Building Enterprise SaaS in today's Macro Environment.

I have not attended many networking events in the last few years. I decided to change that and attend four events in the last two months. I only participated in events with enterprise SaaS leaders so the lessons learned could be applied to our business at ThoughtSpot.?

Here are a few key takeaways.?

1. These are extraordinary times: CEOs who’ve been in the business for many decades shared that this has been the most challenging, most intense period they’ve ever experienced. No matter what they say in public, company-building is universally more complex now than a few years ago.??
2. Attrition is above normal: Every company is bleeding talent, particularly at executive levels. While the job market remains very tight broadly, most companies are rebuilding/reshuffling at the top. Combined with the fact that most enterprise company valuations are below what they were a few years ago, fully vested execs are looking to spread their bets at new places instead of fighting the difficulties at the current place.?
3. Let them go; change is good: When a leader decides to leave, chances are, they’ve done their thinking. It’s ok to let them move on. The shock of the change will make you and the company better. When a leader changes, there will be a domino effect, and others will go. That, too, is natural. Never let the optics be the reason to make decisions for counter-offers or internal promotions. They never work out in the long term.?
4. This, too, shall pass: If the company can resist the urge to go for quick fixes (like promoting people before they are ready, creating compensation disparities by oiling the noisy wheels), it will be in a much better position six months from now. Believe it.?
5. Sales leaders aren’t special: Most leaders inherently understand that hiring mercenaries for leadership positions is not a good idea. But they often think that sales leaders are exceptions. Always hire missionary leaders for startup sales. If they don’t believe in the mission, the CEO’s job of instilling confidence in the leader will be like constantly pumping air into a balloon with holes—mission, faith, execution, in that order, especially for sales leaders.?
6. Don’t do SaaS deals for the quarter: The most remarkable thing about bad quarters is that they end. When they do, a new quarter begins, and you can build something new and extraordinary. It’s almost always better to lose a lousy customer opportunity than win it for a poor margin and then churn it the following year. There’s no place to hide in the world of ARR. Focus on purpose and fit before the sale and on the process and success immediately after the sale.?
7. The product shouldn’t be perfect: Engineering and product organizations should never feel they have enough time to perfect the product. If they did, they would have missed the peak opportunity window. We are in a fast-changing world, and getting the product out there in customer's hands and having them co-build with you is the only way to manage velocity and quality. Good customers want to do that with you. Perfection is progress.
8. Velocity or nothing: If your organization values debating an idea over deciding and fixing it, they are already behind. A poorly implemented feature can be improved, or a bug can be fixed, but a thought in a conference room is worth nothing. Often, the real cause of a slow-moving organization is poor decision-making skills. Poor decision-making happens because people feed their egos, seek credit, or plainly need more courage to make the decisions.?
9. Do not compare: ?Nothing is easy for anyone. If you think everyone else has been having a better time than you, it may be an excellent time to remind yourself that you have front-row seats to many performances while having backstage passes to only your show.?
10. Hire more capable people than you: If you don’t have people in your team who are better than you in at least a few skills you need to do your job, your team isn’t built correctly. This is a no-brainer, but it isn't easy for most people. If only I knew how hard I made my job in the past for this one reason!
11. Competition wants to crush you: Competitors do not want you to win even a single customer. They don’t want any partners to work with you. It’s an all-or-nothing world. When someone says, “It’s a big market; there will be multiple winners.” or “Our competition is status-quo, people who are unafraid to change.” they are full of it or afraid to accept the reality that their customers didn’t give them a good reason why they didn’t pick their solutions.?
12. Sell or die: Any enterprise SaaS company that doesn’t passionately, intrinsically, holistically believe and prepare the entire company to sell and be one hundred percent obsessed with selling and making customers successful deserves to die.?
13. Some customers are never right: I don’t believe all customers are always right for all companies. Some customers are not ready to change, some are too political and backward-focused, some lack courage and want to keep buying from Microsoft, and some customers don’t give a hoot about innovation or competing in the market. A vendor's job is to assess which customers are a terrible fit and eliminate them from wasting your time and money earlier in the sales cycle. That’s how they find time to focus on the right customers.
14. Never beg for a PO: Sellers wearing the " desperation " perfume will not win the deals. When the value is delivered, there’s no need to beg for a purchase order. It’s a business transaction, and both sides should deal with respect for the other.?Make mutually agreed commitments, deliverables, and deadlines. Hold each other accountable for any variations.
15. Never take any advice at face value: No one knows what your business is going through. Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media have become mainly a venue for performance art. Thousands of opinions and advice are flying around. Experts are pontificating to other experts. Do not believe or take any advice at face value from anyone, including this post.?