# Founderpath Blog > Strategies for SaaS Founders to grow with non-dilutive capital --- ## Pages - [Posts](https://founderpath.com/blog/posts): ... Read More... - [Homepage](https://founderpath.com/blog/): ... Read More... - [Sample Page](https://founderpath.com/blog/sample-page): This is an example page. It’s different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will... --- ## Posts - [Top 10 Investors That Acquire SaaS Companies](https://founderpath.com/blog/the-top-10-firms-that-buy-saas-companies): It’s 2025, you’re doing $1-5m in ARR, and you’re wondering: Who might buy my SaaS company? Founderpath has invested in... - [Stenn Competitor Founderpath and Other Alternatives](https://founderpath.com/blog/stenn-vs-founderpath): In a significant development, Stenn appears to be facing serious financial challenges, with reports indicating that HSBC has filed to... - [How to Raise $750k From Founderpath and Increase Your Equity Stake](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-raise-750k-from-founderpath-and-increase-your-equity-stake): Data in this post is being shared with permission from VoxPopMe Board Chairman (Lonnie) and CEO, co-founder (Andy). You’re about... - [Founder Personal Guarantees: Should You Sign One?](https://founderpath.com/blog/founder-personal-guarantees-should-you-sign-one): This is part of our Open Contract series where we open source our debt and non dilutive capital legal paperwork... - [Six lessons in bootstrapping to $5 million ARR with Bridget Harris and Alex Theuma](https://founderpath.com/blog/5-lessons-learned-from-bootstrapping-to-5m-arr-with-bridget-harris-and-alex-theuma): Alex Theuma, Founder and CEO of SaaStock, sat down to interview Bridget Harris, Founder and CEO of YouCanBookMe at SaaSOpen on the lessons she’s learned bootstrapping her company to over $5m ARR. - [Founderpath Now Offers Term Loans. Up to 48 Month Duration, 24 Month IO Period.](https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-now-offers-term-loans): Founderpath now offers term loans to B2B SaaS founders with $1m-$20m in ARR. Founderpath terms are dependent on each company but can go up to 48 month payback period and 24 month IO period. - [How to Sell your SaaS: Lessons from $500m in Acquisitions](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-acquisitions-lessons-from-500m-in-closed-deals): Key lessons from facilitating over $500m SaaS acquisitions, including strategies and trends from Andrew Gazdecki, Founder of Acquire.com - [Our competitors raised $100M: How we're competing with just $1M raised and still growing 2x](https://founderpath.com/blog/our-competitors-raised-100m-how-were-competing-with-just-1m-raised-and-still-growing-2x): This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply... - [12 Founder Disciplines that Helped Me Scale to $10m ARR](https://founderpath.com/blog/12-founder-disciplines-that-helped-me-bootstrap-to-10m-arr): Discover learned from Saravana Kumar's journey from solo founder to leading a $10m ARR company, Kovai.co. Learn his 12 disciplines for bootstrap success, effective team management, and scaling strategies. - [From Fear to $5m: The SaaS CEO Who Turned Emotions into Revenue](https://founderpath.com/blog/from-fear-to-5m-the-saas-ceo-who-turned-emotions-into-revenue): If you met Calvin Correli today, you’d unequivocally describe him as successful. He’s the founder and CEO of Simplero, which... - [How We Grew Revenue 250% and Survived Cash Death](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-we-grew-revenue-250-and-survived-cash-death): At SaaSOpen 2023, Gil Allouche, the founder and CEO at Metadata, candidly shares the strategies and decisions that propelled the... - [How I’ve helped 60 SaaS companies drive $100m in sales ](https://founderpath.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-saas-sales-how-ive-helped-60-saas-companies-drive-100m-in-sales): How Kyle Vamvouris has driven over $100m in SaaS Sales for 60+ companies (without hiring more reps). Learn his top strategies. - [Bootstrapping SaaS vs Raising VC: How to Decide Which is Better](https://founderpath.com/blog/bootstrapping-saas-vs-raising-vc-which-one-is-right-for-you): Joe DiPasquale of Regroup shares how to know if bootstrapping SaaS is right for you vs raising venture capital. - [From $0 to $30 Million: vFairs' Formula for Scaling SaaS Revenue](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-vfairs-scaled-saas-revenue-from-0-to-30m): Unlock the secrets to scaling SaaS revenue from the initial MVP stage to multimillion-dollar success that vFairs used to scale to $30m. - [LinkedIn Outreach: Targeting Tactics your competition isn't using in 2023](https://founderpath.com/blog/linkedin-outreach-strategies-for-2023): Discover proven strategies for effective LinkedIn outreach in 2023. Boost your connections, increase profile engagement, and drive growth. - [7 Ways to Grow SaaS Revenue in 2023](https://founderpath.com/blog/5-ways-to-grow-saas-revenue-in-2023): Grow SaaS revenue in 2023 with these 7 essential steps. Elevate your sales strategy and boost profitability with data-driven insights. - [How we bootstrapped to $65m ARR, 500k Customers, and the slide deck we used to IPO in 2021](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-we-bootstrapped-to-65m-arr-500k-customers-and-the-slide-deck-we-used-to-ipo-in-2021): This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply... - [Profitable SaaS Growth: How Ken Hoppe of Modigie Hit $1.7M Profitably](https://founderpath.com/blog/profitable-saas-growth-how-ken-hoppe-of-modigie-hit-1-7m-profitably): If you want to know about profitable saas growth look no further than Ken Hoppe and Modigie. A great example in capital efficient growth. - [How Rajesh Jain built a $100m Profitable SaaS Company](https://founderpath.com/blog/ama-with-rajesh-jain-of-netcore-cloud-on-profitable-saas): How did Rajesh Jain, CEO of Netcore cloud, bootstrap to $100m in revenue and become the "King" of Profitable SaaS? - [Successful SaaS Sales: How GetAccept Scaled to +$10m ARR](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-sales-how-getaccept-scaled-to-15m-in-arr): Samir Smajic scaled GetAccept from $0 to $15m+ in ARR using these SaaS sales strategies. In this blogpost he shares his exact playbooks. - [How to Connect Maxio with Founderpath (SaaSOptics and Chargify Instructions)](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-connect-maxio-with-founderpath-saasoptics-and-chargify-instructions): In order to use Founderpath’s API connection to Maxio, you need to be billing through Chargify. If you use SaaSOptics... - [How to Connect Brex with Founderpath](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-set-up-brex-with-founderpath): This article will teach you how to add Founderpath as an approved ACH party inside of your Brex account. If... - [AMA with Pritesh Vora, Head of Marketing & Growth and founding team member at Sprinto](https://founderpath.com/blog/ama-with-pritesh-vora-head-of-marketing-growth-and-founding-team-member-at-sprinto): sales and growth strategies, executing marketing initiatives designed to get traction and increase revenue. He’s currently head of marketing and... - [AMA with Adam Baker, Co-founder and CEO of Dealpad.io](https://founderpath.com/blog/ama-with-adam-baker-co-founder-and-ceo-of-dealpad-io): Last week, we held our first FounderLed AMA withAdam Baker, co-founder and CEO of Dealpad. io. Adam’s a 3x SaaS... - [SaaS Project Management Tools: Everything You Need To Know + Examples (2023)](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-project-management-tools-everything-you-need-to-know-examples): Project management is an important aspect of delivering SaaS software products. The key is to use a SaaS project management tool. - [A SaaS Founder’s Guide to Startup Financial Statements](https://founderpath.com/blog/a-saas-founders-guide-to-startup-financial-statements): Well-prepared financial statements are a startup’s sword and shield. Not only do they protect against unforeseen expenses and revenue drops,... - [The Ultimate How-to Guide for SaaS Accounting](https://founderpath.com/blog/the-ultimate-how-to-guide-for-saas-accounting): Keeping accurate and consistent accounts and financial documents can make or break your long-term success. According to Botkeeper, Philadelphia’s government... - [SaaS Agreements: Everything You Need to Know and How to Create a SaaS Agreement (2023)](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-agreements-everything-you-need-to-know-and-how-to-create-a-saas-agreement-2023): A SaaS agreement is an essential business document which includes the terms and conditions of your service. It outlines your... - [SaaS Customer Success: Strategy Examples, How to Measure Customer Success, and Best Practices (2023)](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-customer-success-strategy-examples-how-to-measure-customer-success-and-best-practices-2023): Delivering a unique, reasonably priced, and in-demand product is not enough to delight and retain clients. Leveraging your customer experience... - [Pricing Page Examples For Upgrading Your SaaS Business](https://founderpath.com/blog/pricing-page-examples-for-upgrading-your-saas-business): For SaaS companies, it’s essential to have an appealing website in order to attract customers, and one of the most... - [The Ultimate Guide To SaaS Accounting](https://founderpath.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-saas-accounting): The SaaS industry is currently on track to top $168 billion in annual revenue within the next two years. That’s... - [Founderpath is Tekpon’s Best FinTech Software for 2022!](https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-is-tekpons-best-fintech-software-for-2022): 2022 was a big year for Founderpath – we deployed $95m+ to Bootstrapped and capital efficient SaaS founders to help... - [How to Set Up Accounting for Your Startup (and Why It’s Important)](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-set-up-accounting-for-your-startup-and-why-its-important): After founding your startup, there are many things to do. Systems to put in place, processes to implement, all to... - [How to Implement an SEO Strategy for Your SaaS Startup](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-implement-an-seo-strategy-for-your-saas-startup): As a new SaaS startup, it’s essential to build your online presence to attract new customers and make sales –... - [Successful Project Management: How it Benefits Your SaaS](https://founderpath.com/blog/successful-project-management-how-it-benefits-your-saas): As a SaaS founder, we understand that your time is probably taken up by fixing server issues, integrating new software,... - [Top 9 resources for Bootstrapped SaaS founders in 2023](https://founderpath.com/blog/top-9-resources-for-bootstrapped-saas-founders-2023): Use these templates, frameworks, and tactics from top SaaS founders with $1m-$10m+ in revenue in your 2023 planning. - [Why Report SaaS is So Important (and the Metrics You Should Track)](https://founderpath.com/blog/why-report-saas-is-so-important-and-the-metrics-you-should-track): Report SaaS companies collect, analyse and leverage SaaS business’ data, affording these businesses greater visibility into their performance. This allows... - [Advice for SaaS founders heading into 2023](https://founderpath.com/blog/advice-for-saas-founders-heading-into-2023): Expect more uncertainty in 2023. Maximize your SaaS company's ability to survive by avoiding these mistakes as you finish 2023 planning. - [How to Build a Successful Micro SaaS Business](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-build-a-successful-micro-saas-business): Over the last decade, SaaS (software-as-a-service) has become one of the most lucrative, fast-growing markets in the world of business.... - [How to Boost SaaS Growth Rate](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-boost-saas-growth-rate): In the business world, it’s said that you’re either growing, or you’re dying – and this is especially true for... - [How to Develop Your SaaS Sales Strategy](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-develop-your-saas-sales-strategy): To build a successful SaaS business, developing a comprehensive sales strategy is essential. Selling SaaS requires a unique sales approach... - [How to Build a Successful B2B SaaS Business](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-build-a-successful-b2b-saas-business): In 2022, selling SaaS products business-to-business (B2B) is more lucrative than ever before, drawing many entrepreneurs and budding business founders... - [B2B SaaS Marketing Strategy & Best Practices to Apply](https://founderpath.com/blog/b2b-saas-marketing-strategy-best-practices-to-apply): Marketing a B2B SaaS product is hard. Many of the rules and tricks used to sell physical products can’t be... - [Top B2B SaaS KPIs & Metrics to Track](https://founderpath.com/blog/top-b2b-saas-kpis-metrics-to-track): How do you measure the performance of your SaaS business? What benchmarks do you use to see whether you’re on... - [Creating a Foolproof SaaS Business Plan w/ Examples](https://founderpath.com/blog/creating-a-foolproof-saas-business-plan-w-examples): Did you know that having a business plan creates a 30% greater chance of growth? A strong business plan is... - [12 ideas you can steal from SaaS founders making $1k/day](https://founderpath.com/blog/12-ideas-you-can-steal-from-saas-founders-making-1k-day): Insights From Over 500 SaaS Founders On How They Hit $30k MRR In less than an hour you’ll learn: Fastest... - [Founderpath Acquires Event Company SaaSOpen, Tickets Sell Out in 43 Minutes](https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-acquires-event-company-saasopen-tickets-sell-out-in-43-minutes): Founderpath is announcing today that we’ve acquired event company SaaSOpen, the premier SaaS event for 1,000+ SaaS leaders each spring in NYC. - [SaaS Valuation Guide, Tips & Best Practices](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-valuation-guide-tips-best-practices): Before you can sell your SaaS, you need to know what it’s worth. But how exactly do you value a... - [SaaS Funding Options that You Can Access](https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-funding-options-that-you-can-access): Getting SaaS funding is a nerve-wracking process for any SaaS founder. According to a recent report by the Silicon Valley... - [Unsecured Business Startup Loans: What Are the Best Options?](https://founderpath.com/blog/unsecured-business-startup-loans-what-are-the-best-options): According to CB Insights, the number one reason why startups fail is being unable to secure funding. At Founderpath, our... - [Gathering your Options for Early-Stage Startup Funding](https://founderpath.com/blog/gathering-your-options-for-early-stage-startup-funding): According to a 2019 study by Startup Genome, 90% of startups fail, and one of the most prevalent reasons is... - [Early Stage Financing for Startups - What to Know and How to Secure It](https://founderpath.com/blog/early-stage-financing-for-startups-what-to-know-and-how-to-secure-it): Securing early-stage financing can be the difference between your startup getting off the ground or remaining nothing more than an... - [Founderpath Raises $145m to Provide Non-Dilutive Financing to Bootstrapped SaaS Founders](https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-raises-145m-to-provide-non-dilutive-financing-to-bootstrapped-saas-founders): Austin, Texas, August 9th – Founderpath, the platform 6,500 bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders use to get capital, announced $145m in... - [Startup Funding Proposal Sample](https://founderpath.com/blog/startup-funding-proposal-sample): How are you going to obtain funding from investors for your startup ? It isn’t easy to secure capital while... - [Revenue Based Business Loans: What to consider & best practices](https://founderpath.com/blog/revenue-based-business-loans-what-to-consider-best-practices): You don’t want to be one of those founders who loses it all. You aren’t on this journey to experience... - [Top Startup Funding Options for Entrepreneurs](https://founderpath.com/blog/top-startup-funding-options-for-entrepreneurs): According to Startup Genome, 90% of startups fail. If you want to become part of the successful 10%, you have... - [Building Your Startup Balance Sheet](https://founderpath.com/blog/building-your-startup-balance-sheet): As a start-up founder, duration of your balance sheet should be a top priority. This is how you can build the balance sheet of your dreams. - [Types of startup funding to choose from](https://founderpath.com/blog/types-of-startup-funding-to-choose-from): If you have a great business idea, chances are you’re thinking about the best way to get it up and... - [Pre-Seed Funding: What It Is and Why You