Strategy: 7 revenue scaling problems SaaS founders face at Series A

So, you've managed to survive long enough to have established some product-market fit, and are looking at how to take your revenue to the next-level. You've got your eyes set on the prize, but as you scale up your sales and marketing teams, you're bound to encounter a few bumps in the road. Let me walk you through the seven trials and tribulations I've witnessed countless founders face as they navigate this exhilarating yet tumultuous path.

1. Hiring the First Sales Leader: Ah, the age-old conundrum of timing. You're itching to bring in that sales guru to lead your team to victory, but rushing into it can lead to a cultural mismatch that'll keep you up at night. Trust me, I've seen it happen too many times. Take a deep breath, resist the urge to dive headfirst, and ensure your business is ready to embrace a new leader. You don’t want to spend the next two years micromanaging someone who just doesn't vibe with the company ethos. In addition to ‘timing’ you want to make sure their experience is stage-specific to your journey, and they’re a good cultural fit.

2. Getting Content Marketing Going: Content marketing – the elusive beast that leaves many founders scratching their heads in bewilderment. Attributing its value can be like trying to catch a fish with your hands, slippery and frustrating. Content marketing takes time to bear fruit - roughly twelve months to make a dent - so strap yourself in for the long haul and resist the urge to throw in the towel prematurely. Getting this right accelerates growth and helps to acquire customers at a far lower CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) later.

3. Crossing Certain AOV Thresholds: Sure, landing deals at £50k a pop might feel like hitting the jackpot initially. But if you're serious about playing in the big leagues, you've got to level up. It's not about endlessly chasing volume; it's about increasing the value per deal to unlock exponential revenue growth. Whether this is going upmarket for larger customers, or getting better at proving value, this is the secret to hyper-growth.

4. Pricing: The puzzle that never fails to confound even the savviest of founders. You think you've nailed it, only to second-guess yourself, spin in circles, and end up lost in a labyrinth of doubt. Sound familiar? Trust me, you're not alone. When it comes to pricing, hindsight is 20/20. More often than not, the right pricing strategy was staring you in the face all along. When I work with founders a lot of the time, one of their previous pricing concepts was close to optimal - they just didn’t have the lived experience to know which one and go with it.

5. Hiring the Right Execs: Picture this: you're envisioning your company's future five years down the line, and you hire the perfect executive to lead the charge. Sounds like a dream come true, right? Wrong. The reality is, you need someone who fits the bill for the here and now, not a distant-future version of your company. Stage-specific skills are non-negotiable when it comes to assembling your dream team. So, ditch the crystal ball and focus on finding the right exec for the present moment.

6. Compensation Plans: Let's talk about compensation plans – the labyrinth of metrics and KPIs that can drive even the most seasoned founder to the brink of madness. Sound familiar? I thought so. Overly complex compensation plans are like a black hole, sucking up valuable mental bandwidth and diverting attention away from the real battle. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Trust me, your sanity will thank you for it. As a rule-of-thumb I build plans around only one primary metric, and one modifier. For example, ARR, ACV, TCV are primary metrics, whereas modifiers are things like margin or contract length.

7. Transitioning Away from Founder Selling: Many founders aspire to pass-the-torch and focus on building products. But here's the kicker – building your brand is still a form of selling, albeit a more subtle one. Founder visibility is the secret weapon of any business, even as it matures. So, don't be too quick to hang up your sales hat. Embrace your role as the face of your brand and watch your business thrive.

What often damages founders in working through these issues, if the loss of momentum in iterating through these problems. In addition, the mental bandwidth solving these things, alongside the myriad of other daily issues they face can simply overload.

Hiring a CRO early-on often isn’t the best way to solve these problems. Instead, a Sales and Marketing advisor can help you pinpoint solutions to these and many other similar issues at a fraction of the cost. I provide both advisory and on-demand revenue coaching for founders. If you’re interested, my rates are totally transparent on the GTM HIVE website.

https://www.gtmhive.com/advisory-coaching