Primary Venture Partners

Alloy, Dandy, Ollie , and Vestwell are 2025 Forbes Top Startup Employers, based on the analysis of millions of data points regarding company reputation, employee satisfaction, and growth. See the full list:

Cassie Young, GP at Primary Venture Partners,? is one of my favorite investors out there. Beyond being a great human, she draws on her deep experience as an operator to support her founders. And she’s not afraid to share her battle scars. Typically on The GTM Podcast we have incredible execs talk about some of their biggest wins, Cassie flipped the script and talked about the most challenging time in her career & the strategies/tactics they used to right the ship. I would highly recommend giving this one a listen wherever you??? to your pods.

Before becoming GP at Primary Venture Partners ($1B AUM), she led GTM at a high-growth SaaS company. But, growth flatlined. She shared how they turned it around, plus key lessons from scaling SaaS as both an operator and investor. My top 8 takeaways from listening to Cassie Young episode's with Scott Barker on The GTM Podcast: 1?? Growth plateaus aren’t the exception, they’re inevitable. Every startup hits a wall at some point. The key differentiator is how leadership responds. If growth stalls and no one is panicking, that’s the real problem. 2?? Churn is a lagging indicator, track leading signals instead. By the time customers churn, it’s already too late. Pay attention to early warning signs like declining NPS, slowing product adoption, and longer response times in support tickets. Fix those before churn spikes. 3?? Customer trust = enterprise value. If customers don’t trust your reliability, your roadmap doesn’t matter. Prioritize stability and uptime over new features when trust starts eroding. Otherwise, you’ll be spending more time on damage control than growth. 4?? Pipeline doesn’t come from hiring more AEs. Hiring for quota capacity without a demand engine is a fast track to wasted headcount. Before scaling sales, ensure there’s enough pipeline coverage and note that referral deals close 4x higher than outbound. 5?? Sales and CS alignment isn’t optional, it’s table stakes. Customers don’t care if a company is sales-led or CS-led. They just want a seamless experience. When support teams get flooded with the same issue, product teams should be looped in. When CS hears upsell signals, sales should be ready to act. 6?? Stop assuming customers know about product updates. Half of customers don’t even realize when new features ship, even when they’ve been emailed about it. The best-performing companies reinforce product updates across multiple channels. 7?? Executive sponsorship should be proactive, not reactive. Bringing executives into at-risk accounts only when things go wrong is a losing strategy. Strong exec teams embed themselves with customers early, providing strategic insights and reinforcing trust long before a renewal conversation happens. 8?? Incentives drive alignment, so structure comp accordingly. If engineering bonuses aren’t tied to customer retention, don’t expect them to prioritize stability. Aligning executive compensation to ARR, NPS, and retention ensures every leader is rowing in the same direction. Catch the full episode on the GTMnow website or wherever you get your podcasts by searching "The GTM Podcast" ?? PS If you meet Cassie in person, her energy speaks for itself. That same energy comes through on the podcast, definitely worth a listen.

We wrapped another installment of Cassie Young's "On the Business" Mastery Day last week and couldn't be more energized by the ongoing momentum of this series! This community shows up time and time again with enthusiasm and presence, and it makes these events magic. We're able to run these programs equipping female SaaS execs with P&L fluency and First Team principles free to attendees due to the support of generous partners — thank you to HSBC Innovation Banking, True Search, and Cooley LLP for making this one possible! If your company would be interested in hosting us or supporting future events, please shoot me an email at [email protected]

Hiring alert! I'm looking for a Senior Associate to work side-by-side with me at Primary on all things healthcare. Are you are a startup operator, investor, or finance professional with 3-6 years of experience and a burning passion to find the next generational companies? If so, we'd love to hear from you. https://lnkd.in/eRZrqsMr

Rebecca Price puts people first in her formula for organizational success. In her data-based approach to HR, Rebecca builds a replicable and sustainable model for using smart metrics to drive decisions and build a healthy team culture.

This week, Primary hosted another installment of Cassie Young's "On the Business" event series in NYC. 90 executive women in SaaS gathered for a day of tactical programming on P&L fluency, "First Team" principles, and the talk of the town—AI. Topics included: ? Cassie Young on the "core four" traits that separate the top 1% of executives ? Isabelle Winkles on how different business decisions influence each of the financial statements ? Kim Peretti on using leading indicators to give you breathing room until the lagging indicators on your key work streams materialize ? Lauri J. Moore on AI/Infra terms and a POV on implementing AI across your people, processes, and product ? Wendi Sturgis on her "Financial Mastery Scorecard" for execs and how she built strong financial muscle ? Rebecca Price on how to better gauge whether the founder you work for will actually be a great CEO ? Cassie Young on Primary's latest POV on liquidity We're thrilled to see the continued momentum behind this series and community. This event wouldn't have been possible without the generous support of our partners, HSBC Innovation Banking, Cooley LLP, and True Search. If you're interested in sponsoring future events, please email [email protected].

Barbershops turn strangers into regulars. SQUIRE shaped its team with that same unifying thread. Squire understands that relationships drive retention, which is why their approach goes beyond standard SaaS support. Instead of generic customer service, barbershops get dedicated Account Executives, Customer Success reps, and Account Managers who know the business inside and out. Songe LaRon, CEO and co-founder of Squire, shares why this high-touch strategy drives barbershop success.

AI is transforming everything—from how industries operate to the very nature of company building. How can startup leaders stay ahead? Each year, Primary gathers NYC’s top startup operators to discuss the state of the market and how to succeed within it. This year, we’re diving deep into the Age of AI—the force reshaping industries, business models, and leadership itself. Join us for State of Startups 2025, a forward-looking discussion in which Primary Partners (Cassie Young, Brian Schechter, Jason Shuman, Emily Man, Jason Gelman) and top industry leaders (Varun Anand, Tori Moss, Scott Freifeld) will unpack: ? The Current State & Future of AI – Where we stand in the AI revolution, how it’s reshaping industries, and the future leaders set to emerge. ? AI’s Impact on Startups – Actionable insights on how leaders are leveraging AI to drive growth, increase efficiency, and transform knowledge work. ? Emerging AI-Driven Business Models & Opportunities – How AI is reshaping SaaS, the new business models taking shape, and key opportunities for founders and operators. This invite-only event is for startup leaders (Director to C-suite) looking to harness AI for innovation and connect with top peers. ?? In-person in NYC | ?? Apply by Wednesday 3/12 | ?? Free to attend if accepted, thanks to our generous partners (CIBC, Gunderson Dettmer, and Samsung Next). Spots are limited—event details and application linked in the comments.

Over $1 trillion is wasted every year on healthcare inefficiencies. Politicians love to point fingers at drug prices, but that's less than 10% of the problem. Imagine using AI to build a health system from scratch in a city like Dallas—integrating primary care, urgent care, specialty care, and ICUs into one cohesive network. Our guest, an anonymous healthcare CEO, in conversation with Sam Toole, pointed out how generative AI can tackle inefficiencies throughout the system—from back-office operations to patient care—ultimately molding how healthcare is delivered.