Should Care](https://founderpath.com/blog/pre-seed-funding-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care): Even if you have a great idea, there are countless obstacles to overcome before you can make your vision a... - [How To Design A SaaS Landing Page That Converts (Plus Examples)](https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-design-a-saas-landing-page-that-converts-plus-examples): What does a well-designed SaaS landing page look like? And how do you go about building one? ... Read More... - [Factoring 101](https://founderpath.com/blog/factoring-101): In this post we share some details of Factoring your receivables with Founderpath... . Read More... - [What is an Early Stage Startup? A Complete Guide for Bootstrapped Founders](https://founderpath.com/blog/what-is-an-early-stage-startup-a-complete-guide-for-bootstrapped-founders): Startups, especially in the tech and SaaS industries, are forward-thinking companies that aim to disrupt the market and solve their... - [Founderpath Stripe App Available Now: Request Capital with One Click](https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-working-with-stripe-to-launch-the-new-founderpath-stripe-app): We began working with Stripe back in December to build the Founderpath Stripe App so bootstrapped SaaS founders could get... - [Geoff Charles, Product at Ramp](https://founderpath.com/blog/geoff-charles-ramp): How Ramp Raised $800m in 18 Months, Plans to Grow from 80 to 300 Highlights 1:26 Win the Marathon, Sprint... - [Henry Schuck, CEO ZoomInfo](https://founderpath.com/blog/henry-schuck-ceo-zoominfo%ef%bf%bc): During FounderConf 2022 Henry Schuck CEO of ZoomInfo shared details of how he used different capital products to help grow ZoomInfo to its 33B market cap. --- # # Detailed Content ## Pages ### Posts - Published: 2022-06-08 - Modified: 2022-06-08 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/posts --- ### Homepage - Published: 2022-06-08 - Modified: 2022-12-12 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/ --- ### Sample Page - Published: 2022-04-13 - Modified: 2022-04-13 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/sample-page This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger by day, aspiring actor by night, and this is my website. I live in Los Angeles, have a great dog named Jack, and I like piña coladas. (And gettin' caught in the rain. ) ... or something like this: The XYZ Doohickey Company was founded in 1971, and has been providing quality doohickeys to the public ever since. Located in Gotham City, XYZ employs over 2,000 people and does all kinds of awesome things for the Gotham community. As a new WordPress user, you should go to your dashboard to delete this page and create new pages for your content. Have fun! --- --- ## Posts ### Top 10 Investors That Acquire SaaS Companies - Published: 2025-05-23 - Modified: 2025-05-27 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/the-top-10-firms-that-buy-saas-companies - Categories: Uncategorized It's 2025, you're doing $1-5m in ARR, and you're wondering: Who might buy my SaaS company? Founderpath has invested in over 500 software companies and had a front row seat to the top buyers in the space. We've seen horror stories, and super quick all cash closings. If you're looking to exit, we recommend you talk to one of these 10 buyers: SaaS Group Camber Partners Redbrick Ionic Partners Polychrome Embrace Software Constellation Software Exa Capital Sureswift Capital Providence Equity Partners Horizen Capital Calm Company Fund Cache Ventures SaaS Group SaaS Group, co-founded by Tim Schumacher, has grown into one of the most active buyers of SaaS brands since its founding in 2017. The company has acquired 20 companies to date, primarily targeting SaaS businesses with annual recurring revenue between $1-10 million. By 2024, SaaS Group had built a portfolio of 20 brands generating over $60 million in annual recurring revenue with a team of approximately 300 people across 30 countries according to Nathan Latka’s interview with Schumacher.   Schumacher brings significant entrepreneurial experience, having previously co-founded and served as CEO of Sedo. com (a domain marketplace that grew to €130M in revenue and 350 employees). SaaS Group finances acquisitions through a combination of equity and debt, with their initial €10 million coming from the founders and angel investors. Lead Investor: Tim Schumacher (Co-Founder), https://www. linkedin. com/in/timschumacher/? originalSubdomain=de Founded: 2017  Website: saas. group  Focus: SaaS companies with $1-5M ARR  Portfolio Companies: 18+ brands with combined $60M ARR up from $3m... --- ### Stenn Competitor Founderpath and Other Alternatives - Published: 2024-12-05 - Modified: 2024-12-05 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/stenn-vs-founderpath - Categories: Uncategorized In a significant development, Stenn appears to be facing serious financial challenges, with reports indicating that HSBC has filed to place the company into administration. This suggests Stenn is potentially winding down its operations, which represents a dramatic turn for a company that was previously seen as an innovative trade finance platform. The reasons behind this potential shutdown are likely complex, potentially involving financial difficulties, operational challenges, or strategic issues in the competitive trade finance market. Why is Stenn shutting down? It's not clear if Stenn is shutting down but it has been reported that HSBC has filed to place the company into administration. Stenn's website is not available: What are the top alternatives to Stenn? Stenn and Founderpath are two platforms that provide financing solutions for SaaS companies. These are the key characteristics, similarities, and differences: Stenn Focuses on international trade finance and supply chain financing Primarily serves small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Specializes in providing working capital for businesses involved in global trade Offers invoice financing, purchase order financing, and inventory financing Uses technology to streamline the lending process Operates across multiple countries and supports various industries Founderpath Specializes in financing for software and technology startups Offers alternative funding for entrepreneurs that doesn't require equity dilution Provides revenue-based financing specifically tailored to SaaS and tech companies Allows founders to access capital based on their recurring revenue metrics No personal guarantees or collateral required Focuses primarily on North American markets Founderpath product offering Key Similarities Both aim to provide... --- ### How to Raise $750k From Founderpath and Increase Your Equity Stake - Published: 2024-10-03 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-raise-750k-from-founderpath-and-increase-your-equity-stake - Categories: Founderpath - Tags: Customer Story Data in this post is being shared with permission from VoxPopMe Board Chairman (Lonnie) and CEO, co-founder (Andy). You're about to learn: How Founderpath worked with a SaaS Board filled with VC's to increase management equity stake by 10% Inside negotiations of Founderpath approving a $750,000 financing into a $8m ARR company Cap table management tactics Lets dive in to a deal we just closed this year: VoxPopMe is a tool that originally helped CPG brands do user testing. Today, it also helps software CEO's do UI/UX testing. Andy (CEO VoxPopMe) founded his company with two friends in 2013. At the start, he owned 2% equity. Your Co-Founders Left, VC Rounds Diluted You Fast forward to 2024 and the two friends have left, the company raised $13m from VC's, and the 6 person go forward management team was diluted down to under 10% equity. The business had grown to $10m in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Founderpath Aligns with Go Forward Management to Increase Equity VoxPopMe submitted a $750,000 capital request to Founderpath. As part of our review process, we like to see that the go forward management is properly incentivized to stick around, hustle hard, and grow the business. With VoxPopMe, we believed management needed to be awarded more equity. To get this done, we worked with Board Members to establish a new ESOP pool which carved out new equity for Andy and his management team. Founderpath issued a term sheet so the board understood, if they approved this ESOP... --- ### Founder Personal Guarantees: Should You Sign One? - Published: 2024-04-23 - Modified: 2024-04-23 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/founder-personal-guarantees-should-you-sign-one - Categories: Uncategorized This is part of our Open Contract series where we open source our debt and non dilutive capital legal paperwork so founders can learn faster. Term: Personal Guaranty Common Questions: Is it ok to sign a Personal Guaranty as a founder? What is a personal guarantee? Simple Explanation: Financing groups ask founders to confirm they do not plan to participate in any “bad boy” acts including Fraud, Theft, Willful Misconduct, Gross Negligence, Intentional misrepresentation, Not paying taxes, or filing a voluntary bankruptcy petition. Negotiation Tip: Since this PG is only focused on Bad Boy acts, it is called a “limited guarantee” and gives the Financing Group less protection than a full personal Guarantee from the Founder. For example, if the company does not pay Financing Group back, this PG does not give Financing Group the ability to require the founder to personally pay any non-paid funds. Contract Language: shall provide a limited guaranty of Borrower’s obligations under the Facility in connection with certain “bad-boy” acts, which are to be confined to fraud, theft, willful misconduct, gross negligence or intentional misrepresentation, misappropriation of funds, nonpayment taxes or filing a voluntary bankruptcy petition. Type of Funding: Term Loan Term Sheets Term Loan Credit and Security Agreements (CSA’s) --- ### Six lessons in bootstrapping to $5 million ARR with Bridget Harris and Alex Theuma > Alex Theuma, Founder and CEO of SaaStock, sat down to interview Bridget Harris, Founder and CEO of YouCanBookMe at SaaSOpen on the lessons she’s learned bootstrapping her company to over $5m ARR. - Published: 2024-01-05 - Modified: 2024-01-05 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/5-lessons-learned-from-bootstrapping-to-5m-arr-with-bridget-harris-and-alex-theuma - Categories: Growth, Resources Alex Theuma, Founder and CEO of SaaStock, sat down to interview Bridget Harris, Founder and CEO of YouCanBookMe at SaaSOpen on the lessons she’s learned bootstrapping her company to over $5m ARR. Alex Theuma, Founder and CEO of SaaStock, sat down to interview Bridget Harris, Founder and CEO of YouCanBookMe at SaaSOpen on the lessons she’s learned bootstrapping her company to over $5m ARR. You’ll want to have your pen ready to take notes on this one – Bridget candidly shares six lessons every bootstrapped founder should know. Lesson One: The Road to $5m ARR and 20k Customers (How Long it Really Takes) Bridget: The question about timing is intrinsically connected to whether or not you raise money. If you are going to go for a product that requires a lot of upfront investment to do with compliance or maybe it's got some hardware association, you've got to do some manufacturing or you need to do a huge amount of customer research in order to get the right thing. Your timing is going to be really affected by your choice to bootstrap. With my experience of bootstrapping, it just so happens that with our products we were doing online scheduling. It's self-service, and it's freemium. So because of that and that we started about 15 years ago, the timing for us to be able to stretch that out over a long time when you're really earning very little. Now for context to get that $5 million dollars, we have over 20,000 customers. We have a lot of small people, small engines, small amounts of money powering what we're doing.   It takes a long time to build that up. So if you... --- ### Founderpath Now Offers Term Loans. Up to 48 Month Duration, 24 Month IO Period. > Founderpath now offers term loans to B2B SaaS founders with $1m-$20m in ARR. Founderpath terms are dependent on each company but can go up to 48 month payback period and 24 month IO period. - Published: 2023-12-28 - Modified: 2024-01-03 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-now-offers-term-loans - Categories: Announcements, Finance - Tags: SaaS, Term Loans The #1 request we got from SaaS founders in 2023 was: Can you offer a 48 month payback with a 24 month interest only period? I'm pleased to share we've done our first Term Loan where we have flexibility to offer up to 48 month payback and 24 month IO periods. We'll do $100-$150m in term loans in 2024 to B2B SaaS companies. Besides payback period and IO periods you'll want to know: What interest rate does Founderpath offer in a Term Loan? (Especially for those CFO's reading this getting ready to recommend Founderpath to your CEO and board) We think about interest rates in 3 ways: Quality of the SaaS company (Net dollar retention, Burn, ARPU, CAC, Runway, Churn, etc) Operational experience of the team (Years in business, quality of management team) Macro conditions driven by interest rates that $100m+ ARR SaaS companies are being offered by publicly traded BDC's I spent the holiday digging deeper into the 10K public disclosures of the top 12 BDC's: Large SaaS Companies Are Paying 11. 05% to 15. 75% Interest Rates Today Most large SaaS companies raise debt from Business Development Corporations or BDC’s like Ares, Hercules, and Oaktree. We’ll get to those in a minute. Companies pay interest rates up to 15. 75%.   Here are 13 of the more well-known SaaS companies who’ve raised debt from BDCs: CompanyLoan SizeInterest RateBDCFTE’sLinkedinEquity RaisedEst Revenue FTE MethodCompany AgeBazaarVoice$229m11. 05%Blackstone1,700$130,550,000$187,000,00019Cart. com$24m15. 75%Triple Point532$481,000,000$58,520,0004Finastra$190m12. 71%Ares13,000$24,100,000$1,430,000,0007Gainsight$47m11. 58%Goldman1,300$156,250,000$143,000,00015MindBody$64. 9m12. 50%Blue Owl1,300$614,500,000$143,000,00023Ping Identity$22m12. 32%6th Street1,400$128,350,000$154,000,00022PluralSight$106m13. 45%Ares2,300$192,000,000$253,000,00020SiSense$34. 3m11%Hercules660$274,000,000$72,600,00020SumoLogic$22. 4m11. 80%Hercules920$340,000,000$101,200,00014Telestream$23m15. 26%Oaktree456$54,300,000$50,160,00026UserZoom$4m12.... --- ### How to Sell your SaaS: Lessons from $500m in Acquisitions > Key lessons from facilitating over $500m SaaS acquisitions, including strategies and trends from Andrew Gazdecki, Founder of Acquire.com - Published: 2023-12-14 - Modified: 2023-12-14 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-acquisitions-lessons-from-500m-in-closed-deals - Categories: Growth, Resources It’s the email (nearly) every SaaS founder dreams of. You open your inbox and there it is: an offer to acquire the SaaS company you’ve spent the last few years building. You can see all the possibilities of what this could mean... paying off the house, putting your kids through college, and maybe even a vacation after all these years. But then the dread sets in... isn’t a SaaS acquisition a complicated process? Doesn’t it cost a ton of money in legal fees alone? What if it falls apart at the last minute? At least, that’s how it used to be, but Andrew Gazdecki set out to change that when he founded MicroAcquire – now just Acquire. com – to help you buy and sell startups quickly, easily, and in a marketplace built for trust, transparency, and ease of use. He recently joined our FounderLed community for an “Ask Me Anything” session to share lessons learned after facilitating over 1,000 acquisitions. Keep reading for a recap of the top questions Andrew answered. What are you seeing more of in the SaaS acquisition market, stock purchases or asset purchases? That’s a great question. From personal experience, my most meaningful acquisition was a company called Business Apps. I grew that company to about $10m annual recurring revenue, sold it to a private equity firm, and that was actually one of the negotiation pieces I used. If you sell the business as a stock purchase agreement (SPA), you can benefit from things like... --- ### Our competitors raised $100M: How we're competing with just $1M raised and still growing 2x - Published: 2023-12-07 - Modified: 2023-12-07 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/our-competitors-raised-100m-how-were-competing-with-just-1m-raised-and-still-growing-2x - Categories: Growth, Resources This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply to FounderLed here. Ari Salafia is the founder and CEO of TaxTaker. At $3m in revenue with just $1m raised, she’s built a capital efficient company to take on her competitors who have raised over $100m. She recently joined the FounderLed community for an “Ask Me Anything” session to share her lessons learned – including how being bootstrapped and scrappy doesn’t mean you can’t grow and take customers from your well-funded competitors. Below is a lightly edited transcript of her answers. How do you compete against companies that have raised 100x more than you? For us, we can really look at the competition in a positive way. We've kind of had to because it's pretty scary when you're going out into a market against someone who has $100 million in sales and marketing and budget, and you don’t have that. One thing you definitely want to think about is that they're actually helping to educate the market. So one thing that we do at TaxTaker or besides being kind of a customer first organization and really trying to get in the minds and in the seats of our customer and what they care about is also keeping an eye out on the competition on what are they getting right and also what's kind of the baseline expectation for your company at a minimum. Where can you essentially reinforce your value... --- ### 12 Founder Disciplines that Helped Me Scale to $10m ARR > Discover learned from Saravana Kumar's journey from solo founder to leading a $10m ARR company, Kovai.co. Learn his 12 disciplines for bootstrap success, effective team management, and scaling strategies. - Published: 2023-12-06 - Modified: 2023-12-06 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/12-founder-disciplines-that-helped-me-bootstrap-to-10m-arr - Categories: Growth, Resources My name is Saravana Kumar, and I'm a founder of a company called Kovai. co. The company was started back in 2011. I was doing consulting for 10 plus years, and I found a gap in the market.   