From Impossible to Inevitable: How SaaS and Other Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue

by Aaron Ross

But much of the operational pain, especially in recurring revenue SaaS companies, seems to go away around $10–$15 million in ARR. At that point: Your customer base is highly diverse, and not dependent on any whales. You have enough reference accounts. You want more—but don't need—more logos, as great as they are. Your sales and client success teams are working as a team, as an imperfect but effective engine, and not dependent on a single rock star or two. You have a brand, maybe a small brand at first, but a real one. This is a key inflection point in the getting-easier process. More leads come in, more easily. Customers still need to be sold, for sure, but at least you don't have to kill yourself to get into the discussion. You can't be killed by BigCo entering the space or the competition. Wounded, yes, but not killed. Your product may still suck in a lot of ways, but it's pretty rich with features. You have what many customers need. You know the market so well, it's pretty easy to see two years out, not only from a product side, but also from a scaling revenue and team side.