Nine pieces of advice for SaaS businesses in 2023

At SaaStock, surrounded by the best in SaaS, we asked what piece of advice attendees would give SaaS businesses in 2023. 

From Founderpath to Cledara, GoodFit, m3ter, and more - here’s what they said:

1. Griffin Parry, Co-founder and CEO, m3ter

“Metrics, sort your metrics out. Boring, but very important, it helps manage your business.”

2. Nathan Latka, Founder, Founderpath

“To figure out how to get your CAC back instantly. Instant CAC payback period is way more important than a really strong LTV:CAC ratio. Get your money back quick.”

3. Ferran Puig, BD & Partnerships, Capchase

“So as a lender, I would recommend SaaS businesses to really focus on cash efficiency, make sure they make the most of the cash they've raised. Focus on growth and extend that runway as much as possible.”

4. Harrison Rose, Co-founder, GoodFit & Paddle

“So, I'd be looking an awful lot at your cash runway. Making sure, as much as possible, you've got over 12 months. If not, I'd be going out to fundraise. You probably have to get real with the valuations you're going get.”

5. Freya Savage, Account Executive, Paddle

“It's been super prevalent seeing SaaS businesses who have had a really sales-led motion and they're looking to move towards PLG. I think a big bit of advice on that point is to maintain the sales-led, really work out where they're going to focus their energy on the PLG side, and then keep that balance of the two different motions.”

6. Oscar Hackett, Head of Sales, Cledara

“[Advice for] the next 12 months, is not to be too afraid. There's a lot of talk about trying to be cautious, trying to be careful. I think there's still a huge environment for growing extremely quickly and I think you've got to be quite ambitious and not get scared by the times but just try and be a bit more sensible in terms of  efficient scaling is what everyone's talking about. That's what we recommend.”

7. Mickey Alon, CTO and Founder, Gainsight PX

“You want to make a capital efficient growth momentum. Basically doing more with less is what's the advice because you want to show efficiency. So my advice is looking for ways to optimize what you do and use technology to help you get there.”

8. Tom Rath, Founder, YOYABA

“If you do a really good job now, you're going to be top of mind after the recession, when buyers have budgets again and can buy your product. So now, it's the perfect time, if you have enough runway, to invest in demand generation.”

9. Nivas Ravichandran, Head of Marketing, Spendflo

“A lot of people feel that we are going through an economic downturn, so it's just good reassess the situation every quarter and probably just not follow growth at all costs.”

And a final word from Harrison Rose: 

“I think the next 12 months is pretty uncertain for all of us, and we're all in this together, good luck!”

For more insights from SaaS leaders and insights on how to implement some of this advice in practice, read our report “Survive or thrive: How operational efficiency can strengthen SaaS in a downturn” .