I started as a solo founder and then slowly scaled it to first from one employee to five employees, to 20 employees, 50. Then today we are about 250 plus people in the organization. We are over $10 million ARR, but that's a slightly old number. It's a 2021 number. We are about that publicly disclosed data. We are also a multi-product company. I'm going to touch base on why we are a multi-product company and what made those decisions to go into a multi-product company. The mission for us is when people ask “you are a bootstrap, what are you trying to achieve? ” The objective for us is to build a hundred million dollar run rate business by 2030. Sooner if possible. This is a kind of the growth trajectory of how we have grown since 2011. It's not like a hockey stick growth, but it's an organic growth of constant predictable growth over the last 10 years. Until 2019, it was a steady growth. That is when we made a decision, “what can we do to scale bigger? ” A lot of things changed from 2019 until 2019. We were only a 50 people organization. If you wanted to put the number per head, counted a number per... --- ### From Fear to $5m: The SaaS CEO Who Turned Emotions into Revenue - Published: 2023-11-17 - Modified: 2023-11-17 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/from-fear-to-5m-the-saas-ceo-who-turned-emotions-into-revenue - Categories: Growth, Resources If you met Calvin Correli today, you’d unequivocally describe him as successful. He’s the founder and CEO of Simplero, which he’s bootstrapped to over $5m in revenue, an author, and serial entrepreneur. But it wasn’t always that way for Calvin – in 2008, he nearly went bankrupt and was living paycheck to paycheck. At SaaSOpen earlier this year, he spoke about how unlocking his emotions became a superpower he used to build over four companies to make millions of dollars in revenue. Below is a lightly edited transcript of his presentation. An unexpected $165k Tax Bill Just very recently, actually this new year my accountant called me, and he said, look, we have to pay this tax bill of a hundred thousand dollars. I was like, dude, I would've loved it if you had told me that like a month ago, maybe like two months ago. Because at that point, it was the end of the year. I had intentionally run my cash flow very tightly, made some big investments. The people who are doing my payroll and accounting and that kind of stuff, they're over in the Philippines. I couldn't reach them.   Early January, the Philippines are coming back online. I'm like, okay, extend this cash flow. I want to see how bad the situation is. Take it out three months, four months. They come back to me, and they're like, great, by late March, we're going to be negative $125,000. How about that? That's more than just... --- ### How We Grew Revenue 250% and Survived Cash Death - Published: 2023-11-10 - Modified: 2023-11-10 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-we-grew-revenue-250-and-survived-cash-death - Categories: Growth, Resources At SaaSOpen 2023, Gil Allouche, the founder and CEO at Metadata, candidly shares the strategies and decisions that propelled the company from a precarious position of near bankruptcy to an impressive $12M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). Gil shares his wisdom for bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders, offering a real-world blueprint on how to survive and thrive in an economic downturn. He walks you through how he thinks about making tough financial decisions to leveraging strategic moves like Product-Led Growth and acquisitions. Below is a lightly edited transcript of his presentation at SaaSOpen. Watch the full presentation Gil gave live here. How did you survive near bankruptcy and achieve 250% revenue growth? This is how the revenue growth looks like. There's a nice peak in the middle, that was our hyper growth mode 2021, 250%. It was amazing, but it didn't start that way. In 2020, we finally hit product market fit. It took us three years to build a product, sell it, and figure out who do we sell it to successfully.   We were very happy about the product market fit, but we were not happy about the fact that I had about half a million dollars left, burning about $200,000 every month. We had about two months of life. I would not sleep well during that time.   A lot of heartbreak during that time. I remember at some point we had a bunch of term sheets from kind of shark VCs, completely changing the company diluting, but... --- ### How I’ve helped 60 SaaS companies drive $100m in sales  > How Kyle Vamvouris has driven over $100m in SaaS Sales for 60+ companies (without hiring more reps). Learn his top strategies. - Published: 2023-11-06 - Modified: 2023-11-06 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-saas-sales-how-ive-helped-60-saas-companies-drive-100m-in-sales - Categories: Growth, Resources Without hiring more sales reps This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply to FounderLed here. Kyle Vamvouris is a highly regarded B2B SaaS Sales expert, author, and founder of Vouris. With a focus on data-driven strategies, Kyle specializes in helping B2B SaaS and Service companies improve sales results and build repeatable processes. Kyle is also the author of "Cold to Committed," "The Sales Development Framework," and most recently, “16-Steps To Repeatable Sales. ” Kyle recently joined our FounderLed community for an “Ask Me Anything” session. See below for a lightly edited recap of the top questions Kyle answered. I’m doing founder-led SaaS sales right now, and there’s so many tools out there and we’ve got limited resources. What do you think are some of the best systems to set up in the early stage process if you’re doing founder-led sales? I stay pretty lean on tools in general, and especially early on. So of course, have a CRM. Hubspot is my favorite one because they also have sales-enablement stuff, where you can send automatic one to one sequences. If you’re starting outbound, I think your money is better spent on list quality and list management via a CRM than it is on all of these flashy fancy tools that automate all of this stuff for you. What I’ve found, at least for folks that I’ve worked with, is by keeping the tech stack pretty lean, it allows... --- ### Bootstrapping SaaS vs Raising VC: How to Decide Which is Better > Joe DiPasquale of Regroup shares how to know if bootstrapping SaaS is right for you vs raising venture capital. - Published: 2023-10-13 - Modified: 2023-10-13 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/bootstrapping-saas-vs-raising-vc-which-one-is-right-for-you - Categories: Growth, Resources It’s one of the first, and most crucial, decisions a founder has to make: bootstrapping your SaaS or raising money? Joe DiPasquale, founder and CEO of Regroup knows the pros and cons of both. Having traversed both paths — raising funds for CollegeWikis and bootstrapping on two other occasions — Joe offers a unique perspective on the advantages, challenges, and underlying dynamics of each approach. From evaluating the fit for venture capital to managing the sometimes delicate nature of friends and family funding, Joe touches upon the various financing strategies a SaaS founder might consider. He underscores the significance of timing, the evolving nature of financing decisions, and the importance of remaining adaptive and informed. Dive into the transcript below for a detailed breakdown of Joe's insights and experiences. What do you need to know about bootstrapping SaaS vs raising VC? Raising VC can indeed be challenging, but if navigated well, it can significantly supercharge your business. Though it entails surrendering a large stake, it's all in exchange for a larger piece of the pie. Bootstrapping SaaS, on the other hand, leaves you bound in certain ways, let's say it keeps you 'strapped' in more ways than one. Be prepared for this, and also brace yourself for the kind of intense commitment your business will require. Just recently, a business school colleague and I were mulling over which option was better—where is the grass truly greener? It seems like proponents of both approaches believe the other side to be more... --- ### From $0 to $30 Million: vFairs' Formula for Scaling SaaS Revenue > Unlock the secrets to scaling SaaS revenue from the initial MVP stage to multimillion-dollar success that vFairs used to scale to $30m. - Published: 2023-10-06 - Modified: 2023-10-06 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-vfairs-scaled-saas-revenue-from-0-to-30m - Categories: Growth Every founder dreams of scaling SaaS revenue from zero to millions, but how do you really navigate those crucial early stages? Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs, shares invaluable insights from his journey of turning an MVP into a $30 million venture. He covers the power of interviewing prospects, the magic of becoming your own customer, and the pivotal role of customer support in retention and growth. Plus, his tips on connecting with a lead in just 10 minutes can change your sales game. The below is a lightly edited transcript of Muhammad’s keynote speech at SaaSOpen 2023. Can you explain the journey of growing the company's SaaS revenue from $0 million to over $30 million in the past six years? VFairs is an all-in-one event management platform. We help companies run virtual events, in-person events and hybrid events. These are just some of the learnings that I have had over the past six years in scaling the company from $0 million to over $30 million in revenue. I'm just going to double down on that one is that the best thing that you can do for your startup when you're growing from $0 million to $1 million in revenue, is that you interview prospects and then somehow figure it out what you want to build for them. By the time you would have built your MVP, you would already have some of those prospects who will convert into customers. Something that you would have heard many times. One thing that... --- ### LinkedIn Outreach: Targeting Tactics your competition isn't using in 2023 > Discover proven strategies for effective LinkedIn outreach in 2023. Boost your connections, increase profile engagement, and drive growth. - Published: 2023-09-29 - Modified: 2023-10-02 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/linkedin-outreach-strategies-for-2023 - Categories: Growth Few founders have found success with LinkedIn outreach quite like Stefan Smulders. He's the founder and CEO of Expandi, a cloud based LinkedIn automation tool which will allows you to set up outreach campaigns in minutes. As many founders struggle to use LinkedIn outreach to it's full potential, Stefan has it down to a science. He's bootstrapped Expandi to over $7m in revenue using the strategies he describes below. Whether you're aiming to broaden your network, secure new business opportunities, or simply engage more meaningfully with your peers, effective LinkedIn outreach can be transformative. Stefan delves deep into proven strategies to amplify your outreach efforts, ensuring you not only stand out but also forge genuine, impactful connections on LinkedIn. The below is a lightly edited transcript of Stefan's keynote speech at SaaSOpen 2023. How did you reach more than 70% acceptance rate and 55% reply rate with your LinkedIn Outreach? It's all about out of the box strategies and ways on how to search and find your audiences on LinkedIn.   I'm not talking about Sales Navigator searches, I'm talking about search strikes divided in, for example, LinkedIn groups, inbound leads and some strategies which I leverage for the past couple of years and which get me each and every time up to more than 70% acceptance rate.   And as a bonus, some hacks, some email hacks, and how you can get a 55% reply rate after finding the right audience and how to reach these people on LinkedIn.... --- ### 7 Ways to Grow SaaS Revenue in 2023 > Grow SaaS revenue in 2023 with these 7 essential steps. Elevate your sales strategy and boost profitability with data-driven insights. - Published: 2023-09-22 - Modified: 2023-09-29 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/5-ways-to-grow-saas-revenue-in-2023 - Categories: Growth Growing SaaS revenue in 2023 isn't easy. You need a comprehensive understanding of data-driven strategies that can set your team apart. Guy Rubin, Founder and CEO at Ebsta shows you seven critical steps that will not only double your sales win rates but also revolutionize your approach to sales. Lessons from Analyzing $3m Deals on how to grow SaaS revenue Growing SaaS revenue in 2023 isn't easy. You need a comprehensive understanding of data-driven strategies that can set your team apart. Guy Rubin, Founder and CEO at Ebsta shows you seven critical steps that will not only double your sales win rates but also revolutionize your approach to sales. From automating data collection to fine-tuning your engagement strategies, Guy's strategies empower you with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of modern sales, reduce sales cycles, identify deals at risk, and foster a culture of data-driven decision-making to grow SaaS revenue in 2023 and beyond. The below is a lightly edited transcript of Guy's keynote speech at SaaSOpen 2023. What do you need to do to 2x your sales win rates and grow SaaS revenue? Rather than focusing on the ones that didn't achieve, what I wanted to do is bring to the table today some of the insights of what the high performing sales teams are actually doing. Probably one of the key trends we're seeing is that those certainly in B2B relationships drive revenue. Understanding what relationships you have and really double downing and making sure that those relationships are strong, is vital not just on winning new business, but also retaining and upselling to existing customers. We also saw that you can double your win rates with better sales methodologies. Introducing a med pick or a medic or a band type process to do your qualification and... --- ### How we bootstrapped to $65m ARR, 500k Customers, and the slide deck we used to IPO in 2021 - Published: 2023-09-13 - Modified: 2023-09-26 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-we-bootstrapped-to-65m-arr-500k-customers-and-the-slide-deck-we-used-to-ipo-in-2021 - Categories: Growth, Resources This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply to FounderLed here. Gleb Budman is co-founder and CEO of Backblaze, which he and his team grew to $65m in revenue and profitability, while building one of the largest and most cost-efficient cloud storage systems on the planet. They have over 500k customers in 175 countries around the world, and are one of the only companies to bootstrap all the way to an IPO. See below for a lightly edited recap of the top questions Gleb answered. When you took the company to $1m to $10m, was there a key hire or critical employee that helped you get through that phase? First of all, we hired very, very, very slowly. Very few people in the first 10 years, other than the five original of us that started the company and two, what we call demi founders. We only grew to 50 people in the first 10 years, so we were very, very careful and constrained about our hiring. The hire that I think was critical for us was a support rep. And the reason I say that is that when we started the company, the five of us, and this is us in the one-bedroom apartment of one of my co-founders, where we lived in the office for two and a half years, the five of us did round robin tech support, customer support. So I would take Monday, one... --- ### Profitable SaaS Growth: How Ken Hoppe of Modigie Hit $1.7M Profitably > If you want to know about profitable saas growth look no further than Ken Hoppe and Modigie. A great example in capital efficient growth. - Published: 2023-08-21 - Modified: 2024-07-03 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/profitable-saas-growth-how-ken-hoppe-of-modigie-hit-1-7m-profitably - Categories: Growth This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply to FounderLed here. I’ve admired Ken Hoppe, co-founder and CEO of Modigie, since meeting him before SaaSOpen. He was scheduled to speak, and instead of going back and forth over email, he preferred to just pick up the phone and have a conversation. He gets things done, and he gets them done efficiently. So it’s no surprise that, even though he’s a first time SaaS founder, he’s bootstrapped Modigie to $1. 