Dear Reader,
Welcome to the 63rd edition of the good reads newsletter by Malpani Ventures. Sharing your weekly dose of articles for this weekend’s reading!
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Growing from $2mn to $10mn in ARR
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7079820523244814337/
Calling all software company CEOs with growing businesses! 🚀 Wondering what to expect on your march to $10M in revenue? Here are some key shifts almost every SaaS business experiences in that phase:
From scrappy department managers to confident executive leaders
As your team grows, leaders need to manage leaders. Do you have the right leaders for the next level?
More systems, processes, and structure
To handle higher volumes, you need a reliable customer acquisition engine and a factory-like operation. Do you have the right leaders and culture for this?
Increased focus
Stop the crazy experiments and double down on what works. Say "no" to things that don't fit your vision. Are you clear on your focus areas?
Customer acquisition tactics shift from one to three reliable methods
Build a strong sales and marketing engine with a three-legged stool approach. Can your leaders create a reliable engine?
Founder-CEO transformation
Founders need to evolve into CEOs of bigger teams and take on a larger role in the market.
Not being lazy, the importance of outbound sales, real challenges after closing deals, and building guardrails as you scale
Check out these key insights from Spotdraft's CEO on building a successful software company:
Personalize cold emails to increase conversion rates
Qualify prospects through a robust discovery process
Avoid long-term custom pricing and plan for future price increases
Outbound sales can validate your target market faster
Focus on customer onboarding and feedback collection
Transition from founder-led sales with a clear plan
Looking to get acquired - find the best time!
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7078960233556967424/
Ever wondered when most startups get acquired? Carta dug into 6+ years of data from 1,700+ US startup acquisitions. Here's what they found:
Series A is the most frequent purchase point, accounting for around 30% of all acquisitions.
Surprisingly, there's significant M&A activity in the pre-seed stage. Even nascent teams have exit potential!
Late-stage startups have a smaller share of M&A deals, as expected due to fewer firms. Acquisitions become less common as companies approach IPO.