Blue Horizon’s reading list is a curated collection of articles for SaaS founders and management teams. We are entrepreneurs and operators who have lived through the process of founding and scaling software companies. Here are the articles and resources we found useful this month.
Dangers of Copying Success
On OnlyCFO’s Software World
Historically, org structure sins were hidden by the abundance of capital and expectation of high cash burn in pursuit of revenue growth. But now there is a spotlight on these sins as companies try to understand their inefficiencies. Capital scarcity is driving focus and intentionality, rather than just copying someone else and praying it works…Scarcity drives innovation and creativity. Companies are being forced to use their brains more and not blindly copy others in the hope that it also works for them. Those who take the medicine and pave their own path will prevail while the copycats will likely remain inefficient and die.
5 Interesting Learnings from Zscaler at $1.5 Billion in ARR
by Jason Lemkin
Takeaways include:
▪️“High 90%” GRR, and 125% NRR
▪️$1m+ Customers Are the Biggest Engine of Growth
▪️Strong, Strong Growth — But Still Macro Impacts. Only Mission Critical Projects are Getting Approved
Four Steps to Build a Digital Customer Success Strategy from Scratch
by ChurnZero
An effective digital customer success strategy has four key steps involving:
▪️Customer data
▪️Customer segmentation
▪️Automation
▪️A customer journey map
2023 Benchmarking Metrics for Bootstrapped SaaS Companies
by SaaS Capital
▪️The median growth rate for bootstrapped SaaS companies with $3M to $20M in ARR is 28.5% while those in the 90th percentile are growing by 60%.
▪️The median Net Revenue Retention (NRR) for bootstrapped SaaS companies with $3M to $20M in ARR is 103% while those in the 90th percentile report NRR of 122.1%.
▪️The median gross revenue retention for bootstrapped SaaS companies with $3M to $20M in ARR is 90% while those in the 90th percentile report gross retention of 98%.
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Blue Horizon acquires and invests in profitable software businesses with stable recurring revenue streams. The Blue Horizon platform combines long-term capital and industry expertise with an operating model that enables businesses and their leaders to focus on growth and profitability.