7m in revenue – and done so profitably. He’s even raised $300k without giving up equity. He joined us for an exclusive “Ask Me Anything” session for FounderLed members last week to discuss the framework he and his co-founders used to be profitable from the outset, how he focuses on de-risking for his buyers to close deals, and how he approaches pricing. See below for a lightly edited recap of the top questions Ken answered. You’re a first time SaaS founder who’s grown profitably to $1. 7m in revenue. How did you do it? There might be an ageism thing here - but the good news about starting a SaaS company when you’re older is that you have a pretty good network to tap into. A very good friend of mine is a software analyst, and he talks to CFOs and CEOs of publicly traded companies all day - companies of all shapes and sizes. I was lucky enough... --- ### How Rajesh Jain built a $100m Profitable SaaS Company > How did Rajesh Jain, CEO of Netcore cloud, bootstrap to $100m in revenue and become the "King" of Profitable SaaS? - Published: 2023-08-04 - Modified: 2023-08-04 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/ama-with-rajesh-jain-of-netcore-cloud-on-profitable-saas - Categories: Growth, Resources This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply to FounderLed here. How does a SaaS founder make over $100m in profits in the last 12 years, yet very few people know of him? Netcore Cloud CEO Rajesh Jain, the marketing automation innovator, should be on the cover of every entrepreneurial magazine out there for his success building a profitable SaaS company. He joined us for an exclusive “Ask Me Anything” session for FounderLed members last week to discuss his success, how he bootstrapped his first start up to a $115m sale, and how he’s growing Netcore to a $100m “Profitcorn. ” See below for a lightly edited recap of the top questions Rajesh answered. I’m a first time solo and self-funded entrepreneur launching my SaaS business. The typical advice I’ve received says to go easy in the beginning, get a few customers, and then try to scale marketing from there. What are your thoughts on that? I think that’s always good advice. One good thing is that you’re building this out of your own personal experiences. When I did India World, it came out of my own experiences in the US in the mid-90s, when I wanted to return back to India and I couldn’t get content. That’s what really differentiated me from many others who created similar websites after me. But because I had lived through those experiences, I think that’s why I was always ahead. I... --- ### Successful SaaS Sales: How GetAccept Scaled to +$10m ARR > Samir Smajic scaled GetAccept from $0 to $15m+ in ARR using these SaaS sales strategies. In this blogpost he shares his exact playbooks. - Published: 2023-07-13 - Modified: 2023-07-13 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-sales-how-getaccept-scaled-to-15m-in-arr - Categories: Growth - Tags: sales journey of building a successful company takes dedication, hustle, and the right strategies. In this blog post, we dive into the experience and wisdom of Samir Smajic, CEO and co-founder of GetAccept. With his unique perspective on sales and business growth, Samir shares invaluable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs and sales leaders. The journey of building a successful company takes dedication, hustle, and the right strategies. In this blog post, we dive into the experience and wisdom of Samir Smajic, CEO and co-founder of GetAccept in scaling a SaaS sales organization. With his unique perspective on sales and business growth, Samir shares invaluable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs and sales leaders. Meet Samir Smajic, a Serial Entrepreneur with a Passion for SaaS Sales Samir Smajic is not your typical CEO. He's a seasoned entrepreneur who knows what it takes to scale a company from scratch. As the CEO and co-founder of GetAccept, Samir has taken his company from zero to 200K in just two months. Today, with almost 200 employees and an impressive 15 million ARR, GetAccept is a force to be reckoned with in the industry. But Samir's success story goes beyond numbers. With a deep love for sales and a genuine passion for product development, Samir brings a unique perspective to the table. He's a family man, a thrill-seeker who has gone skydiving, and an avid believer in providing concrete takeaways for improving sales. Aligning Sales Leadership with Different Growth Phases In the early stages of a company, founders often find themselves wearing many hats, including come up with their sales strategies. Samir emphasizes the importance of founders handling sales themselves, especially in the zero to 2 million stage. However, as the company grows, it becomes vital to bring in experienced sales managers who can assist in the hustle phase. Samir... --- ### How to Connect Maxio with Founderpath (SaaSOptics and Chargify Instructions) - Published: 2023-06-08 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-connect-maxio-with-founderpath-saasoptics-and-chargify-instructions - Categories: Founderpath In order to use Founderpath's API connection to Maxio, you need to be billing through Chargify. If you use SaaSOptics to send manual invoices, use the Founderpath manual excel file upload (not the Chargify API integration) --- ### How to Connect Brex with Founderpath - Published: 2023-05-13 - Modified: 2023-05-18 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-set-up-brex-with-founderpath - Categories: Founderpath - Tags: How To This article will teach you how to add Founderpath as an approved ACH party inside of your Brex account. If you use Brex, Founderpath is not able to fund you until this step is complete. Step 1: Click "Your Name" in the upper right of your Brex account Click the upper right dropdown. Click Settings. Step 2: Click "Company" across the top navigation Step 3: Scroll down to "ACH Debits" Click "Edit Allow List" Step 4: Add Founderpath ACH ID: 9498926001 The Founderpath ACH ID is 9498926001. Enter it in the black area below. --- ### AMA with Pritesh Vora, Head of Marketing & Growth and founding team member at Sprinto - Published: 2023-05-12 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/ama-with-pritesh-vora-head-of-marketing-growth-and-founding-team-member-at-sprinto - Categories: Growth sales and growth strategies, executing marketing initiatives designed to get traction and increase revenue. He’s currently head of marketing and growth at Sprinto. This is part of our AMA series with top SaaS founders and operators. If you’d like to join live, apply to FounderLed. Pritesh Vora is an entrepreneur and self described “growth geek. ” He has over a decade of experience in orchestrating successful sales and growth strategies, executing marketing initiatives designed to get traction and increase revenue. He’s currently head of marketing and growth at Sprinto. In his own words: I am an Engineer turned Sales guy turned founder who had to run GTM for his startup and formally got into the world of marketing. I like to see myself as an entrepreneur mindset marketer and not a marketer marketer. Been a B2B SaaS guy throughout ever since and have helped companies grow from scratch for multi million dollar revenues. We covered everything from how he thinks about hiring marketing leaders, to what tools he’s using for outreach. See below for a lightly edited recap of the top questions Pritesh answered: When you're thinking about driving more volume vs. improving conversion rate, how do you know when to pull which lever more aggressively? The way I think about this is to measure the maturity of a channel and make a decision accordingly. For example -> If I know a channel still has a long way to go to reach its potential, I would focus on driving volumes there with the intention of learning as fast as possible. The faster I learn, the faster I can improve. On the other hand,... --- ### AMA with Adam Baker, Co-founder and CEO of Dealpad.io - Published: 2023-04-12 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/ama-with-adam-baker-co-founder-and-ceo-of-dealpad-io - Categories: Growth Last week, we held our first FounderLed AMA withAdam Baker, co-founder and CEO of Dealpad.io. Adam’s a 3x SaaS founder with multiple exits under his belt, which is no surprise given he’s grown a few SaaS companies to over $5m in ARR. Last week, we held our first FounderLed AMA with Adam Baker, co-founder and CEO of Dealpad. io. Adam’s a 3x SaaS founder with multiple exits under his belt, which is no surprise given he’s grown a few SaaS companies to over $5m in ARR. In his own words: We covered everything from Adam’s favorite CRM, to how he hires the best AEs in SaaS. If you want to learn how to close 7-figure deals, keep reading for Adam’s tips! Question: How did you go from 0 to $2m in ARR in 24 months? It's a combo of things, not just a single threaded journey. Deeply understand your Ideal Customer and why they'll buy from you. Revenue scale is hard and you'll make tough mistakes. One of the key factors is knowing which deals you should double down on early and which to exit fast so you focus all of your time on the deals you'll win. Question: What was the primary distribution channel for the business? All of my co's have been sales led. SEO is a big driver if you get that right but hard earnt intentional outreach is the #1 driver. Question: Tips on cracking high value deals in a cluttered B2B space? Make your sales process the difference. Find your buying committee, build relationships, make it easy to work with you. Be VALUE driven. Focus on the outcomes the prospect can expect and validate it by showing what your existing customer's are seeing. Question: What's the most... --- ### SaaS Project Management Tools: Everything You Need To Know + Examples (2023) > Project management is an important aspect of delivering SaaS software products. The key is to use a SaaS project management tool. - Published: 2023-04-11 - Modified: 2023-08-04 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-project-management-tools-everything-you-need-to-know-examples - Categories: Operations Project management is an important aspect of delivering SaaS software products. Organizing teams and keeping track of tasks and milestones is crucial for any project—but especially for fast-paced, iterative SaaS development projects.   The key to effectively managing SaaS products is to use a SaaS project management tool.   In this article, Founderpath will discuss the key challenges in SaaS project management and explore how cloud software tools can help solve them.   Let's go! What is SaaS Project Management? SaaS project management refers to the process of leading a team to build a successful software-as-a-service (SaaS) product or feature. SaaS products tend to have short development cycles, where features are built quickly to adapt to changing market demands and user feedback. They also need to be carefully maintained and regularly updated to retain customers and stay competitive. This makes SaaS project management especially challenging since teams need to be highly agile, organized, and on top of the project timeline as they juggle tasks such as: Organizing development, design, and marketing teams to meet deadlinesDeveloping a product plan—both for the initial minimum viable product (MVP) and for future feature updatesTracking bugs and tickets and coordinating user feedback collectionLiaising with key stakeholders to ensure business and client needs are met  Want to learn more about how successful project management can help boost your SaaS company? Read our full guide to successful project management.   What Should You Look For In a SaaS Project Management Tool? SaaS project management is complex and... --- ### A SaaS Founder’s Guide to Startup Financial Statements - Published: 2023-04-07 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/a-saas-founders-guide-to-startup-financial-statements - Categories: Finance Well-prepared financial statements are a startup’s sword and shield. Not only do they protect against unforeseen expenses and revenue drops, but they can also be a powerful tool for enticing lenders to invest in your business. And unless you’re using an alternative funding method like Founderpath that turns your MMR into upfront cash, seeking investors will probably be a top priority for your business. In this article, we’ll be discussing the importance of financial statements for SaaS founders, and provide a step-by-step guide on how to create a solid financial plan that sets your startup up for success. Ready to get your finances in order? Let’s get started.   What Are Startup Financial Statements? A financial statement is a report that gives investors, lenders, and management a detailed picture of your startup’s financial health and performance. Common reporting periods are monthly, quarterly, and annually. What Are the Different Kinds of Startup Financial Statements? There are multiple kinds of financial statements. Let’s go through them one at a time: Income Statement  An income statement is a document that details a business’s revenue and expenses, along with its net profit.   This information is great for analyzing a company’s financial health (i. e. , how well the company’s finances are being managed) and highlighting areas for improvement. In addition to providing bootstrapped founders with a simple route to acquire funding, Founderpath is a great way to generate detailed, informative financial reports. Plus, you can benefit from custom insights, benchmarking, and resources—all in... --- ### The Ultimate How-to Guide for SaaS Accounting - Published: 2023-04-06 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/the-ultimate-how-to-guide-for-saas-accounting - Categories: Finance Keeping accurate and consistent accounts and financial documents can make or break your long-term success.   According to Botkeeper, Philadelphia’s government lost $924 million to simple bookkeeping errors in a single year. That’s just one of many examples emphasizing the very expensive nature of poor accounting. At Founderpath we’re well aware of how vital it is for bootstrapped SaaS founders to get things right from the get-go if they want to scale. In this guide, we’ll explain what SaaS accounting is, the best practices you’ll want to employ and the insights well-kept accounts can offer.   Let’s dive in! What is SaaS Accounting? Generally speaking, SaaS accounting is no different from any other type of accounting. It involves keeping records of financial data, as well as analyzing and interpreting this data to gain insights, make decisions, and comply with tax laws. However, due to the complexity of subscription-based models and recurring revenue, it can be a more taxing process (excuse the pun). Due to the amount of work involved, SaaS businesses tend to employ cloud SaaS accounting software. What are the different types of SaaS accounting? There are two main methods used for SaaS accounting: Cash-basis accounting Cash-basis accounting involves recording revenues and expenses in your accounting records when money is actually received or spent.   