As we gear up for 2023 SaaStr Annual on Sep 6-8 in SF Bay, I’ve discovered myself re-watching this nice session with David Sacks from 2021 on the SaaS org chart. A few of it assumes a bit extra aggressive spend than is sensible in 2023, however the total classes on who to rent, when; who to advertise, and when; and the way and why issues get much less environment friendly over time are simply terrific.
David and I might be again collectively at 2023 Annual speaking about “SaaStr in 2024”. See you there! And dig again in on this traditional.
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As your SaaS firm grows and also you undergo varied fundraising levels, your organization measurement additionally grows. You’ll want to rent aggressively to get to the following degree and proceed that fast progress. However what roles do you have to rent for, and what is going to your org chart appear like at every stage?
David Sacks, Co-Founder and Normal Accomplice at Craft Ventures, shares knowledge from his years of expertise in SaaS that can assist you construct your org chart for every step of your organization’s fundraising journey.
You will discover the total slide deck from David’s presentation on Slideshare.
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David Sacks: SaaS Background and Investments
David’s first foray into SaaS was in 1999 when he joined a startup that may develop into PayPal, beginning because the product chief and later because the COO. In 2008, he based Yammer, an enterprise software program firm that David grew to 500 staff and $60 million in gross sales. Microsoft acquired Yammer for $1.2 billion in 2012.
David Sacks has invested in over 20 unicorn corporations, together with Airbnb, Hen, ClickUp, Fb, Slack, and Uber.
Normal Guidelines of Thumb For Firm Measurement Primarily based on ARR
Your org will look completely different relying on every fundraising stage. Listed below are David’s suggestions for normal guidelines of thumb to observe.
- Sequence A
- ARR: $1million
- Worker Depend: 40 – 50
- ARR per Worker: $20,000 – $25,000
- Sequence B
- ARR: $5million
- Worker Depend: 100 – 125
- ARR per Worker: $40,000 -$50,000
- Sequence C
- ARR: $20million
- Worker Depend: 300 – 400
- ARR per Worker: $50,000 – $66,666
- At IPO (Common)
- ARR: $100million
- Worker Depend: 1,000
- ARR per Worker: $100,000
These aren’t strict and inflexible guidelines for everybody, as there’ll at all times be some variation relying on firm sort and different circumstances, however they’re normal tips to assist point out when you’re within the ballpark.
The Org Journey: Sequence A – Sequence C
Sequence A (~ 50 Workers)
You’ll proceed to increase and iterate primarily based on this primary mannequin as you develop:
Founder/CEO
- CTO
- Staff Measurement: 12
- Positions Wanted: Builders (Entrance-Finish and Again-Finish), Shopper Functions, Core Providers/Platform, Analytics, and DevOps.
- Head of Product
- Staff SIze: 4 -5
- Positions Wanted: PMs and Designers.
- Head of Gross sales
- Staff Measurement: 10 – 13
- Positions Wanted: Enterprise AEs, Mid-Market & SMB AEs, SDRs, Gross sales Ops, Gross sales Engineer.
- Head of Advertising and marketing
- Staff Measurement: 5 – 6
- Positions Wanted: Demand Gen, Product Advertising and marketing, Gross sales Enablement, Occasions/Group.
- Director of CSM
- Staff Measurement: 4 – 8
- Positions Wanted: Enterprise CSM, Mid-Market & SMB CSM, Buyer Help Reps, Implementation/Options Engineer.
- Director of Finance
- Staff Measurement: 6 – 7
- Positions Wanted: FP&A Analyst, Accountant, HR, Ops, Recruiter.
At this early stage, your groups are lean, made up largely of particular person contributors, with division heads reporting on to the CEO. David considers product to be its personal division that must also report on to the CEO, as an alternative of falling underneath the CTO. “Most SaaS founders today are product founders, and I believe it’s essential for them to remain concerned within the product. The best way I at all times noticed it was that the product managers had been sort of like my arms after I was CEO…so I believe it’s essential for the product group, regardless that it’s very small, to report on to the Founder/CEO.”
Sequence B (~ 125 Workers)
Right here you’ll start to construct out your govt workforce. It would be best to give extra formal roles to your division heads as their duties develop. Because the CEO, you’ll fill VP and C-level positions with outdoors hires or promote out of your present division leads.
Throughout this stage, the person contributors from Sequence A will develop to develop into a workforce for nearly each perform. You will have to advertise and rent extra mid-level managers.
Founder/CEO
- CTO (40 Workers)
- VP Product (11 Workers)
- VP Gross sales (45 Workers)
- VP Advertising and marketing (15 Workers)
- VP Finance (13 Workers)
Sequence C (~ 400 Workers)
By the point you’ve reached Sequence C, your org can have developed to look very completely different from Sequence A. You may be finalizing your C-level workforce and hiring the mid-level VPs who don’t report on to the CEO.
You’ll in all probability uncover the necessity for extra extremely specialised roles in your org. As well as, you’ll start worldwide enlargement if relevant to your online business. Lastly, that is the purpose the place you may contemplate buying corporations as properly.
Founder/CEO
- CTO (114 Workers)
- CPO (23 Workers)
- CRO (185 Workers)
- CMO (33 Workers)
- CFO (39 Workers)
Key Takeaways
Once you begin deciding on division leaders in Sequence A, give your self flexibility by conserving the title as one thing broad, like “Head of Gross sales,” for instance. Save the VP, Director, and C-level titles for a little bit bit down the road –– you wish to be sure that the identical folks will nonetheless be with you sooner or later and which you can confidently promote them with their ability set for a extra formal function.
