Suaad Sait

In vertical SaaS, the very best companies landed with a product solving a specific, burning pain point that horizontal solutions solved badly and then became broad product suites over time (ServiceTitan, Veeva Systems, Doximity, etc). My partner Gordon Ritter calls this “layering the cake”. In vertical AI, the landing wedges are much more brittle. While the painpoints they solve are very real (and often unaddressable by SaaS alone), they’re also much more likely to commodotize in the near term as the tech advances. 👀 Therefore, the need to layer the cake in vertical AI is much more urgent than in vertical SaaS. 👀 The best vertical AI CEOs not only recognize the dynamic, but talk about it openly. Helps those around them keep up the speed of innovation and their eyes on the bigger prize.

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🚀 Scaling your business? Don’t let early decisions box you in. In the latest Hidden Chasm episode, Chris Avenick and David Perini dive into the tech debt challenges companies face as they grow from startup to enterprise. It’s easy to get stuck catering to early customers, but that focus can create long-term obstacles. Decoupling solutions from specific needs and thinking multi-tenant is key to avoiding future roadblocks. As your company grows, so must your brand identity. It’s no longer just about one product—brand evolution is crucial to scaling successfully. Want to know how to navigate these challenges? Watch the full episode here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gzeYqGfX #TechDebt #BrandEvolution #Scalability #Design #CTO #CPO

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Who are the leading GTM experts in VC that you know? Think Jason Gelman who is GTM operating partner at Primary Venture Partners or Max Altschuler at GTMfund!

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Attention SaaS founders: catch 🚁Roee Hartuv from Winning by Design on the Force and Friction Podcast as he tackles a common misstep in SaaS growth strategies: an over focus on acquisition while overlooking the game-changing potential of retention. Catch the full episode here: https://bit.ly/3OCydUV By investing in processes, training, and headcount, you can elevate retention rates—and that means a significant boost to lifetime revenue. If you're ready to shift focus to where the real value lies, it's time to explore the right side of the bow tie in Revenue Architecture. #ForceAndFrictionPodcast #RevOpsLife #GTM #Bowtie #RevenueArchitecture

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Attention SaaS founders: catch 🚁Roee Hartuv from Winning by Design on the Force and Friction Podcast as he tackles a common misstep in SaaS growth strategies: an over focus on acquisition while overlooking the game-changing potential of retention. Catch the full episode here: https://bit.ly/499WY4z By investing in processes, training, and headcount, you can elevate retention rates—and that means a significant boost to lifetime revenue. If you're ready to shift focus to where the real value lies, it's time to explore the right side of the bow tie in Revenue Architecture. #ForceAndFrictionPodcast #RevOpsLife #GTM #Bowtie #RevenueArchitecture

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If you enjoyed our first blog on the metrics that matter for Verticalized SaaS then don't miss on the Part II of the series where my colleagues Devraj Hom Roy and Matt Schaar discuss the strategic and operational choices to improve these operational indicators. https://lnkd.in/g5QkCrcH

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That’s right. You keep control over your SaaS company while still accessing the funds you need for scaling. This type of financing offers flexible terms that align with the growth trajectory of SaaS businesses. Explore benefits and options from River SaaS Capital. https://lnkd.in/e3wraWK9 #VentureDebt #SaaSFunding #BusinessGrowth

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In Part Two of our series on Verticalized SaaS, Accion Venture Lab's Matt Schaar, Devraj Hom Roy, and Michael Wolfe identify the key strategic and operational steps a vSaaS can take to improve its "north star" metrics. If you're an early-stage investor or founder seeking guidance on the tried-and-true methods that successful vSaaS companies like Toast, Mindbody, Procore Technologies, and others implemented on a pathway to long-term growth, this piece is for you! https://lnkd.in/g5QkCrcH

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Private Markets (PE, VC, Growth Equity) are asset classes largely inaccessible to public investors, yet there's a lot of demand. This locks individual investors out of the market for innovative companies, and also reduces liquidity opportunities for employees, founders and angels (opaque secondary markets with high tx fees and approval hurdles don't count). Is there a way to solve this using technology, potentially GAI, in a regulated way to give retail investors access to private markets in the UK? It would for sure encourage more entrepreneurship and innovation as well. This was one of the topics we discussed yesterday at the panel at Fund Finance Association , where I was invited to give the Founder's & Entrepreneur's view. Thanks for having me Joel Buckett and very insightful to hear the different perspectives of Muhammad Billal Malik, CAIA, Ibrahim Khan and Mohamed Azzam Khan, CFA

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Brian Pontarelli shared some bootstrapping wisdom on the recent saas.unbound episode 🚀 "The nice thing about being in that position is that you're never trying to make these massive jumps. These 4-5x growth years. So few businesses ever do that, but every VC thinks every business can." Check it out to learn about: 1️⃣ selling to developers 2️⃣ Brian's journey from code to business 3️⃣ tips on creating a strong company culture 4️⃣ using humor for marketing and of course, a bunch of stuff about cocktails 😁 Links to the episode are in the comments 👇🏻