This approach is popular with small businesses, as it’s built on the fairly intuitive idea that your books should reflect your bank balance. While that might seem like a good match for SaaS businesses... --- ### SaaS Agreements: Everything You Need to Know and How to Create a SaaS Agreement (2023) - Published: 2023-02-28 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-agreements-everything-you-need-to-know-and-how-to-create-a-saas-agreement-2023 - Categories: Growth A SaaS agreement is an essential business document which includes the terms and conditions of your service. It outlines your unique offerings, rights, responsibilities, and obligations to your clients and customers, and vice-versa. It essentially formalizes the relationship between you and your userbase. However, since it serves multiple purposes, the information required can get confusing. And that's why we've stepped in to help. At Founderpath, we strive to help SaaS founders like you succeed. In addition to providing finance to bootstrapped SaaS Founders, we offer excellent business advice. This comprehensive guide to SaaS agreements helps make the particulars more transparent. We've cleared up the SaaS agreement and software License confusion and explained the critical information that should be included in your SaaS agreement. Plus, how to write your own! So let’s get into it! What Is a SaaS Agreement? A software-as-a-Service agreement explains the terms and conditions of the software delivery model. SaaS agreements cover the technicalities of pricing, subscription renewal and cancellation, data privacy, and much more legal stuff that we'll discuss later. Overall the document clarifies how the software provider and customer relationship, service commitments, and party responsibilities will be regulated. Types of Agreements SaaS Companies Need In addition to the terms of service and terms of use agreements, as a SaaS founder, you'll need several other agreements at different levels; these are: Company-level agreements: can include employment, shareholder, and non-disclosure agreements. Customer-facing agreements: may include purchase and sales order agreements, service level, and master services agreements. Third-party... --- ### SaaS Customer Success: Strategy Examples, How to Measure Customer Success, and Best Practices (2023) - Published: 2023-02-17 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-customer-success-strategy-examples-how-to-measure-customer-success-and-best-practices-2023 - Categories: Growth Delivering a unique, reasonably priced, and in-demand product is not enough to delight and retain clients. Leveraging your customer experience (CX) is a key brand differentiator, and great CX is guaranteed using a tight customer success strategy. Around 25% of companies agree and combine their sales, marketing, and CX activities as one department for better alignment.   Customer success ensures that your customers can get what they need from your products without a headache. Happy customers with few complaints lead to recurring clients and a healthy bottom line. Plus, you’re more likely to get customer recommendations and testimonials, which can help boost your revenue. And speaking of additional capital, at Founderpath, we love to see SaaS founders thrive. To help you generate more funds, we provide non-dilutive finance to bootstrapped SaaS Founders and plenty of cash-boosting advice. This post takes you through some customer success strategies, how to measure your techniques, and best practices. What is SaaS Customer Success? Customer success in SaaS are strategies to ensure your clients and customers achieve value with minimal issues when interacting with your business. Training, intentional onboarding, relationship building, and support help customers achieve their goals.   That being said, it isn’t just the value clients attribute to your product. It’s about how effectively your product or service can help your users meet their end goals. For instance, if your SaaS is based on streamlining social media interactions, your product should provide easy to use tools and functionalities, which can help users meet... --- ### Pricing Page Examples For Upgrading Your SaaS Business - Published: 2023-02-14 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/pricing-page-examples-for-upgrading-your-saas-business - Categories: Growth For SaaS companies, it’s essential to have an appealing website in order to attract customers, and one of the most important aspects is their pricing page. It can make or break sales depending on how it’s designed — everyone wants to feel secure in their purchase, and a pricing page can reassure or discourage customers.   Creating the perfect pricing page requires money — you need the right assets and platform to build your page with. SaaS founders, especially those dealing with startups, can struggle to find the right funding to kick-start their business. Fortunately, platforms like Founderpath exist to give bootstrapped founders the capital they need in a quick and easy manner. What is a Pricing Page? A pricing page is basically a web page that showcases your product prices, which usually involve different subscription plans. Customers often turn to price pages for a brief rundown of all your pricing options and features they can unlock. Most sites have a button below each pricing option, which leads customers to the relevant page for making a purchase. Your pricing page is essential when driving sales — it should be simple and easy to comprehend. Customers should be able to get a clear idea of how much everything costs, what features they get with each plan, and how regularly they must pay for your service. It helps to first set up accounting for your startup so you have all your financial details in order. How Can a Pricing Page Benefit You?... --- ### The Ultimate Guide To SaaS Accounting - Published: 2023-01-20 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-saas-accounting - Categories: Finance The SaaS industry is currently on track to top $168 billion in annual revenue within the next two years. That's a huge market for entrepreneurs and startups to capitalize on. It also comes with a unique set of challenges, though—especially in the realm of accounting. At FounderPath, we believe funding, accounting, and financial insights should be simple, transparent, and accessible for all bootstrapped SaaS founders. That's why we created this ultimate guide to SaaS accounting. Let's dive in! What Is SaaS Accounting? SaaS accounting is the process of tracking, managing, and organizing financial transactions related to SaaS (software as a service) companies. It involves analyzing and recording all SaaS-related expenses, revenue, and other financial details to provide a comprehensive overview of a SaaS company's finances. Why is it important to specify that we're talking about SaaS accounting? Good question! What Makes SaaS Accounting Different From Traditional Accounting? There are two different (but interconnected) ways to answer this question. The first is from a functional standpoint, the second is from a regulatory standpoint. Functional Differences SaaS businesses function very differently to other types of businesses. They have unique pricing models, revenue recognition strategies, and customer onboarding processes that need to be taken into account when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping. For example, SaaS companies have to account for usage-based pricing models, subscription-based pricing models, and trial periods—all of which require specialized accounting solutions and tools. Traditional businesses don't necessarily have to consider these complexities when it comes to their accounting... --- ### Founderpath is Tekpon’s Best FinTech Software for 2022! - Published: 2023-01-10 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-is-tekpons-best-fintech-software-for-2022 - Categories: Announcements 2022 was a big year for Founderpath - we deployed $95m+ to Bootstrapped and capital efficient SaaS founders to help them grow without taking equity. Thrilled to be named Tekpon’s best FinTech Software for 2022! Tekpon is a software marketplace designed to end software waste by helping companies choose the best tools for their needs. Our mission is to help Bootstrapped SaaS founders grow without having to choose between capital and keeping control. This year we raised $10m in equity from top SaaS CEO’s and another $140m in capital to lend out (the fund). For every SaaS founder who raises, there are 1,000 quietly bootstrapping, creating jobs, building a life and team they love. With the new fund, we’ve taken a major step to creating an “alternative path” for those SaaS founders who don’t want to go the VC route. And we’re just getting started. Read more about Tekpon’s top Software companies in 2022 here. --- ### How to Set Up Accounting for Your Startup (and Why It’s Important) - Published: 2023-01-03 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-set-up-accounting-for-your-startup-and-why-its-important - Categories: Finance After founding your startup, there are many things to do. Systems to put in place, processes to implement, all to facilitate the smooth running of your business. You’ll need to develop your product, register your business, develop your marketing strategy and secure capital to grow your startup. SaaS startups can do this with the help of Founderpath, which allows businesses to turn their monthly subscriptions into upfront cash. Alongside these crucial elements to starting your business, however, you need to consider how to set up accounting for your startup. Thankfully, we’ve made this handy article to help you along your way. So let’s get into it.   What is Accounting for Startups? Accounting describes the process of recording, analysing and reporting transactions associated with your startup. Accounting generates a comprehensive record of your startup’s finances, and facilitates the essential reporting of these finances to relevant financial bodies, such as the IRS. Many people confuse accounting with bookkeeping. While they are similar and work in tandem, bookkeeping refers specifically to recording the transactions associated with your startup on a short-term basis. This falls under the accounting umbrella, yet accounting for startups comprises much more, including reporting and producing documentation to keep abreast of your startup’s financial situation. Why is Accounting Essential for Startups? To keep track of your business transactions. Accounting allows founders to maintain a comprehensive picture of their startup’s finances. Not only can this help to guide founders’ financial decisions, but it ensures that no missed payments from customers... --- ### How to Implement an SEO Strategy for Your SaaS Startup - Published: 2022-12-27 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-implement-an-seo-strategy-for-your-saas-startup - Categories: Growth As a new SaaS startup, it’s essential to build your online presence to attract new customers and make sales – and this starts with building your website. However, to get your site seen by potential customers you need to rank highly on search engine results pages.   After all, 68% of all online experiences begin on a search engine. As such, search engine traffic typically makes up the biggest source of traffic for SaaS startups.   Though paid marketing tools such as PPC ads can be used to get your SaaS product in front of new eyes, using paid ads alone can be costly. Having said this, paid ads can be a great supplement to fuel your SaaS startup’s growth. If you don’t have the liquidity to fund this kind of SaaS marketing strategy, Founderpath helps bootstrapped SaaS business founders to turn their monthly subscriptions into upfront cash. But how do you get your website to the top of search engine results pages for free? The answer is SEO. What is SaaS SEO?   SaaS SEO is the process of increasing traffic to the website of your software-as-a-service startup, ensuring your site receives high volumes of the right traffic. SEO accomplishes this by optimizing your site according to the preferences of search engine algorithms. These algorithms decide where to place your SaaS startup on search engine results pages (SERPs). Why is SEO Important for SaaS Startups? Stronger brand positioning. Being ranked alongside your biggest competitors – a. k. a. the... --- ### Successful Project Management: How it Benefits Your SaaS - Published: 2022-12-20 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/successful-project-management-how-it-benefits-your-saas - Categories: Operations As a SaaS founder, we understand that your time is probably taken up by fixing server issues, integrating new software, and making a profit on the money you’ve invested into your business. So, to keep tunnel vision on growth, it’s important you have efficient SaaS management software in place to organize your team(s), products, and reports. The Project Management Institute reported that 32% of executive leaders said that selecting the right technologies is one of the top three biggest factors for future success. And don’t we know it! Here at Founderpath, our goal is to see you succeed which is why we connect SaaS bootstrapped founders to industry-favorite tools. You’ll be able to easily manage every aspect of your business, while earning money right from the start. Without further ado, let’s get into SaaS project management. What is SaaS Project Management? Like any project management routine, there needs to be steps to make sure project activities are completed on time and to the right standards. SaaS project management means you can: · Stay within budget · Maintain employee collaboration · Adapt workflow processes · Boost productivity across your business · Report and analyze efficiently · Stay on track to reaching your project goals The list goes on! We work with a breadth of SaaS project management tools to help support the daily running of your business so you can reap the benefits listed above. To explore them and see what integrations work for your business, just visit our website. Different... --- ### Top 9 resources for Bootstrapped SaaS founders in 2023 > Use these templates, frameworks, and tactics from top SaaS founders with $1m-$10m+ in revenue in your 2023 planning. - Published: 2022-12-13 - Modified: 2023-01-20 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/top-9-resources-for-bootstrapped-saas-founders-2023 - Categories: Resources Use these resources from SaaS founders with $1m-$10m+ in revenue in your 2023 planning. Use these resources from SaaS founders with $1m-$10m+ in revenue in your 2023 planning. 1. We call 30k cold leads per month and land 5% as customers. Here's the playbook. If you’re looking to scale an outbound sales process, Andrew Cvijovic, founder of Referrizer, teaches a masterclass in doing it efficiently and effectively. In 20 minutes, You’ll learn: Playbook for generating 100 demos per day, $330K in MRR using 100% Commission based outbound sales processHow they hire quality sales reps, but control costs ($0 base)How to track, report and maximize sales process Plus the exact copy Andre uses to hire rockstar sales reps. Click here for the playbook. 2. How we used System-Driven Word of Mouth to Break $30m Revenue In two years, vFairs went from $1. 7m in revenue to over $30m. Their secret? A killer system to drive word of mouth referrals. Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs breaks down exactly how they did it, 100% bootstrapped. Get the inside story of how they: Optimized their inbound funnelScaled repeatable successCreated a “reference squad” Plus, the exact email copy they used to get over 1,000 reviews on G2. Click here for the playbook. 3. How to build an A+ team to drive 700% growth on a shoestring budget Hiring is one of the hardest parts of running a SaaS company. Steve Pockross, CEO at Verblio has it down to a science. Lucky for us, he shared his framework for hiring A+ talent on a D- budget. In just 20 minutes,... --- ### Why Report SaaS is So Important (and the Metrics You Should Track) - Published: 2022-12-13 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/why-report-saas-is-so-important-and-the-metrics-you-should-track - Categories: Operations Report SaaS companies collect, analyse and leverage SaaS business’ data, affording these businesses greater visibility into their performance. This allows SaaS businesses to make better informed, data-driven decisions that propel their success. There are a number of tools created by report SaaS that have the ability to drive improvements in other SaaS businesses, by sharing findings from data as easy-to-understand insights.   This includes the Founderpath platform, which offers free reporting for bootstrapped SaaS founders designed to give SaaS businesses insight they can use to acquire customers more quickly, at a lower cost.   