution partners that also valued this data.”
RootNote helps managers, talent agencies, esports organizations, universities, sports franchises, and other creative teams track their talent, manage their data, and tell their stories.
Burchard’s Advice: “Start talking to customers very early and get to know everything about their buying journey, the conviction that they’ll need to build internally, and the outcomes that you’re going to need to deliver to get your deal across the finish line. Profitability matters more than ever and raising your next (or first) round of capital may not be an option. It’s critical that your sales cycles, product mix, and cash burn align with short-term revenue goals.”
Bethany Stachenfeld, Co-founder and CEO at Sendspark, a Chattanooga-based Brickyard portfolio company
The Sendspark platform makes AI-personalized videos for sales outreach, and is used by marketing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn and Canva.
Stachenfeld’s advice to other SaaS founders: “Don’t sell features; sell use cases. Show prospective customers how they will be able to use your product to solve specific problems and achieve specific results. Telling someone “you can use Sendspark in your prospecting sequences to book 3x more demos” is more compelling than “we have an AI-personalization features.”
AchieveIt is a collaboration tool that helps organizations get important initiatives out of the boardroom and into reality.
Sehr’s Advice: “Have the confidence in the value your product delivers to your customers to price accordingly, and stick to it. This is particularly true if your target looks more enterprise than team. A higher price does not usually lose a deal on its own, and too low a price can make it difficult to scale your business.”