We're feeling extra spicy this Monday. Not only from a weekend of football and Groundhog Day, but because we are headed to the West Coast to go live on the floor at SaaStr, the largest B2B software gathering in the world. Currently en route to San Jose, we’ll be in the trenches with the people making it happen, and you’ll see it all as it unfolds.

With love, from Subscription60.com in San Jose.
Ready for the rundown?

In resources...

Kellblog Ruling 40 If you’ve ever thought of taking your SaaS public, you're up to speed with the Rule of 40. It’s a simple formula, revenue growth rate + your free cash flow margin as > or = 40%. According to an article from Kellblog, less than half of all public SaaS companies are Rule of 40 compliant. Read on to see if and when your company should shoot for that golden ratio, and how not to sacrifice real growth while preparing yourself for an IPO.

"If 'when should we be Rule of 40 compliant' is the wrong question, then what’s the right one?"

MeetEdgar Gets Chatty MeetEdgar's open about their love of Twitter chats: live discussions led by a company or individual around a specific hashtag or topic. And we're right on board there with them. Here, they disclose the lessons they’ve learned from three full months of practicing the chat method. MeetEdgar credits Twitter chats for a boost to their metrics and dishes us the goods on how we can obtain similar growth.

SalesLoft's Got Mail You work so hard on your emails, what's the dang point when they land in spam? SalesLoft has seven ways to make sure those emails get in front of the right eyeballs. They offer both contextual strategies - like email personalization - as well as technical tweaks you can make on your end.

"...most leaders aren’t focusing on what are arguably the most important metrics: email deliverability and quality relevance. All the while, your recipients’ email servers are working overtime to filter spam."

 

In headlines...

Blue Apron Aims for Better Blue Apron, at one time the biggest name in kits, has seen a loss in customers at a particularly notable rate per quarter (we're talking a tens of thousands quarterly rate). Whether a rise in competition or a too-narrow market is to blame, Blue Apron aims to diversify in order to make up some of that lost revenue. By partnering with companies like Weight Watchers and Jet.com, Blue Apron makes its way into that retail space.

Zooming to an IPO? Zoom, the video conferencing company that’s been valued at a whopping billion dollars, has selected banks ahead of IPO, according to Business Insider. The startup selected Morgan Stanley to handle the transition, which hit a bump in the road during the government shutdown. Once that’s settled, pay attention, because Zoom is set to be as popular, and lucrative, as Skype in its prime.

An Apple Subscription? Last week we talked about Apple rolling out subscription models for games and magazines, but how would you feel about paying a subscription for the physical phone piece of the puzzle? Replacement cycles are getting longer and hardware sales dwindling, but Analyst Toni Sacconaghi says a subscription model could be Apple’s saving grace.

Launch of the Day

And in extra time, we have launch news for those in G Suite, as Google Voice is expected to roll out on the platform this spring - a cloud telephone service for businesses, appealing particularly to those using Google's web conferencing and messaging apps (Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat). This launch should really set up G Suite as the whole package, which is crucial if Google’s to offer a viable alternative to Microsoft Office 365. 

Reap Those Referral Rewards 

Calling all subscription junkies: For those of you digging Subscription60 and eager to spread the good word (plus reap the bennies from referrals) we'll soon have a referral program on lock, offering our loyalest watchers some exclusive goods. Stay tuned for more on this, as we dive into 2019 full throttle.

To spread the good word of Sub60, send your friends to Subscription60.com.