Let’s talk about what a report SaaS is, the advantages it provides and which tools you can use to empower your SaaS business. What is Report SaaS? Report SaaS businesses sell software that monitor key metrics, that help track SaaS business performance, achieved with the help of reporting and analytics tools. These metrics are monitored primarily to determine SaaS businesses’ growth. This is vital in the fast-growing SaaS market, which often expels SaaS businesses with a growth rate less than 20%. Report SaaS enables businesses to track these vital metrics, and identify potential areas for improvement so they can make data-driven decisions to maximize their growth. Top 5 SaaS Reporting Tools You Can Use to Get Started 1. Stripe Stripe is a financial services and SaaS company best known for their payment processing software, which empowers merchants to receive payment and/or send money online. SaaS founders can also request capital from the Founderpath Stripe App, to... --- ### Advice for SaaS founders heading into 2023 > Expect more uncertainty in 2023. Maximize your SaaS company's ability to survive by avoiding these mistakes as you finish 2023 planning. - Published: 2022-12-12 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/advice-for-saas-founders-heading-into-2023 - Categories: Announcements, Finance, Growth, Operations, Product, Resources 2022 brought significant challenges – from rising interest rates to political turmoil and significant market contractions. SaaS was not immune. Valuations continue to decline significantly, leaving the venture capital market sidelined for now. Though the impact to Bootstrapped SaaS companies has been less noticeable. Focusing on capital efficiency puts them in a strong, albeit not guaranteed, position. Expect more uncertainty in 2023. Founders should operate as though capital markets will remain closed and there will be a reduction in demand for software. Maximize your company's ability to survive by avoiding these mistakes as you finish 2023 planning. 2022 brought significant challenges – from rising interest rates to political turmoil and significant market contractions. SaaS was not immune. Valuations continue to decline significantly, leaving the venture capital market sidelined for now. Though the impact to Bootstrapped SaaS companies has been less noticeable. Focusing on capital efficiency puts them in a strong, albeit not guaranteed, position. Expect more uncertainty in 2023. Founders should operate as though capital markets will remain closed and there will be a reduction in demand for software. Maximize your company's ability to survive by avoiding these mistakes as you finish 2023 planning. Mistake #1: not focusing on burn reduction As a SaaS founder, your job is to mitigate risk. Your company dies when you run out of money – cutting burn well before you run out of runway is essential. The key tool to plan around this is a cash flow forecast for the next 6 months. Your goal here is more than survival, you want to thrive going forward and can do that from a solid foundation. Remember, profits give you power. Our advice to founders: Assume capital markets remain closed for the next 12 months and manage cash accordinglyLook at your cash today and ask yourself if you can survive 18-24 months with that capital. If yes, fantastic - stay focused. If not, think about what expenses and people are critical to your business and make tough decisions sooner rather than later. That being said, we appreciate this is a sensitive subject, and... --- ### How to Build a Successful Micro SaaS Business - Published: 2022-12-08 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-build-a-successful-micro-saas-business - Categories: Resources Over the last decade, SaaS (software-as-a-service) has become one of the most lucrative, fast-growing markets in the world of business. From this, an array of SaaS subgenres have emerged. Notably, Micro SaaS – a market with huge opportunity for SaaS business founders with fewer resources. Founderpath provides the capital Micro SaaS businesses need to support their venture, even while having access to fewer resources, so they can realize their business vision. What is Micro SaaS? Micro SaaS is a small-scale version of traditional SaaS: businesses that sell software solutions accessed via a portal or platform online. Micro SaaS businesses are typically run by a very small team – or even just one person. Micro SaaS businesses target a very specific niche, providing a solution for a very small target market (or even just one customer).   Punkd is a great example of a micro SaaS. Developed by a small team, Punkd caters to the niche market of those who write journals, making the process of recording your thoughts much easier.   This is in contrast to traditional SaaS, which appeals to a much larger target market, whether this is consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B). Usually, SaaS businesses have a larger team, and use more time, money and resources to develop their product and launch than Micro SaaS businesses. Benefits of starting a Micro SaaS Business. Low barriers for entry The SaaS market as a whole is attractive to new business founders, due to the low barriers for entry.   After... --- ### How to Boost SaaS Growth Rate - Published: 2022-12-05 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-boost-saas-growth-rate - Categories: Growth In the business world, it’s said that you’re either growing, or you’re dying – and this is especially true for the highly competitive, constantly evolving SaaS market. For this reason, maximizing your business’ SaaS growth rate is vital. For bootstrapped SaaS businesses, two things are important to facilitate this high growth. Firstly, making use of key metrics – such as your SaaS growth rate – is essential to judge your business’ success and identify potential bottlenecks to growth. You also need to be able to access capital to implement growth strategies. Both of these tools to supercharge your SaaS business’ growth rate can be found on the Founderpath platform. What is the SaaS Growth Rate? Your SaaS business’ growth rate is a measure of how fast your business is growing. This is determined by measuring how much a specific variable changes over time. For many businesses, this variable is revenue, with performance being measured month by month (or year by year) representing the business’ growth rate.   But SaaS businesses – which offer cloud-based applications via subscription – can choose a number of other variables such as the number of active monthly users subscribing to the service, or the monthly recurring revenue they get from their subscriptions. Whichever variable you choose, you can use this to calculate your business’ growth rate - for example, you could opt to measure growth according to the number of active subscribers the SaaS product has each month.   If the service had 1000 active... --- ### How to Develop Your SaaS Sales Strategy - Published: 2022-11-22 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-develop-your-saas-sales-strategy - Categories: Growth To build a successful SaaS business, developing a comprehensive sales strategy is essential.   Selling SaaS requires a unique sales approach that convinces customers to commit – and stay loyal – to your product, especially considering the time required to integrate SaaS solutions into business systems and processes. By implementing an effective SaaS sales strategy you can start turning leads into customers straight away. To help you with this, Founderpath can provide the capital your SaaS business needs to put that strategy into action. What is SaaS Sales? SaaS sales refers to the approach used to sell software-as-a-service products to customers – products that customers access via an online platform or portal, and usually pay for with a regular subscription fee. As a result, selling this ‘on-demand’ software solution focuses on providing the greatest value to customers, whether they’re individuals, businesses or organizations. Top SaaS Sales Models. There are three major models used to sell SaaS products. 1. Transactional. As one of the most common SaaS sales models, the transactional model is often used to sell mid-priced SaaS products. These usually provide solutions to problems experienced by small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Since the SaaS product is mid-range in price, transactional sales teams typically work to convince prospects to become customers directly – for example, via the phone – and offer great customer service throughout the business relationship.   However, it’s not as personalized an experience when compared with sales models used to sell high-value SaaS products. An SaaS business that uses... --- ### How to Build a Successful B2B SaaS Business - Published: 2022-11-19 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-build-a-successful-b2b-saas-business - Categories: Resources In 2022, selling SaaS products business-to-business (B2B) is more lucrative than ever before, drawing many entrepreneurs and budding business founders to the space. Currently, the global SaaS market is worth around $3 trillion, according to McKinsey. However, as one of the fastest growing markets in existence, this value is expected to more than triple by 2030. Founderpath is helping thousands of B2B SaaS business founders across the world, providing the capital they need to launch their business. In this article, you can learn how to launch yours too. What is B2B SaaS? B2B SaaS is the practice of selling software-as-a-service (SaaS) products to other businesses. These products can be accessed via an online platform or portal, usually in exchange for a subscription fee (monthly or annually). Since the target customer of B2B SaaS products is other businesses, these products provide solutions to the problems experienced by SMBs (small-to-medium businesses) and large and enterprise-level organizations. B2B SaaS vs B2C SaaS. The principal difference between B2B and B2C SaaS is the target customer. While B2B SaaS businesses sell SaaS products to other businesses, B2C (business-to-consumer) businesses sell software-as-a-service products directly to consumers. In contrast to providing business-centric solutions, B2C SaaS products provide value directly to consumers, usually in the form of an entertainment or convenience service (like Uber, or Netflix). 4 Inspirational B2B SaaS Companies to Learn From. B2B SaaS is a market with immense potential for new business founders. For any new venture, however, it’s important to study and learn from... --- ### B2B SaaS Marketing Strategy & Best Practices to Apply - Published: 2022-11-03 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/b2b-saas-marketing-strategy-best-practices-to-apply - Categories: Growth Marketing a B2B SaaS product is hard. Many of the rules and tricks used to sell physical products can’t be easily translated into a B2B marketing strategy.   Despite this hurdle, the SaaS industry is rapidly growing. This sector is expected to break $147bn in market size by 2026.   How do you approach B2B SaaS marketing? How does this approach differ from other, traditional forms of marketing? What are the most important channels and elements of a great SaaS marketing strategy? In this article, Founderpath will introduce you to some important principles of B2B SaaS marketing and discuss some important best practices for nailing this approach.   What is B2B SaaS marketing? B2B SaaS Marketing refers to a marketing strategy that is specifically tailored towards helping SaaS (software-as-a-service) products grow.   SaaS startups have very specific requirements that make traditional marketing techniques difficult to execute.   Compared to selling physical products, SaaS businesses often struggle to demonstrate the value of their product. There’s usually never any pre-existing awareness for your product category. Software is inherently intangible. Marketers must educate potential leads far more and demonstrate how their product will save customers time and money.   Many SaaS products experience a short sales cycle. When prospects are looking for solutions, they want them now. This makes hooking leads in and getting them signed up incredibly important.   Remember, most SaaS products are subscription-based, whereas other businesses tend to look for one-off or irregular but repeating sales. SaaS products should be... --- ### Top B2B SaaS KPIs & Metrics to Track - Published: 2022-10-17 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/top-b2b-saas-kpis-metrics-to-track - Categories: Finance How do you measure the performance of your SaaS business? What benchmarks do you use to see whether you’re on the right track?   Many SaaS founders struggle to track the success of their products. Data availability isn't the problem, as product analytics platforms are capable of measuring just almost anything. The secret lies in selecting the right key performance indicators or KPIs. Using the right metrics can help you unlock insights into everything from customer engagement to marketing campaign performance. What are SaaS KPIs? Why are they important? What KPIs should your SaaS business target? How can you measure & track SaaS KPIs? In this article, Founderpath will list the key B2B SaaS KPIs that your startup should be tracking in 2022. What is a SaaS KPI? Why do we track them? Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics and indices that inform SaaS businesses about how well their product is performing. This can be either a high-level view of the entire company’s performance or a specific look at how well a department is contributing to these business goals.   What are KPIs used for? They help guide business decision-making as they provide robust feedback mechanisms on company performance. KPIs set themselves apart from other, more general metrics by being laser-focused on business objectives.   SaaS founders can use KPI optimization as a means to achieve company goals such as increasing market share, boosting revenue and growing their user base. What makes a good SaaS KPI?   How do you... --- ### Creating a Foolproof SaaS Business Plan w/ Examples - Published: 2022-10-11 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/creating-a-foolproof-saas-business-plan-w-examples - Categories: Operations Did you know that having a business plan creates a 30% greater chance of growth? A strong business plan is the foundation of success for businesses. But if you have a SaaS, a business plan is even more crucial to attract potential investors that you’ll need for growth.   Here at FounderPath, we know the importance of a robust business plan for SaaS companies. Keep reading below to find out why a business plan is crucial, what you need to consider and how to put one together. What is a SaaS business plan? A business plan gives an overview of your business. It covers where your business is currently, where it’s projected to go and how you’re going to get there. A business plan details your business strategy, marketing plans, customer acquisition tactics and more. If you’re venturing into SaaS, your business plan needs to be specific to the industry you are tackling and it must cover the sections featured in this article. SaaS is continuously online, which may affect how you plan your business. You need to consider how the online landscape changes in a way that other businesses don’t.   Why a SaaS business plan is important There are plenty of reasons why a business plan is crucial for your business and potential investors down the line. . Let’s take a look at some of them now.   For you A business plan stops you from floundering and keeps you focused and on track. It helps you make... --- ### 12 ideas you can steal from SaaS founders making $1k/day - Published: 2022-10-07 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/12-ideas-you-can-steal-from-saas-founders-making-1k-day - Categories: Growth Insights From Over 500 SaaS Founders On How They Hit $30k MRR https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=PSeJA-VDMI8 In less than an hour you'll learn: Fastest ways to add $30k in new ARR this month Growth isn't easy. Your first 100 customers are tough; $1m in revenue even tougher. Isn't it smarter to copy what works instead of spending your own money trying to discover something new? Slice a few years off your learning curve and hit $30k MRR faster by copying what these founders did: Want to increase your G2 ranking? His secret email copy generated 1,000+ glowing reviews... and helped close hundreds of new customers 20k site visits from one blog post. SaaS founder doubles down on content marketing and still hasn’t spent a dollar on ads. Find out how it only took him 12 months to break $23k MRR Hit $1m revenue fast. Copy this SaaS founder and leverage affiliates to sell for you. He’s sharing the 3 key terms you need to negotiate  Smart ways to keep costs low and increase profits Easy way to be more profitable? Don’t waste money where you don’t need to. Smart ways to save $$$ and not end up with cheap results: Don’t get ripped off: build your MVP for under $10k. We share a list of 9 dev shops top SaaS founders trust (and use again and again) in this webinar. $1. 