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Next one up, Flagler Health! In an attempt to demystify some of the non-obvious elements we found when we first met the founders of our fastest growing portfolio companies at 186 Ventures, here is the third edition of the "idiosyncratic phenomenon". This highlight will be on Albert Katz, Leon Anijar, and Will Hu and their journey building Flagler Health to bring unprecedented AI enabled patient care to the world of musculoskeletal (MsK) providers. As the healthcare industry shifts to a value based care paradigm, there will be increased pressure on the entire industry to ensure patient outcomes improve, all the while helping providers generate more revenue / become more cost efficient. Since we co-led their March, 2024 seed round with Streamlined, the company has rolled out some of their newest remote therapeutic and chronic condition management features to many patients and providers alike, experiencing high revenue growth in such a short period of time. The company continues to face unmet customer demand as it continues to scale its expansion into 2025. https://lnkd.in/exesTcmC

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Stigg has announced a $17.5 million Series A round led by Red Dot Capital Partners, with participation from Unusual Ventures, Emerge Ventures, Redseed, and Cerca Partners. The company, co-founded by Dor Sasson and Anton Zagrebelny, offers a scalable monetization platform designed for the modern SaaS billing stack, helping businesses rethink pricing with tools tailored for both engineers and go-to-market teams. Frederic Lardinois | TechCrunch https://lnkd.in/dzDC7dXy #AI #ArtificalIntelligence

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Bobsled Co-founder and CEO Jake Graham's hot takes from a recent episode of Founded & Funded: *The Modern Data Stack is no longer a relevant term. *You can’t PLG the enterprise. *Partnering with Hyperscalers too early can suck up too much time and energy. Find champions within the enterprise. *Focus on what you need to do to win right now – don’t get caught up constantly thinking and building for the future. Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43vgMN2 Listen (includes transcript): https://bit.ly/43pFf6d #StartupAdvice #GenerativeAI #GenAI #LLMs #innovation #founderstory #founderjourney

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Catch up on Adam Robinson's journey on The Force & Friction Podcast as he discusses scaling a SaaS company from $20M towards $50M ARR. Watch the full episode here: https://bit.ly/46yeoXf "It’s a game of different rules at each stage". #ForceAndFrictionPodcast #RevOpsLife #GTM #SaaS #B2BGrowth #EntrepreneurJourney #ScalingUp

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Big Company or Big Network: Which is the better partner? When you think partnerships, It’s easy to think of collaborating with companies. But have you considered partnering with a network? When I was in Austin, I struck a deal with Capital Factory. Community of 100,000 entrepreneurs. Portfolio valuation of $21 billion. This partnership opened doors to New brands, New investors, New level of growth. The takeaway? Partnering with a network doesn’t just add value— it channels it 🔮 #Networking #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

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I believe two of the big winners over the next 10 years in the SMB category will be PE who are rolling up the businesses and GenAI powered software that makes running these businesses significantly more turnkey and/or profitable. Thanks for having me on Jay Kapoor. If you want spicy takes fast forward to 25 min mark. If you want to get deep in market analysis buckle in for the whole thing. https://lnkd.in/d8M7Jyrx

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🚀 PrivTech is one week away, and we only have a few spots left. We designed this conference to deliver a multi-value experience for LP's. While many AGM's cover familiar performance metrics and quarterly updates, they often fall short in offering the deep insights and learning opportunities that truly empower LP's. Our goal is to go beyond the numbers, providing a strategic view into the sectors we invest in and the trends shaping them. PrivTech brings together over 100+ private tech investors, industry experts, LP's, family offices, RIA's, corporate venture teams, and downstream GP's — creating a nexus for insight sharing and powerful connections. By gathering this incredible group, we're able to share knowledge of the markets we serve and add value in unique ways. This moment is critical. AI is moving too fast for soundbites alone, and spending a single day to take stock and prepare for the next wave of AI-driven value creation — the Applied Layer — is worth every minute. Together, we're witnessing the dawn of another industrial revolution, and conversations like these help shape our thinking, acting, and investing. Don't miss out. Join us for a transformative day! DM me as soon as possible if you have interest in joining. #PrivTech #Seed #VentureCapital #Investing #ArtificialIntelligence #AppliedAI #Networking #Innovation

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The past and the future collide as we hear the Father of Serverless’ thoughts on its inception, its impact, and ultimately its future ⚡ Episode 58 of the Talking Serverless Podcast featuring Dr. Tim Wagner, the visionary CEO & co-founder of Vendia, is out now! 🎧 Listen: https://lnkd.in/gWPhhswY 📺 Watch: https://lnkd.in/g-jPP7uz ---------------------------------------------------- About Vendia: Businesses today face the crippling consequences of data sprawl. Scattered data leads to tool overload, poor data quality, and inadequate sharing solutions that can't keep up with the complex needs of modern enterprises. Vendia is the future of collective data intelligence, combining smart APIs, databases, and distributed ledger technology inside a single platform. Vendia’s data automation cloud makes it easy to share data inside and outside of the organization in real time and with full visibility, governance, and control. Companies such as BMW, Delta Airlines, Resolution Life Insurance, and Fannie Mae use Vendia to automate contextual and compliant data flows between any-to-any systems for a harmonized, accurate view of data that unlocks speed, innovation, and cost savings. Learn more: https://vendia.fyi/3Uy5Jyc

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Interested in seeing how publicly traded SaaS companies are performing, including how much equity dilution they may be contending with? 👀 Thanks to Blossom Street Ventures, we have put together the "SaaS Benchmarks Report" to give you insight on everything from YoY Growth, to Founder Ownership, and VC Ownership (video below) 📊 Unlock the report here: https://lnkd.in/geXKHpqK 🔓

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