8m ARR, only 13 FTEs. Get the Google Doc script they used to get Fiverr and Upwork $10/hour talent doing $200k/yr... --- ### Founderpath Acquires Event Company SaaSOpen, Tickets Sell Out in 43 Minutes > Founderpath is announcing today that we’ve acquired event company SaaSOpen, the premier SaaS event for 1,000+ SaaS leaders each spring in NYC. - Published: 2022-10-03 - Modified: 2022-10-10 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-acquires-event-company-saasopen-tickets-sell-out-in-43-minutes - Categories: Announcements - Tags: SaaSOpen Founderpath is announcing today that we’ve acquired event company SaaSOpen and plan to invest heavily to continue strengthening its position as the premier SaaS event for 1,000+ SaaS leaders each spring in NYC. Founderpath is announcing today that we’ve acquired event company SaaSOpen, the premier SaaS event for 1,000+ SaaS leaders each spring in NYC. Founderpath Running Events a Mistake? We announced our $145m fund to support bootstrapped SaaS founders with non-dilutive capital earlier this year. Over $50m had already been deployed. (More to announce here shortly) This would not have been possible without the Founderpath Slack Channel which connects founders with other founders at their same revenue stage. Revenue verification is required. Founders told us to invest more on building a great invite-only SaaS community. Great does not mean big. Our focus is not on creating a “big” group of founders. The hard work is cutting down each channel to be more niche and never exceed 50 members: Bootstrapped SaaS Founders with $3-4m in revenueCFO’s at $10m ARR companiesHeads of Product who use a PLG sales motion Acquiring SaaSOpen is another step towards creating the most valuable community for SaaS leaders. How big was the Deal? “A number that started with 7,” Latka smiled. “I feel like we overpaid but it was a deal we wanted to get done before the holidays. ” SaaSOpen does not operate like most other SaaS conferences. There are no panels. Sponsors are not allowed on stage. Attendees are encouraged to leave the main stage area and engage in pre set up 1 on 1 meetings with other founders and executives at their ARR level. Confirmed speakers for the 2023 event include: Henry Schuck, CEO of Zoominfo... --- ### SaaS Valuation Guide, Tips & Best Practices - Published: 2022-09-22 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-valuation-guide-tips-best-practices - Categories: Finance Before you can sell your SaaS, you need to know what it’s worth. But how exactly do you value a SaaS startup? Here, we’ll explore a common approach to calculating the value of a SaaS business and discuss the various factors involved. At FounderPath, we understand the importance of valuing and growing your SaaS. After all, we help bootstrapped SaaS founders get the capital they need to grow.   What is SaaS valuation? A SaaS valuation is a way of determining the economic value of a SaaS. Investors or/and owners will want to take steps to value their startup for a number of reasons, not limited to: A valuation acting as a baseline for more informed decision-making, including in relation to strategies, marketing goals, and financial aims. Preparing to sell a startup with a grasp of what it is worth. Making preparations to sell a minority stake in your SaaS startup. There are many ways of valuing a SaaS, but only some approaches are relevant to early-stage SaaS startups (which we’ll soon discuss).   Also, valuing a SaaS depends on a wide range of factors. These factors include: What industry you’re in. Your SaaS’s business model. Value proposition. Common mistakes when valuing a SaaS Valuing a SaaS can be a difficult task. Here’s a few things to avoid: Comparing your SaaS with a recently sold competitor - Looking at what a rival SaaS just sold for can be a misleading approach. It can be hard to identify whether they closed... --- ### SaaS Funding Options that You Can Access - Published: 2022-09-14 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/saas-funding-options-that-you-can-access - Categories: Finance Getting SaaS funding is a nerve-wracking process for any SaaS founder. According to a recent report by the Silicon Valley Bank, $90 billion has been invested in SaaS startups in 2021 in the US alone. This is almost three times higher than in 2020 when the total investment was around $35 billion.   If you’re a SaaS professional or early-stage founder, running a SaaS company can be difficult without securing any capital. Almost all SaaS businesses need investments for sales and marketing, research and development (R&D), and other operations.   Founderpath helps bootstrapped SaaS founders secure capital from verified sources. You can turn your monthly subscriptions into upfront cash, with 12+ months to pay back without any late fee or penalty. Securing funds without a plan may not give you desired results. So let’s learn all the essentials about SaaS funding and how Founderpath can provide you with ease.   What is SaaS Funding? Specifically catering to software-as-a-service businesses, SaaS funding comes in many different forms. It considers the unique position that SaaS businesses have, including: Its online business model. Most SaaS businesses have a subscription- or credit-based business model that can help encourage customer loyalty. Its global reach. Most SaaS businesses have an online, global reach, compared to other businesses that may be more locally-restricted. Fixed costs. Aside from server-related costs, a technical founder can in theory launch and scale a SaaS platform by themselves, leading to costs that don’t necessarily increase as they get more customers. Scalability. Due... --- ### Unsecured Business Startup Loans: What Are the Best Options? - Published: 2022-08-25 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/unsecured-business-startup-loans-what-are-the-best-options - Categories: Finance According to CB Insights, the number one reason why startups fail is being unable to secure funding. At Founderpath, our goal is to help startups secure the funding they need to get off the ground and succeed.   If you’re a startup business owner looking for funding, you’ve come to the right place.   Several unsecured funding options make it possible to get financing without a robust credit history or assets to offer as collateral.   These options don’t require you to sell equity or spend thousands on lawyers to negotiate a deal. Since many startup owners aren’t aware these options exist, this article will explain what they are, how they work, and what businesses they suit. Lenders employ risk mitigation for all loans Secured business loans present a low risk to lenders by guaranteeing repayment in the form of collateral. If the borrower cannot repay the loan, the lender takes possession of the collateral. Most often, lenders take as collateral whatever the borrower purchased with the loan – real estate, vehicles, equipment, etc. On the other hand, unsecured loans have no collateral. This lack of a guarantee makes it riskier for lenders, so they consider an array of factors when deciding whether a prospective borrower is creditworthy. These factors include personal credit and the financial history and stability of the business. In addition, institutions often add specific clauses to unsecured loans to mitigate their risk. Personal guarantees leave you exposed  Unsecured lenders often require borrowers to sign a personal... --- ### Gathering your Options for Early-Stage Startup Funding - Published: 2022-08-18 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/gathering-your-options-for-early-stage-startup-funding - Categories: Finance According to a 2019 study by Startup Genome, 90% of startups fail, and one of the most prevalent reasons is a lack of capital.   Even if your startup has made it through the first year, thanks to a successful round of funding, you’re still in the early stages of the business and will likely need more capital to grow.   Understanding these startup funding rounds is crucial for founders as it can help them gauge where they stand regarding capital needs and business growth. At each funding stage, you’ll need to find reliable funding sources.   But this can be time-consuming and sometimes come with strings attached. At Founderpath, we will discuss early-stage startup funding basics and present common funding sources for the different funding stages. What Is Early-Stage Startup Funding? Early-stage startup funding happens in the early development of a business that has the potential to occupy a large market share of the industry they want to disrupt. This funding serves to take a startup from an idea to a revenue-generating business. There are essentially three types of early-stage business funding:  Pre-seed: This funding helps start the business and is based on a viable idea and business plan.  Seed: This is the funding to develop and bring the product into the market.  Growth: This is funding to boost sales, introduce new products, or expand into new markets, i. e. , grow the business. In terms of years, early-stage startup capital will most likely cover the first 5 years... --- ### Early Stage Financing for Startups - What to Know and How to Secure It - Published: 2022-08-10 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/early-stage-financing-for-startups-what-to-know-and-how-to-secure-it - Categories: Finance Securing early-stage financing can be the difference between your startup getting off the ground or remaining nothing more than an idea scribbled on a piece of paper. However, getting early-stage funding is often one of the most daunting challenges a startup founder will face in the company’s infancy.   At Founderpath, we help early-stage SaaS founders get funding and understand startup financing. Whether you are validating a business idea and want to know what growing it will entail or you are ready to start pitching—we will tell you everything you need to know about early-stage financing and how to secure it for your startup.   Types of Equity Funding There are three primary types of equity funding for startup companies: seed financing, growth-stage financing and late-stage financing. Seed financing is the earliest stage of investment, typically provided by angel investors, friends, or family. Pre-seed money is typically used to cover expenses related to business development, such as market research or MVP development.   The seed round is the first formal round of funding, in which VCs or angel investors invest in exchange for equity in the company. As the name may suggest, growth-stage financing is used to fund growth and expansion, such as hiring new employees or opening new offices. Late-stage funding usually helps a company scale up its operations, acquire new companies, develop new products, or prepare for an IPO. Early Stage or Seed Financing Early-stage financing (also called seed financing) refers to the earliest forms of startup financing... --- ### Founderpath Raises $145m to Provide Non-Dilutive Financing to Bootstrapped SaaS Founders - Published: 2022-08-09 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-raises-145m-to-provide-non-dilutive-financing-to-bootstrapped-saas-founders - Categories: Announcements, Founderpath Austin, Texas, August 9th - Founderpath, the platform 6,500 bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders use to get capital, announced $145m in debt and equity funding to continue helping more B2B SaaS founders hit $10m in revenue without selling equity. TechCrunch coverage here: Founderpath wants to help you grow with Founder Friendly debt financing Founderpath chose to bypass traditional VC’s and instead raised from a collection of top SaaS founders. These founders include: Henry Schuck, Founder of ZoomInfoGiles Palmer, Founder of Brandwatch (Acquired $450m)Haroon Mokhtarzada, founder of Webs. com and Truebill (Acquired $1. 3b)Savneet Singh (Par Tech, CoVenture) Meet more top SaaS founders at Founderpath's live event on Sept 1-2 in Austin Texas. Founder500 almost sold out: See how many tickets are left hereThe round was led by Coromandel Capital and Forbright Bank on the debt side ($8b AUM) and Singh Capital Partners (SCP) on the equity side. SCP is a network of over 800 LP’s who are public company SaaS executives, current or exited founders, and family offices . Earlier this year we started seeing pullback from equity investors in B2B SaaS and decided we needed to get into the non-dilutive capital space. After studying countless companies, it became clear that Founderpath is who we needed to get behind. Latka’s ability to bring founders together and his charisma is what sealed the deal for us. Manpreet Singh, CIO at Singh Capital Partners These super angels are now resources for all Founderpath founders.   Founderpath Has Another $150m To Deploy to SaaS... --- ### Startup Funding Proposal Sample - Published: 2022-08-02 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/startup-funding-proposal-sample - Categories: Finance How are you going to obtain funding from investors for your startup ? It isn't easy to secure capital while managing day-to-day business.   Thankfully, certain tools such as a startup funding proposal can help to optimize your fundraising strategies. Alternatives to pitching to raise finance for SaaS companies, like Founderpath, are options when appropriate and money can reach your account in 24 hours, but sometimes raising money from investors is appropriate. Founderpath helps SaaS professionals and many early-stage founders like you to generate funds within 24 hours or a maximum of 9 days. If you are ready to grow and compete, this article will help you explore startup funding proposals. You can even see a sample at the end of the article. An introduction to a startup funding proposals Simply put, a startup funding proposal is an overview of the business and the reasons behind why your startup requires funds. A well-written funding proposal helps founders explain to investors:  the aim of their businesstheir business operationsthe reasons behind funding requirementsthe case for why an investor should help It is a written representation of your startup and a way to communicate your funding requirements professionally. A startup funding proposal also helps investors understand the reasons behind the amount of funds you aim to raise and how their help may make a difference to your business. A proposal also allows investors to evaluate whether their investment will prove beneficial for them or not.   Structuring your startup fund proposal Do you... --- ### Revenue Based Business Loans: What to consider & best practices - Published: 2022-07-05 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/revenue-based-business-loans-what-to-consider-best-practices - Categories: Finance You don’t want to be one of those founders who loses it all. You aren’t on this journey to experience unimaginable success, only to have it all taken away because you weren’t prepared enough to keep up with the demands of expansion, right?   Well, CB Insights reports that nearly a third of all startups fail because they run out of funding or personal money. If you want to avoid this kind of setback, consider using a revenue-based loan to prepare your business for growing demands and expansion. If you’re still in the beginning stages of your startup, revenue-based financing can be useful if you have a scalable online business (e. g. , SaaS, eCommerce, selling digital products, etc. ). You can begin your startup business funding with helpful resources like Founderpath, a network for tech founders who need quick access to startup funds.   What is revenue-based financing? Also referred to as revenue-based investing or revenue-share financing, this form of royalty-based funding allows you to pay back financing with a fixed percentage of your future revenue on a weekly or monthly basis until your loan is paid.   Here’s an example: Sassy, a SaaS analytics platform, borrows $100,000, with a repayment capped at 1. 2x ($120,000). Say Sassy has a revenue share of 3%.  Sassy would therefore have to pay 3% of its gross revenue each month, until $120,000 has been paid.  So if it earns, $1,000,000 in monthly revenue it’ll have to pay: 1M*0. 03 = $30,000. In... --- ### Top Startup Funding Options for Entrepreneurs - Published: 2022-06-30 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/top-startup-funding-options-for-entrepreneurs - Categories: Finance According to Startup Genome, 90% of startups fail. If you want to become part of the successful 10%, you have a lot of ground to cover, and that begins with pre-revenue startup funding.   Don’t worry though, this is sure to be one of the most exciting times for you in your journey as an entrepreneur, so it’ll be worth the challenge. Bootstrappers worldwide are taking advantage of revenue-based resources for quick capital to grow their business! If you’re uncertain of what your business needs, you have a wide array of funding options to choose from, so you can rest assured that you’ll find something to be a good fit. In addition to that, you’re always free to use your own mix of small business funding options to suit your financial needs and goals. What matters most is that you focus on whatever source matches up with the structure and purpose of your business.   Startup funding options for founders  Revenue-based funding Great for: Startups with a predictable recurring (subscription-based, preferably) revenue stream. When you’re just starting out on your entrepreneurial journey, it can be overwhelming to think about where you’re going to get funding. Even if you have a customer base, you need capital to scale growth. That’s where Founderpath comes in. This platform is a type of revenue-based funding and gives SaaS and other founders early access to funds from their customer subscriptions. One of the biggest reasons SaaS founders go to Founderpath for their startup funding is... --- ### Building Your Startup Balance Sheet > As a start-up founder, duration of your balance sheet should be a top priority. This is how you can build the balance sheet of your dreams. - Published: 2022-06-26 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/building-your-startup-balance-sheet - Categories: Finance - Tags: Balance sheet, Duration, Founderpath, SaaS Commercial Paper in 2008 On September 16, 2008, the Reserve Primary Fund, a $65 billion dollar money market fund announced it had suffered losses of $785 million on its Lehman Brothers commercial paper positions. This announcement triggered a bank run in the commercial paper market and was one of the main causes of Lehman’s collapse and the Great Financial Crisis. 1 If you're in the startup world, you may have never heard of commercial paper. The definition of commercial paper is a series of short term loans to fund working capital needs in large corporations. It was touted as a cheap and easy source of liquidity for corporations looking to minimize their cost of capital. What could go wrong? The mechanism for the market was effectively a rolling capital source for these corporations. They could access cheap funds, but they would need to go back to market every few weeks to roll-over the maturity. This is very effective during a healthy market, but what happens when investors are no longer willing to roll-over the maturity? There is a sudden rush for capital to meet the maturity which can lead to default. I am not trying to be a doomsdayer but I do want to note that if you are primarily funding your business with short term debt that must be rolled over frequently, you may be taking more risk than you realize. If the investment partner is no longer willing or able to fund further advances, you could default on... --- ### Types of startup funding to choose from - Published: 2022-06-23 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/types-of-startup-funding-to-choose-from - Categories: Finance If you have a great business idea, chances are you’re thinking about the best way to get it up and running. In the early stages, you need to either raise funds or invest your own capital. When considering the different types of startup funding out there, it helps to evaluate your current place in the market and what you have to offer.   If you haven’t done one already, start out with a valuation of your company. Then you can begin to assess your options for funding. At Founderpath, we’ll delve into different types of startup funding. Funding Rounds In general, series funding refers to a startup conducting multiple rounds of raising funds, in exchange for equity. Your startup will begin with seed money which refers to the very first investment towards your startup, which can include debt and equity financing.   After the seed funding stage, the business value increases with the passing of each round, from series A to E, and the amount of financing increases after each round. When you’re just starting out, you’ll be most concerned with the pre-seed stage through series B, so we’ll highlight those below.   Pre-Seed Stage  Also known as the friends and family round, this stage is the most informal but most necessary step to getting your business off the ground. Even if it’s a small investment, anything that gets the ball rolling is valuable. Depending on where you’re at in the business planning process, this stage might go on for... --- ### Pre-Seed Funding: What It Is and Why You Should Care - Published: 2022-06-17 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/pre-seed-funding-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care - Categories: Finance Even if you have a great idea, there are countless obstacles to overcome before you can make your vision a reality. One of the biggest challenges is securing funding. It's no secret that launching a SaaS product is hard. Even if you have a great idea, there are countless obstacles to overcome before you can make your vision a reality. One of the biggest challenges is securing funding. If you're like most founders, you'll need to raise capital from investors in order to get your business off the ground. But before you can do that, you may need to secure pre-seed funding. In this article, Founderpath will be doing a deep dive into the topic of pre-seed funding. We'll talk about what it is, how much you can raise, and how to get it. So, if you're currently looking into funding for your SaaS product, you're in the right place! What is pre-seed funding? A start-up's journey from idea to sustainable business usually passes through a series of funding stages—each with different goals and targets. While the stages can be fairly nebulous in practice, they're usually defined as: Pre-Seed: The earliest stage of funding, in which a start-up seeks to validate its product or service. This is typically done through market research, customer interviews, and building a prototype. Seed: The stage at which a start-up seeks to establish its product or service in the market. This is typically done through marketing and building out the team. Series A: The stage at which a start-up seeks to scale its business. This is typically done through expansion into new markets and product development. Series B: The stage at which a start-up... --- ### How To Design A SaaS Landing Page That Converts (Plus Examples) - Published: 2022-06-09 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/how-to-design-a-saas-landing-page-that-converts-plus-examples - Categories: Growth What does a well-designed SaaS landing page look like? And how do you go about building one? It's no secret that a well-designed landing page can help convert website visitors into customers. But what does a well-designed SaaS landing page look like? And how do you go about building one? If you're not sure where to start, or if your landing pages could use a little sprucing up, don't worry! In this guide, Founderpath will be sharing some expert tips on how to design a SaaS landing page that converts, as well as some great examples of highly effective landing pages in the industry. Let's get started! What is a SaaS landing page? A SaaS landing page is a page within your website designed with a simple purpose in mind: to sell your product. It's a page for potential users to “land” on as they try to learn more about the solution you're providing. It can be part of your main website (e. g. , your homepage) or entirely separate. A great SaaS landing page outlines the problems your product solves, explains how it solves those problems, and summarizes the benefits it offers users. How your SaaS landing page goes about achieving those goals will depend on a few key factors, including: Your Audience: Different users will be looking for different things from your product. You need to design your landing page with a specific user in mind. Your Unique Selling Proposition: The things that make your product unique will influence the content and design of your landing page. Your Industry: Different industries respond well to different... --- ### Factoring 101 - Published: 2022-06-02 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/factoring-101 - Categories: Finance In this post we share some details of Factoring your receivables with Founderpath. Factoring is a financial transaction and a type of debtor finance in which a company sells its accounts receivable to a third party at a discount. A business will sometimes factor its receivable assets to meet its present and immediate cash needs. In this post we share some details of Factoring your receivables with Founderpath... How does Founderpath work? Our goal is to provide founders with cashflow to grow their operations sustainably without diluting their equity. We purchase the receivables (ie. our customers’ subscriptions/contracts) in exchange for up front capital. Our founders can draw from that capital either all at once, or in various amounts over time. Does Founderpath take equity? No, Founderpath does not take equity. Our goal is to empower bootstrapped founders and their startups by providing non-dilutive capital. The better the Founderpath Score, the better terms we can offer (longer payback periods, cheaper rates) and the more capital our founders are eligible to receive. Should we take it all now? Or periodically (ie. in tranches)? While 100% of the eligible capital can be taken up front, most of our founders prefer to draw portions of the capital at various times over a given period. This allows our founders to grow their revenue while simultaneously improving their Founderpath Score, thereby increasing eligible capital and providing better terms in a virtuous cycle. What happens if/when our customers churn? Founderpath intelligently finds the next similar or equal subscription(s) and automatically replaces the churned subscription(s). This requires no work from the... --- ### What is an Early Stage Startup? A Complete Guide for Bootstrapped Founders - Published: 2022-05-26 - Modified: 2023-07-28 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/what-is-an-early-stage-startup-a-complete-guide-for-bootstrapped-founders - Categories: Resources Startups, especially in the tech and SaaS industries, are forward-thinking companies that aim to disrupt the market and solve their customers’ problems in new and unique ways. Startups, especially in the tech and SaaS industries, are forward-thinking companies that aim to disrupt the market and solve their customers’ problems in new and unique ways.   Whilst all startups – at least when compared to traditional companies – are all quite young, there are key differences in the funding and management needs of startups at different points in their development process.   That’s why analysts and investors usually split startups into time categories known as stages – the youngest of those stages being an early stage startup.   What is an early stage startup? How do they differ from companies in more advanced stages? What are some examples of early stage startups? What’s next for these young firms? What is the best way to fund early stage startups?   Here at FounderPath, we believe in empowering bootstrapped early-stage founders with quick, flexible capital to help them grow into strong, sustainable startups. Find out more about how we can turn your monthly subscriptions into upfront cash later on in this article.   In this guide, we’ll give you all you need to know about the world of early stage startups, including what to expect in this stage of your development process and what you need to do next to help your SaaS business grow! What are the stages of a startup? The struggle of defining what stage your startup is in its growth cycle is particularly important for raising funds and capital to finance your expansion. There is a... --- ### Founderpath Stripe App Available Now: Request Capital with One Click - Published: 2022-05-24 - Modified: 2022-07-14 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/founderpath-working-with-stripe-to-launch-the-new-founderpath-stripe-app - Categories: Announcements We began working with Stripe back in December to build the Founderpath Stripe App so bootstrapped SaaS founders could get access to Founderpath’s functionality directly inside of their Stripe account. We began working with Stripe back in December to build the Founderpath Stripe App so bootstrapped SaaS founders could get access to Founderpath’s functionality directly inside of their Stripe account.   Stripe is beta launching Stripe Apps and the new Stripe App Marketplace today and we’re thrilled to be a part of the initial set of companies selected to participate.   We’ve long admired the tools Stripe has built and their focus on increasing the GDP of the internet. We launched Founderpath because we believe that one day, everyone will have a side project. Everyone will be a founder. You will be a founder because you found a customer segment you love, and you enjoy the freedom of controlling your time.   As your side project grows into a business, you may want capital. You don’t like the idea of giving up equity to a VC, you don’t want to have to deal with board meetings, and you don’t believe in the high-stress idea of “scaling at all costs”. We built the Founderpath Stripe App for you. Get capital overnight without giving up equity.   You can install the app here and instantly see how much capital you have available.   HOW IT WORKS As you add new subscription customers, you’ll be able to take more capital from the Founderpath Stripe App.   Step 1: Turn your MRR into upfront capital: Decide how much capital you want by selecting customers. If you do $65,000 in monthly recurring revenue, you’ll be... --- ### Geoff Charles, Product at Ramp - Published: 2022-04-05 - Modified: 2022-06-17 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/geoff-charles-ramp - Categories: Resources How Ramp Raised $800m in 18 Months, Plans to Grow from 80 to 300 https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=y9O0XBALCiI Highlights 1:26 Win the Marathon, Sprint by Sprint2:09 Ramp’s Product Velocity3:01 3 keys to optimizing product development3:38 “Don’t make excuses. ”5:09 Product Management vs. Project Management5:52 Single Threaded Teams - Build Autonomous Product Driven Teams7:03 Single Threaded Teams - Hold Teams Accountable7:34 Travel - Example #18:45 Travel - Example #29:43 Bi-directional feedback9:46 “You cannot train alone and expect a faster time. ”10:36 Launching products = easy11:32 Amplifying products = Hard11:37 Customer Feedback12:30 Be Ruthless13:28 Automate Feedback - Use technology14:35 Automate Feedback - Rank product category by requests14:56 High Velocity Operational Cadence15:00 “To win is not important. ”15:38 Operating Principles17:05 Smooth Process18:41 1) Our OKR’s18:48 2) Brainstorming19:14 3) Project Execution Resources Ramp Product OKR Connect with Geoff Twitter : @geoffintech About Ramp Your finance software should work for you, but let’s face it—it hasn’t evolved in decades. Employees and finance teams end up paying the price, struggling with 80s software that traps them into busy work. Website: ramp. com --- ### Henry Schuck, CEO ZoomInfo > During FounderConf 2022 Henry Schuck CEO of ZoomInfo shared details of how he used different capital products to help grow ZoomInfo to its 33B market cap. - Published: 2022-04-04 - Modified: 2022-06-17 - URL: https://founderpath.com/blog/henry-schuck-ceo-zoominfo%ef%bf%bc - Categories: Resources During FounderConf 2022 Henry Schuck CEO of ZoomInfo shared details of how he used different capital products to help grow ZoomInfo to its 33B market cap. The Capital Efficient Founder: Secondaries, Debt Driven Takeovers, IPO Pop During FounderConf 2022 Henry Schuck CEO of ZoomInfo shared details of how he used different capital products to help grow ZoomInfo to its 33B market cap. https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=TdYRWPZ2VZs Highlights 3:46 ZoomInfo Strategy and Revenue Growth4:03 $25k in Debt, Law school dorm, 25 yo13:50 $1. 5B Valuation13:58 How to Structure a Secondary17:26 Pre IPO: Key Metrics18:25 ZoomInfo Acquisition $700m+22:54 Post IPO: Key Metrics29:34 IPO Pop to $13B Day 1 Trading31:21 $33 Billion Market Cap (3/6/2022) Resources TBD Connect with Henry Twitter: @henrylschuck LinkedIn: linkedin. com/in/hschuck/ About Zoom Info Supporting the go-to-market operations of 25,000+ customers worldwide with the world's deepest, most accurate platform of software, data, and insights. We're changing the way every company goes to market, the way sales reps engage with buyers, the way marketing targets, the way HR recruits - it's changing everyday and we're a driving force of that change. Website: zoominfo. com --- ---